Some folks we haven't heard from for a while.
Tag Archives: ex-Twins
Happy Birthday–June 28
Ken Williams (1890)
Haruyasu Nakajima (1910)
A. Ray Smith (1915)
Oscar Rodriguez (1931)
Fred Gladding (1936)
Ron Luciano (1937)
Fred Talbot (1941)
Al Downing (1941)
Don Baylor (1949)
Chris Speier (1950)
Joe Sambito (1952)
Clay Christiansen (1958)
John Elway (1960)
Jay Schroeder (1961)
Mark Grace (1964)
Ron Mahay (1971)
Corey Koskie (1973)
Richard Hidalgo (1975)
Brandon Phillips (1981)
Haruyasu Nakajima is in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
A. Ray Smith owned minor league baseball teams from 1961-1986.
Oscar Rodriguez is in the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ron Luciano was an American League umpire from 1969-1979.
NFL quarterbacks John Elway and Jay Schroeder each played minor league baseball. Elway hit .318 in 151 at-bats as an outfielder for Class A Oneonta in 1982. Schroeder was primarily an outfielder for four years in the Toronto system, never getting higher than Class A. He hit .213 with 36 homers in 1,304 minor league at-bats.
Mark Grace was drafted by Minnesota in the fifteenth round of the January draft in 1984, but did not sign.
Happy Birthday–June 27
Rube Benton (1890)
Fred Saigh (1905)
Dick Terwilliger (1906)
Wendell Smith (1914)
Lou Kretlow (1921)
Gus Zernial (1923)
Wayne Terwilliger (1925)
Charles Bronfman (1931)
Chuck Coles (1931)
Eddie Kasko (1932)
Rico Petrocelli (1943)
Takashi Nishimoto (1956)
Jeff Conine (1966)
Jim Edmonds (1970)
Daryle Ward (1975)
Chris Woodward (1976)
Luis Rodriguez (1980)
Fred Saigh was the owner of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1947-1953, selling Anheuser-Busch.
Wendell Smith was an African-American sportswriter who was influential in the choice of Jackie Robinson as the first African-American major league player.
Charles Bronfman was the owner of the Montreal Expos from 1969-1991.
Takashi Nishimoto was a star pitcher in Japan from 1977-1993.
Daryle Ward is the son of ex-Twin Gary Ward.
Happy Birthday–June 24
Billy Nash (1865)
George Harper (1892)
Rollie Hemsley (1907)
Jim Mills (1919)
Wally Yonamine (1925)
Don Mincher (1938)
Ken Reitz (1951)
Doug Jones (1957)
Tom Klawitter (1958)
Doug Bernier (1980)
Phil Hughes (1986)
Jim Mills spent almost his entire adult life involved in baseball in the Carolinas. He played college ball at North Carolina State, played minor league ball for nine seasons in the Carolinas, managed in Carolina minor leagues for six seasons, umpired in the Carolina League for two seasons, was in minor league front offices in the Carolinas from 1956-1971, and was president of the Carolina League for seven years.
Born in Hawaii, Wally Yonamine was a star in Japan from 1951-1962, stealing home eleven times.
Happy Birthday–June 23
George Weiss (1894)
Jack Smith (1895)
Karl Spooner (1931)
Dave Bristol (1933)
Tom Haller (1937)
Dave Goltz (1949)
Marty Barrett (1958)
Jim Deshaies (1960)
Hensley Meulens (1967)
Josh Byrnes (1970)
Mark Hendrickson (1974)
George Weiss was the general manager of the New York Yankees from 1948-1960.
Karl Spooner set the record, later tied by J. R. Richard, for strikeouts in a major league debut with fifteen.
Dave Bristol managed four different teams from 1966-1980.
Josh Byrnes is the general manager of the San Diego Padres.
Happy Birthday–June 22
Carl Hubbell (1903)
Walt Masterson (1920)
Han Urbanus (1927)
Faye Throneberry (1931)
Russ Snyder (1934)
Dave Tomlin (1949)
Ron Hodges (1949)
Greg Booker (1960)
Brant Brown (1971)
Esteban Yan (1975)
Willie Harris (1978)
Luis Maza (1980)
Ian Kinsler (1982)
Han Urbanus is in the Dutch Baseball Hall of Fame. He pitched over 150 consecutive complete games over a period of eight years.
The brother of Marv Throneberry, outfielder Faye Throneberry spent much of his career with the Twins franchise while it was still in Washington (1957-1960). In December of 1960, he was chosen by the Los Angeles Angels in the expansion draft.
This Week in Ex Twins
Because life has its ups and downs.
Happy Birthday–June 21
Matt Kilroy (1866)
Randy Moore (1906)
Harold Seymour (1910)
Ed Lopat (1918)
Merle Harmon (1926)
Jackie Collum (1927)
Charlie Moore (1953)
Rick Sutcliffe (1956)
Jay Pettibone (1957)
Donovan Osborne (1969)
Garrett Jones (1981)
Jeff Baker (1981)
Harold Seymour wrote a three-part History of Baseball, published from 1960-1990.
Merle Harmon broadcast Minnesota Twins games from 1967-1969.
We would also like to wish a happy birthday to MagUidhir, Sheenie, and UncleWalt’s daughter (NieceWalt?).
Happy Birthday–June 20
Ned Cuthbert (1845)
Jim Delahanty (1879)
Cum Posey (1890)
Billy Werber (1908)
Andy Etchebarren (1943)
Dave Nelson (1944)
Paul Beeston (1945)
Dickie Thon (1958)
Doug Gwosdz (1960)
Juan Castro (1972)
Paul Bako (1972)
Carlos Lee (1976)
Kevin Gregg (1978)
Kendrys Morales (1983)
Cum Posey, played for, managed, and owned the Homestead Grays in the Negro National League.
Paul Beeston has been president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1989-1997 and since 2010.
Happy Birthday–June 19
Eddie Cicotte (1884)
Lou Gehrig (1903)
Bill Swift (1908)
Don Gutteridge (1912)
Archie Ware (1918)
Mom A (1925)
Chet Boak (1935)
Bob Aspromonte (1938)
Isao Harimoto (1940)
Jerry Reuss (1949)
Duane Kuiper (1950)
Jim Slaton (1950)
Johnnie LeMaster (1954)
Doug Mientkiewicz (1974)
Alex Prieto (1976)
Dustan Mohr (1976)
Bruce Chen (1977)
Archie Ware was a star first baseman in the Negro Leagues.
Infielder Chet Boak played for the Twins’ AAA affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs, in 1961, but does not appear to have actually been a part of the Twins’ organization, as records show him belonging to the expansion Washington Senators. One assumes he was loaned to the Twins’ for part of that season.
Isao Harimoto is the only person to have 3,000 hits in Japanese baseball.
I would also like to wish a very happy birthday to my mother. She was not a big baseball fan (she felt I'd had a good game if she didn't have to wash my uniform, which unfortunately happened quite a bit because I sat on the bench a lot), but she came to every game and often worked in the cramped little concession stand even on the hottest days. Happy birthday, Mom.