Tag Archives: Hall of Famers

Happy Birthday–August 9

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

John Grim (1867)
John Galbreath (1897)
Jack Tighe (1913)
Ralph Houk (1919)
Julian Javier (1936)
Claude Osteen (1939)
Paul Lindblad (1941)
Tommie Agee (1942)
Chris Wheeler (1945)
Bill Campbell (1948)
Ted Simmons (1949)
John Moses (1957)
Matt Young (1958)
Deion Sanders (1967)
Troy Percival (1969)
Pat Mahomes (1970)
Ryan Radmanovich (1971)
Matt Morris (1974)
Mike Lamb (1975)
Brian Fuentes (1975)
Jason Frasor (1977)
Steve Lomasney (1977)
Drew Butera (1983)
Jason Heyward (1989)
Kyle Cody (1994).

John Galbreath was the owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1946-1985.

Jack Tighe was a long-time minor league player, manager, and scout.  He also managed the Detroit Tigers from 1956-1957.

Ralph Houk is best known as a manager of the New York Yankees, but he was also a special assistant to the general manager for the Twins from 1987-1989.

Chris Wheeler was a broadcaster for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1977-2013.

Better known for his Hall of Fame NFL career, Deion Sanders was a major league outfielder for nine seasons, leading the league in triples in 1992.  He hit .263/.319/.392 in 2,123 at-bats.

Kyle Cody was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 2015 but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–August 9

Happy Birthday–August 7

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Adonis Terry (1864)
Joe Hewitt (1885)
Bill McKechnie (1886)
Rocky Bridges (1927)
Art Houtteman (1927)
Don Larsen (1929)
Ron Henry (1936)
Jerry McNertney (1936)
Gary Dotter (1942)
Mike Poepping (1950)
Steve Kemp (1954)
Jason Grimsley (1967)
Danny Graves (1973)
Edgar Renteria (1976)
Wade LeBlanc (1984)
Ryan Lavarnway (1987)
Brock Stassi (1989)
Tony Zych (1990)
Mike Trout (1991)
Jose De Leon (1992)

Tony Zych broke Dutch Zwilling's record for last in alphabetical order for major league baseball players.

There are three people named "Josh Smith" who have played major league baseball.  Two of them were born on this day.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–August 7

Happy Birthday–August 3

Silver Flint (1855)
Ed McFarland (1874)
Harry Heilmann (1894)
Jim Hegan (1920)
Roger Repoz (1940)
Dan Meyer (1952)
Bob Davidson (1952)
Jim Gott (1959)
Mike Jeffcoat (1959)
Sid Bream (1960)
Mackey Sasser (1962)
Kevin Elster (1964)
Rod Beck (1968)
Troy Glaus (1976)
Travis Bowyer (1981)
Mark Reynolds (1983)
Matt Joyce (1984)
Travis Blankenhorn (1996)

Bob Davidson was an umpire from 1985-1999 and 2005-2016.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–August 3

Happy Birthday–August 1

Frank Grant (1865)
Joe Shaute (1899)
George Sisler, Jr. (1917)
George Bamberger (1923)
Masaichi Kaneda (1933)
Pedro Cisneros (1939)
Tony Muser (1947)
Milt May (1950)
Pete Mackanin (1951)
Greg Gross (1952)
Dave Anderson (1960)
Gregg Jefferies (1967)
Brian Bohanon (1968)
Shigetoshi Hasegawa (1968)
Kevin Jarvis (1969)
Brandon Kintzler (1984)

Adam Jones (1985)
Madison Bumgarner (1989)
Kennys Vargas (1990)

Infielder Ulysses Franklin "Frank" Grant is considered one of the best African-American baseball players of the nineteenth century.

The son of the Hall of Famer, George Sisler, Jr. was a long-time minor league executive, winning the Minor League Executive of the Year award three times.  He served as International League president from 1965-1976 and is a member of the International League Hall of Fame.

Masaichi Kaneda won four hundred games over a twenty-year career in Japan.

Pedro Cisneros was commissioner of the Mexican League from 1982-99 and was the editor of the first Mexican League Encyclopedia.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to brianS' sister-in-law.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–August 1

Happy Birthday–July 31

Joe Sugden (1870)
Laughing Larry Doyle (1886)
Art Nehf (1892)
Allen Russell (1893)
Neil Robinson (1907)
Elmer Riddle (1914)
Curt Gowdy (1919)
Hank Bauer (1922)
John Vukovich (1947)
Dave Dombrowski (1956)
Leon Durham (1957)
Mike Bielecki (1959)
Scott Bankhead (1963)
Ted Barrett (1965)
Gabe Kapler (1975)
Rene Rivera (1983)

Hall of Fame broadcaster Curt Gowdy was the voice of the NBC Game of the Week from 1965-1975.

Dave Dombrowski was the general manager of the Montreal Expos/Florida Marlins and of the Detroit Tigers, was currently the president of baseball operations for the Boston Red Sox, and is currently the president of baseball operations for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ted Barrett was a major league umpire from 1994-2022.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 31

Happy Birthday–July 30

Casey Stengel (1890)
Frankie Pytlak (1908)
Tony Lucadello (1912)
Joe Coleman (1922)
Paul Minner (1923)
Joe Nuxhall (1928)
Gus Triandos (1930)
Bud Selig (1934)
Vic Davalillo (1939)
Bob Barton (1941)
Pat Kelly (1944)
Doug Rader (1944)
Jim Spencer (1946)
Ellis Valentine (1954)
Clint Hurdle (1957)
Steve Trout (1957)
Scott Fletcher (1958)
Tom Pagnozzi (1962)
Scott Diamond (1986)

Tony Lucadello was a major league scout for forty-eight years.

Allan Huber "Bud" Selig was the commissioner of baseball from 1992-2014.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 30

Happy Birthday–July 28

Bullet Joe Rogan (1893)
Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons (1901)
Morrie Silver (1909)
Ted Lepcio (1929)
Masaaki Koyama (1934)
Marty Brennaman (1942)
Vida Blue (1949)
Wayne Krivsky (1954)
Carmelo Martinez (1960)
Bob Milacki (1964)
Derek Lee (1966)
Darin Ruf (1986)
Walker Buehler (1994)
Jorge Alcala (1995)

Bullet Joe Rogan, given name Charles Wilber Rogan, was a star in the Negro Leagues from 1920-1938.

Morrie Silver is credited with having saved baseball in Rochester when the St. Louis Cardinals threatened to drop their team there.  He is a member of the International League Hall of Fame.

Masaaki Koyama won 320 games in Japan, third on the all-time list.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman was with the Cincinnati Reds from 1974-2019.

Wayne Krivsky was an assistant general manager of the Twins until 2006, when he became the general manager of Cincinnati.  He returned to the Twins as an assistant to the general manager from 2011-2017.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to MagUidhir’s brother.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 28

Happy Birthday–July 27

Davy Force (1846)
Joe Tinker (1880)
Rube Walberg (1896)
Biz Mackey (1897)
Benny Bengough (1898)
Zack Taylor (1898)
Leo Durocher (1905)
Kazuto Tsuruoka (1916)
Ray Boone (1923)
Harry Wendelstedt (1938)
Larry Biittner (1945)
Rich Dauer (1952)
Bump Wills (1952)
Brian Kingman (1954)
Shane Rawley (1955)
Dave Dombrowski (1956)
Tom Goodwin (1968)
Shane Bowers (1971)
Enrique Wilson (1973)
Alex Rodriguez (1975)
Tsuyoshi Nishioka (1984)
Max Scherzer (1984)
Xzavion Curry (1998)

Biz Mackey was a star in the Negro Leagues from 1923-1945.

Kazuto Tsuruoka was a star in Japan from 1939-1952 and was a very successful manager from 1953-1966.

Harry Wendelstedt was a National League umpire from 1966-1998.

Dave Dombrowski has been the general manager of the Montreal Expos, the Florida Marlins, and the Detroit Tigers.

Xzavion Curry is the only major league player to have both an x and a z in his first name.

We would also like to wish a very happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Rowsdower and a happy birthday to cheaptoy's bauble.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 27

Happy Birthday–July 26

Sam Breadon (1876)
Brick Eldred (1892)
Sad Sam Jones (1892)
Larry Woodall (1894)
Paul Gallico (1897)
Alex Radcliffe (1905)
Sam Leslie (1905)
Ellis Kinder (1914)
Jimmy Bloodworth (1917)
Sibby Sisti (1920)
Hoyt Wilhelm (1922)
Norm Siebern (1933)
Pete Ward (1937)
Ken Kaiser (1945)
Jody Reed (1962)
Greg Colbrunn (1969)
Joaquin Benoit (1977)
Kevin Jepsen (1984)
Brandon Morrow (1984)
Alex Burnett (1987)

Sam Breadon owned the St. Louis Cardinals from 1917-1947.

Brick Eldred got over two thousand hits in the Pacific Coast League, playing there thirteen years.

Paul Gallico was a sportswriter from 1919-1936.  He went on to become a noted writer and is best known as the author of The Poseidon Adventure.

The brother of Double Duty Radcliffe, Alex Radcliffe played in the Negro Leagues from 1932-1946 and played in eleven all-star games.

Ken Kaiser was an American League umpire from 1977-1999.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 26

Happy Birthday–July 24

Tommy McCarthy (1863)
Jack Clements (1864)
Joe Schultz (1893)
Cotton Nash (1942)
Mike Port (1945)
Shigeru Takada (1945)
Mike Adams (1948)
Jerry Augustine (1952)
Barry Bonds (1964)
Joe Oliver (1965)
Jim Wolf (1969)
Shawn Wooten (1974)
Brent Stentz (1975)

Outfielder Joe Schultz, who played in parts of eleven major league seasons, is the father of the Joe Schultz made famous by Jim Bouton in Ball Four.  He is also a cousin to big-leaguers Hanz and Frank Lobert.

Mike Port is a long-time major league baseball executive, serving as the general manager of the California Angels from 1984-1991.

Shigeru Takada was a star in Japan from 1968-1980.  He also was a manager, general manager, and television commentator.

Jim Wolf has been a major league umpire since 1999.

Pitcher Brent Stentz did not play in the majors, but was in the Twins’ minor league system from 1997-2001.  In 1998, he set an Eastern League record with 43 saves.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–July 24