Tag Archives: Hall of Famers

Happy Birthday–September 30

Gabby Street (1882)
Nap Rucker (1884)
Bobby Williams (1895)
Johnny Allen (1904)
Robin Roberts (1926)
Johnny Podres (1932)
Craig Kusick (1948)
Dave Magadan (1962)
Yorkis Perez (1967)
Jose Lima (1972)
Carlos Guillen (1975)
Seth Smith (1982)
Kenley Jansen (1987)

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.

Five players born on this day made their major league debut in 2019:  Jesus Luzardo, Travis Demeritte, Trent Thornton, Jack Mayfield, and Brian Moran.  I don't know that that's a record, but I don't know that it isn't, either.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 30

Happy Birthday–September 27

Jelly Gardner (1895)
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)
Matt Shoemaker (1986)
Simeon Woods Richardson (2000)

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.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 27

Happy Birthday–September 25

Pat Malone (1902)
Phil Rizzuto (1917)
Johnny Sain (1917)
Sal Butera (1952)
Glenn Hubbard (1957)
Geno Petralli (1959)
Oscar Munoz (1969)
David Weathers (1969)
Tony Womack (1969)
Wil Nieves (1977)
Joel Pineiro (1978)
Rocco Baldelli (1981)
Vance Worley (1987)
Ben Rortvedt (1997)

Continue reading Happy Birthday–September 25

Happy Birthday–September 22

Doc Powers (1870)
Hooks Dauss (1889)
Urban Shocker (1890)
Ira Flagstead (1893)
Harry Walker (1918)
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)
Carlos Correa (1994)
Calvin Faucher (1995)

Four players born on this date made their debuts in 2019.  That may not be a record, but it is unusual.

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)
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