Tag Archives: deceased Twins

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 13

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Charles Somers (1868)
Wild Bill Donovan (1876)
Rube Waddell (1876)
Pickles Dillhoefer (1893)
Frankie Hayes (1914)
Lou Saban (1921)
Charlie Silvera (1924)
Eddie Yost (1926)
Eddie Mathews (1931)
Bob Bailey (1942)
Randy Moffitt (1948)
Dick Pole (1950)
Frank LaCorte (1951)
George Frazier (1954)
Bryan Hickerson (1963)
Chris Gwynn (1964)
Trevor Hoffman (1967)
Damian Miller (1969)

Charles Somers was one of the founders of the American League and was its principal financier.

Better known as a football coach, Lou Saban was the president of the New York Yankees in 1981 and 1982.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 12

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Sam Field (1846)
Pop Smith (1856)
Malachi Kittridge (1869)
Pete Hill (1882)
Dixie Davis (1890)
Rick Ferrell (1905)
Joe Cronin (1906)
Al Smith (1907)
Bob Sheppard (1910)
Tony Kubek (1935)
Glenn Beckert (1940)
Herman Hill (1945)
Garth Iorg (1954)
Jim Lewis (1955)
Sid Fernandez (1962)
Jose Valentin (1969)
Derrick White (1969)
Tanyon Sturtze (1970)
Tony Fiore (1971)
Nick Tepesch (1988)
Ketel Marte (1993)

B-r.com says "Sam Field played only 12 games in the majors, but managed to do so with three teams in two leagues. He played mostly catcher.  His career may have been doomed by his .712 fielding percentage."  It may also have been doomed by his .146 batting average.

Pete Hill is considered one of the greatest outfielders of the Negro Leagues.  Incomplete statistics list his average as .303.

Hall of Famer Joe Cronin, of course, played for the Washington franchise from 1928-1934, managing the team in the latter two years. He married Clark Griffith’s niece, which did not keep Griffith from trading him to Boston after the 1934 season.

If there was a Hall of Fame for public address announcers, Bob Sheppard would be the first one in.

Jose Valentin is the brother of ex-Twin Javier Valentin.

First baseman/outfielder Derrick White was drafted by Minnesota in the 23rd round in 1989, but did not sign. He played in the major leagues for Montreal, Detroit, the Cubs, and Colorado, playing in three seasons and totaling 116 at-bats.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Dr. Chop.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 11

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Will White (1854)
Buttercup Dickerson (1858)
Eddie Dyer (1899)
Bob Chipman (1918)
Joe Ginsberg (1926)
Bill Fischer (1930)
Bob Stinson (1945)
Orlando Hernandez (1965)
Gregg Olson (1966)
Joe Roa (1971)
Dmitri Young (1973)
Mike Duvall (1974)
Ty Wigginton (1977)
Gio Urshela (1991)
Josh Winder (1996)

We would also like to wish a very happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. CarterHayes.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 10

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Otto Hess (1878)
Bill Killefer (1887)
Wally Berger (1905)
John Stone (1905)
Emery Adams (1911)
Floyd Baker (1916)
Bobby Tiefenauer (1929)
Don Schaly (1937)
Gene Tenace (1946)
Roger Metzger (1947)
Terry Enyart (1950)
Les Straker (1959)
Jim Weaver (1959)
Ramon Martinez (1972)
Placido Polanco (1975)
Pat Burrell (1976)
Brad Ziegler (1979)
Troy Tulowitzki (1984)
Andrew McCutchen (1986)
Jeurys Familia (1989)
Shelby Miller (1990)
Kolten Wong (1990)

Don Schaly was the head baseball coach at Marietta College for forty years.  His teams reached the finals of the Division III College World Series ten times, winning three times.

Kolten Wong was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 2008, but did not sign.

We would like to wish a happy birthday to Can of Corn's Niblet.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 8

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Ping Bodie (1887)
Donie Bush (1887)
Doc Crandall (1887)
Wally Moses (1910)
Danny Murtaugh (1917)
Catfish Metkovich (1920)
Ed Kirkpatrick (1924)
Don Pepper (1943)
Paul Splittorff (1946)
Rick Stelmaszek (1948)
Enos Cabell (1949)
Jerry Reed (1955)
Mike Morgan (1959)
J. T. Bruett (1967)
Olmedo Saenz (1970)
Antoan Richardson (1983)
Cody Eppley (1985)
Taylor Featherston (1989)

Right-hander Jerry Reed was drafted by the Twins in the eleventh round in 1973, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish E-6 a very happy birthday.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 5

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Henry Chadwick (1824)
John Reilly (1858)
Claude Ritchey (1873)
Jim Bagby (1889)
Sam West (1904)
Si Johnson (1906)
Andy Kosco (1941)
Dan Fife (1949)
Onix Concepcion (1957)
Randy Bush (1958)
Rey Sanchez (1965)
Brandon Puffer (1975)
Tanner Roark (1986)
Zack Littell (1995)

Henry Chadwick is often considered the father of baseball.  He wrote the first rule book, created the box score, and was the first to keep track of singles, doubles, triples, and home runs.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 1

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Ray Kolp (1894)
Carmen Hill (1895)
Jimmie Reese (1901)
Bob Griffith (1912)
Jim Russell (1918)
Bob Boyd (1919)
Hal Naragon (1928)
Chuck Hiller (1934)
Rod Carew (1945)
Bill Bonham (1948)
Pete Falcone (1953)
Jeff Reardon (1955)
Vance Law (1956)
Mark McGwire (1963)
Roberto Kelly (1964)
Chuck McElroy (1967)
John Thomson (1973)
Brandon Knight (1975)
Matt Cain (1984)
Erik Komatsu (1987)
Robbie Ray (1991)
Xander Bogaerts (1992)
Caleb Boushley (1993)
Charlie Barnes (1995)
David Banuelos (1996)

Jimmie Reese played in the majors only briefly, but was a coach in the majors or minors for most of his life.  He was Babe Ruth's roommate for a short period and uttered the famous line that in reality, he roomed with Babe Ruth's suitcase.  He is also remembered for his skill with a fungo bat, to the extent that he would sometimes pitch batting practice with it.

October 1 takes over the lead for most Twins birthdays with nine.

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

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–September 30

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Gabby Street (1882)
Nap Rucker (1884)
Bobby Williams (1895)
Johnny Allen (1904)
Robin Roberts (1926)
Johnny Podres (1932)
Craig Kusick (1948)
Dave Magadan (1962)
Yorkis Perez (1967)
Jose Lima (1972)
Carlos Guillen (1975)
Seth Smith (1982)
Kenley Jansen (1987)

Gabby Street was a light-hitting catcher who played in parts of eight major leagues seasons, mostly for the Washington Senators. He was Walter Johnson's primary catcher. He later did some managing and broadcasting. He is best remembered as the first man to catch a baseball dropped from the top of the Washington Monument.

Five players born on this day made their major league debut in 2019:  Jesus Luzardo, Travis Demeritte, Trent Thornton, Jack Mayfield, and Brian Moran.  I don't know that that's a record, but I don't know that it isn't, either.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–September 29

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Dave Orr (1859)
Gus Weyhing (1866)
Harry Steinfeldt (1877)
Paul Giel (1932)
Mike McCormick (1938)
Rich Reese (1941)
Steve Busby (1949)
John McLaren (1951)
Warren Cromartie (1953)
Byron McLaughlin (1955)
Tim Flannery (1957)
Craig Lefferts (1957)
Rob Deer (1960)
Derek Parks (1968)
Jake Westbrook (1977)
Heath Bell (1977)
Joe Thurston (1979)
Jake Reed (1992)
Tyler Mahle (1994)

Dave Orr is considered the greatest nineteenth century slugger of all.  His career was cut short when he suffered a stroke in 1890 at the age of 31.

Outfielder Warren Cromartie was drafted by the Twins in the third round of the January Secondary draft in 1972, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a very happy anniversary to freealonzo's parents.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–September 27

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Jelly Gardner (1895)
Whit Wyatt (1907)
Dick Hall (1930)
Dave Wickersham (1935)
Gary Sutherland (1944)
Mike Schmidt (1949)
Bob Veselic (1955)
Don Schulze (1962)
Todd Blyleven (1972)
Vicente Padilla (1977)
Jon Rauch (1978)
Jon Garland (1979)
Matt Shoemaker (1986)
Simeon Woods Richardson (2000)

Todd Blyleven is, as you probably know, the son of Bert Blyleven. He pitched in the minor leagues for seven years, getting as high as AA, then was a scout for eight years.

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