All posts by Jeff A

Happy Birthday–April 12

Vic Willis (1876)
Addie Joss (1880)
Bill Bailey (1888)
Eric McNair (1909)
Bill Wight (1922)
Bob Zuk (1927)
Johnny Antonelli (1930)
Charlie Lau (1933)
Terry Cooney (1933)
Woodie Fryman (1940)
Vicente Romo (1943)
Terry Harmon (1944)
Mike Macfarlane (1964)
Paul LoDuca (1972)
Antonio Osuna (1973)

Bob Zuk was a long-time scout who was responsible for signing, among others, Reggie Jackson, Willie Stargell, and Gary Carter.

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

Happy Birthday–April 11

Pop Corkhill (1858)
Ossee Schreckengost (1875)
Matsutaro Shiriki (1885)
Sam Chapman (1916)
Barney McCloskey (1917)
Jim Hearn (1921)
Futoshi Nakanisi (1933)
Sid Monge (1951)
Bret Saberhagen (1964)
Turner Ward (1965)
Sean Bergman (1970)
Robin Jennings (1972)
Jason Varitek (1972)
Trot Nixon (1974)
Todd Dunwoody (1975)
Kelvim Escobar (1976)
Mark Teixeira (1980)

Matustaro Shiriki is known as the father of Japanese baseball.

Jason Varitek was drafted by the Twins in the first round in 1993, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 11

Happy Birthday–April 10

Ross Youngs (1897)
Bubba Hyde (1908)
Chuck Connors (1921)
Frank Lary (1930)
Robert Nederlander (1933)
Wes Stock (1934)
Joe Gibbon (1935)
Bob Watson (1946)
Lee Lacy (1948)
Tom Lundstedt (1949)
Ken Griffey (1950)
Mike Devereaux (1963)
Starvin’ Marvin Freeman (1963)
Alberto Reyes (1971)
Mike Lincoln (1975)
Andre Ethier (1982)

Better known as an actor, Chuck Connors was a first baseman for the Chicago Cubs in 1951.  He also played professional basketball, and was the first player to break the glass backboard with a slam dunk in a professional basketball game.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 10

Happy Birthday–April 9

Doc White (1879)
Hippo Vaughn (1888)
Vic Sorrell (1901)
Fred Frankhouse (1904)
Claude Passeau (1909)
Zip Payne (1909)
Joe Brinkman (1944)
Peter Gammons (1945)
Nate Colbert (1946)
Kirk McCaskill (1961)
Hal Morris (1965)
Graeme Lloyd (1967)
Rudy Hernandez (1968)

Rudy Hernandez was an infielder in the Mets organization from 1987-1991, reaching AA.  He is currently the batting coach for the New Britain Rock Cats.

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