Happy Birthday–December 18

Ty Cobb (1886)
Dick Coffman (1906)
Gino Cimoli (1929)
Moose Skowron (1930)
Zoilo Versalles (1939)
Steve Hovley (1944)
Drew Coble (1947)
Roy Howell (1953)
Jim Clancy (1955)
Scott Bailes (1961)
Willie Blair (1965)
Joe Randa (1969)
Jose Rodriguez (1974)
Byron Buxton (1993)

Drew Coble was an American League umpire from 1982-1999.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to cheaptoy.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 18

Happy Birthday–December 17

Cy Falkenberg (1879)
Ray Jablonski (1926)
Cal Ripken (1935)
Jerry Adair (1936)
Leo Cardenas (1938)
Bob Ojeda (1957)
Marvell Wynne (1959)
Curtis Pride (1968)
Alex Cintron (1978)
Chase Utley (1978)
Fernando Abad (1985)
Taylor Rogers (1990)

Cal Ripken was in the Orioles organization for many years, managing in the minors from 1961-1974, coaching in the majors from 1976-1986 and 1989-1992, and managing the big club from 1987-1988.  He had a son, also named Cal, who had a fairly decent major league career.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 17

December 16, 2022: Number Six

My dad sent me a picture of a young man that was ahead of him in line at the post office: Tony Oliva. He said everyone kind of started interacting with him once they realized it. At first I was thinking, man, let the guy go to the post office. However, I noticed he was wearing a Twins jacket and my next thought was, well, I guess he's not going for anonymity.

Happy Birthday–December 16

Sammy Strang (1876)
Tony Kaufmann (1900)
Neil Chrisley (1931)
Adolfo Phillips (1941)
Mike Flanagan (1951)
Rick Sofield (1956)
Tom Gorman (1957)
Billy Ripken (1964)
Jeff Granger (1971)
Charles Gipson (1972)
Matt Kinney (1976)
Alcides Escobar (1986)
Hector Santiago (1987)
Tyler Chatwood (1989)

The reason Neil Chrisley is listed is because his given name is Barbra O’Neil Chrisley. No explanation for this name could be found, but it seems reasonable to assume that he’s the only man to play major league baseball whose given first name was Barbra.  So far.

Jeff Granger was drafted by Minnesota in the fourteenth round in 1990, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 16

Happy Birthday–December 15

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Nig Clarke (1882)
Eddie Robinson (1920)
Ray Herbert (1929)
Haywood Sullivan (1930)
Sammy Esposito (1931)
Stan Bahnsen (1944)
Art Howe (1946)
Mike Proly (1950)
Bud Bulling (1952)
Mo Vaughn (1967)
Rick Helling (1970)
Kevin Cameron (1979)
Ryan Pressly (1988)
Trevor Hildenberger (1990)
Ryan Eades (1991)

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 15