Kitty Bransfield (1875)
Al Todd (1902)
Johnny McCarthy (1910)
Johnny Mize (1913)
Alvin Dark (1922)
Dick Schofield (1935)
Jim Hannan (1940)
Jim Lefebvre (1942)
Tony Conigliaro (1945)
Joe Keough (1946)
Ross Grimsley (1950)
Bob Gorinski (1952)
Jeff Montgomery (1962)
Craig Shipley (1963)
Allan Anderson (1964)
Rob Radlosky (1974)
Alfonso Soriano (1976)
Eric Gagne (1976)
Brayan Pena (1982)
Francisco Rodriguez (1982)
Edwin Encarnacion (1983)
Jon Lester (1984)
Jhoulys Chacin (1988)
Tag Archives: Hall of Famers
Happy Birthday–January 6
George Shoch (1859)
Phil Masi (1916)
Jiro Noguchi (1920)
Early Wynn (1920)
Ralph Branca (1926)
Lenny Green (1933)
Lee Walls (1933)
Ruben Amaro (1936)
Don Gullett (1951)
Norm Charlton (1963)
Dan Naulty (1970)
Marlon Anderson (1974)
Brian Bass (1982)
Anthony Slama (1984)
Early Wynn was the Twins' pitching coach from 1967-1968.
Jiro Noguchi was one of the greatest pitchers in the early days of Japanese professional baseball, winning 237 games with an ERA of 1.96.
Happy Birthday–January 5
Ban Johnson (1864)
Bob Carruthers (1864)
Bill Dahlen (1870)
Jack Norworth (1879)
Art Fletcher (1885)
Rube Foster (1888)
Riggs Stephenson (1898)
Luke Sewell (1901)
Jack Kramer (1918)
Earl Battey (1935)
Bud Bloomfield (1936)
Charlie Hough (1948)
Jim Gantner (1953)
Bob Dernier (1957)
Ron Kittle (1958)
Milt Thompson (1959)
Henry Cotto (1961)
John Russell (1961)
Danny Jackson (1962)
Jeff Fassero (1963)
Brian Runge (1970)
Fred Rath (1973)
Mark Redman (1974)
Eduardo Escobar (1989)
C. J. Cron (1990)
Danny Ortiz (1990)
Ban Johnson was one of the founders of and the first president of the American League.
Jack Norworth wrote the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".
Rube Foster was a player, manager, and owner in the Negro Leagues, eventually becoming president of the Negro National League.
Brian Runge was a major league umpire from 1999-2012. He is the son of major league umpire Paul Runge and the grandson of major league umpire Ed Runge.
Oddly, there are three players born on this day who go by their initials: J. P. Arencibia, C. J. Cron, and A. J. Cole.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to freealonzo.
Happy Birthday–January 1
Tim Keefe (1857)
Hugh Nicol (1858)
Webster McDonald (1900)
Ethan Allen (1904)
Hank Greenberg (1911)
Joe Reichler (1915)
Sherry Robertson (1919)
Earl Torgeson (1924)
Carl Scheib (1927)
Roy Majtyka (1939)
Bill Bethea (1942)
Rick Albert (1951)
LaMarr Hoyt (1955)
Bob Owchinko (1955)
Fernando Tatis (1975)
Submarine-style pitcher Webster McDonald pitched in the Negro Leagues from 1920-1940.
Joe Reichler was a long-time sportswriter and later worked in the commissioner's office. He was the editor of several editions of The Baseball Encyclopedia.
Roy Majtyka was a long-time minor-league manager, winning 1,832 games.
Rick Albert has been a minor-league coach or manager in the Braves' organization since 1978.
We would like to wish a very happy birthday to mrs. bhiggum.
Happy Birthday–December 31
King Kelly (1857)
Tom Connolly (1870)
Bobby Byrne (1884)
Syl Johnson (1900)
Tommy Byrne (1919)
Guy LaValliere (1931)
Alfredo Meli (1944)
Joe Simpson (1951)
Jim Tracy (1955)
Rick Aguilera (1961)
Esteban Loaiza (1971)
Brian Moehler (1971)
Julio DePaula (1982)
Adam McCreery (1992)
Tom Connolly was a major league umpire for many years. He umpired the first World Series game in 1903. He once went ten years without ejecting a player.
It does not appear that Bobby Byrne and Tommy Byrne are related.
Minor league catcher Guy LaValliere is the father of major league catcher Mike LaValliere.
Alfredo Meli is a member of the Italian Baseball Hall of Fame. He was the first man to win Italian championships as a player, a manager, and a general manager. He also founded the Italian Baseball Federation for the Blind.
Adam McCreery was drafted by the Twins in the fourteenth round in 2011 but did not sign.
Four players born on this day made their major league debuts in 2018: Kevin Kaczmarski, Dawel Lugo, Adam McCreery, and Ryan Yarbrough.
Nobody ever makes a fuss about the last baby of the old year.
Happy Birthday–December 30
Frank Torre (1931)
Sandy Koufax (1935)
Jose Morales (1944)
Tom Murphy (1945)
Travis Baptist (1971)
A. J. Pierzynski (1976)
Brad Voyles (1976)
Grant Balfour (1977)
Jim Hoey (1982)
Happy Birthday–December 28
Count Sensenderfer (1847)
Ted Lyons (1900)
Tommy Bridges (1906)
Bill Lee (1946)
Aurelio Rodriguez (1947)
John Milner (1949)
Ray Knight (1952)
Zane Smith (1960)
Carl Willis (1960)
Benny Agbayani (1971)
Melvin Nieves (1971)
Einar Diaz (1972)
B. J. Ryan (1975)
Bill Hall (1979)
Count Sensenderfer (given name John Phillips Jenkins Sensenderfer) played for the Philadelphia Athletics in the National Association from 1871-1874. He holds the record for most at-bats without drawing a walk, 234.
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)
Mario Mendoza (1950)
Ozzie Smith (1954)
Mike Sodders (1958)
Storm Davis (1961)
Jeff King (1964)
Esteban Beltre (1967)
Omar Infante (1981)
Yohan Pino (1983)
Morgan Bulkeley was the first president of the National League.
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. His health is not the best any more, as one would expect at age ninety-six, but we are glad to have him around for at least one more birthday. May he have more to come.
Happy Birthday–December 25
Pud Galvin (1856)
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)
Wallace Johnson (1956)
Charlie Lea (1956)
Rickey Henderson (1958)
Rich Renteria (1961)
Marty Pevey (1962)
There have been 25 major league players with the first name “Jesus”, including ex-Twins Jesus Vega and Jesus “Bombo” Rivera and one whose birthday is today, Manny Trillo. There have been no major league players with the last name “Christ", although there have been two minor leaguers with that last name: John Christ, who was in the Cleveland organization from 1999-2001, and Mike Christ, who was in the Seattle organization from 1984-1988. There have been 21 players whose first name was “Christian” (honorable mention to Cristian Guzman), 18 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.
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)
Jason Lane (1976)
Second baseman Hiroyuki Yamazaki was a five-time all-star in Japan over a twenty-year career.
Charley Taylor was a minor-league pitching coach for over thirty years in the Houston Astros organization.
Steve Garvey was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 1966, but did not sign.