Happy Birthday–July 26

Sam Breadon (1876)
Sad Sam Jones (1892)
Brick Eldred (1892)
Larry Woodall (1894)
Paul Gallico (1897)
Alex Radcliffe (1905)
Sam Leslie (1905)
Ellis Kinder (1914)
Jimmy Bloodworth (1917)
Sibby Sisti (1920)
Hoyt Wilhelm (1922)
Norm Siebern (1933)
Pete Ward (1937)
Ken Kaiser (1945)
Jody Reed (1962)
Greg Colbrunn (1969)
Joaquin Benoit (1977)
Kevin Jepsen (1984)
Alex Burnett (1987)

Sam Breadon owned the St. Louis Cardinals from 1917-1947.

Brick Eldred got over two thousand hits in the Pacific Coast League, playing there thirteen years.

Paul Gallico was a sportswriter from 1919-1936.  He went on to become a noted writer and is best known as the author of The Poseidon Adventure.

The brother of Double Duty Radcliffe, Alex Radcliffe played in the Negro Leagues from 1932-1946 and played in eleven all-star games.

Ken Kaiser was an American League umpire from 1977-1999.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 26

Happy Birthday–July 25

John Tener (1863)
Cy Williams (1913)
Whitey Lockman (1926)
Larry Sherry (1935)
Buddy Bradford (1944)
Fred Scherman (1944)
Mick Kelleher (1947)
Biff Pocoroba (1953)
Marc Sullivan (1958)
Doug Drabek (1962)
Torey Lovullo (1965)
Ed Sprague (1967)
Billy Wagner (1971)
Guillermo Mota (1973)
Javier Vazquez (1976)
Santiago Casilla (1980)
Alex Presley (1985)

Pitcher/outfielder John Tener was the president of the National League and also became governor of Pennsylvania.  For 1914-1915, he did both jobs at the same time.

Cy Williams was a long-time major league scout, working for the Detroit Tigers for thirty years.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 25

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