Happy Birthday–June 2

Jack O'Connor (1866)
Bob Lillis (1930)
Larry Jackson (1931)
Jerry Lumpe (1933)
Gene Michael (1938)
Jim Maloney (1940)
Horace Clarke (1940)
Jack O'Connor (1958)
Darnell Coles (1962)
Bryan Harvey (1963)
Mike Stanton (1967)
Raul Ibanez (1972)
Neifi Perez (1973)

There have been two major league players named "Jack O'Connor"; both of them were born on this day.  Left-hander Jack O'Connor pitched for the Twins from 1981-1984.  He was born in Twenty-nine Palms, California, and went to high school in Yucca Valley, California.  He was drafted by Montreal in the ninth round in 1976.  He was in the Expos organization for five years.  O'Connor pitched mostly in Class A and did fairly well there, but did not do so well in brief trials at higher levels.  The Twins took a chance on him in the Rule 5 draft after the 1980 season and kept him in the majors all of 1981.  He was kept in the bullpen all season and did not get a lot of work, appearing in 28 games and pitching only 35.1 innings.  O'Connor started 1982 in the majors but was sent back to AAA after two scoreless innings.  He returned in early June and was in the starting rotation by July, staying there the rest of the season.  He wasn't terrible, which is about as good as it got for the Twins' rotation in 1982.  He began 1983 in the rotation, but after a couple of decent outings things fell apart for him, and he was in the bullpen by mid-May.  He was not much better there, went back to AAA for a couple of months, and did not do a lot better upon his return either.  O'Connor had an excellent year in the Toledo bullpen in 1984 and pitched well in two appearances in his September call-up.  By then, however, the Twins had given up on him, and after the season they traded him to Montreal for Mike Stenhouse.  He got about two months in the majors in 1985 with the Expos, had mediocre numbers, and was released the following March.  O'Connor signed with Seattle for 1986, pitched badly in AAA, and became a free agent after the season.  He signed with Baltimore for 1987 and battled his way back to the majors, spending nearly half the year with the Orioles.  His pitching in the majors was not significantly better, however, and O'Connor once again became a free agent after the season.  He signed with Toronto and was with AAA Syracuse for two years, not pitching badly but not getting another chance at the big time, either.  Jack O'Connor's playing career came to an end after the 1989 season.  As a Twin, he was 13-14, 4.99 with a WHIP of 1.62.  He pitched 249 innings and made 80 appearances, 27 of them starts.  No information about Jack O'Connor's life after the close of his playing career was readily available.

One thought on “Happy Birthday–June 2”

  1. There have been two major league players named "Jack O'Connor"; both of them were born on this day.

    That's a helluva coincidence.

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