Category Archives: Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 8

Harry Lord (1882)
Pat Flaherty (1897)
Bobby Goff (1902)
Pete Fox (1909)
Ray Mueller (1912)
Al Gionfriddo (1922)
Carl Furillo (1922)
Jim Bouton (1939)
Jacques Doucet (1940)
Dick Allen (1942)
Jim Rice (1953)
John Butcher (1957)
Mark Salas (1961)
Lance Barksdale (1967)
Mike Moriarty (1974)
Juan Encarnacion (1976)
Hines Ward (1976)
Tommy Pham (1988)

If you have a few minutes to spare, I would very much recommend reading Harry Lord’s biography at baseball-reference.com.

Pat Flaherty pitched in the minors from 1917-1921.  He also played in the NFL from 1923-1928, was a major in the Air Force, and appeared in about 250 movies from 1934 to the 1950s.

Bobby Goff played in the minor leagues for nineteen years, 1923-1941.  He also was a minor league manager and general manager and a major league scout, remaining in baseball until 1972.

Jacques Doucet was the French-language play-by-play announcer for the Montreal Expos from 1972 until the team left.

Lance Barksdale has been a major league umpire since 2000.

NFL star Hines Ward was drafted by the Florida Marlins in 1994, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 8

Happy Birthday–March 7

Ed Willett (1884)
Dave Danforth (1890)
Andy Porter (1911)
Andy Phillip (1922)
Bobo Holloman (1923)
Red Wilson (1929)
Galen Cisco (1936)
Jimmie Hall (1938)
J. R. Richard (1950)
Jeff Burroughs (1951)
Albert Hall (1958)
Joe Carter (1960)
Jose Cano (1962)
German Gonzalez (1962)
Mauro Gozzo (1966)
Jeff Kent (1968)
Tyler Ladendorf (1988)
Justin Topa (1991)
Pablo Lopez (1996)
Michael Harris (2001)

A member of the basketball Hall of Fame, Andy Phillip played minor league baseball in 1947, 1949, and 1952, batting .281 in 123 games.

Bobo Holloman is sometimes referred to as the worst pitcher ever to throw a major league no-hitter.

The father of Robinson Cano, Jose Cano appeared in six games for Houston in 1989.

Two members of the all-Jeff team were born on this day.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to strategery's son.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 7

Happy Birthday–March 6

Ring Lardner (1885)
Lefty Grove (1900)
Walter Cannady (1902)
Pete Gray (1915)
Bob Swift (1915)
Ted Abernathy (1933)
Cookie Rojas (1939)
Willie Stargell (1940)
Karl Best (1959)
Scott Stahoviak (1970)
Terry Adams (1973)
Marcus Thames (1977)
Clint Barmes (1979)
Jake Arrieta (1986)
Francisco Cervelli (1986)
Ross Detwiler (1986)

Author Ring Lardner wrote about a variety of subjects, but is probably most famous for writing about baseball.  If you haven't read any of his stuff, you really should.

As you probably know, Pete Gray played in 77 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1945 despite having only one arm.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 6

Happy Birthday–March 5

Sam Thompson (1860)
Jeff Tesreau (1888)
Lu Blue (1897)
Elmer Valo (1921)
Del Crandall (1930)
Phil Roof (1941)
Katsuo Osugi (1945)
Kent Tekulve (1947)
Doug Bird (1950)
Mike Veeck (1951)
Mike Squires (1952)
Steve Ontiveros (1961)
Brian Hunter (1971)
Jeffrey Hammonds (1971)
Ryan Franklin (1973)
Paul Konerko (1976)
Mike MacDougal (1977)
Erik Bedard (1979)
Joe Benson (1988)

Katsuo Osugi was the first player to have a thousand hits in the Japanese Central League and the Japanese Pacific League.

The son of Bill Veeck, Mike Veeck is an executive advisor to the president of the Goldklang Group, which at one time owned the St. Paul Saints.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to brianS’ daughter.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to spookymilk’s father.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 5

Happy Birthday–March 4

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

Red Murray (1884)
Jeff Pfeffer (1888)
Dazzy Vance (1891)
Lefty O'Doul (1897)
Buck Canel (1906)
Clyde McCullough (1917)
Mel Queen (1918)
Leo Righetti (1925)
Cass Michaels (1926)
Bob Johnson (1936)
Jack Fischer (1939)
Danny Frisella (1946)
Tom Grieve (1948)
Harry Saferight (1949)
Sam Perlozzo (1951)
Mark Wagner (1954)
Jeff Dedmon (1960)
Tom Lampkin (1964)
Giovanni Carrera (1968)
Dave Stevens (1970)
Mark Wegner (1972)
Sergio Romo (1983)
Nick Castellanos (1992)

Born in Argentina, Buck Canel broadcast major league baseball to Latin America for over four decades, calling forty-two World Series.

The father of Dave Righetti, Leo Righetti played in the minors for twelve years, eight of them in AAA.

Harry Saferight made it to the majors with Pittsburgh in 1979, but did not appear in a game.  He got to the on-deck circle three times, but each time the last out was made before he had a chance to bat.

St. Paul native Mark Wegner has been a major league umpire since 1998.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 4

Happy Birthday–March 3

John Montgomery Ward (1860)
Wee Willie Keeler (1872)
Ed Phelps (1879)
Tetsuya Yoneda (1938)
Paul Schaal (1943)
Rick Reed (1950)
Chuck Cary (1960)
Neal Heaton (1960)
Marvin Hudson (1964)
Scott Radinsky (1968)
Mike Romano (1972)
Matt Diaz (1978)
Jorge Julio (1979)

Tetsuya Yoneda is the second-winningest pitcher in Japanese professional baseball with 350 victories.

The Rick Reed whose birthday is today is the major league umpire from 1979-2009, not the ex-Twin.

Marvin Hudson was a major league umpire from 1979-2009.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 3

Happy Birthday–March 2

Horace Fogel (1861)
Moe Berg (1902)
Woody English (1906)
Jack Knott (1907)
Mel Ott (1909)
Mort Cooper (1913)
Jim Konstanty (1917)
Jim Nettles (1947)
Pete Broberg (1950)
Larry Wolfe (1953)
Terry Steinbach (1962)
Ron Gant (1965)
Jay Gibbons (1977)
Glen Perkins (1983)
Bud Norris (1985)

Horace Fogel was a sportswriter who became manager of the New York Giants in 1902.  His time as Giants manager is best remembered for his attempt to move Christy Mathewson to first base.  He was fired 41 games into the season and replaced by Heinie Smith, who put an end to such nonsense.  Instead, he tried to move Mathewson to shortstop.

We assume everyone reading this knows Ron Gant's connection to the Minnesota Twins.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 2

Happy Birthday–March 1

Paul Hines (1855)
Farmer Vaughn (1864)
Harry Caray (1914)
Bing Devine (1916)
Othello Renfroe (1923)
Larry Brown (1940)
Vern Fuller (1944)
Jeff Holly (1953)
Dick Bremer (1956)

Johnny Ray (1957)
Mark Gardner (1962)
Rich Rodriguez (1963)
Tony Castillo (1963)
Omar Daal (1972)
Ramon Castro (1976)
Ken Harvey (1978)
Trevor Cahill (1998)

Bing Devine worked in baseball front offices from 1939-1978, spending most of that time in the Cardinals organization.  He was the St. Louis general manager from 1957-1964 and 1968-1978, serving as the general manager of the Mets from 1965-1967.

Othello Renfroe played in the Negro Leagues for several years.  He eventually became a broadcaster, sportswriter, scout, and public address announcer.  He was also the first African-American official scorer in major league baseball.

A lifelong Minnesotan, Dick Bremer was a Twins broadcaster from 1983-2023 with the exception of 1986.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 1

Happy Birthday–February 29

Dickey Pearce (1836)
Pepper Martin (1904)
Al Rosen (1924)
Steve Mingori (1944)
Terrence Long (1976)

Predictably, there are fewer major league players born on this day than any other (16).  The only active player born on this day is Bligh Madris, an outfielder/first baseman with the Tigers.  No players with connections to the Minnesota Twins were born on this day.

Happy Birthday–February 28

Terry Turner (1881)
Jud Wilson (1897)
Bill Holland (1901)
Bob Howsam (1918)
George Maloney (1928)
Frank Malzone (1930)
Bill Haller (1935)
Marty Perez (1946)
Mark Wiley (1948)
Tom Gamboa (1948)
Jim Wohlford (1951)
Mike Milchin (1968)
Trent Oeltjen (1983)
Aaron Thompson (1987)
Aroldis Chapman (1988)
Niko Goodrum (1992)
Randy Arozarena (1995)

Jud Wilson played in the Negro Leagues from 1922-1945 and had a lifetime batting average of .351.

Bob Howsam was the general manager of the Cincinnati Reds and helped put together the Big Red Machine.

George Maloney was an American League umpire from 1969-1983.

Bill Haller is the older brother of Tom Haller and was an American League umpire from 1963-1982.

Tom Gamboa was a minor league manager who won league championships twice and reached the playoffs four other times in a ten year career.  Unfortunately, he is best known as the Kansas City Royals coach attacked by two White Sox "fans" in Comiskey Park in 2002.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 28