The Twins Almanac: Weekend Edition

Nov. 30: Happy 70th birthday to Señor Smoke, Juan Berenguer. El Gasolino.

He always carried that briefcase with him because it contained some of his most cherished possessions, such as family photos— including some of his father who died when he was a kid—and a doll given to him by a fellow Panamanian when he signed his first professional contract that he carried with him throughout his career. And that trademark fedora? That was a gift from Tony Oliva. 

Here's an impressive stat: Berenguer struck out 220 batters in 166 innings down at triple-A Tacoma in 1979.

Juan is undoubtedly one of the most beloved figures in Twins' history. Share your favorite stories, stats, or fun facts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Nov. 30, 1884: Pitcher Andy Nelson was born in Swede Hollow—an immigrant settlement down in a ravine on St. Paul's Lower East Side—on this date in 1884. He briefly made it to the majors with the Chicago White Sox in 1908.

Nov. 30: Happy 62nd birthday to former Twins pitcher Gary Wayne. He pitched for Michigan in the College World Series three years! 1981, '83, and '84.

Pitching for the Twins, he gave up Frank Thomas's first major league home run at the Metrodome on August 28, 1990. Thomas also hit his 500th home run at the Metrodome off Carlos Silva in 2007. Altogether, the Big Hurt hit 52 against the Twins—his most against any team by a longshot.

Nov. 30, 1972: The Twins traded César Tovar to the Phillies for first baseman Joe Lis and pitchers Ken Reynolds and Ken Sanders on this date in 1972. Speaking of pitchers, Tovar toed the rubber and struck out Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson when he played all nine positions on September 22, 1968.

Tovar led the American League with 36 doubles and 13 triples in 1970, and led the league with 204 hits in 1971. 

He received MVP votes five-straight seasons from 1967 to 1971. (He averaged about 18th place in the balloting.) 

Dec. 1, 1969: The San Francisco Giants claimed Richfield High School graduate and two-year Golden Gopher Mike Sadek from the Twins in the Rule 5 Draft on this date in 1969.

Sadek was a popular backup during his eight seasons in San Francisco, so much so, in fact, that he was named the starting catcher on the Giants All-Decade team for the 1970s. 

Sadek helped lead Richfield to the state championship as a sophomore in 1962. 

He was a teammate at the University of Minnesota with 1964 Anoka graduate Bob Fenwick, who was drafted by the Giants and played briefly in the majors with the Astros and Cardinals.

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!