Tag Archives: ex-Twins

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)
Yimi Garcia (1990)
Austin Hedges (1992)

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 17

Johnny Rawlings (1892)
Rudy York (1913)
Donald Honig (1931)
Jim Davenport (1933)
John Buzhardt (1936)
Diego Segui (1937)
Boog Powell (1941)
Ron Boyer (1944)
Skip Lockwood (1946)
Butch Hobson (1951)
Alex Cole (1965)
Jorge Posada (1971)
Mike Maroth (1977)
Chad Qualls (1978)
Brett Myers (1980)
Dustin Pedroia (1983)
Kyle Farmer (1990)

Author Donald Honig has written nearly forty books about baseball.

Ron Boyer is the brother of Clete Boyer and Ken Boyer. He played in the Yankees’ farm system for eight years, reaching AAA.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 16

Hick Carpenter (1855)
Baby Doll Jacobsen (1890)
Fats Fothergill (1897)
George Scales (1900)
Tiny Bonham (1913)
Gene Woodling (1922)
Puddin’ Head Jones (1925)
Buck Rodgers (1938)
Gene Brabender (1941)
Mike Jorgensen (1948)
Al Holland (1952)
Nick Leyva (1953)
Rick Reed (1964)
Xavier Hernandez (1965)
Terry Shumpert (1966)
Quinton McCracken (1970)
Damian Jackson (1973)
Roger Cedeno (1974)
Ryan Hanigan (1980)
Yu Darvish (1986)
Martin Maldonado (1986)
Akil Baddoo (1998)

Nick Leyva was a long-time minor league coach and manager and major league coach.  He managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1989-1991.

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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-eighth  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 12

Christy Mathewson (1880)
Ray Schalk (1892)
Harlond Clift (1912)
Fred Hutchinson (1919)
Bob Buhl (1928)
Kevin Cooney (1950)
Matt Clement (1974)
Lew Ford (1976)
Zach Cosart (1985)
Chris Owings (1991)

A notoriously bad hitter, even for a pitcher, Bob Buhl had a lifetime average of .089 and went the entire 1962 season without getting a hit (0-for-70).  Oddly, he equaled his career high in walks that year with six, which goes to show something or other.

Kevin Cooney was an eleventh round draft choice of the Twins in 1972.  He pitched in the Twins’ organization for two seasons, then a shoulder injury ended his playing career.  He then became a college baseball coach.  He was the head coach at Montclair State from 1984-1987 and at Florida Atlantic from 1988-2008.

We would like to wish a happy birthday to MagUidhir's niece and nephew.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 11

Danny Murphy (1876)
Bobo Newsom (1907)
Bob Scheffing (1913)
Walter McNeil (1934)
Bill Monboquette (1936)
Vada Pinson (1938)
Sal Campisi (1942)
Jim Hughes (1951)
Dennis Lewallyn (1953)
Bryn Smith (1955)
Melky Cabrera (1984)
Colby Rasmus (1986)
Pablo Sandoval (1986)

Walter McNeil is better known as Wally the Beer Man, long-time vendor at Minnesota Twins games.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Mrs. Moss and a happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. AMR.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 10

Jim Clinton (1850)
Willie Wells (1904)
Odell Hale (1908)
Taffy Wright (1911)
Buddy Lewis (1916)
Bob Porterfield (1923)
Rocky Colavito (1933)
Tom Brookens (1953)
Tim Brookens (1953)
Jerald Clark (1963)
Andy Stankiewicz (1964)
Gerald Williams (1966)
Sal Fasano (1971)
Brandon Lyon (1979)
Dan Johnson (1979)
Wilson Ramos (1987)

Willie Wells is considered, along with Pop Lloyd, one of the two greatest shortstops in the history of the Negro Leagues.

Tim Brookens is the twin brother of Tom Brookens and played four years in the minors, reaching AA.

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

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 9

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

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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