Tag Archives: Hall of Famers

Happy Birthday–May 6

Bonesetter Reese (1855)
Walton Cruise (1890)
Mike McCormick (1917)
Willie Mays (1931)
Russ Gibson (1939)
Bill Hands (1940)
Masanori Murakami (1944)
Steve Staggs (1951)
Larry Andersen (1953)
Al Williams (1954)
Jose Altuve (1990)

John “Bonesetter” Reese worked with many baseball players and other famous people in the first part of the twentieth century.  Today we might call him a physical therapist, although he did not have a formal degree.  “Bonesetting” is a Welsh term for the treatment of muscle and tendon strains.

Masanori Murakami was the first Japanese-born player in the major leagues.

Infielder Steve Staggs was drafted by Minnesota in the fourteenth round in 1970, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 6

Happy Birthday–May 5

Chief Bender (1884)
Bob Cerv (1926)
Bing Russell (1926)
Red Robbins (1928)
Jose Pagan (1935)
Tommy Helms (1941)
John Donaldson (1943)
Larry Hisle (1947)
Ron Oester (1956)
Charles Nagy (1967)
Hideki Irabu (1969)
Mike Redmond (1971)

Better known for his role as Deputy Clem Foster on “Bonanza”, outfielder Bing Russell played minor league baseball from 1948-1949.  He is the father of actor (and minor league player) Kurt Russell and the grandfather of major league player Matt Franco.

Spencer “Red” Robbins was a minor league player for fourteen years.  He then spent many years in the Twins’ organization, most of them as a scout (1963-1986).

 We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Mrs. Rhubarb_Runner.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–May 5

Happy Birthday–May 3

George Gore (1857)
Garry Herrmann (1859)
Eppa Rixey (1891)
Red Ruffing (1905)
Goose Tatum (1921)
Chuck Hinton (1934)
Chris Cannizzaro (1938)
Davey Lopes (1945)
Dan Iassogna (1969)
Darren Dreifort (1972)
Ryan Dempster (1977)
Ben Revere (1988)

Garry Herrmann was the president of the Cincinnati Reds from 1903-1920 and was chair of the National Commission from its creation in 1903 until the commissioner's office was created in 1920.  It is puzzling that he is not in the Hall of Fame.

Better known as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, Goose Tatum played in the Negro Leagues for several years in the 1940s.

Dan Iassogna has been a major league umpire since 1999.

Outfielder Ben Daniel Revere played for the Twins from 2010-2012.  He was born in Atlanta, went to high school in Lexington, Kentucky, and was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 2007.  He mostly rose one level at a time, playing in rookie ball in 2007, Class A in 2008, advanced A in 2009, AA in 2010, and AAA in 2011 before being called up to the big club because of injuries. He hit over .300 each minor league season, with a high of .379 in Beloit in 2008.  He hit ten triples in each of his first two seasons in the minors, but only hit four in each of the next two seasons.  He had little power and did not draw a lot of walks in the minors (his high was 40 in 2009).  He does have speed, stealing around forty bases a year in the minors.  He wasn’t terrible with Minnesota in 2011, but he wasn’t very good, either, hitting .267/.310/.309.  He started 2012 in Minnesota as a fourth outfielder, but was sent back to Rochester for about a month, then came back and was a regular most of the season.  After the 2012 season, he was traded to Philadelphia for Trevor May and Vance Worley.  As a Twin, he hit .278/.319/.323 with 74 stolen bases in 254 games.  Installed as the regular center fielder for the Phillies, he was hitting .305 in mid-July of 2013 when an injury ended his season.  He was back as the regular center fielder in 2014 and hit .306. He has gotten off to a slow start in 2015, and is hitting only .217 at this writing.  He turns twenty-seven today, and it appears that what he is, is what he's going to be:  a fine defensive player who hits for a high average and steals bases, but does little else.  He's fun to watch, though, and there are players who have had long major league careers with that skill set.  If he continues to bat close to .300, which he's done since 2012, he is likely to continue to have a regular job in the big leagues.  If he doesn't, though, he's likely to fade rather quickly.

Happy Birthday–May 2

Eddie Collins (1887)
Bing Crosby (1904)
Joe Falls (1928)
Eddie Bressoud (1932)
Gates Brown (1939)
Clay Carroll (1941)
Keith Moreland (1954)
Dr. A (1956)
Felix Jose (1965)
Paul Emmel (1968)
Jerrod Saltalamacchia (1986)
Neftali Feliz (1988)

Entertainer Bing Crosby was part-owner and a vice president of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1947 into the 1960s.

Joe Falls was a long-time sportswriter in Detroit and had a weekly column in The Sporting News for many years.

Paul Emmel has been a major league umpire since 1999.

It appears that no players with connections to the Minnesota Twins were born on this day.  However, it is the birthday of my brother, who teaches in the mining and minerals department at Virginia Tech.  Happy Birthday, Dr. A!

We would also like to wish a very happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Butch.

Happy Birthday–April 29

Frank Hankinson (1856)
Ernie Johnson (1888)
Steve Ridzik (1929)
Mickey McDermott (1929)
Ed Charles (1933)
Luis Aparicio (1934)
Akira Ohgi (1935)
Tom House (1947)
Rick Burleson (1951)
Ron Washington (1952)
Bob McClure (1952)
Steve Crawford (1958)
John Vander Wal (1966)
Sterling Hitchcock (1971)
Rafael Betancourt (1975)
Tony Armas (1978)

Akiri Ohgi was a long-time manager in Japan, winning nearly a thousand games.

Rick Burleson was drafted by Minnesota in the eighth round in 1969, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Papa MagUidhir.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 29

Happy Birthday–April 27

Hi Myers (1889)
Allan Sothoron (1893)
Rogers Hornsby (1896)
Horace Stoneham (1903)
Enos Slaughter (1916)
John Rice (1918)
Greg Kosc (1949)
Willie Upshaw (1957)
Patrick Lennon (1968)
Frank Catalanotto (1974)
Benj Sampson (1975)
Chris Carpenter (1975)
Pedro Feliz (1975)
Luis Perdomo (1984)

 Horace Stoneham was the owner of the Giants from 1936-1976.

John Rice was an American League umpire from 1955-1973.

Greg Kosc was an American League umpire from 1976-1999.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 27

Happy Birthday–April 26

Jack Barry (1887)
Ray Caldwell (1888)
Hack Wilson (1900)
Bernard Malamud (1914)
Virgil Trucks (1917)
Sal Maglie (1917)
Ron Northey (1920)
Granny Hamner (1927)
Amos Otis (1947)
Tom Norton (1950)
Mike Scott (1955)
Steve Lombardozzi (1960)
Curtis Wilkerson (1961)
Brian Anderson (1972)
Geoff Blum (1973)
Kosuke Fukudome (1977)
Joe Crede (1978)
Alejandro Machado (1982)

Bernard Malamud, of course, wrote the book "The Natural".  He probably wrote some other books as well.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 26

Happy Birthday–April 25

John Henry “Pop” Lloyd (1884)
George Fiall (1900)
Bill Grieve (1900)
Roy Parmelee (1907)
Bobby Estalella (1911)
Red Flaherty (1917)
Ed Vargo (1930)
Lew Krausse (1943)
Kerry Taylor (1950)
Greg Wells (1954)
Larry Pashnick (1956)
Tony Phillips (1959)
Darren Holmes (1966)
Joe Buck (1969)
Brad Clontz (1971)
Jacque Jones (1975)
Garrett Mock (1983)
J. P. Howell (1983)

Shortstop Pop Lloyd was called the Black Honus Wagner.

A member of the basketball hall of fame as part of the “Renaissance Five” team, shortstop George Fiall played in the Negro Leagues from 1918-1931.

Bill Grieve was an American League umpire from 1938-1955.

Red Flaherty was an American League umpire from 1953-1973.

Ed Vargo was a National League umpire from 1960-1983 and was an umpire supervisor from 1984-1997.

Kerry Taylor played for the GCL Twins in 1968.  He then went into the Army and was killed in the Vietnam War.

The son of Hall of Famer Jack Buck, some sources say that Joe Buck is also a professional baseball broadcaster.

Garrett Mock was drafted by Minnesota in the fourteenth round in 2002, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 25

Happy Birthday–April 24

Bob Ewing (1873)
Howard Ehmke (1894)
Harry Harper (1895)
Andy Cooper (1896)
Ed Musial (1922)
Frank Lucchesi (1927)
Lou DiMuro (1931)
Terry Tata (1940)
Ivan Murrell (1943)
Bill Singer (1944)
Pat Zachry (1952)
Bill Krueger (1958)
Mike Blowers (1965)
Omar Vizquel (1967)
Todd Jones (1968)
Chipper Jones (1972)
John Barnes (1976)
Carlos Beltran (1977)
Miss SBG (2007)

Andy Cooper pitched in the Negro Leagues from 1920-1939.  He managed the Kansas City Monarchs to four consecutive Negro American League Championships from 1937-1940.  He also holds the Negro Leagues career record for saves with 29.

The brother of Stan Musial, Ed Musial played in the minors in 1941 and from 1946-1950.

Frank Lucchesi managed in the minors for twenty-three seasons and in the majors for seven seasons.

Lou DiMuro was an American League umpire from 1963-1982.

Terry Tata was a National League umpire from 1973-1999.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 24