Tag Archives: Hall of Famers

Happy Birthday–January 5

Ban Johnson (1864)
Bob Carruthers (1864)
Bill Dahlen (1870)
Art Fletcher (1885)
Rube Foster (1888)
Riggs Stephenson (1898)
Luke Sewell (1901)
Jack Kramer (1918)
Earl Battey (1935)
Bud Bloomfield (1936)
Charlie Hough (1948)
Jim Gantner (1953)
Spin Williams (1956)
Bob Dernier (1957)
Ron Kittle (1958)
Milt Thompson (1959)
John Russell (1961)
Henry Cotto (1961)
Danny Jackson (1962)
Jeff Fassero (1963)
Brian Runge (1970)
Fred Rath (1973)
Mark Redman (1974)
Eduardo Escobar (1989)

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

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 5

Happy Birthday–January 1

Tim Keefe (1857)
Hugh Nicol (1858)
Webster McDonald (1900)
Ethan Allen (1904)
Hank Greenberg (1911)
Joe Reichler (1915)
Sherry Robertson (1919)
Earl Torgeson (1924)
Carl Scheib (1927)
Roy Majtyka (1939)
Bill Bethea (1942)
Rick Albert (1951)
Bob Owchinko (1955)
La Marr Hoyt (1955)
Fernando Tatis (1975)

We would like to wish a very happy birthday to mrs. bhiggum.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 1

Happy Birthday–December 31

King Kelly (1857)
Tom Connolly (1870)
Bobby Byrne (1884)
Syl Johnson (1900)
Tommy Byrne (1919)
Guy LaValliere (1931)
Alfredo Meli (1944)
Joe Simpson (1951)
Jim Tracy (1955)
Rick Aguilera (1961)
Esteban Loiaza (1971)
Brian Moehler (1971)
Julio DePaula (1982)

It does not appear that Bobby Byrne and Tommy Byrne are related. Minor league catcher Guy LaValliere is the father of major league catcher Mike LaValliere.

Nobody ever makes a fuss about the last baby of the old year.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 31

Happy Birthday–December 26

Morgan Bulkeley (1837)
Dad A (1922)
Stu Miller (1927)
Al Jackson (1935)
Wayne Causey (1936)
Ray Sadecki (1940)
Carlton Fisk (1947)
Chris Chambliss (1948)
Dave Rader (1948)
Ozzie Smith (1954)
Mike Sodders (1958)
Storm Davis (1961)
Jeff King (1964)
Esteban Beltre (1967)
Omar Infante (1981)

Mike Sodders was a first-round draft choice for the Twins in 1981. A star third baseman at Arizona State, he never could adjust to wooden bats, never hit, and never made the major leagues.

Dad A has been a Twins fan ever since the team started, and was a baseball fan before that. He coached, he ran the public address system, and he was on the board of the local baseball association. One of the many gifts he has given me is a love of baseball. Dad, I know you'll never read this, because you don't have a computer and can't think of a reason why you'd want one, but thank you and happy birthday. May you have many more.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 26

Happy Birthday–December 25

Pud Galvin (1856)
Joe Quinn (1864)
Barry McCormick (1874)
Walter Holke (1892)
Lloyd Brown (1904)
Ben Chapman (1908)
Jo-Jo Moore (1908)
Ned Garver (1925)
Nellie Fox (1927)
Gene Lamont (1946)
Manny Trillo (1950)
Luis Quintana (1951)
Jeff Little (1954)
Charlie Lea (1956)
Wallace Johnson (1956)
Rickey Henderson (1958)
Marty Pevey (1962)

There have been 23 major league players with the first name “Jesus”, including ex-Twins Jesus Vega and Jesus “Bombo” Rivera.  There have been no major league players with the last name “Christ.”  There have been thirteen players whose first name was “Christian” (honorable mention to Cristian Guzman), fifteen players whose middle name was “Christian” (including ex-Twins Marcus Jensen, David Lamb, and Kevin Maas), and two players whose last name was “Christian”.  We would be remiss if we did not also mention 1980s journeyman catcher Steve Christmas, as well as Matt Holliday.

The staff of Happy Birthday would like to wish everyone a very merry and blessed Christmas.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 25

Happy Birthday–December 22

Connie Mack (1862)
Matty Alou (1938)
Elrod Hendricks (1940)
Steve Carlton (1944)
Hiroyuki Yamazaki (1946)
Charley Taylor (1947)
Steve Garvey (1948)
Tom Underwood (1953)
Ken Landreaux (1954)
Lonnie Smith (1955)
Glenn Wilson (1958)
George Wright (1958)
Jeff A (1958)
Andy Allanson (1961)
Mike Jackson (1964)

Steve Garvey was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 1966, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 22

Happy Birthday–December 21

Cy Williams (1887)
Josh Gibson (1911)
Bob Rush (1925)
Howie Reed (1936)
Paul Casanova (1941)
Elliott Maddox (1947)
Dave Kingman (1948)
Joaquin Andujar (1952)
Tom Henke (1957)
Roger McDowell (1960)
Andy Van Slyke (1960)
Dustin Hermanson (1972)
LaTroy Hawkins (1972)
D’Angelo Jimenez (1977)
Freddy Sanchez (1977)
Philip Humber (1982)

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to hungry joe’s wife, peckish jane.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 21