Tag Archives: Hall of Famers

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)
Gio Gonzalez (1985)
George Springer (1989)
Luke Raley (1994)

Roger Angell wrote 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.

Bill Williams was a National League umpire from 1963-1987.

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, managed Tampa Bay from 2006-14, was the manager of the Chicago Cubs from 2015-2019, and managed the Angels from 2020-2022.

Charlie Reliford was a major league umpire from 1989-2009 and is currently a supervisor of umpires.

George Springer was drafted by Minnesota in the 48th round in 2008, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 19

Happy Birthday–September 17

Ezra Sutton (1850)
Willie Sudhoff (1874)
Frank Schulte (1882)
Sheriff Blake (1899)
Hughie Critz (1900)
Sam Streeter (1900)
Paul Hardy (1910)
Chase Riddle (1925)
Orlando Cepeda (1937)
Bobby Wine (1938)
Thad Bosley (1956)
John Franco (1960)
Dan Haren (1980)
Casey Crosby (1988)
Marcus Semien (1990)
Zack Granite (1992)
Jose Ramirez (1992)
James Marvel (1993)
Jordan Balazovic (1998)

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.

James Marvel was drafted by Minnesota in the thirty-seventh round in 2012, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 17

Happy Birthday–September 16

Mack Eggleston (1896)
Heinie Mueller (1899)
Larry Brown (1901)
Hillbilly Bildilli (1912)
Gary Ross (1947)
Robin Yount (1955)
Orel Hershiser (1958)
Tim Raines (1959)
Mickey Tettleton (1960)
Mel Hall (1960)
Mark Parent (1961)
Chris Pittaro (1961)
Paul Shuey (1970)
Desi Relaford (1973)
Bobby Korecky (1979)
Brandon Moss (1983)
Gordon Beckham (1986)
Robbie Grossman (1989)

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 16

Happy Birthday–September 15

Doc Bushong (1856)
Nick Altrock (1876)
Hugh McQuillan (1895)
Crush Holloway (1896)
Harry McCurdy (1899)
Rap Dixon (1902)
Fritz Ostermueller (1907)
Edsall Walker (1910)
Dan Wilson (1915)
Charley Smith (1937)
Gaylord Perry (1938)
Frank Linzy (1940)
Don Carrithers (1949)
John Pacella (1956)
John Christensen (1960)
Doug Simons (1966)
Paul Abbott (1967)
Rich Robertson (1968)
Matt Thornton (1976)
Luke Hochevar (1983)

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 15

Happy Birthday–September 14

Kid Nichols (1869)
Jerry Doggett (1916)
Jerry Coleman (1924)
Jim Fanning (1927)
Stan Williams (1936)
Jerry Don Gleaton (1957)
Tim Wallach (1957)
Mike Durant (1969)
David Bell (1972)
Chad Bradford (1974)
Delmon Young (1985)
Derek Law (1990)
Andrew Vasquez (1993)

Jerry Doggett was a broadcaster for the Dodgers from 1956-1987.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 14

Happy Birthday–September 10

Barney Pelty (1880)
High Pockets Kelly (1895)
Sammy Hale (1896)
Poindexter Williams (1897)
Hoss Walker (1904)
Ted Kluszewski (1924)
Roger Maris (1934)
Len Whitehouse (1957)
Randy Johnson (1963)
Riccardo Ingram (1966)
Danys Baez (1977)
Joey Votto (1983)
Anthony Swarzak (1985)
Neil Walker (1985)
Paul Goldschmidt (1987)
Mike Baumann (1995)

Mike Baumann was drafted by the Twins in the thirty-fourth round in 2014, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to the Philosofer's eldest child.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 10

Happy Birthday–September 9

Abner Dalrymple (1857)
Frank Chance (1876)
Dots Miller (1886)
Doc Johnston (1887)
Frankie Frisch (1898)
Waite Hoyt (1899)
Hugh Mulcahy (1913)
Jay Ward (1938)
Paul Roof (1942)
Jerry Mumphrey (1952)
Tom Foley (1959)
Alvin Davis (1960)
Jim Corsi (1961)
Todd Zeile (1965)
Joey Hamilton (1970)
Dan Miceli (1970)
Mike Hampton (1972)
Felix Rodriguez (1972)
Edwin Jackson (1983)
Kyle Davies (1983)
Alex Romero (1983)
Michael Bowden (1986)
Billy Hamilton (1990)

Dots Miller’s given name was John.  He got the nickname “Dots” because when he first came up, a sportswriter asked teammate Honus Wagner who the new guy was.  Wagner, in his thick German accent, said, “Dot’s Miller.”

Hugh Mulcahy has one of the worst nicknames in the history of baseball.  In four seasons as a starting pitcher for the Phillies, he twice led the league in losses.  He went 45-89 for his career, leading to the nickname “Losing Pitcher Mulcahy”.

The brother of Phil Roof, Paul Roof was a pitcher for four seasons in the Braves’ system, never going higher than Class A.  He was actually on the Braves' major league roster as a September call-up in 1961, but did not appear in a game.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 9

Happy Birthday–September 8

Val Picinich (1896)
Buck Leonard (1907)
Jim Bagby (1916)
Steve Hargan (1942)
Ken Forsch (1946)
Don Aase (1954)
Mike Dyer (1966)
Gil Meche (1978)
Nick Hundley (1983)
Rob Delaney (1984)
Logan Schafer (1986)
Gerrit Cole (1990)

First baseman Buck Leonard was a star in the Negro Leagues.  He was a teammate of Josh Gibson on the Homestead Grays, and was considered the Lou Gehrig to Gibson's Babe Ruth.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 8

Happy Birthday–September 6

This is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Oyster Burns (1864)
Red Faber (1888)
Tom Young (1902)
Tommy Thevenow (1903)
Johnny Lanning (1910)
Harry Danning (1911)
Vince DiMaggio (1912)
Hal Jeffcoat (1924)
Harry Dunlop (1933)
Fran Healy (1946)
Greg Olson (1960)
Roy Smith (1961)
Pat Meares (1968)
Derrek Lee (1975)
Micheal Nakamura (1976)
Jerry Blevins (1983)
Mitch Moreland (1985)
Tyler Austin (1991)

Harry Dunlop caught in the minors for fourteen years and was a coach for seventeen years.  He caught the minor league no-hitter in which Ron Necciai struck out twenty-seven batters and the back-to-back minor league no-hitters of Bill Bell.

We would also like to wish a happy anniversary to Mom and Dad MagUidhir.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 6

Happy Birthday–September 5

Al Orth (1872)
Nap Lajoie (1874)
Lefty Leifield (1883)
Bingo DeMoss (1889)
Max Bishop (1899)
Merv Shea (1900)
Gene Bearden (1920)
Bill Mazeroski (1936)
Karl Kuehl (1937)
Tom Hallion (1956)
Candy Maldonado (1960)
Jeff Brantley (1963)
Jimmy Haynes (1972)
Rod Barajas (1975)
Randy Choate (1975)
Jason Hart (1977)
Chris Young (1983)

Karl Kuehl was a coach for the Twins from 1977-1982.  He was a minor league manager for several seasons and also managed the Montreal Expos in 1976.  His minor league managing career started in 1959, when he managed the Salem Senators in the Northwest League at age 21.

Tom Hallion was a major league umpire from 1986-1999 and 2005-2022.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 5