Frank Hankinson (1856)
Ernie Johnson (1888)
Steve Ridzik (1929)
Mickey McDermott (1929)
Ed Charles (1933)
Luis Aparicio (1934)
Akira Ohgi (1935)
Tom House (1947)
Rick Burleson (1951)
Ron Washington (1952)
Bob McClure (1952)
Steve Crawford (1958)
John Vander Wal (1966)
Sterling Hitchcock (1971)
Rafael Betancourt (1975)
Tony Armas (1978)
Akiri Ohgi was a long-time manager in Japan, winning nearly a thousand games.
Rick Burleson was drafted by Minnesota in the eighth round in 1969, but did not sign.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Papa MagUidhir.
Infielder Ronald Washington was with the Twins from 1981-1986. Born and raised in New Orleans, Washington signed with Kansas City as a free agent in 1970. He was in the Royals’ system for six years, only one of them higher than Class A, and did nothing of any particular note apart from play several positions; he was used as a catcher, outfielder, shortstop, and second baseman. Washington was traded to the Dodgers after the 1976 season. He thrived in AAA Albuquerque, hitting .348 in about a year there. He got a September callup in 1977, but was apparently injured much of 1978. He was in the Mets’ organization in 1979, and was traded to Minnesota in late March of 1980 for Wayne Caughey. In 1981, Washington hit .289 with 15 homers in AAA Toledo and got a September call-up. He was the semi-regular shorstop for the Twins in 1982-1984, sharing the position with Lenny Faedo and Houston Jimenez, among others. He hit for a decent average, but rarely walked and had little power. He also was not considered a particularly good defensive shortstop. Washington was put into more of a utility role in 1985, spent time in the minors in 1986, and was released in late March of 1987. As a Twin, Ron Washington hit .265/.294/.373 in 1,258 at-bats. Baltimore picked him up and sent him to AAA Rochester, bringing him back to the majors for the second half of the season. He moved on to Cleveland for 1988, getting one more full season in the majors as a reserve shortstop. He moved on to AAA for Houston for 1989, getting about three weeks in the majors, then to Texas’ AAA team for 1990 before ending his playing career. Ron Washington remained in baseball after that, serving as a minor league coach and manager for the Mets from 1991-1995, and coaching at the major league level for Oakland from 1996-2006. He has been the manager of the Texas Rangers from 2007 to the present, reaching the World Series in 2010 and 2011.