Happy Birthday–June 8

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

Cub Stricker (1859)
Van Lingle Mungo (1911)
Del Ennis (1925)
Eddie Gaedel (1925)
George Brunet (1935)
Joe Grzenda (1937)
Pete Magrini (1942)
Mark Belanger (1944)
Lenn Sakata (1954)
Don Robinson (1957)
Carmelo Castillo (1958)
Britt Burns (1959)
Kevin Gross (1961)
John Gibbons (1962)
Kevin Ritz (1965)
Dave Mlicki (1968)
T. J. McFarland (1989)

Sadly, Cub Stricker never played for the Cubs.

3' 7" Eddie Gaedel is the shortest person to play in a major league game, walking in his only plate appearance as part of a Bill Veeck promotion.  His great-nephew, Kyle Gaedele, was an outfielder in the Padres organization from 2011-15, reaching AA.  Kyle is listed at 6' 3".

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 8

Happy Birthday–June 7

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

Bones Ely (1863)
Ed Wells (1900)
Dusty Boggess (1904)
Rosey Gilhousen (1913)
Herb Score (1933)
Roger Nelson (1944)
George Mitterwald (1945)
Don Money (1947)
Thurman Munson (1947)
Bobby Marcano (1951)
Bill Hohn (1955)
Tim Laudner (1958)
Heathcliff Slocumb (1966)
Donaldo Mendez (1978)
Virgil Vasquez (1982)
Mark Lowe (1983)
Luke Farrell (1991)

Dusty Boggess was a National League umpire from 1944-62.

Rosey Gilhousen was a long-time scout who is credit for signing George Brett and Dan Quisenberry.

Bobby Marcano was an all-star in Japan.

Bill Hohn was a major league umpire from 1989-99 and 2002-10.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 7

2024 Game 62: Twins at LeBronx

The bad news is we have to play one more series with New York. The good news is it's the Mets, not the Yankees. I think I can say without much argument that among all our rivals the Yankees are the the one true nemesis of the Twins, the Cobra Kai to our Danny LaRusso. In ancient Greek mythology, Nemesis was the dispenser of misfortune to those mortals displaying hubris. It was Nemesis who lured Narcissus to the pond where he fell in love with his own reflection, wasted away and died. How ironic that the team with the most hubris ever should be the nemesis of our humble Twins.

It's Pablo day in the Bronx. Lopez is 5-5 thanks to some spotty run support this year. His ERA sits at 4.84 thanks to a few outings that snowballed, but he does have 75 strikeouts on the ledger. The Yankees will send Marcus Stroman to the mound to start the game. He's a Yankee so screw him and the stats he rode in on. Stats are meaningless when the mere sight of pinstripes turns your team into a quivering mass of fetid failure. Unless, of course, you're measuring the depths of despair.

This is our last chance to beat the Yankees this season. It could definitely happen and I have a feeling tonight's the night, you just have to be believe. And if you really and truly believe that, you might be interested in a very good deal on  one of the many fine bridges connecting the five boroughs.

Play ball!

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.