Happy Birthday–June 20

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

Ned Cuthbert (1845)
Jim Delahanty (1879)
Cum Posey (1890)
Namon Washington (1894)
Billy Werber (1908)
Andy Etchebarren (1943)
Dave Nelson (1944)
Paul Beeston (1945)
Dickie Thon (1958)
Doug Gwosdz (1960)
Paul Bako (1972)
Juan Castro (1972)
Carlos Lee (1976)
Kevin Gregg (1978)
Kendrys Morales (1983)
Adalberto Mejia (1993)
Ronny Henriquez (2000)

Cum Posey, played for, managed, and owned the Homestead Grays in the Negro National League.

Paul Beeston has been president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1989-1997 and from 2010-2016, at which time he became president emeritus.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 20

Happy Birthday–June 19

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

Eddie Cicotte (1884)
Lou Gehrig (1903)
Bill Swift (1908)
Don Gutteridge (1912)
Archie Ware (1918)
Mom A (1925)
Chet Boak (1935)
Bob Aspromonte (1938)
Isao Harimoto (1940)
Jerry Reuss (1949)
Duane Kuiper (1950)
Jim Slaton (1950)
Johnnie LeMaster (1954)
Doug Mientkiewicz (1974)
Alex Prieto (1976)
Dustan Mohr (1976)
Bruce Chen (1977)
Blake Parker (1985)
Collin McHugh (1987)
Jacob de Grom (1988)
Austin Brice (1992)
Casey Legumina (1997)

Archie Ware was a star first baseman in the Negro Leagues.

Infielder Chet Boak played for the Twins’ AAA affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs, in 1961, but does not appear to have actually been a part of the Twins’ organization, as records show him belonging to the expansion Washington Senators. One assumes he was loaned to the Twins’ for part of that season.

Isao Harimoto is the only person to have 3,000 hits in Japanese baseball.

Mom A would have been ninety-nine today. She was never a big baseball fan (she felt I'd had a good game if she didn't have to wash my uniform, which unfortunately happened quite a bit because I sat on the bench a lot), but she came to every game and often worked in the cramped little concession stand even on the hottest days.  The federal government has made her birthday a national holiday, and she certainly deserves the honor.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 19

2024 Game Log 73 – Rays at Twins

Tampa Bay Rays come into town and for once are just kind of scuffling along at 4 games under .500. With Yankees and Orioles having monster seasons and the rest of that division pretty competitive, probably no playoffs in sight. Will be interesting to see what the Rays do at the trade deadline (#evergreen). Twins on one of their upswings but this one finally has helped them make inroads within the division as they are only 0.5 game behind the Royals and 5.5 behind Guardians.

Aaron Civale for the Rays, and while a one strike out per inning guy, he's been fairly mediocre this year. Basically he's been a 5-inning, 6-hit guy all season and the Rays have lost the last five games he has started. Pablo Lopez for the Twins and I think mid-June is a good time to start that typical second hand Pablo Lopez surge.

As of 8:15 this morning, not sure if this game gets in as the forecast is for thunderstorms starting right around 5:00p.

Schedule first pitch at 6:40

Happy Birthday–June 18

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

Charlie Ganzel (1862)
Russ Hodges (1910)
Roy Partlow (1912)
Ron Necciai (1932)
Lou Brock (1939)
Bill James (1949)
Andres Galarraga (1961)
Sandy Alomar (1966)
Felix Heredia (1975)
Tommy Watkins (1980)
Steve Cishek (1986)
Jason Castro (1987)
J. B. Shuck (1987)
Matt Moore (1989)
Tomas Telis (1991)

Russ Hodges was a baseball broadcaster from 1929-1970, most notably with the Giants.  He is most famous for his home run call on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" in 1951.

Ron Necciai struck out 27 batters in a nine inning game while playing for Bristol in the Appalachian League in 1952.

It may never happen, but Bill James belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 18

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.