Tag Archives: ex-Twins

Happy Birthday–December 26

Morgan Bulkeley (1837)
Dad A (1922)
Stu Miller (1927)
Al Jackson (1935)
Wayne Causey (1936)
Ray Sadecki (1940)
Carlton Fisk (1947)
Chris Chambliss (1948)
Dave Rader (1948)
Ozzie Smith (1954)
Mike Sodders (1958)
Storm Davis (1961)
Jeff King (1964)
Esteban Beltre (1967)
Omar Infante (1981)

Mike Sodders was a first-round draft choice for the Twins in 1981. A star third baseman at Arizona State, he never could adjust to wooden bats, never hit, and never made the major leagues.

Dad A has been a Twins fan ever since the team started, and was a baseball fan before that. He coached, he ran the public address system, and he was on the board of the local baseball association. One of the many gifts he has given me is a love of baseball. Dad, I know you'll never read this, because you don't have a computer and can't think of a reason why you'd want one, but thank you and happy birthday. May you have many more.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 26

Happy Birthday–December 25

Pud Galvin (1856)
Joe Quinn (1864)
Barry McCormick (1874)
Walter Holke (1892)
Lloyd Brown (1904)
Ben Chapman (1908)
Jo-Jo Moore (1908)
Ned Garver (1925)
Nellie Fox (1927)
Gene Lamont (1946)
Manny Trillo (1950)
Luis Quintana (1951)
Jeff Little (1954)
Charlie Lea (1956)
Wallace Johnson (1956)
Rickey Henderson (1958)
Marty Pevey (1962)

There have been 23 major league players with the first name “Jesus”, including ex-Twins Jesus Vega and Jesus “Bombo” Rivera.  There have been no major league players with the last name “Christ.”  There have been thirteen players whose first name was “Christian” (honorable mention to Cristian Guzman), fifteen players whose middle name was “Christian” (including ex-Twins Marcus Jensen, David Lamb, and Kevin Maas), and two players whose last name was “Christian”.  We would be remiss if we did not also mention 1980s journeyman catcher Steve Christmas, as well as Matt Holliday.

The staff of Happy Birthday would like to wish everyone a very merry and blessed Christmas.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 25

This Week in Ex-Twins

Boston names Paul Abbott pitching coach of Greenville in the South Atlantic League.
Boston names Dick Such pitching coach of the GCL Red Sox.
Cincinnati signs Corky Miller.
Angels agree to terms with Luis Rodriguez on a minor league contract.
Toronto acquires R. A. Dickey and two other players from the Mets in exchange for four players, then agrees to terms with him to a three-year contract.
Toronto agrees to terms with Ramon Ortiz on a minor league contract.
Windy City of the Frontier League signs Blayne Weller.

There are reports that Pittsburgh has agreed to terms with Francisco Liriano, but apparently there is nothing official yet.

Happy Birthday–December 22

Connie Mack (1862)
Matty Alou (1938)
Elrod Hendricks (1940)
Steve Carlton (1944)
Hiroyuki Yamazaki (1946)
Charley Taylor (1947)
Steve Garvey (1948)
Tom Underwood (1953)
Ken Landreaux (1954)
Lonnie Smith (1955)
Glenn Wilson (1958)
George Wright (1958)
Jeff A (1958)
Andy Allanson (1961)
Mike Jackson (1964)

Steve Garvey was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 1966, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 22

Happy Birthday–December 21

Cy Williams (1887)
Josh Gibson (1911)
Bob Rush (1925)
Howie Reed (1936)
Paul Casanova (1941)
Elliott Maddox (1947)
Dave Kingman (1948)
Joaquin Andujar (1952)
Tom Henke (1957)
Roger McDowell (1960)
Andy Van Slyke (1960)
Dustin Hermanson (1972)
LaTroy Hawkins (1972)
D’Angelo Jimenez (1977)
Freddy Sanchez (1977)
Philip Humber (1982)

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to hungry joe’s wife, peckish jane.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 21

Happy Birthday–December 20

Jack Manning (1853)
Harry Stovey (1856)
Jimmy Williams (1876)
Branch Rickey (1881)
Fred Merkle (1888)
Butch Henline (1894)
George Pipgras (1899)
Gabby Hartnett (1900)
Spud Davis (1904)
Eddie Leishman (1910)
Julio Becquer (1931)
Oscar Gamble (1949)
Cecil Cooper (1949)
Ken Bolek (1953)
Jose DeLeon (1960)
Augie Ojeda (1974)
Aubrey Huff (1976)
David De Jesus (1979)
David Wright (1982)

We would also like to wish a very happy anniversary to spookymilk and mrs. milk.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 20

Happy Birthday–December 19

Ford Frick (1894)
Al Kaline (1934)
Tony Taylor (1935)
Walt Williams (1943)
Rob Gardner (1944)
Geoff Zahn (1945)
Kevin Stanfield (1955)
Stu Cliburn (1956)
Stan Cliburn (1956)
Tom Lawless (1956)
Clay Parker (1962)
Bill Wegman (1962)
Mike Fetters (1964)
Chito Martinez (1965)
Russell Branyan (1975)
Rafael Soriano (1979)

Clay Parker was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-first round in 1984, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 19