Tag Archives: ex-Twins

Happy Birthday–July 3

Nig Cuppy (1869)
Curt Walker (1896)
Buddy Rosar (1914)
Art Fowler (1922)
Ed Roebuck (1931)
Cesar Tovar (1940)
John Verhoeven (1952)
Frank Tanana (1953)
Matt Keough (1955)
Danny Heep (1957)
Warren Newson (1964)
Greg Vaughn (1965)
Moises Alou (1966)
Brian Cashman (1967)
Juan Rivera (1978)
Edinson Volquez (1983)
Tommy Hunter (1986)
Yangervis Solarte (1987)

Brian Cashman has been the general manager of the New York Yankees since 1998.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 3

Happy Birthday–July 2

Grover Hartley (1888)
Cliff Bell (1896)
Hal Wagner (1915)
Dick Greco (1925)
Red Rush (1927)
Chuck Stobbs (1929)
Mike Reilly (1949)
Tony Armas (1953)
Jose Canseco (1964)
Joe Magrane (1964)
Sean Casey (1974)
Greg Dobbs (1978)
Angel Pagan (1982)
Samuel Deduno (1983)
Brett Cecil (1986)
Rene Tosoni (1986)

Grover Hartley is one of ten players named "Grover" to play in the major leagues. There has been only two since the 1930s:  Grover Powell, who appeared in twenty games for the Mets in 1963, and Deacon Jones, whose given name was Grover, who appeared in forty games for the White Sox in 1962-63 and 1966.  I guess nobody names their kid "Grover" anymore.

Dick Greco played twelve seasons in the minors, hitting 328 home runs, but never got a chance in the majors.

Red Rush was a radio broadcaster for the White Sox, the Athletics, and the Cardinals.

Mike Reilly was a major league umpire from 1977-2010.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 2

Happy Birthday–July 1

Roger Connor (1857)
John Clarkson (1861)
Jack Quinn (1883)
Ben Taylor (1888)
Bob Prince (1916)
Frank Baumann (1933)
Brian Sabean (1956)
Jamie Walker (1971)
Nelson Cruz (1980)
Matt Carson (1981)
Justin Huber (1982)
Charlie Blackmon (1986)
Michael Wacha (1991)
Aaron Sanchez (1992)
Jaylin Davis (1994)

First baseman Ben Taylor was a star in the Negro Leagues, batting over .300 in fifteen of his sixteen seasons.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Prince is best remembered for his years with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1948-1975.

Brian Sabean was the general manager of the San Francisco Giants from 1997-2014 and has been their executive vice president of baseball operations since that time.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 1

Happy Birthday–June 30

Davy Jones (1880)
Ed Rile (1900)
Ron Swoboda (1944)
Chuck Meriwether (1956)
Bud Black (1957)
Al Newman (1960)
Tony Fernandez (1962)
Mark Grudzielanek (1970)
Garret Anderson (1972)
Chan Ho Park (1973)
Pat Venditte (1985)
Jesus Aguilar (1990)
Trea Turner (1993)

Chuck Meriwether was a major league umpire from 1993-2010.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to spookymilk’s wife and to hungry joe’s son, Famished Pete.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 30

Happy Birthday–June 29

Wilbert Robinson (1863)
Harry Frazee (1880)
Bobby Veach (1888)
Ollie Carnegie (1899)
Ken Blackman (1911)
Dizzy Trout (1915)
Cal Drummond (1917)
Bob Shaw (1933)
Katsuya Nomura (1935)
Harmon Killebrew (1936)
John Boccabella (1941)
Larry Stahl (1941)
Bruce Kimm (1951)
Rick Honeycutt (1954)
Pedro Guerrero (1956)
John Wehner (1967)
Trey Hodges (1978)
Dusty Hughes (1982)
Brooks Raley (1988)
Jose Miranda (1998)

Harry Frazee was the owner of the Red Sox from 1916-1923 and is best remembered for selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees.

Ollie Carnegie is the all-time home run king of the International League with 258.  He started his minor league career at age 32.

Ken Blackman was a minor league player, college coach, minor league executive, and major league scout.

Cal Drummond was an American League umpire from 1960-1969.

Katsuya Nomura hit 657 home runs in Japan during his twenty-five-year career.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 29

Happy Birthday–June 28

Ken Williams (1890)
Haruyasu Nakajima (1910)
A. Ray Smith (1915)
Oscar Rodriguez (1931)
Fred Gladding (1936)
Ron Luciano (1937)
Al Downing (1941)
Fred Talbot (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.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Philosofer's youngest child. Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 28

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 (1931)
Rico Petrocelli (1943)
Takashi Nishimoto (1956)
Jeff Conine (1966)
Jim Edmonds (1970)
Daryle Ward (1975)
Chris Woodward (1976)
Luis Rodriguez (1980)
Jim Johnson (1983)
Abraham Almonte (1989)

Fred Saigh was the owner of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1947-1953, selling to 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.

We would also like to wish a happy anniversary to MagUidhir's brother.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 27

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.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 24

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 has been the general manager of Arizona and San Diego and is currently the senior vice president of baseball operations for the Dodgers.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 23

Happy Birthday–June 22

Steel Arm Davis (1896)
Carl Hubbell (1903)

Walt Masterson (1920)
Han Urbanus (1927)
Faye Throneberry (1931)
Russ Snyder (1934)
Ron Hodges (1949)
Dave Tomlin (1949)
Greg Booker (1960)
Brant Brown (1971)
Esteban Yan (1975)
Willie Harris (1978)
Luis Maza (1980)
Ian Kinsler (1982)
Engelb Vielma (1994)

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.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–June 22