Tag Archives: Hall of Famers

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–June 18

Charlie Ganzel (1862)
Russ Hodges (1910)
Ron Necciai (1932)
Lou Brock (1939)
Bill James (1949)
Andres Galarraga (1961)
Sandy Alomar (1966)
Felix Heredia (1975)
Tommy Watkins (1980)

Russ Hodges was a baseball broadcaster from 1929-1970, most notably with the Giants.  He is most famous for his home run call on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" in 1951.

Ron Necciai struck out 27 batters in a nine inning game while playing for Bristol in the Appalachian League in 1952.

It will probably never happen, but Bill James belongs in the Hall of Fame.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–June 15

Babe Dahlgren (1912)
Bernice Gera (1931)
Mario Cuomo (1932)
Billy Williams (1938)
Ty Cline (1939)
Bruce Dal Canton (1941)
Champ Summers (1946)
Ken Henderson (1946)
Dusty Baker (1949)
Lance Parrish (1956)
Brett Butler (1957)
Wade Boggs (1958)
Ramiro Mendoza (1972)
Tony Clark (1972)
Andy Pettitte (1972)
Zach Day (1978)
Jeremy Reed (1981)
Tim Lincecum (1984)
Trevor Plouffe (1986)
Eduardo Nunez (1987)
Jake Locker (1988)

Bernice Gera was the first female umpire in Organized Baseball, umpiring one game in the New York-Penn League in 1972.

Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo was an outfielder for the Brunswick Pirates of the Georgia-Florida League in 1952.

Quarterback Jake Locker was drafted by the Angels as an outfielder in the tenth round in 2009.  He signed a contract with them, but never played a game of professional baseball.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–June 12

Joe Hornung (1857)
Sol White (1868)
Red Dooin (1879)
Matty McIntyre (1880)
Otto Knabe (1884)
Bill Foster (1904)
Dutch Rennert (1930)
Gerry Arrigo (1941)
Jim Strickland (1946)
Scott Aldred (1968)
Damon Buford (1970)
Ryan Klesko (1971)
Damon Hollins (1974)
Hideki Matsui (1974)

Sol White was a Negro League player, manager, and executive.  He wrote the first history of African-American baseball, "Sol White's History of Colored Baseball", in 1907.

Bill Foster was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues.  He was the stepbrother of Rube Foster.

Dutch Rennert was a National League umpire from 1974-1992.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Eric B. B.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–June 6

Ed McKean (1864)
Fresco Thompson (1902)
Bill Dickey (1907)
Wild Bill Wright (1914)
Hector Espino (1939)
Merv Rettenmund (1943)
Bud Harrelson (1944)
Bobby Randall (1948)
Dave Bergman (1953)
Max Venable (1957)
Brooks Kieschnick (1972)
Tony Graffanino (1972)
David Lamb (1975)
Mark Ellis (1977)
Jeremy Affeldt (1979)
Matt Belisle (1980)

 Wild Bill Wright was a star in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s and 1940s.

Hector Espino is considered the greatest player in the history of the Mexican League, hitting 453 home runs there.

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Happy Birthday–June 5

Jack Chesbro (1874)
Eddie Joost (1916)
Lou Brissie (1924)
Duke Sims (1941)
Bill Spiers (1966)
Ray Lankford (1967)
Mike Coolbaugh (1972)
Russ Ortiz (1974)

Prior to beginning his major league career, Lou Brissie served in World War II.  He suffered severe leg injuries, receiving the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, but overcame his injuries to spend seven years in the majors.

As you may remember, Mike Coolbaugh was the first base coach for the Tulsa Drillers when he was struck on the head with a line drive and killed.

There appear to be no major league players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 28

Spider Baum (1882)
Jim Thorpe (1887)
Warren Giles (1896)
John Allyn (1917)
Bob Kuzava (1923)
Frank Saucier (1926)
Kirk Gibson (1957)
Bill Doran (1958)
Duane Ward (1964)
Mike Maksudian (1966)
Mike Difelice (1969)
Jhonny Peralta (1982)
Lester Oliveros (1988)

Spider Baum won 325 games in the minors between 1902-1920.  267 of those wins came in the Pacific Coast League.

Warren Giles was president of the National League from 1951-1969.

John Allyn was the owner of the Chicago White Sox from 1961-1975.

Frank Saucier is the player Eddie Gaedel pinch-hit for in 1951.

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Happy Birthday–May 22

Al Simmons (1902)
Terris McDuffie (1910)
Jose Valdivielso (1934)
Ron Piche (1935)
Rich Garcia (1942)
Walt Hriniak (1943)
Tommy John (1943)
Jim Colborn (1946)
Jose Mesa (1966)
Al Levine (1968)
Julian Tavarez (1973)

Terris McDuffie pitched from 1930-1954, playing in the Negro Leagues, the Cuban Winter League, the Mexican League, the Puerto Rican League, the Dominican League, the Venezuelan League, the California Winter League, and the minor leagues.  His biography at b-r.com is worth reading.

Rich Garcia was an American League umpire from 1975-1999.

Tommy John was one of the Twins’ television broadcasters from 1994-1996.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 21

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Fred Dunlap (1859)
Eddie Grant (1883)
Earl Averill (1902)
Hank Johnson (1906)
Mace Brown (1909)
Monty Stratton (1912)
Larry Napp (1919)
Ed Fitz Gerald (1924)
El Tappe (1927)
Moe Thacker (1934)
Barry Latman (1936)
Kent Hrbek (1960)
Bryce Florie (1970)
Tom Martin (1970)
Chris Widger (1971)
Mark Quinn (1974)
Josh Hamilton (1981)
Matt Wieters (1986)

Larry Napp was an American League umpire from 1951-1974.

El Tappe had a twin brother, Mel Tappe, who played in the minors.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to zooomx.2

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 20

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Walt Burnham (1860)
Joe Harris (1891)
George Grantham (1900)
Pete Appleton (1904)
Hal Newhouser (1921)
Herman Wedemeyer (1924)
Tom Morgan (1930)
Ken Boyer (1931)
Sadaharu Oh (1940)
Bobby Murcer (1946)
Ralph Bryant (1961)
David Wells (1963)
Todd Stottlemyre (1965)
Ramon Hernandez (1976)
Jayson Werth (1979)
Austin Kearns (1980)

Walt Burham was a minor league manager from 1885-1907, winning 1,164 games.

Outfielder Herman Wedemeyer played for Class C Salt Lake City in 1950.  He was a star running back in the All-America Football Conference and later appeared in over 300 episodes of the original Hawaii Five-O, playing Sergeant Edward “Duke” Lukela.

Right-hander Tom Morgan was with Washington at the end of 1960, appearing in fourteen games with them.  On January 31, 1961, before the franchise played a game in Minnesota, he was sold to the Los Angeles Angels.

Sadaharu Oh hit 868 home runs in Japan.

Outfielder Ralph Bryant was drafted by Minnesota in the thirteenth round of the January draft in 1981, but he did not sign.

There do not appear to be any other major league players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.

We would like to wish a very happy birthday to hungry joe.