Tag Archives: deceased Twins

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 21

Frank Isbell (1875)
Ed Stone (1909)
Murray Dickson (1916)
Gerry Staley (1920)
Jim Beauchamp (1939)
Felix Millan (1943)
John Ellis (1948)
John Stearns (1951)
Frank Pastore (1957)
John Wetteland (1966)
Mike Misuraca (1968)
Craig Counsell (1970)
Ismael Valdez (1973)
Akili Smith (1975)
Jason Marquis (1978)
Jesse Chavez (1983)
Melvin Upton (1984)
J. D. Martinez (1987)
Ehire Adrianza (1989)
Tim Collins (1989)
Elliot Soto (1989)
Christian Vazquez (1990)

Akili Smith, better known as an NFL quarterback, played for three seasons in the Pittsburgh organization, reaching AA.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 19

Bobby Richardson (1935)
Fred Lasher (1941)
Mike Phillips (1950)
Luis Gomez (1951)
Tim Blackwell (1952)
Ned Yost (1955)
Ron Roenicke (1956)
David Palmer (1957)
Gary Gaetti (1958)
Ron Darling (1960)
Woody Williams (1966)
Rob Augustine (1970)
Chris Capuano (1978)
J. J. Hardy (1982)
Austin Adams (1986)

Rob Augustine played for a couple of years in the Cleveland organization, never rising above Class A.  He was (and maybe still is) an assistant baseball coach at Dakota Valley High School in my former home of North Sioux City.  Happy birthday, Rob.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to strategery.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 18

Sam Wise (1857)
Wally Gerber (1891)
Burleigh Grimes (1893)
Bernie Friberg (1899)
Max Lanier (1915)
Bob Kennedy (1920)
Roberto Clemente (1934)
Billy Consolo (1934)
Joe Azcue (1939)
Paul Popovich (1940)
Bucky Guth (1947)
Bruce Benedict (1955)
Mike LaValliere (1960)
Jack Howell (1961)
Marcus Lawton (1965)
Bobby Higginson (1970)
Albie Lopez (1971)
Justin Wilson (1987)

Marcus Lawton is the brother of Matt Lawton.  He played in ten games for the Yankees in 1989.

I am annually saddened that there has never been a major league player named Ham Fast.  There was Darcy Fast, who appeared in eight games for the Cubs in 1968 and later became a pastor.  There have been six players with the first name of Ham, most notably Ham Hyatt, who was a reserve for seven seasons from 1909-1918, mostly with Pittsburgh.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 15

Charles Comiskey (1859)
Doggie Miller (1864)
Jack Warner (1872)
Bill Sherdel (1896)
Jim Snyder (1932)
Joey Jay (1935)
Jose Santiago (1940)
Cap Peterson (1942)
Duffy Dyer (1945)
Joe Lis (1946)
Billy Conigliaro (1947)
Tom Kelly (1950)
Joe Cowley (1958)
Randy Johnson (1958)
Jeff Huson (1964)
Scott Brosius (1966)
Chris Singleton (1972)
Oliver Perez (1981)
Jarrod Dyson (1984)

Today would have been Mom and Dad A's seventy-seventh  wedding anniversary.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 14

Paul Dean (1912)
Earl Weaver (1930)
Joel Horlen (1937)
Bert Cueto (1937)
Mark Fidrych (1954)
Don Carman (1959)
Mark Gubicza (1962)
Mike Cook (1963)
Mark Loretta (1971)
Juan Pierre (1977)
Clay Buchholz (1984)
Jeremy Hazelbaker (1987)
David Peralta (1987)
Tim Tebow (1987)

Earl Weaver was the long-time manager of the Baltimore Orioles.

Mark Gubicza was an analyst on for FSN on Twins pre-game and post-game shows in 2004.

Quarterback Tim Tebow played minor league baseball in the Mets organization from 2016-2019.

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

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 13

Fielder Jones (1871)
George Susce (1907)
Lou Finney (1910)
Sid Gordon (1917)
Jerry Neudecker (1930)
Vinegar Bend Mizell (1930)
Mudcat Grant (1935)
Tony Cloninger (1940)
Fred Stanley (1947)
Jerry Crawford (1947)
Andre Thornton (1949)
Tom Niedenfuer (1959)
Jim Reboulet (1961)
Jay Buhner (1964)
Tom Prince (1964)
Mark Lemke (1965)
Alex Fernandez (1969)
Jarrod Washburn (1974)
Will Ohman (1977)
Corey Patterson (1979)
Dallas Braden (1983)
Boone Logan (1984)
Hansel Robles (1990)
Randal Grichuk (1991)
Taijuan Walker (1992)

Jerry Neudecker was an American League umpire from 1966-1985.  He was the last major league umpire to use an outside chest protector.

Jerry Crawford was a major league umpire from 1976-2010.  He is tied with Bruce Froemming for the most postseason games umpired, 111.

Jim Reboulet is the brother of ex-Twin Jeff Reboulet. He was in the minors for six years, reaching AAA. He had three seasons with sixty or more stolen bases.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 9

John Grim (1867)
John Galbreath (1897)
Jack Tighe (1913)
Ralph Houk (1919)
Julian Javier (1936)
Claude Osteen (1939)
Paul Lindblad (1941)
Tommie Agee (1942)
Chris Wheeler (1945)
Bill Campbell (1948)
Ted Simmons (1949)
John Moses (1957)
Matt Young (1958)
Deion Sanders (1967)
Troy Percival (1969)
Pat Mahomes (1970)
Ryan Radmanovich (1971)
Matt Morris (1974)
Mike Lamb (1975)
Brian Fuentes (1975)
Jason Frasor (1977)
Steve Lomasney (1977)
Drew Butera (1983)
Jason Heyward (1989)
Kyle Cody (1994).

John Galbreath was the owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1946-1985.

Jack Tighe was a long-time minor league player, manager, and scout.  He also managed the Detroit Tigers from 1956-1957.

Ralph Houk is best known as a manager of the New York Yankees, but he was also a special assistant to the general manager for the Twins from 1987-1989.

Chris Wheeler was a broadcaster for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1977-2013.

Better known for his Hall of Fame NFL career, Deion Sanders was a major league outfielder for nine seasons, leading the league in triples in 1992.  He hit .263/.319/.392 in 2,123 at-bats.

Kyle Cody was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 2015 but did not sign.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 7

Adonis Terry (1864)
Joe Hewitt (1885)
Bill McKechnie (1886)
Rocky Bridges (1927)
Art Houtteman (1927)
Don Larsen (1929)
Ron Henry (1936)
Jerry McNertney (1936)
Gary Dotter (1942)
Mike Poepping (1950)
Steve Kemp (1954)
Jason Grimsley (1967)
Danny Graves (1973)
Edgar Renteria (1976)
Wade LeBlanc (1984)
Ryan Lavarnway (1987)
Brock Stassi (1989)
Tony Zych (1990)
Mike Trout (1991)
Jose De Leon (1992)

Tony Zych broke Dutch Zwilling's record for last in alphabetical order for major league baseball players.

There are three people named "Josh Smith" who have played major league baseball.  Two of them were born on this day.

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Happy Birthday–August 5

Hiraoka Hiroshi (1856)
Pepper Bassett (1919)
Bill Pleis (1937)
Dwight Siebler (1937)
Tommie Aaron (1939)
Nelson Briles (1943)
Bernie Carbo (1947)
Rick Mahler (1953)
Dave Rozema (1956)
Steve Gasser (1967)
John Olerud (1968)
Carlos Pulido (1971)
John Wasdin (1972)
Bobby Kielty (1976)
Eric Hinske (1977)
Mark Mulder (1977)
Carl Crawford (1981)

Hiraoka Hiroshi is considered by some to be the father of Japanese Baseball.

Catcher Pepper Bassett was a seven-time all-star in the Negro Leagues.

Right-hander Steve Gasser did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for four years before being traded to the Mets in the Wally Backman deal.  A second round draft choice, he did not play in the major leagues.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–July 30

Casey Stengel (1890)
Frankie Pytlak (1908)
Tony Lucadello (1912)
Joe Coleman (1922)
Paul Minner (1923)
Joe Nuxhall (1928)
Gus Triandos (1930)
Bud Selig (1934)
Vic Davalillo (1939)
Bob Barton (1941)
Pat Kelly (1944)
Doug Rader (1944)
Jim Spencer (1946)
Ellis Valentine (1954)
Clint Hurdle (1957)
Steve Trout (1957)
Scott Fletcher (1958)
Tom Pagnozzi (1962)
Scott Diamond (1986)

Tony Lucadello was a major league scout for forty-eight years.

Allan Huber "Bud" Selig was the commissioner of baseball from 1992-2014.

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