Joe Yeager (1875)
Dode Paskert (1881)
Aaron Ward (1896)
Charlie Grimm (1898)
Paul Bowa (1918)
Tony Gonzalez (1936)
Tom Satriano (1940)
Lou Piniella (1943)
Mike Torrez (1946)
Ron Guidry (1950)
Joel Youngblood (1951)
Darren Lewis (1967)
Jay Witasick (1972)
Tom Shearn (1977)
Ryan Madson (1980)
Carlos Quentin (1982)
Will Harris (1984)
Paul Bowa is the father of Larry Bowa and the grandfather of Nick Johnson. He was a minor league infielder who reached as high as AAA, and later became a minor league manager in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to bhiggum.
Right-hander Thomas Aaron Shearn did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for about six weeks in 2008. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, he was drafted by Houston in the twenty-ninth round in 1996. He was a starter for the first five years of his minor league career and did fairly well, but took a very long time to advance, not getting above Class A until his fifth minor league season. He stumbled a bit in his first shot at AA in 2000, although he wasn’t awful. He went to the bullpen after that and had a decent year in 2002 at AAA New Orleans, posting a 2.92 ERA in 83.1 innings. He was only 25, but the Astros gave up on him and released him. He needed Tommy John surgery and was out of baseball all of 2003, then signed with Cincinnati for 2004. He stayed in the Reds organization for four and a half years, most of which was spent in AAA, and was consistently mediocre. Still, they kept him around, and he hung in there, going back to starting in 2006. In 2007, while he was living in a trailer outside the Louisville ballpark, he was called up to the majors, and two days before his thirtieth birthday, Tom Shearn made his major league debut with Cincinnati. He was the Reds’ fifth starter the rest of the season, going 3-0, 4.96 with a 1.38 WHIP in 32.2 innings. He began 2008 in AAA Louisville and went 6-2, 4.53 for about two months, then asked for his release to play in Korea. Things did not go well there and he came back to the United States, signing with the Twins in late July. He was in AAA Rochester the rest of the season. He made six starts, going 1-2, 5.34 with a 1.57 WHIP. He became a free agent after the season, went unsigned, and his playing career ended. It was only a short time in the majors, but he’s a twenty-ninth round draft choice who went 3-0 in the majors, and that’s more than a lot of people can say. At last report, Tom Shearn was living in the Austin, Texas area and was an advisor for sales operations for Dell Technologies.
Outfielder Carlos Jose Quentin did not play for the Twins, but went to spring training with them in 2016. He was born in Bellflower, California, went to high school in San Diego, attended Stanford, and was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round in 2003. He reached AAA in 2005, and despite batting .301 with twenty-one homers there he was back in AAA at the start of the 2006 season. He came up to the big leagues in mid-July and was there to stay. He was used as a part-time player in Arizona, but got his big chance in 2008 when he was traded to the White Sox. He made the most of it, batting .388 with 36 homers and a .965 OPS. He made the all-star team, won the Silver Slugger award, and was fifth in MVP balloting. That was easily his best season, but he remained a productive player for the White Sox through 2011, when he was traded to San Diego. He had two solid years for them, but then fell off a cliff. Injuries played a part, but he batted only .177 in 130 at-bats for the Padres in 2014 and has not played in the majors since. He was traded to Atlanta at the start of the 2015 season but was released nine days later. He signed with Seattle in late April but retired nine days later. He came out of retirement and signed with Minnesota for 2016, but though he did fairly well in spring training he was released. He retired again, but again came back in late July to played for Puebla of the Mexican League. He played for Monclova in the Mexican league in 2017, but that brought his playing career to an end. In nine major league seasons, he hit .252/.347/.484 with 154 homers and made two all-star teams. All in all, a very respectable career. At last report, Carlos Quentin was living in California and was working toward an MBA at the University of California--San Diego, but that last report is a few years old now.