Happy Birthday–April 4

Bill Hinchman (1883)
John Hummel (1883)
Tris Speaker (1888)
Joe Vosmik (1910)
Mickey Owen (1916)
Gil Hodges (1924)
Gary Geiger (1937)
Bart Giamatti (1938)
Eddie Watt (1941)
Jim Fregosi (1942)
Mike Epstein (1943)
Nick Bremigan (1945)
Ray Fosse (1947)
Herm Schneider (1952)
Tom Herr (1956)
Brad Komminsk (1961)
Scott Rolen (1975)
Casey Daigle (1981)
Cameron Maybin (1987)
Martin Perez (1991)

Bart Giamatti was commissioner of baseball from April 1, 1989 until his death on September 1, 1989.

Nick Bremigan was an American League umpire from 1974-1988.

Herm Schneider has been a trainer in major league baseball for over thirty years.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to CarterHayes’ brother.

Second baseman Thomas Mitchell Herr was with the Twins for most of the 1988 season.  Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he signed with St. Louis as a free agent in 1974.  He hit for a high average with a good OBP in the minors, although he showed little power.  He reached AAA in 1978 and got to the majors for the first time in mid-August of 1979, staying for the rest of the season but getting only twelve at-bats.  He was with St. Louis for most of 1980 and finally left the minors behind for good in 1981, becoming the Cardinals' regular second baseman.  Somehow, he got minor consideration for MVP that year despite hitting .268 with an OPS of .674.  He was generally a decent but unspectacular singles hitter for St. Louis, but he did have a couple of very good years.  He was hitting .323 in early August of 1983 when he season was cut short by injury, and he hit .302 in 1985, when the Cardinals went to the World Series.  He was a productive offensive player in those years, but for the rest of his career in St. Louis he was a .260 hitter with a sub-.700 OPS.  In late April of 1988, Herr was traded to Minnesota for Tom Brunansky.  He missed about two months with injuries, but the rest of the time was who he had been most of his career, hitting .263/.349/.320 in 304 at-bats.  After the season, the Twins traded him to Philadelphia with Eric Bullock and Tom Nieto for Shane Rawley and cash.  He had one of his better years for the Phillies in 1989, hitting .287.  In August of 1990, he was traded to the Mets.  He was with the Mets for about a year, but was released in August of 1991 when he hit .194.  The Giants signed him for the remainder of the season, but then Tom Herr's playing career was over.  After that, was a high school coach in Pennsylvania for twelve years, managed the Lancaster Barnstormers in the independent Atlantic  League from 2005-2006, managed the Class A Hagerstown Suns in 2007, and then returned to the Atlantic League as a coach for Lancaster in 2008.  He once again became the manager of the Barnstormers midway through the 2009 season, but was replaced by Butch Hobson after the 2010 season.  At last report, Tom Herr was still living in the Lancaster area and was the owner of WineRacks4U, a company that sells wine racks and other accessories, which somehow seems fitting.

Right-hander Sean Casey Daigle did not play for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for much of 2008.  He was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, went to high school in Sulphur, Louisiana, and was drafted by Arizona in the first round in 1999.  A starter in his minor league career through 2004, he really never had much success, never posting an ERA below four nor a WHIP below 1.4.  Despite that, he was promoted to AA at the end of 2002, and skipped AAA, making his major league debut in the Diamondbacks rotation at the start of 2004.  Predictably, it did not go well; he was sent back to AAA after going 2-3, 7.16 in ten starts.  He moved to the bullpen in 2005 and had his first good minor league season, going 9-4, 2.67 for AA Tennessee, although still with a high WHIP.  He started 2006 in the majors and did okay out of the bullpen, going 0-0, 3.65 but with a WHIP of 1.62 in 12.1 innings.  He was back in AAA by late May.  He struggled through two AAA seasons and became a free agent after the 2007 campaign.  He signed with the Twins for 2008 and spent the season in Rochester.  He had what was probably his best season there, going 1-5, 3.78, 1.38 WHIP (the best of his career), but was still released in late August.  He signed with Houston for 2009 and spent two years in their organization.  Most of that time was in AAA, but he came back to the majors for about six weeks in 2010, going 1-1, 11.32 in 10.1 innings.  A free agent again after the season, he signed with San Francisco for 2011 but had a bad year at AAA Fresno, putting an end to his playing career.  At last report, he was living on a ranch in southwest Louisiana with his wife, Jennie Finch.  They have three children, Ace, Diesel, and Paisley.

Left-hander Martin Perez pitched for the Twins in 2019.  He was born in Guanare, Venezuela and signed with Texas as a free agent in 2007.  He pitched well in the Sally League in 2009, but other than that struggled in the minors, although it should be pointed out that he was usually quite young for his league.  The Rangers stuck with him, and despite not having pitched all that well in AAA he made his major league debut in June of 2012.  He started 2013 back in the minors, but after going 5-1, 1.75 in six starts at Round Rock he was back in the majors. This time he was successful, going 10-6, 3.62.  He then missed most of 2014 and half of 2015 with Tommy John surgery.  He returned for the second half of 2015 and was pretty much an average pitcher through 2017.  He had a poor 2018, however, going 2-7, 6.22.  He became a free agent and signed with the Twins for 2019.  At that time we said, "If he can become even an average pitcher again it would certainly help the Twins this season."  It would have, but he couldn't.  As a Twin, he was 10-7, 5.12, 1.52 WHIP in 165.1 innings.  He appeared in thirty-two games, twenty-nine of them starts.  He signed with Boston for 2020, and was able to become an average pitcher again in twelve starts.  He was not as good in 2021 and was sent to the bullpen in early August.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Texas for 2022.  He turns thirty-one today.  At his best he's an average pitcher, which means he has to be at his best to help a team.  We'll see if he can do that in 2022.