Tommy Tucker (1863)
Frank Smith (1879)
Hurley McNair (1888)
Doc Lavan (1890)
Johnny Neun (1900)
Lloyd Davenport (1911)
Joe Page (1917)
Bob Veale (1935)
Sammy Stewart (1954)
Bob Melvin (1961)
Lenny Harris (1964)
Larry Casian (1965)
Juan Guzman (1966)
Braden Looper (1974)
Nate McLouth (1981)
Jeremy Bonderman (1983)
Daniel Palka (1991)
Diego Castillo (1997)
Spencer Strider (1998)
This is my thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. Coincidentally, it's Mrs. A's thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, too. She has announced that she is picking up my option for another year, for which I am most grateful.
Johnny Neun managed two major league teams, the Yankees in 1946 and Cincinnati from 1947-1948. Each time, he was replaced by someone who was nicknamed “Bucky”.
Left-hander Lawrence Paul Casian played for the Twins from 1990-1994. He was born in Lynwood, California, went to high school in Lakewood, California, attended Cal State-Fullerton, and was drafted by the Twins in the 6th round in 1987. He pitched very well in the low minors, but stumbled when promoted to AAA Portland in 1989. Switched to the bullpen in 1991, he began pitching significantly better. Casian got brief trials with the Twins from 1990-1992, but made the team for the full season in 1993. He had a good year out of the bullpen, appearing in 54 games and going 5-3 with a 3.02 ERA and an ERA+ of 144. Casian got off to a poor start in 1994, however, and the Twins placed him on waivers. He was selected by Cleveland and finished the season with the Indians, but continued to pitch poorly and was released. The Cubs signed him, and Casian split the next two and a half years between Chicago and AAA Iowa. He pitched very well in both places in 1995 and 1996, but got off to a poor start again in 1997, and was placed on waivers again. He was chosen by the Royals, but was released again after two months. Casian signed with the White Sox for 1998 and was at AAA for most of the season, pitching only four innings in the majors. He signed with the Devil Rays for 1999, but was released in spring training and was out of baseball. As a Twin, he was 9-7, 4.73 with a 1.49 WHIP and an ERA+ of 94. He appeared in 113 games and pitched 144.2 innings. Larry Casian was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for the University of Portland from 2006-2015. At last report, he was a scout for the San Francisco Giants and was based in Portland, Oregon.
Outfielder Daniel Bennett Palka did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system from 2016-2017. He was born in Greenville, South Carolina, went to high school in Greer, South Carolina, attended Georgia Tech, and was drafted by Arizona in the third round in 2013. Originally a first baseman, he became primarily an outfielder in 2015. He hit well in the low minors and had a solid Arizona Fall League season in 2015. The Diamondbacks traded him in November of 2015 for Chris Herrmann. He hit thirty-four home runs and posted an OPS of .848 in a 2016 split between AA Chattanooga and AAA Rochester. He battled some injuries in 2017 and had a down year (though not all that bad), batting .274/.329/.431 in Rochester. He was only twenty-five at that point, but the Twins gave up on him and put him on waivers. He was claimed by the White Sox for 2018, came up to the majors in late April, and stayed all season as a semi-regular outfielder/DH. He batted .240/.294/.484 with 27 home runs in 417 at-bats. He got off to a horrible start in 2019, going 0-for-31 before finally getting a hit. Immediately after he got the hit he was sent to AAA, returning for about a week in mid-summer and then as a September callup. He ended the season batting just .107 in 93 plate appearances, although he did have a good year in AAA. The White Sox released him shortly after the 2020 season started and he went to Korea, where he did not have a good year. He signed with Washington for 2021 and had a solid year in AAA for them, but did not get called up to the majors. He signed with the Mets for 2022 and had a slightly better year in AAA for them, but that did not get him called up to the majors, either. He signed with Boston for 2023 and again was in AAA and doing okay when he was released at the end of July. The Mets signed him in late August and he finished up the season in AAA there. He played in Mexico in 2024 and had a fine season there. He turns thirty-three today. It's doubtful that we'll see him in the majors again, but there's a good chance Daniel Palka will be playing baseball somewhere in 2025.
Infielder Diego Alejandro Castillo appeared in four games for the Twins in 2024. He was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, and signed as a free agent with the Yankees in 2014 at the age of sixteen. He reached high-A in 2018, but through 2019 did not hit much. It should be pointed out that he was very young for his league in those years. He missed the COVID season of 2020, and was having a strong season in AA in 2021 when he was traded to Pittsburgh. The Pirates promoted him to AAA and he reached the majors for them in 2022. He did not hit, however, and was traded to Arizona after the season. He had a very good season in AAA for the Diamondbacks, batting, .313 in 2013, but got only one major league at-bat. He then had a very interesting off-season. He was waived on January 5, claimed by the Mets, waived again on January 19, claimed by the Yankees, waived again on February 5, claimed by Philadelphia, waived again on February 16, claimed by Baltimore, and sold to Minnesota on April 5. He spent most of the season in AAA, where he had a good but unspectacular season. He appeared in four major league games for the Twins, going 2-for-6 with a double and two walks. In his major league career he has 269 at-bats, all but seven of them in 2022 with Pittsburgh. He is batting .208/.257/.383. He turns twenty-seven today and is a free agent. He can play all over the field, and there's not really conclusive evidence that he can't hit. We suspect he'll go to spring training with someone in 2025.