Tag Archives: Hall of Famers

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 18

Candy Cummings (1848)
Cliff Carroll (1859)
Walt Wilmot (1863)
Boileryard Clarke (1868)
Hans Lobert (1881)
Burt Shotton (1884)
Charlie Berry (1902)
Skeeter Newsome (1910)
Roy Cullenbine (1913)
Andy Carey (1931)
Bobby Knoop (1938)
Willie Horton (1942)
Ed Farmer (1949)
George Hendrick (1949)
Andy Hassler (1951)
Jerry Royster (1952)
Mike Walters (1957)
Alan Mills (1966)
Doug Mirabelli (1970)
Alex Cora (1975)
David Murphy (1981)
Yoenis Cespedes (1985)

Alex Cora was drafted by Minnesota in the twelfth round in 1993, but he did not sign.

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

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 16

Art Devlin (1879)
Goose Goslin (1900)
Boom-Boom Beck (1904)
Matt Batts (1921)
Dave DeBusschere (1940)
Tim McCarver (1941)
Don Hood (1949)
Brian Harper (1959)
Kevin McReynolds (1959)
Billy Taylor (1961)
Darren Reed (1965)
Josias Manzanillo (1967)
Bryce Harper (1992)

Goose Goslin was a star for the franchise in the 1920s, when it played in Washington.

Better known as a basketball player, Dave DeBusschere pitched for the White Sox from 1962-1963.

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

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 14

Joe Start (1842)
Paul Radford (1861)
Ivy Olson (1885)
Oscar Charleston (1896)
Harry Brecheen (1914)
Ken Heintzelman (1915)
Tom Cheney (1934)
Tommy Harper (1940)
Al Oliver (1946)
Frank Duffy (1946)
Ed Figueroa (1948)
Kiko Garcia (1953)
Willie Aikens (1954)
Jesus Vega (1955)
Joe Girardi (1964)
Midre Cummings (1971)
Ryan Church (1978)
Boof Bonser (1981)
Carlos Marmol (1982)

Outfielder Oscar Charleston is considered by some to have been the greatest player in Negro League history.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 13

Charles Somers (1868)
Wild Bill Donovan (1876)
Rube Waddell (1876)
Pickles Dillhoefer (1893)
Frankie Hayes (1914)
Lou Saban (1921)
Charlie Silvera (1924)
Eddie Yost (1926)
Eddie Mathews (1931)
Bob Bailey (1942)
Randy Moffitt (1948)
Dick Pole (1950)
Frank LaCorte (1951)
George Frazier (1954)
Bryan Hickerson (1963)
Chris Gwynn (1964)
Trevor Hoffman (1967)
Damian Miller (1969)

Charles Somers was one of the founders of the American League and was its principal financier.

Better known as a football coach, Lou Saban was the president of the New York Yankees in 1981 and 1982.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 12

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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)

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 .326.

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.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 9

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Dave Rowe (1854)
Al Maul (1865)
Rube Marquard (1866)
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)

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.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to brianS' dad.

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Keeping Track

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)

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.

There do not appear to be any players with connections to the Twins born on this day.  I keep thinking that Bud Daley was a Twin, but apparently I get him confused in my mind with Bill Dailey.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 5

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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)

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.

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