Pat Pieper (1886)
Nemo Leibold (1892)
Wally Pipp (1893)
Ed Brandt (1905)
Red Barber (1908)
Rod Dedeaux (1914)
Roger Craig (1930)
Cliff Gustafson (1931)
Dick Bosman (1944)
Dave Roberts (1951)
Jaime Easterley (1953)
Mike Hart (1958)
Michael Jordan (1963)
Scott Williamson (1976)
Juan Padilla (1977)
Josh Willingham (1979)

Pat Pieper was the public address announcer for the Chicago Cubs from 1916-1974.  For the first sixteen of those years, he made the announcements with a megaphone.

Rod Dedeaux and Cliff Gustafson were highly successful college baseball coaches, Dedeaux with USC and Gustafson with Texas.

Already known as a basketball star, Michael Jordan played one year of minor league baseball for AA Birmingham in the White Sox organization before returning to the less-challenging sport.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 17 →

Chick Fulmer (1851)
Mike McGeary (1851)
Pants Rowland (1879)
Chick Hafey (1903)
Dom DiMaggio (1917)
Joe Garagiola (1926)
Pat Dobson (1942)
Mike Martin (1944)
Ray Corbin (1949)
Lenny Randle (1949)
Don "Full Pack" Stanhouse (1951)
Cam Bonifay (1952)
Chet Lemon (1955)
Greg Johnston (1955)
Joe Bitker (1964)
Ryan Lefebvre (1971)
Cole De Vries (1985)

Clarence "Pants' Rowland spent his life in baseball.  A catcher, he went on to manage the Chicago White Sox to the World Championship in 1917.  He was an American League umpire from 1923-1927.  He was also a minor league manager and executive, and was president of the Pacific Coast League from 1944-1954.  He is a member of the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.

Mike Martin has won over 1,400 games as the head coach of Florida State.

Ryan Lefebvre appeared in six minor league games for the Watertown Indians in 1993.  He was a Twins broadcaster in the 1997 and 1998 before moving to Kansas City in 1999, where he has been a broadcaster for the Royals ever since.

Joe Bitker was drafted by Minnesota in the sixth round in the 1984 January draft, but he did not sign.

This is a great day for players with colorful nicknames.  In addition to those listed above, we have Sweetbread Bailey (1895), Kiddo Davis (1902), Dutch Dietz (1912), and Monk Dubiel (1918).

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 12 →

Horace Wilson (1845)
Jim Keenan (1858)
Curt Welch (1862)
Billy Evans (1884)
Herb Pennock (1894)
Bill Adair (1913)
Allie Reynolds (1917)
George Sobek (1920)
Randy Jackson (1926)
Billy O'Dell (1933)
Dick Bogard (1937)
Jim Barr (1948)
Larry McWilliams (1954)
Lenny Dykstra (1963)
Lenny Webster (1965)
Jayhawk Owens (1969)
Alberto Castillo (1970)
Bobby Jones (1970)
Kevin Sefcik (1971)
Lance Berkman (1976)
Cesar Izturis (1980)
Liam Hendriks (1989)

Horace Wilson was an American professor English at Tokyo University.  He is credited with introducing baseball to Japan in either 1872 or 1873.

Billy Evans was the youngest umpire in major league history, starting his career at age 22.  He was an American League umpire from 1906-1027.  He would later become general manager of the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers, and was president of the Southern Association from 1942-1946.

Bill Adair was a long-time minor league player (1935-1956) and manager (1949-1973).  He also was the scout credited with signing Andre Dawson and Tim Raines.

Jim Barr was drafted six different times before finally signing.  Minnesota drafted him in the sixth round of the January Secondary draft in 1970, but he did not sign.

Today is also the birthday of Twins prospect Max Kepler (1993).

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 10 →

Frank LaPorte (1880)
Babe Ruth (1895)
Jake Levy (1900)
Glenn Wright (1901)
Dale Long (1926)
Smoky Burgess (1927)
Augie Garrido (1939)
Richie Zisk (1949)
Larry Young (1954)
Bob Wickman (1969)
Chad Allen (1975)

Pitcher Jake Levy had a minor league career that started in 1921 and lasted until 1945.  He played under a variety of names, making it difficult to determine his true record, but he won at least two hundred games.  He was also a good hitter, and early in his career played in the field when he was not pitching.

Augie Garrido is the baseball coach at the University of Texas and has the most coaching wins of anyone in Division I.

You may have heard of that "Babe Ruth" fellow.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 6 →