Tag Archives: Hall of Famers

Happy Birthday–September 30

Gabby Street (1882)
Nap Rucker (1884)
Johnny Allen (1904)
Robin Roberts (1926)
Johnny Podres (1932)
Craig Kusick (1948)
Dave Magadan (1962)
Yorkis Perez (1967)
Jose Lima (1972)
Carlos Guillen (1975)

Gabby Street was a light-hitting catcher who played in parts of eight major leagues seasons, mostly for the Washington Senators.  He was Walter Johnson's primary catcher.  He later did some managing and broadcasting.  He is best remembered as the first man to catch a baseball dropped from the top of the Washington Monument.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 30

Happy Birthday–September 27

Whit Wyatt (1907)
Dick Hall (1930)
Dave Wickersham (1935)
Gary Sutherland (1944)
Mike Schmidt (1949)
Bob Veselic (1955)
Don Schulze (1962)
Todd Blyleven (1972)
Vicente Padilla (1977)
Jon Rauch (1978)
Jon Garland (1979)

Todd Blyleven is, as you probably know, the son of Bert Blyleven. He pitched in the minor leagues for seven years, getting as high as AA, then was a scout for eight years.  At last report, he was the sports product marketing manager for Shock Doctor Sports in the Twin Cities area.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 27

Happy Birthday–September 22

Doc Powers (1870)
Hooks Dauss (1889)
Urban Shocker (1890)
Ira Flagstead (1893)
Bob Lemon (1920)
Tommy Lasorda (1927)
Ken Aspromonte (1931)
Jim Fairey (1944)
Larry Dierker (1946)
Jeffrey Leonard (1955)
Wally Backman (1959)
Vince Coleman (1961)
Bob Geren (1961)
Mark Guthrie (1965)
Mike Matheny (1970)

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Spookymilk’s oldest daughter.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 22

Happy Birthday–September 19

Yank Robinson (1859)
Stuffy McInnis (1890)
Roger Angell (1920)
Epitacio Torres (1921)
Bob Murphy (1924)
Duke Snider (1926)
Bob Turley (1930)
Bill Williams (1930)
Chris Short (1937)
Joe Morgan (1943)
Joe Ferguson (1946)
Masaji Hiramatsu (1947)
Joe Maddon (1954)
Charlie Reliford (1955)
Randy Myers (1962)
Jim Abbott (1967)
Pedro Munoz (1968)
Javier Valentin (1975)
Mike Smith (1977)
Nick Johnson (1978)
Scott Baker (1981)
Danny Valencia (1984)

Roger Angell has written several books and essays on baseball.  He is the stepson of author and essayist E. B. White, who was the co-author of "The Elements of Style".

Outfielder Epitacio Torres was a star in the Negro Leagues and the Mexican League in the 1940s and 1950s.  He is a member of the Mexican League Hall of Fame.  Whitey Ford once described him as "the best player I've seen in my career."  He is also the father of major leaguer Hector Torres.

Bob Murphy was a baseball broadcaster from 1954-2003, spending most of that time broadcasting for the New York Mets.

Masaji Hiramatsu won over two hundred games in Japan, pitching for the Taiyo Whales.

Joe Maddon was interim manger of the Angels in 1996 and 1999, and has managed Tampa Bay since 2006.

Charlie Reliford has been a major league umpire since 1989.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 19

Happy Birthday–September 18

Heinie Groh (1889)
George Uhle (1898)
Harvey Haddix (1925)
Lorn Brown (1938)
Dick Dietz (1941)
Ken Brett (1948)
Tony Scott (1951)
Ray Smith (1955)
Ryne Sandberg (1959)
Jeff Bronkey (1965)
Kevin Thompson (1979)
Joe Bisenius (1982)

Lorn Brown was a baseball broadcaster from 1966-1988, calling games for the Chicago White Sox, the Milwaukee Brewers, and the New York Mets.

Kevin Thompson was drafted by Minnesota in the eighteenth round in 1998, but did not sign.

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

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 18

Happy Birthday–September 17

Ezra Sutton (1850)
Willie Sudhoff (1874)
Frank Schulte (1882)
Sheriff Blake (1899)
Hughie Critz (1900)
Chase Riddle (1925)
Orlando Cepeda (1937)
Bobby Wine (1938)
Thad Bosley (1956)
John Franco (1960)
Dan Haren (1980)

Chase Riddle played in the minors from 1943-1962, managed in the minors from 1951-1962, was a scout from 1963-1978, and was the baseball coach at Troy State University from 1979-1990.

There do not appear to be any players with connections to the Minnesota Twins who were born on this day.