Deacon White (1847)
Andre Rodgers (1934)
Pedro Borbon (1946)
Wayne Simpson (1948)
Julio Cruz (1954)
Chip Hale (1964)
Darryl Kile (1968)
Mark Kotsay (1975)
Peter Moylan (1978)
Gary Sanchez (1992)
Tag Archives: ex-Twins
Happy Birthday–December 1
Ed Reulbach (1882)
Willie Mitchell (1889)
Walter Alston (1911)
Calvin Griffith (1911)
Cookie Lavagetto (1912)
Marty Marion (1917)
Cal McLish (1925)
George Foster (1948)
Dan Schatzeder (1954)
Greg Harris (1963)
Larry Walker (1966)
Reggie Sanders (1967)
Kirk Rueter (1970)
Javier Baez (1992)
Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1999)
As everyone reading this knows, Calvin Griffith was the long-time owner of the Minnesota Twins. He had served in a variety of positions for the Washington Senators, including batboy, minor league player-manager, and working in the front office. His managing career lasted from 1937-1941. He also played for Class B Charlotte from 1939-1941. No records of his playing career are available from 1939-1940, but in 1941 he got a hit in his only at-bat.
Happy Birthday–November 30
Mordecai Davidson (1845)
Frank Killen (1870)
Josh Billings (1891)
Firpo Marberry (1898)
Clyde Sukeforth (1901)
Dick Seay (1904)
Steve Hamilton (1935)
Craig Swan (1950)
Juan Berenguer (1954)
Dave Engle (1956)
Steve Shields (1958)
Bob Tewksbury (1960)
Bo Jackson (1962)
Gary Wayne (1962)
Mark Lewis (1969)
Ray Durham (1971)
Matt Lawton (1971)
Shane Victorino (1980)
Rich Harden (1981)
Luis Valbuena (1985)
Chase Anderson (1987)
Mordecai Davidson was the owner of the Louisville Colonels in the late 1880s. Under financial pressure, he tried to save money in a variety of ways, including fining players each time the team lost. As a result, he is credited with inspiring the first baseball players' strike. Nobody ever seems to name their kid "Mordecai" any more.
Happy Birthday–November 29
Tom Hughes (1878)
Irv Noren (1924)
Minnie Minoso (1925)
Vin Scully (1927)
George Thomas (1937)
Dick McAuliffe (1939)
Bill Freehan (1941)
Otto Velez (1950)
Mike Easler (1950)
Rick Anderson (1956)
Joe Price (1956)
Dennis Burtt (1957)
Howard Johnson (1960)
Bob Hamelin (1967)
Mariano Rivera (1969)
Brian Wolfe (1980)
Guillermo Quiroz (1981)
Craig Gentry (1983)
Happy Birthday–November 28
Heinie Pietz (1870)
Frank O'Rourke (1894)
Johnny Wright (1916)
Jerry Gardner (1920)
Wes Westrum (1922)
Sixto Lezcano (1953)
Dave Righetti (1958)
Walt Weiss (1963)
John Burkett (1964)
Matt Williams (1965)
Pedro Astacio (1969)
Robb Nen (1969)
Jose Parra (1972)
Carlos Villaneuva (1983)
Miguel Diaz (1994)
Jerry Gardner spent most of his life in baseball as a minor-league player and manager and as a scout.
We would like to wish a very happy birthday to Mom Runner.
Happy Birthday–November 26
Hugh Duffy (1866)
Fred Tenney (1871)
Bob Johnson (1905)
Lefty Gomez (1908)
Howard Easterling (1911)
Bob Elliott (1916)
Eddie Miller (1916)
Jeff Torborg (1941)
Larry Gura (1947)
Richie Hebner (1947)
Jorge Orta (1950)
Jay Howell (1955)
Bob Walk (1956)
Mike Moore (1959)
Harold Reynolds (1960)
Chuck Finley (1962)
Brian Schneider (1976)
Matt Garza (1983)
Matt Carpenter (1985)
Infielder Howard Easterling was a star in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s and 1940s.
Happy Birthday–November 25
Bert Cunningham (1865)
Jakie May (1895)
Clint Thomas (1896)
Charles Baron (1913)
Joe DiMaggio (1914)
Mike Ryan (1941)
Bucky Dent (1951)
Dave Baker (1956)
Chico Walker (1958)
Mark Whiten (1966)
Octavio Dotel (1973)
Nick Swisher (1980)
First baseman Charles Baron played in the minors from 1931-1951, batting .306 with 2,319 hits. He was a player-manager for the last five of those seasons.
Happy Birthday–November 24
George Burns (1889)
Billy Rogell (1904)
Joe Medwick (1911)
Danny Ozark (1923)
Bob Friend (1930)
Jim Northrup (1939)
Steve Yeager (1948)
Randy Velarde (1962)
Cal Eldred (1967)
Ben McDonald (1967)
Al Martin (1967)
Dave Hansen (1968)
Chris Herrmann (1987)
Danny Ozark was the manager of Philadelphia from 1973-1979.
Happy Birthday–November 23
This is a great day for names:
Chief Zimmer (1860)
Hi Church (1863)
Socks Seybold (1870)
George Stovall (1877)
Jimmy Sheckard (1878)
Runt Marr (1891)
Freddy Leach (1897)
Beans Reardon (1897)
Bubber Jonnard (1897)
Prince Hal Schumacher (1910)
Bill Gates (1918)
Charles Osgood (1926)
John Anderson (1929)
Jack McKeon (1930)
Luis Tiant (1940)
Tom Hall (1947)
Ken Schrom (1954)
Brook Jacoby (1959)
Dale Sveum (1963)
David McCarty (1969)
Adam Eaton (1977)
Jonathan Papelbon (1980)
Justin Turner (1984)
Lewis Thorpe (1995)
Runt Marr played in the minor leagues for nineteen years, managed in the minors for fifteen years, and was also a scout for many years.
Beans Reardon was a National League umpire from 1926-1949.
Bubber Jonnard was a long-time coach and scout.
Bill Gates was a minor league pitcher from 1938-1940 and 1946-1951.
Jack McKeon was a long-time manager and general manager, leading the Florida Marlins to a World Series victory in 2003. In 2011, he became the second-oldest manager in major league history at age 80. He also managed in the minor leagues for the Senators/Twins from 1957-64 and again in 1968, scouting for the Twins from 1965-67.
The staff of Happy Birthday would like to wish everyone a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.
Happy Birthday–November 22
Harry Rice (1901)
Dick Bartell (1907)
Fred Bankhead (1912)
Lew Burdette (1926)
Wade Blasingame (1943)
Rich Chiles (1946)
Greg Luzinski (1950)
Lyman Bostock (1950)
Wayne Tolleson (1955)
Lee Guetterman (1958)
Mike Benjamin (1965)
Jay Payton (1972)
Ricky Ledee (1973)
Joe Nathan (1974)
Jonny Gomes (1980)
Yusmeiro Petit (1984)
Adam Ottovino (1985)
Drew Pomeranz (1988)
Austin Romine (1988)
Griffin Jax (1994)
Mike Benjamin was drafted by Minnesota in the seventh round in January, 1985, but did not sign.