Happy Birthday–July 24

Tommy McCarthy (1863)
Jack Clements (1864)
Joe Schultz (1893)
Cotton Nash (1942)
Mike Port (1945)
Shigeru Takada (1945)
Mike Adams (1948)
Jerry Augustine (1952)
Barry Bonds (1964)
Joe Oliver (1965)
Jim Wolf (1969)
Brent Stentz (1975)

Outfielder Joe Schultz, who played in parts of eleven major league seasons, is the father of the Joe Schultz made famous by Jim Bouton in Ball Four.  He is also a cousin to big-leaguers Hanz and Frank Lobert.

Mike Port is a long-time major league baseball executive, serving as the general manager of the California Angels from 1984-1991.

Shigeru Takada was a star in Japan from 1968-1980.  He also was a manager, general manager, and television commentator.

Jim Wolf has been a major league umpire since 1999.

Pitcher Brent Stentz did not play in the majors, but was in the Twins’ minor league system from 1997-2001.  In 1998, he set an Eastern League record with 43 saves.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 24

Movie Day

Alright, I've got a little time to type something up here. Last night I watched this one...

The Last Days (Los últimos días)
2013, David and Alex Pastor

As I grow more cynical about big-budget film, it takes longer and longer every time I open Netflix to settle on something. Last night I got somewhat lucky with this movie which, despite plenty of problems, jumped out at me as a post-apocalyptic journey, which is something I'm always into.

The movie's absurdly stupid premise is that agoraphobia has gone viral due to a volcanic eruption. Thankfully, the filmmakers ask us to just go with it rather than attach some unlikely science. Anyone who goes outside ends up dying, which gets us farther from agoraphobia, but whatever. The rules are inconsistent; cars offer no protection but in a couple of scenes, several characters enjoy open windows and nothing happens. I forgave all this for a couple of reasons: one, it was rather well-acted. There are scads of extras in this film but only two or three characters important to the narrative. Two, it was artfully shot. Three, I liked the two lead characters so much that I truly wanted them to succeed in finding one's pregnant fiance, from whom he was separated when the world went to hell.

You'll have to shrug off some other nonsense - a GPS is used frequently and with pinpoint precision underground - but all in all, I'm typically glad when I make an unlikely selection, and this was no exception.

I have Django Unchained next up and otherwise the month's been light on film, heavy on video games and a couple of books. What have you seen, Citizens?

Happy Birthday–July 23

Ginger Beaumont (1876)
Hod Ford (1897)
Jimmie Wilson (1900)
Ival Goodman (1908)
Ray Scarborough (1917)
Pee Wee Reese (1918)
Johnny Groth (1926)
Anthony Gubicza (1928)
Bert Convy (1933)
Don Drysdale (1936)
Dean Look (1937)
Hank Allen (1940)
Chuck Crim (1961)
Nomar Garciaparra (1973)

Anthony Gubicza, a pitcher in Class D and C leagues from 1950-1951, is the father of Mark Gubicza.

Actor/singer/game show host Bert Convy was an outfielder in Class D and C leagues from 1951-1952.

White Sox’ catcher Dean Look is the brother of ex-Twin Bruce Look.

Outfielder Hank Allen, who played for Washington, Milwaukee, and the White Sox, is the brother of Dick Allen and Ron Allen.

There do not appear to be any major league players with connections to the Minnesota Twins who were born on this day.