Twins Almanac Weekend Edition: Mike Pagliarulo Joins Twins, David Ortiz Joins Hall of Fame, Justin Morneau Gets Paid

Jan. 25: Happy 54th birthday to Roseau High School graduate Kerry Taylor. The Twins signed him as a free agent out of high school in 1989 but the Padres swiped him in the Rule 5 Draft prior to the 1993 season. He made 36 appearances with the Padres that season (including seven starts), going 0-5 with a 6.45 ERA and 1.77 WHIP. He made one more start with the Padres in the middle of the '94 season and that was it for Taylor at the major-league level. (If you're curious how he faired as a major league batter, he went 0-for-14 with nine strikeouts.)

Interesting to note that in June 1993 the Padres acquired rookie reliever Trevor Hoffman in a trade that sent Gary Sheffield to the Marlins. Kind of cool that Taylor was briefly in the same relief corps as the Hall of Famer Hoffman. 

Though Taylor didn't make it back to the majors after 1994, he continued to play professional baseball until 2001, wrapping up his career with a one-year stint in Korea with the Hyundai Unicorns, where he was teammates with Twin Cities native Tom Quinlan. (Sidenote: Quinlan became the first foreign-born Korean Series MVP when the Unicorns won the championship the following year.) 

If you have any good stories or fun facts about Taylor, please share them in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Jan. 25, 1991: In a move that manager Tom Kelly had lobbied hard for, the Twins signed free agent third baseman Mike Pagliarulo on this date in 1991. The signing was made possible by Gary Gaetti opting out of his contract on November 7, 1990. Gaetti’s production had been on the decline, batting just .259 in 1989,and .229 in 1990. After a couple more mediocre seasons, though, he bounced back and had a very productive second half of his career, playing in the majors until age 41 and retiring with 360 home runs, good for eighth-most all-time among third basemen. 

Pagliarulo and Scott Leius were an effective platoon for the 1991 World Series Champions, with Pags getting the majority of starts at third base (112). Leius, for his part, was historically good as a pinch hitter in 1991, going 11-for-25 (.440) with five walks for an on-base percentage of .533. 

Pagliarulo is probably best remembered for this clutch home run in the ALCS. (Leius homered in the World Series.)

Jan. 25, 2008: Justin Morneau signed the richest contract in Twins history (at the time) on this date in 2008, worth $80 million over six seasons. How would you like to have a first baseman like that these days?

Jan. 26, 2022: David Ortiz was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first ballot three years ago today. See the tweet below for one of my favorite Ortiz fun facts. (It's gallows humor.) 

Jan. 26: Happy 33rd birthday to former Twins outfielder Kyle Garlick, seen here mashing a game-winning home run off Clevleland's James Karinchak.

Are you interested in Twins history? Then check out the Minnesota Twins Players Project, a community-driven project to discover and collect great information on every player to wear a Twins uniform!