Happy Birthday--November 8

Bucky Harris (1896)
Tony Cuccinello (1907)
Wally Westlake (1920)
Bob Brady (1922)
Joe Nossek (1940)
Ed Kranepool (1944)
John Denny (1952)
Jerry Remy (1952)
Jeff Blauser (1965)
Henry Rodriguez (1967)
Jose Offerman (1968)
Edgardo Alfonzo (1973)
Nick Punto (1977)

Outfielder Joe Nossek was born in Cleveland.  He attended Ohio University, then was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1961.  He posted decent averages in the minors, batting .293 at AAA Dallas-Ft. Worth as a 22-year-old.  He spent the first month of 1964 with Minnesota, but got into only seven games and batted only once, popping up.  He hit only .238 that year at AAA, but spent the next three years in the big leagues as a part-time outfielder.  He hit .218 for the Twins in 1965 in 170 at-bats, but started most of the 1965 World Series games in center field, ahead of all-star Jimmie Hall.  Nossek was sold in May of 1966 to the Kansas City Athletics.  He had his best season in 1966, hitting .261, although with few walks and little power.  He slumped to .205 in 1967, and spent all of 1968 at AAA.  Nossek was traded to St. Louis in 1969, and went to Milwaukee in 1971, spending all of those years at AAA with the exception of 12 big league at-bats.  As a Twin, Joe Nossek played in 98 games and got 171 at-bats.  He hit .216/.249/.304, with 2 home runs.  After his playing career ended, Nossek got into coaching at the major league level, and developed a reputation for being adept at stealing signs.  He was a coach for the Twins in 1976.  At last report, Joe Nossek was a scout for the Houston Astros.

Infielder Jose Offerman came to the Twins near the end of a fairly long career.  Born in San Pedro de Macoris, Puerto Rico, Offerman signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in 1986.  He arrived in Los Angeles with quite a bit of hype in August of 1990, having hit over .300 in his minor league career.  He never quite lived up to it, but he became the regular shortstop for the Dodgers in 1992, a position he held most of the next four seasons.  He was rather error-prone, making over 30 errors in a season three times.  His best year as a Dodger was his last one, 1995, when he batted .287 and made the all-star team.  That off-season, Offerman was traded to Kansas City and began moving around the infield, finally settling at second base.  He had his best seasons in Kansas City, hitting over .300 in his three years there and leading the league in triples in 1998.  A free agent after that season, Offerman signed with Boston.  He had another good year in 1999, batting .294, leading the league in triples again, and making his second all-star team.  He started to decline after that, however, and was traded to Seattle in August of 2002.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Montreal, but was released before the season started.  Offerman spent 2003 playing for Bridgeport in the independent Atlantic League, but then signed with Minnesota in February of 2004.  He did a decent job for the Twins as a part-time player, batting .256/.363/.395 in 172 at-bats and leading the league in pinch hits.  Let go after the season, Offerman moved on to Philadelphia and the Mets, played another year of independent ball, and then went to the Mexican League, where he was still playing last year.  He is also the manager of Licey in the Dominican Winter League.

Infielder Nick Punto was born in San Diego.  He attended Trabuco Hills High School in Mission Viejo, California, and Saddleback College, also in Mission Viejo.  Punto was drafted by Philadelphia in the 21st round in 1998.  He spent five full seasons in the minors, hitting as high as .305 with Class A Clearwater in 1999 and as low as .229 with AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2001.  He got September callups in 2001 and 2002 and was with Philadelphia almost all of 2003 as a reserve infielder.  He was traded to the Twins in December of 2003 with Carlos Silva and Bobby Korecky for Eric Milton.  He was strictly a reserve in 2004, but became a mostly-regular in 2005.  His best season was 2006, when he hit .290; his worst was 2007, when he tried to play through injuries and hit .210.  In six seasons as a Twin, Nick Putno has hit .249/.325/.327, for an OPS+ of 75.  A good defender who can play a variety of positions, Nick Punto will presumably remain with Minnesota in 2010.