Tag Archives: ex-Twins

Happy Birthday–April 19

Bucky Walters (1909)
Hector Maestri (1935)
Rick Miller (1948)
Ed Hodge (1958)
R. J. Reynolds (1959)
Frank Viola (1960)
Spike Owen (1961)
Scott Kamieniecki (1964)
Brent Mayne (1968)
Jose Cruz (1974)
Joe Beimel (1977)
George Sherrill (1977)
Dennys Reyes (1977)
Joe Mauer (1983)

Right-hander Hector Maestri was with the Washington franchise in 1960, making one appearance in the majors.  Before the 1961 season started, however, he was selected in the expansion draft by the new Washington franchise, for whom he made one more appearance in 1961.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 19

Happy Birthday–April 18

Frank Navin (1871)
Sam Crawford (1880)
Duffy Lewis (1888)
Jack Scott (1892)
Steve Blass (1942)
Mike Paul (1945)
Doug Flynn (1951)
Bobby Castillo (1955)
Rich Bordi (1959)
Jim Eisenreich (1959)
Dennis Rasmussen (1959)
Steve Dunn (1970)
Rico Brogna (1970)
Brian Buscher (1981)
Miguel Cabrera (1983)
Billy Butler (1986)

Rich Bordi was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 1977, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Mrs. CarterHayes.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 18

Happy Birthday–April 16

Dutch Leonard (1892)
Paul Waner (1903)
Babe Phelps (1908)
Pete Hughes (1915)
Pete Suder (1916)
Joe Bauman (1922)
Rich Rollins (1938)
Bernie Allen (1939)
Garry Roggenburk (1940)
Jim Lonborg (1942)
Bob Montgomery (1944)
Bruce Bochy (1955)
Curt Young (1960)
Fernando Vina (1969)
Antonio Alfonseca (1972)
Kelly Dransfeldt (1975)

Joe Bauman hit 72 home runs for Roswell in the Longhorn League in 1954.

Kelly Dransfeldt was drafted by Minnesota in the seventh round in 1993, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 16

Happy Birthday–April 14

Cannonball Redding (1890)
Marvin Miller (1917)
Gordon Gillespie (1926)
Don Mueller (1927)
Marty Keough (1934)
Pete Rose (1941)
Joe Lahoud (1947)
Ron Schueler (1948)
Greg Maddux (1966)
David Justice (1966)
Greg Myers (1966)
Mike Trombley (1967)
Brad Ausmus (1969)
Steve Avery (1970)
Gregg Zaun (1971)
Kyle Farnsworth (1976)

Gordon Gillespie holds the record for most wins by a college baseball coach.

It must be kind of a bummer for a big league ballplayer to not only not be the best player born on the day and year he was born, but to not even be the best player with his first name born on the day and year he was born.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 14

Happy Birthday–April 11

Pop Corkhill (1858)
Ossee Schreckengost (1875)
Matsutaro Shiriki (1885)
Sam Chapman (1916)
Barney McCloskey (1917)
Jim Hearn (1921)
Futoshi Nakanisi (1933)
Sid Monge (1951)
Bret Saberhagen (1964)
Turner Ward (1965)
Sean Bergman (1970)
Robin Jennings (1972)
Jason Varitek (1972)
Trot Nixon (1974)
Todd Dunwoody (1975)
Kelvim Escobar (1976)
Mark Teixeira (1980)

Matustaro Shiriki is known as the father of Japanese baseball.

Jason Varitek was drafted by the Twins in the first round in 1993, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 11

Happy Birthday–April 10

Ross Youngs (1897)
Bubba Hyde (1908)
Chuck Connors (1921)
Frank Lary (1930)
Robert Nederlander (1933)
Wes Stock (1934)
Joe Gibbon (1935)
Bob Watson (1946)
Lee Lacy (1948)
Tom Lundstedt (1949)
Ken Griffey (1950)
Mike Devereaux (1963)
Starvin’ Marvin Freeman (1963)
Alberto Reyes (1971)
Mike Lincoln (1975)
Andre Ethier (1982)

Better known as an actor, Chuck Connors was a first baseman for the Chicago Cubs in 1951.  He also played professional basketball, and was the first player to break the glass backboard with a slam dunk in a professional basketball game.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 10

Happy Birthday–April 8

John Peters (1850)
Kirby Higbe (1915)
Stan Wasiak (1920)
Charlie Maxwell (1927)
Turk Farrell (1934)
Takao Kajimoto (1935)
John Hiller (1943)
Catfish Hunter (1946)
Randy Marsh (1949)
Mac Scarce (1949)
Gary Carter (1954)
Alex Gonzalez (1973)
Timo Perez (1975)
Matt Ford (1981)
Felix Hernandez (1986)
Yonder Alonso (1987)

Stan Wasiak holds the record for most wins as a minor league manager, 2,530.  He managed from 1950-1986, managing at levels from Class D to AAA.

Yonder Alonso was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 2005, but did not sign.

We would like to wish a happy birthday to the brother of Daneeka's Ghost.  We would also like to wish everyone a joyous and blessed Easter.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 8