Happy Birthday–December 25

Pud Galvin (1856)
Joe Quinn (1864)
Barry McCormick (1874)
Walter Holke (1892)
Lloyd Brown (1904)
Ben Chapman (1908)
Jo-Jo Moore (1908)
Ned Garver (1925)
Nellie Fox (1927)
Gene Lamont (1946)
Manny Trillo (1950)
Luis Quintana (1951)
Jeff Little (1954)
Charlie Lea (1956)
Wallace Johnson (1956)
Rickey Henderson (1958)
Marty Pevey (1962)

There have been 24 major league players with the first name “Jesus”, including ex-Twins Jesus Vega and Jesus “Bombo” Rivera and one whose birthday is today, Manny Trillo.  There have been no major league players with the last name “Christ", although there have been two minor leaguers with that last name:  John Christ, who was in the Cleveland organization from 1999-2001, and Mike Christ, who was in the Seattle organization from 1984-1988.  There have been eighteen players whose first name was “Christian” (honorable mention to Cristian Guzman), fifteen players whose middle name was “Christian” (including ex-Twins Marcus Jensen, David Lamb, and Kevin Maas), and three players whose last name was “Christian”.  We would be remiss if we did not also mention 1980s journeyman catcher Steve Christmas, as well as Matt Holliday.

The staff of Happy Birthday would like to wish everyone a very merry and blessed Christmas.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 25

Happy Birthday–December 24

Henry Mathewson (1886)
Chico Garcia (1924)
Frank Taveras (1949)
John D'Acquisto (1951)
Tim Drummond (1964)
Mo Sanford (1966)
Kevin Millwood (1974)
Jamey Wright (1974)

Henry Mathewson is the younger brother of Christy Mathewson.  He appeared in two games for the Giants in 1906 and one in 1907.

Chico Garcia played professional baseball from 1944-1970, mostly in Mexico.  He played thirty-nine games in the majors in 1954 with Baltimore.  He also was a manager in Mexico for fifteen seasons.

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Happy Birthday–December 23

Mike Grady (1869)
Sam Leever (1871)
Tommy Thomas (1899)
Jerry Koosman (1942)
Dave May (1943)
Raul Cano (1945)
Jerry Manuel (1953)
Keith Comstock (1955)
Tim Leary (1958)
Frank Eufemia (1959)
Rick White (1968)
Brad Lidge (1976)
Jesus Colome (1977)
Victor Martinez (1978)
Cody Ross (1980)
Hanley Ramirez (1983)
Tyler Robertson (1987)

 Raul Cano has had a long career in the Mexican League as a player, manager, and general manager.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 23