Here is the Twins Almanac for the week of February 19-25. Four Minnesotan major leaguers were born in this week in history: "Home Run" Joe Marshall, Charley Walters, Dave Maurer and Dana Kiecker. Dick Siebert, one of the most important figures in the history of baseball in our great state, was born in Fall River, Massachusetts this week in 1912. And the Twins traded for two members of their first World Series Championship team this week in 1985 and '87.

It’s the birthdate of “Home Run” Joe Marshall, born in Audubon, MN in 1876. Marshall broke into professional baseball in the Red River Valley League in 1897. Despite his 5’8”, 170 lb. frame, Marshall was one of the preeminent minor league sluggers of the Deadball Era. He led all of organized baseball with 25 (officially) or 26 home runs for the San Francisco Pirates in 1903. The Boston Americans’ Buck Freeman, by comparison, led the major leagues that season with just eight round-trippers.

Despite his success at lower levels, Marshall performed poorly in two brief major league stints, first with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1903, and again with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1906.

Read Terry Bohn’s SABR BioProject biography of “Home Run” Joe Marshall: http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/fe32283a

And some interesting blog posts by Jeff Bozovsky, author of Divorcees, Barmaids, and Cranks: The 1897 Red River Valley League: http://historicbaseballfargo.blogspot.com/search/label/Home%20Run%20Joe%20Marshall

It’s the birthdate of Richard “Dick” Siebert, born in Fall River, MA in 1912. In the summer of 1923 the Sieberts moved to Cass Lake, Minnesota where Dick’s dad pastored Immanuel Lutheran Church. In 1926 the family moved to St. Paul where the elder Siebert had accepted a teaching position at Concordia College. Dick graduated from Concordia Academy High School in 1928.

Dick Siebert played in six games for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1932, and two games in 1936. He was drafted by the Cubs in the 1936 Rule 5 Draft and purchased by the Cardinals prior to the ‘37 season. In May 1938 he was traded to the Philadelphia Athletics where he finally saw regular playing time from ‘38-’45. He was an American League All-Star in 1943.

Siebert is best known in Minnesota, of course, for coaching the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers from 1948-’78, winning three NCAA championships (1956, ‘60 & ‘64), and 12 Big Ten titles with only three sub-.500 seasons. Dick Siebert passed away on December 9, 1978. He was just 66 years old. The U of M renamed its ballpark “Siebert Field” on April 21, 1979.

Read Rich Arpi’s SABR BioProject biography of Dick Siebert: http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/9aee41e7

The Twins trade first baseman Randy Johnson and outfielder Ron Scheer to the White Sox for infielder Roy Smalley. Randy Johnson, who originally came up with Chicago in 1980, had last played in the majors with Minnesota in 1982. He would not make it back to the show. Ron Scheer would never make it past class Double-A.

The Twins had originally acquired Roy Smalley in the 1976 trade that sent Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson to the Texas Rangers. (See the previous week’s Almanac for some douchey Calvin Griffith history involving his contract negotiations with Danny Thompson)

Smalley’s first stint with the Twins was highlighted by his 1979 All-Star campaign. On April 10, 1982 he was traded along with St. Cloud State Alumnus and proprietor of Serum’s Good Time Emporium in Anoka, Gary Serum, to the New York Yankees for pitchers Ron Davis, and Paul Boris, and a minor league infielder named Greg Gagne. In July of ‘84, the Yankees offloaded Smalley to the White Sox in exchange for players to be named later, one of whom wound up being Doug Drabek, who after just one season the Yankees in turn shipped off to Pittsburgh where he would win the 1990 NL Cy Young Award.

One of the highlights of Smalley’s second stint with the Twins -- other than winning the 1987 World Series, of course -- was becoming the first player in Twins history to homer from both sides of the plate on May 30, 1986. Three players have done so since Smalley: Chili Davis (October 2, 1992), Ryan Doumit (July 22, 2012), and Kennys Vargas (August 11, 2016). Here’s a fun story that Roy Smalley related to me on Twitter: “It just so happened that right after Doumit did it Chili was in town with the A's and I was there for FSN. We took a great picture together… We also each signed three baseballs with the dates we hit the HR's -- one for each of us -- which I'm proud to have. Only three Twins to have done it (at the time).”

Smalley retired following the Twins’ 1987 World Series Championship season.

The Twins trade minor league pitcher Mike Shade to the Montreal Expos for infielder Al Newman. Shade would never make it to the majors. Newmie, meanwhile, played an important role on the Twins’ 1987 and 1991 World Series Championship teams.

Newman played in 110 games for the ‘87 Twins, starting 75, splitting time pretty evenly between second base and shortstop. It is interesting to note, though, that Al Newman started two games that season as the Twins’ designated hitter.

Newman played in 118 games for the ‘91 Twins, starting 56, once again mostly splitting time between second and short, with four starts at third, one in left, and one as first baseman.

Newman is one of eight players to play for both the ‘87 and ‘91 Twins, and one of seven to play in both World Series. Allan Anderson did not play in either Series. Unfortunately, Anderson -- who posted the lowest ERA in the American League in 1988 and won 33 games between ‘88 and ‘89 -- was just getting his feet wet in ‘86 and ‘87 and was on his way out in ‘91. The other six Twins to play in both World Series are Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Dan Gladden, Greg Gagne, Gene Larkin, and Randy Bush.

Newman became a free agent following the 1991 season. He signed with the Reds, was released in April and ultimately wound up playing with the Texas Rangers in 1992, his final season.

It’s the birthday of 1965 Edison High School graduate Charley Walters, born in Minneapolis in 1947. The Twins signed Walters out of their annual open tryout at Met Stadium in 1965. He went 7-2 with a 1.94 ERA for the 1967 Northern League Champion St. Cloud Rox. Walters broke camp with the Twins in ‘69 and pitched 6.2 innings over six games between April 11-May 14. He did not allow a run in his first five outings. He allowed four, however, in his sixth and final major league appearance.

Walters has been a sportswriter for the Pioneer Press since way before Al Gore invented the internet. If anyone knows the exact year he started writing for the Pioneer Press, shoot me a message through the system of tubes.

Read the prolific Stew Thornley’s SABR BioProject biography of Charley Walters: http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/f96b4aae

It’s the birthday of Apple Valley graduate Dave Maurer, born in Minneapolis in 1975. The Padres drafted Maurer in the 11th round of the 1997 Amateur Draft. He made his major league debut in 2000, pitching 14.2 innings over 14 games and picking up his only big league win. He made only three appearances for the Padres in ‘01. After brief stints in the Reds’ and Athletics’ organizations, Maurer made it back to the majors with Cleveland late in the 2002 season, pitching in two games, both against the Minnesota Twins. At the Metrodome on September 25, he took his only major league loss, giving up a twelfth-inning walk-off home run to David Ortiz. Maurer made three appearances for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2004. They did not go well.

If anyone knows what year Dave Maurer graduated from Apple Valley High School, please let me know.

I spend a lot of time nerding out on BaseballReference.com researching the Twins Almanac. Interesting details jump out at me all the time. Like the fact, for instance, that Eddie Murray absolutely owned Bert Blyleven, hitting .419 with seven HRs in 62 at-bats. That’s a home run in a little over 11% of his at-bats vs. Blyleven. He also drew five walks and struck out ten times.

And it’s hardly a small sample size. Murray only faced 12 pitchers more often during this 21-year major league career. He actually faced St. Paul’s Jack Morris most of all, hitting .304 with five HRs and 12 walks in 105 plate appearances.

Murray was a career .287 hitter with 3,255 hits and 504 home runs. Actually, that brings up another story! Murray collected his 3,000th hit off of Mike Trombley on June 30, 1995 in the Metrodome while playing for the Cleveland ballclub. Cal Ripken Jr. collected his 3,000th hit at the Dome on April 15, 2000. The first man to congratulate him was none other than Orioles first base coach Eddie Murray. Mike Trombley, now an Oriole, earned the save.

I hate to ramble on and on like this, but actually another Eddie Murray-related tidbit comes to mind. Hermantown High School graduate Jerry Ujdur only pitched in 53 major league games, but he sure had the number of a few Hall of Famers, including Eddie Murray who went 0-for-11 with two walks vs. Ujdur. Carlton Fisk went 0-for-10 with a walk, Paul Molitor 2-for-14 with a walk, and Dave Winfield and Rickey Henderson each went 1-for-9 with 2 walks.

It’s the birthday of 1979 Fairfax High School and 1983 St. Cloud State graduate Dana Kiecker, born in Sleepy Eye in 1961. Kiecker pitched in 50 major league games for the Boston Red Sox between 1990 and ‘91, making 30 starts, compiling a 10-12 record with a 4.68 ERA. You can hear Kiecker on St. Paul Saints broadcasts this summer.

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