Tag Archives: Hall of Famers

Happy Birthday–October 12

Sam Field (1846)
Pop Smith (1856)
Malachi Kittridge (1869)
Pete Hill (1882)
Dixie Davis (1890)
Rick Ferrell (1905)
Joe Cronin (1906)
Al Smith (1907)
Bob Sheppard (1910)
Tony Kubek (1935)
Glenn Beckert (1940)
Herman Hill (1945)
Garth Iorg (1954)
Jim Lewis (1955)
Sid Fernandez (1962)
Jose Valentin (1969)
Derrick White (1969)
Tanyon Sturtze (1970)
Tony Fiore (1971)
Nick Tepesch (1988)
Ketel Marte (1993)

B-r.com says "Sam Field played only 12 games in the majors, but managed to do so with three teams in two leagues. He played mostly catcher.  His career may have been doomed by his .712 fielding percentage."  It may also have been doomed by his .146 batting average.

Pete Hill is considered one of the greatest outfielders of the Negro Leagues.  Incomplete statistics list his average as .303.

Hall of Famer Joe Cronin, of course, played for the Washington franchise from 1928-1934, managing the team in the latter two years. He married Clark Griffith’s niece, which did not keep Griffith from trading him to Boston after the 1934 season.

If there was a Hall of Fame for public address announcers, Bob Sheppard would be the first one in.

Jose Valentin is the brother of ex-Twin Javier Valentin.

First baseman/outfielder Derrick White was drafted by Minnesota in the 23rd round in 1989, but did not sign. He played in the major leagues for Montreal, Detroit, the Cubs, and Colorado, playing in three seasons and totaling 116 at-bats.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Dr. Chop.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 12

Happy Birthday–October 9

Dave Rowe (1854)
Al Maul (1865)
Rube Marquard (1866)
Branch Russell (1895)
Joe Sewell (1898)
Mike Hershberger (1939)
Joe Pepitone (1940)
Freddie Patek (1944)
Bob Moose (1947)
Steve Palermo (1949)
Brian Downing (1950)
Randy Lerch (1954)
Felix Fermin (1963)
Danny Mota (1975)
Brian Roberts (1977)
Mark McLemore (1980)
Jason Pridie (1983)
Derek Holland (1986)
David Phelps (1986)
Starling Marte (1988)
Jake Lamb (1990)

Steve Palermo was a major league umpire from 1977-1991, when he was shot and paralyzed while trying to prevent a robbery.  He became Supervisor of Umpires in 2000 until his death in 2017.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 9

Happy Birthday–October 7

Fleet Walker (1856)
Brickyard Kennedy (1867)
Bill Walker (1903)
Chuck Klein (1904)
Frank Baumholtz (1918)
Grady Hatton (1922)
Bud Daley (1932)
Phil Ortega (1939)
Jose Cardenal (1943)
Rich DeLucia (1964)
Evan Longoria (1985)
Alex Cobb (1987)
Mookie Betts (1992)
Kohl Stewart (1994)

Moses Fleetwood "Fleet" Walker is credited as the first African-American to play major league baseball.  A catcher, he appeared in forty-two games for the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association in 1884, until rival owners and players demanded that he be removed from the roster.  In those forty-two games, he batted .263/.325/.316.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 7

Happy Birthday–October 5

Henry Chadwick (1824)
John Reilly (1858)
Claude Ritchey (1873)
Jim Bagby (1889)
Sam West (1904)
Si Johnson (1906)
Andy Kosco (1941)
Dan Fife (1949)
Onix Concepcion (1957)
Randy Bush (1958)
Rey Sanchez (1965)
Brandon Puffer (1975)
Tanner Roark (1986)
Zack Littell (1995)

Henry Chadwick is often considered the father of baseball.  He wrote the first rule book, created the box score, and was the first to keep track of singles, doubles, triples, and home runs.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 5

Happy Birthday–October 4

Orator Shafer (1851)
Ray Fisher (1887)
Frank Crosetti (1910)
Red Munger (1918)
Rip Repulski (1928)
Jimy Williams (1943)
Tony LaRussa (1944)
Glenn Adams (1947)
Dave Johnson (1948)
John Wathan (1949)
Lary Sorensen (1955)
Charlie Liebrandt (1956)
Joe Boever (1960)
Billy Hatcher (1960)
Dennis Cook (1962)
Chris James (1962)
Bruce Ruffin (1963)
Mark McLemore (1964)
Steve Olin (1965)
Kyle Lohse (1978)
Tony Gwynn (1982)
Jered Weaver (1982)
Kurt Suzuki (1983)
Edgar Garcia (1996)

Frank Crosetti was a coach for the Twins from 1970-71.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 4

Happy Birthday–October 3

Fred Clarke (1872)
Felix Evans (1910)
Bob Skinner (1931)
Jack Lamabe (1936)
Chuck Scrivener (1947)
Dave Winfield (1951)
Dennis Eckersley (1954)
Jim Joyce (1955)
Daryl Sconiers (1958)
Darrin Fletcher (1966)
Junior Felix (1967)
Wil Cordero (1971)
Eric Munson (1977)
Phil Gosselin (1988)
Adam Plutko (1991)
Brock Stewart (1991)

Infielder Chuck Scrivener was drafted by the Twins in the seventeenth round in 1966, but did not sign.

Jim Joyce was a major league umpire from 1989-2016.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to spookymilk.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 3

Happy Birthday–October 1

Ray Kolp (1894)
Carmen Hill (1895)
Jimmie Reese (1901)
Bob Griffith (1912)
Jim Russell (1918)
Bob Boyd (1919)
Hal Naragon (1928)
Chuck Hiller (1934)
Rod Carew (1945)
Bill Bonham (1948)
Pete Falcone (1953)
Jeff Reardon (1955)
Vance Law (1956)
Mark McGwire (1963)
Roberto Kelly (1964)
Chuck McElroy (1967)
John Thomson (1973)
Brandon Knight (1975)
Matt Cain (1984)
Erik Komatsu (1987)
Robbie Ray (1991)
Xander Bogaerts (1992)
Caleb Boushley (1993)
Charlie Barnes (1995)
David Banuelos (1996)

Jimmie Reese played in the majors only briefly, but was a coach in the majors or minors for most of his life.  He was Babe Ruth's roommate for a short period and uttered the famous line that in reality, he roomed with Babe Ruth's suitcase.  He is also remembered for his skill with a fungo bat, to the extent that he would sometimes pitch batting practice with it.

October 1 takes over the lead for most Twins birthdays with nine.

We would also like to wish Beau a very happy birthday.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–October 1

Happy Birthday–September 30

Gabby Street (1882)
Nap Rucker (1884)
Bobby Williams (1895)
Johnny Allen (1904)
Robin Roberts (1926)
Johnny Podres (1932)
Craig Kusick (1948)
Dave Magadan (1962)
Yorkis Perez (1967)
Jose Lima (1972)
Carlos Guillen (1975)
Seth Smith (1982)
Kenley Jansen (1987)

Gabby Street was a light-hitting catcher who played in parts of eight major leagues seasons, mostly for the Washington Senators. He was Walter Johnson's primary catcher. He later did some managing and broadcasting. He is best remembered as the first man to catch a baseball dropped from the top of the Washington Monument.

Five players born on this day made their major league debut in 2019:  Jesus Luzardo, Travis Demeritte, Trent Thornton, Jack Mayfield, and Brian Moran.  I don't know that that's a record, but I don't know that it isn't, either.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 30

Happy Birthday–September 27

Jelly Gardner (1895)
Whit Wyatt (1907)
Dick Hall (1930)
Dave Wickersham (1935)
Gary Sutherland (1944)
Mike Schmidt (1949)
Bob Veselic (1955)
Don Schulze (1962)
Todd Blyleven (1972)
Vicente Padilla (1977)
Jon Rauch (1978)
Jon Garland (1979)
Matt Shoemaker (1986)
Simeon Woods Richardson (2000)

Todd Blyleven is, as you probably know, the son of Bert Blyleven. He pitched in the minor leagues for seven years, getting as high as AA, then was a scout for eight years.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 27

Happy Birthday–September 25

Pat Malone (1902)
Phil Rizzuto (1917)
Johnny Sain (1917)
Sal Butera (1952)
Glenn Hubbard (1957)
Geno Petralli (1959)
Oscar Munoz (1969)
David Weathers (1969)
Tony Womack (1969)
Wil Nieves (1977)
Joel Pineiro (1978)
Rocco Baldelli (1981)
Vance Worley (1987)
Ben Rortvedt (1997)

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 25