Tag Archives: Hall of Famers

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 20

Jack Manning (1853)
Harry Stovey (1856)
Jimmy Williams (1876)
Branch Rickey (1881)
Fred Merkle (1888)
Butch Henline (1894)
George Pipgras (1899)
Gabby Hartnett (1900)
Spud Davis (1904)
Eddie Leishman (1910)
Julio Becquer (1931)
Oscar Gamble (1949)
Cecil Cooper (1949)
Jose DeLeon (1960)
Augie Ojeda (1974)
Aubrey Huff (1976)
David De Jesus (1979)
James Shields (1981)
David Wright (1982)

Eddie Leishman was twice the Minor League Executive of the Year.

We would also like to wish a very happy anniversary to spookymilk and mrs. milk.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 19

Ford Frick (1894)
Al Kaline (1934)
Tony Taylor (1935)
Walt Williams (1943)
Rob Gardner (1944)
Geoff Zahn (1945)
Kevin Stanfield (1955)
Stu Cliburn (1956)
Stan Cliburn (1956)
Tom Lawless (1956)
Clay Parker (1962)
Bill Wegman (1962)
Mike Fetters (1964)
Chito Martinez (1965)
Russell Branyan (1975)
Rafael Soriano (1979)
Ian Kennedy (1984)
Aaron Loup (1987)

Ford Frick was the president of the National League from 1934-1951 and commissioner of baseball from 1951-1965.

Clay Parker was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-first round in 1984, but did not sign.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 18

Ty Cobb (1886)
Dick Coffman (1906)
Gino Cimoli (1929)
Moose Skowron (1930)
Zoilo Versalles (1939)
Steve Hovley (1944)
Drew Coble (1947)
Roy Howell (1953)
Jim Clancy (1955)
Scott Bailes (1961)
Willie Blair (1965)
Joe Randa (1969)
Jose Rodriguez (1974)
Byron Buxton (1993)
Ronald Acuna (1997)

Drew Coble was an American League umpire from 1982-1999.

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

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 14

John Anderson (1873)
Lefty Tyler (1889)
Bob Weiland (1905)
Eddie Smith (1913)
Rusty Peters (1914)
Bobby Adams (1921)
Sam Jones (1925)
Bob Clear (1927)
Pete Whisenant (1929)
Jim Roland (1942)
Jerry May (1943)
Greg Goossen (1945)
Bill Buckner (1949)
Craig Biggio (1965)
Ken Hill (1965)
Scott Hatteberg (1969)
Marcus Jensen (1972)
Billy Koch (1974)
Rodrigo Lopez (1975)
Dave Gassner (1978)

Bob Clear was in baseball from 1945-1987 as a minor league player and manager, major league coach, and as a scout.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 13

Jack Taylor (1873)
Hank Majeski (1916)
Larry Doby (1923)
Shotgun Shuba (1924)
Carl Erskine (1926)
Billy Loes (1929)
Bubba Morton (1931)
Lindy McDaniel (1935)
J. C. Martin (1936)
Ron Taylor (1937)
Ferguson Jenkins (1942)
Paul Boris (1955)
Dale Berra (1956)
Mike Mordecai (1967)
Matthew LeCroy (1975)
Ricky Nolasco (1982)

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to spookymilk's mom.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 11

Old Hoss Radbourn (1854)
Art Wilson (1885)
Fred Toney (1888)
Willie Gisentaner (1899)
Swish Nicholson (1914)
Hal Brown (1924)
Lee Maye (1934)
Mike Henneman (1961)
Thomas Howard (1964)
Jay Bell (1965)
Derek Bell (1968)
Frankie Rodriguez (1972)
Joe Blanton (1980)
Dalton Pompey (1992)

In 2014, Dalton Pompey became the first big leaguer ever to have the given first name "Dalton".  In case anyone remembers Dalton Jones (whose birthday was yesterday), his given first name was James.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 10

Jimmy Johnston (1889)
Rudy Hernandez (1931)
Jaime Jarrin (1935)
Doc Edwards (1936)
Bob Priddy (1939)
Dalton Jones (1943)
Steve Renko (1944)
Tim Kurkjian (1956)
Paul Assenmacher (1960)
Doug Henry (1963)
Luis Polonia (1963)
Mel Rojas (1966)
Joe Mays (1975)
Dan Wheeler (1977)
Gregorio Petit (1984)
Pedro Florimon (1986)
Wil Myers (1990)

Pitcher Rudy Hernandez was a member of the old Washington franchise in 1960, but was chosen by the new Washington franchise in the expansion draft in December of 1960.

Jaime Jarrin was the Dodgers' Spanish-language broadcaster from 1959-2022.  For all the accolades Vin Scully received (and they were deserved), it would have been nice if Jarrin had gotten a little more attention.

Tim Kurkjian has been a baseball writer/reporter since 1978.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Moss' son.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 9

Joe Kelley (1871)
Cy Seymour (1872)
Adam Comorosky (1905)
Joe DeMaestri (1928)
Billy Klaus (1928)
Darold Knowles (1941)
Jim Merritt (1943)
Del Unser (1944)
Jerry Cram (1947)
Doc Medich (1948)
Steve Christmas (1957)
Ed Romero (1957)
Juan Samuel (1960)
Tony Tarasco (1970)
Todd Van Poppel (1971)
Tony Batista (1973)
Adam Wilk (1987)
Louie Varland (1997)

Outfielder Del Unser was drafted by Minnesota in the second round in 1965, but did not sign. Catcher Steve Christmas was drafted by Minnesota in the thirty-third round in 1975, but did not sign.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 7

Denny Galehouse (1911)
Dick Donovan (1927)
Hal Smith (1930)
Don Cardwell (1935)
Bo Belinsky (1936)
Alex Johnson (1942)
Johnny Bench (1947)
Ozzie Virgil (1956)
Shane Mack (1963)
Tino Martinez (1967)
Eric Chavez (1977)
Saul Rivera (1977)
Yasiel Puig (1990)
Mark Payton (1991)
Spencer Steer (1997)

Mark Payton was drafted by the Twins in the thirty-first round in 2010 but did not sign.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 6

5 Comments

Jocko Conlan (1899)
Tony Lazzeri (1903)
Stan Hack (1909)
Dan Dobbek (1934)
Tony Horton (1944)
Larry Bowa (1945)
Tim Foli (1950)
Chuck Baker (1952)
Gary Ward (1953)
Juan Carlos Oliva (1954)
Steve Bedrosian (1957)
Larry Sheets (1959)
Kevin Campbell (1964)
Kevin Appier (1967)
Jose Contreras (1971)
Kevin Cash (1977)
Chris Basak (1978)
Jason Bulger (1978)
Adam Eaton (1988)

Jocko Conlan played two seasons of major league baseball, but is best known as a National League umpire from 1941-1965.

The younger brother of Tony Oliva, Juan Carlos Oliva was a star pitcher in Cuba and later became a successful pitching coach there.

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