Tag Archives: ex-Twins

Happy Birthday–March 12

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

Abraham Mills (1884)
Denny Lyons (1866)
Leroy Matlock (1907)
Vern Law (1930)
Durwood Merrill (1938)
Johnny Callison (1939)
Jimmy Wynn (1942)
Bill Butler (1947)
Larry Rothschild (1954)
Ruppert Jones (1955)
Dale Murphy (1956)
Mike Quade (1957)
Darryl Strawberry (1962)
Shawn Gilbert (1965)
Steve Finley (1965)
Raul Mondesi (1971)
Greg Hansell (1971) 
David Lee (1973)
P. J. Walters (1985)
Max Meyer (1999)

Abraham Mills was president of the Mills Commission, which determined that Abner Doubleday invented the game of baseball in Cooperstown, New York in 1839.

Leroy Matlock was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s.

Durwood Merrill was a major league umpire from 1977-2002.

Max Meyer was drafted by Minnesota in the thirty-fourth round in 2017 but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 12

Happy Birthday–March 11

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

Bobby Winkles (1930)
Dock Ellis (1945)
Cesar Geronimo (1948)
Phil Bradley (1959)
Bryan Oelkers (1961)
Steve Reed (1965)
Salomon Torres (1972)
Bobby Abreu (1974)
Rich Hill (1980)
Dan Uggla (1980)
Frank Mata (1984)

Bobby Winkles was the head baseball coach at Arizona State from 1959-1971, winning three College World Series titles. He also managed and coached in the major leagues.

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

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 11

Happy Birthday–March 10

Gene DeMontreville (1873)
Art Herring (1906)
John Briggs (1944)
Wayne Twitchell (1948)
Greg Pavlick (1950)
Steve Howe (1958)
John Cangelosi (1963)
Mike Timlin (1966)
Aaron Bates (1984)

Greg Pavlick was a coach in the Mets organization for 26 years and was the rehabilitation pitching coordinator for the Yankees for several years after that.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 10

Happy Birthday–March 9

Billy Southworth (1893)
Myril Hoag (1908)
Phil Seghi (1909)
Joe Paparella (1909)
Arky Vaughan (1912)
Jackie Jensen (1927)
Ron Kline (1932)
Jim Landis (1934)
Bert Campaneris (1942)
John Curtis (1948)
Darrel Chaney (1948)
Wendell Kim (1950)
Terry Mulholland (1963)
Benito Santiago (1965)
Vince Horsman (1967)
Aaron Boone (1973)
C. J. Nitkowski (1973)
Koyie Hill (1979)
Craig Stammen (1984)
Daniel Hudson (1987)
Yennier Cano (1994)

Phil Seghi was in baseball most of his life, serving as Cleveland Indians general manager from 1973-1985.

American League umpire Joe Paparella holds the record for most games umpired in a season, 176 in 1962.

Wendell Kim was a major league coach and minor league manager for many years.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 9

Happy Birthday–March 8

Harry Lord (1882)
Pat Flaherty (1897)
Bobby Goff (1902)
Pete Fox (1909)
Ray Mueller (1912)
Al Gionfriddo (1922)
Carl Furillo (1922)
Jim Bouton (1939)
Jacques Doucet (1940)
Dick Allen (1942)
Jim Rice (1953)
John Butcher (1957)
Mark Salas (1961)
Lance Barksdale (1967)
Mike Moriarty (1974)
Juan Encarnacion (1976)
Hines Ward (1976)
Tommy Pham (1988)

If you have a few minutes to spare, I would very much recommend reading Harry Lord’s biography at baseball-reference.com.

Pat Flaherty pitched in the minors from 1917-1921.  He also played in the NFL from 1923-1928, was a major in the Air Force, and appeared in about 250 movies from 1934 to the 1950s.

Bobby Goff played in the minor leagues for nineteen years, 1923-1941.  He also was a minor league manager and general manager and a major league scout, remaining in baseball until 1972.

Jacques Doucet was the French-language play-by-play announcer for the Montreal Expos from 1972 until the team left.

Lance Barksdale has been a major league umpire since 2000.

NFL star Hines Ward was drafted by the Florida Marlins in 1994, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 8

Happy Birthday–March 7

Ed Willett (1884)
Dave Danforth (1890)
Andy Porter (1911)
Andy Phillip (1922)
Bobo Holloman (1923)
Red Wilson (1929)
Galen Cisco (1936)
Jimmie Hall (1938)
J. R. Richard (1950)
Jeff Burroughs (1951)
Albert Hall (1958)
Joe Carter (1960)
Jose Cano (1962)
German Gonzalez (1962)
Mauro Gozzo (1966)
Jeff Kent (1968)
Tyler Ladendorf (1988)
Justin Topa (1991)
Pablo Lopez (1996)
Michael Harris (2001)

A member of the basketball Hall of Fame, Andy Phillip played minor league baseball in 1947, 1949, and 1952, batting .281 in 123 games.

Bobo Holloman is sometimes referred to as the worst pitcher ever to throw a major league no-hitter.

The father of Robinson Cano, Jose Cano appeared in six games for Houston in 1989.

Two members of the all-Jeff team were born on this day.

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

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 7

Happy Birthday–March 6

Ring Lardner (1885)
Lefty Grove (1900)
Walter Cannady (1902)
Pete Gray (1915)
Bob Swift (1915)
Ted Abernathy (1933)
Cookie Rojas (1939)
Willie Stargell (1940)
Karl Best (1959)
Scott Stahoviak (1970)
Terry Adams (1973)
Marcus Thames (1977)
Clint Barmes (1979)
Jake Arrieta (1986)
Francisco Cervelli (1986)
Ross Detwiler (1986)

Author Ring Lardner wrote about a variety of subjects, but is probably most famous for writing about baseball.  If you haven't read any of his stuff, you really should.

As you probably know, Pete Gray played in 77 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1945 despite having only one arm.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 6

Happy Birthday–March 5

Sam Thompson (1860)
Jeff Tesreau (1888)
Lu Blue (1897)
Elmer Valo (1921)
Del Crandall (1930)
Phil Roof (1941)
Katsuo Osugi (1945)
Kent Tekulve (1947)
Doug Bird (1950)
Mike Veeck (1951)
Mike Squires (1952)
Steve Ontiveros (1961)
Brian Hunter (1971)
Jeffrey Hammonds (1971)
Ryan Franklin (1973)
Paul Konerko (1976)
Mike MacDougal (1977)
Erik Bedard (1979)
Joe Benson (1988)

Katsuo Osugi was the first player to have a thousand hits in the Japanese Central League and the Japanese Pacific League.

The son of Bill Veeck, Mike Veeck is an executive advisor to the president of the Goldklang Group, which at one time owned the St. Paul Saints.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to brianS’ daughter.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to spookymilk’s father.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 5

Happy Birthday–March 4

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

Red Murray (1884)
Jeff Pfeffer (1888)
Dazzy Vance (1891)
Lefty O'Doul (1897)
Buck Canel (1906)
Clyde McCullough (1917)
Mel Queen (1918)
Leo Righetti (1925)
Cass Michaels (1926)
Bob Johnson (1936)
Jack Fischer (1939)
Danny Frisella (1946)
Tom Grieve (1948)
Harry Saferight (1949)
Sam Perlozzo (1951)
Mark Wagner (1954)
Jeff Dedmon (1960)
Tom Lampkin (1964)
Giovanni Carrera (1968)
Dave Stevens (1970)
Mark Wegner (1972)
Sergio Romo (1983)
Nick Castellanos (1992)

Born in Argentina, Buck Canel broadcast major league baseball to Latin America for over four decades, calling forty-two World Series.

The father of Dave Righetti, Leo Righetti played in the minors for twelve years, eight of them in AAA.

Harry Saferight made it to the majors with Pittsburgh in 1979, but did not appear in a game.  He got to the on-deck circle three times, but each time the last out was made before he had a chance to bat.

St. Paul native Mark Wegner has been a major league umpire since 1998.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 4

Happy Birthday–March 3

John Montgomery Ward (1860)
Wee Willie Keeler (1872)
Ed Phelps (1879)
Tetsuya Yoneda (1938)
Paul Schaal (1943)
Rick Reed (1950)
Chuck Cary (1960)
Neal Heaton (1960)
Marvin Hudson (1964)
Scott Radinsky (1968)
Mike Romano (1972)
Matt Diaz (1978)
Jorge Julio (1979)

Tetsuya Yoneda is the second-winningest pitcher in Japanese professional baseball with 350 victories.

The Rick Reed whose birthday is today is the major league umpire from 1979-2009, not the ex-Twin.

Marvin Hudson was a major league umpire from 1979-2009.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 3