Dave Gassner becomes the 12th Purdue Boilermaker to reach the Major Leagues.

April 11, 2005

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Former Purdue pitcher Dave Gassner was called up from AAA Rochester to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday, filling the spot as the team's fifth starter in the Twins pitching rotation.

Gassner pitched for the Boilermakers for four seasons and was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 24th round of the 2001 Major Leaugue Draft. The southpaw pitched in the Blue Jays system for three seasons before being traded to the Minnesota Twins on December 16, 2003.

As a member of the Rochester Red Wings, the AAA affiliate of the Twins, Gassner posted 16 wins in 2004, the most by a Red Wings pitcher since 1966 and the most by a Wings lefty since 1951. Gassner's 16 wins were the most in the International League.

A four-year letterwinner at Purdue from 1998-2001, Gassner was a first-team All-0Big Ten honoree in his final season in the old gold and black. The product of Hortonville, Wis., struck out 218 batters during his tenure as a Boilermaker, ranking third on the Purdue career list. His 280 career innings on the hill ranks fourth in Purdue history.

Other Purdue Major Leaguers
Bernie Allen ~ 1962-1973 (Minnesota, Washington, New York[A])
Jermine Allensworth ~ 1996-1999 (Pittsburgh, Kansas City, New York[N])
Archi Cianfrocco ~ 1992-1998 (Montreal, San Diego)
Dutch Fehring ~ 1934 (Chicago[A])
Matt Kinzer ~ 1989-1990 (St. Louis, Detroit)
Felix Mackiewicz ~ 1941-1947 (Philadelphia[A], Cleveland, Washington)
Joe McCabe ~ 1964-1965 (Minnesota, Washington)
Hugh Nicol ~ 1885 (St. Louis)
Rico Rossy ~ 1991-1993, 1998 (Atlanta, Kansas City, Seattle)
Bill Skowron ~ 1954-1967 (New York[A], Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago[A], California)
Walt Tragesser ~ 1913-1920 (Boston[N], Philadelphia[N])

Dave Gassner's CAREER STATISITICS

Year  Team (Class)      W  L   ERA   G  CS CG SV    IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO
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1998  Purdue            1  6  6.17  16   6  0  3  42.1  51  43  29  21  32
1999  Purdue            4  5  5.47  16  10  2  1  79.0  85  58  48  31  64
2000  Purdue            6  3  3.83  13  13  4  0  84.2  91  48  36  25  51
2001  Purdue            6  5  5.11  14  11  6  0  74.0  91  45  42  16  71
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2001  Charleston (A)    4  4  3.03  13  11  1  0  74.0  72  30  25  11  51
2002  Dunedin (A)      11  6  3.44  23  21  2  0 147.0 143  64  56  26 104
      Syracuse (AAA)    0  1  5.40   1   1  0  0   5.0   7   3   3   2   1
      Tennessee (AA)    1  2  2.49   4   4  0  0  25.0  22   8   7   7  14
2003  New Haven (AA)   10  4  2.79  35  19  1  1 145.0 139  54  45  28  92
      Syracuse (AAA)    1  0  1.80   1   1  0  0   5.0   5   1   1   1   4
2004  Rochester (AAA)  16  8  3.41  28  28  0  0 174.1 175  72  66  30  93
2005  Rochester (AAA)   1  0  1.50   1   1  0  0   6.0   5   1   1   0   4
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Purdue Career          17 19  4.98  59  30 12  6 280.0 318 194 155  93 218
Minor Leagues          44 25  3.15 107  87  4  1 586.0 573 234 205 106 367