Tag Archives: Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday–November 20

Joe Sommer (1958)
Kenesaw Landis (1866)
Clark Griffith (1869)
George McBride (1880)
Leon Cadore (1890)
Larry Benton (1897)
Jay Ritchie (1936)
Herm Starrette (1938)
Jay Johnstone (1945)
Rick Monday (1945)
Ron Cash (1949)
Alex Arias (1967)
Gabe White (1971)
J. D. Drew (1975)
Sam Fuld (1981)
Brock Peterson (1983)
Greg Holland (1985)
Cody Allen (1988)
Tarik Skubal (1996)

Kenesaw Landis, as I'm sure you know, was the first commissioner of baseball, holding the job from 1920 until his death in 1944.

Pitcher Clark Griffith was a star for the Cubs before jumping to the White Sox when the American League was formed. Later, of course, he was the owner of the Twins franchise while it was still in Washington. His adopted son, Calvin, brought the team to Minnesota.

Ron Cash was drafted by Minnesota in the sixth round in 1969, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 20

Happy Birthday–November 19

Billy Sunday (1862)
Everett Scott (1892)
Roosevelt Davis (1904)
Roy Campanella (1921)
Joe Morgan (1930)
Manny Jimenez (1938)
Larry Haney (1942)
Bobby Tolan (1945)
Bob Boone (1947)
Dickie Noles (1956)
Mike Winters (1958)
Gary Disarcina (1967)
Mario Valdez (1974)
Clay Condrey (1975)
Ryan Howard (1979)
Jeff Gray (1981)
Jonathan Sanchez (1982)
Bryan Holaday (1987)
Michael Tonkin (1989)
Joey Gallo (1993)
Ian Gibaut (1993)
Lewin Diaz (1996)

The Joe Morgan listed above is not Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. The Joe Morgan born today is the Joe Morgan who once managed the Red Sox.

Larry Haney is the cousin of ex-Twin Mike Cubbage.

Mike Winters was a major league umpire from 1990-2019.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 19

Happy Birthday–November 18

Deacon McGuire (1863)
Jack Coombs (1882)
Les Mann (1892)
Gene Mauch (1925)
Roy Sievers (1926)
Danny McDevitt (1932)
Cal Koonce (1940)
Jim Shellenback (1943)
Steve Henderson (1952)
Luis Pujols (1955)
Mike Felder (1961)
Jamie Moyer (1962)
Dante Bichette (1963)
Ron Coomer (1966)
Tom Gordon (1967)
Gary Sheffield (1968)
Shawn Camp (1975)
David Ortiz (1975)
Steve Bechler (1979)
C. J. Wilson (1980)

Roy Sievers was a star for the franchise when it was in Washington in the 1950s.

There are eighty-three current and former major league players born on this day. I'm pretty sure that's the most on any day.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 18

Happy Birthday–November 17

George Stallings (1867)
Mike Garcia (1923)
Orlando Pena (1933)
Gary Bell (1936)
Tom Seaver (1944)
Brad Havens (1959)
Mitch Williams (1964)
Paul Sorrento (1965)
Jeff Nelson (1966)
Eli Marrero (1973)
Darnell McDonald (1978)
Ryan Braun (1983)
Nick Markakis (1983)
Shane Greene (1988)
Elias Diaz (1990)

 George Stallings managed in the major leagues for thirteen years.  He is best remembered as the manager of the 1914 Miracle Braves.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 17

Happy Birthday–November 16

Mike McGeary (1850)
Joe Quest (1852)
Cristobal Torriente (1893)
Henry Spearman (1909)
Paul Foytack (1930)
Frank Bolling (1931)
Harry Chiti (1932)
Don Hahn (1948)
Herb Washington (1951)
Glenn Burke (1952)
Curt Wardle (1960)
Dwight Gooden (1964)
Chris Haney (1968)
Pete Rose (1969)
Julio Lugo (1975)
Juan Centeno (1989)

I don't know whether Joe Quest had a relative named Jonny.

Sprinter Herb Washington played for Oakland for two seasons as a pinch-runner.  He appeared in 105 games but did not play in the field and did not bat.  He stole 31 bases in 48 attempts and scored 33 runs.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 16

Happy Birthday–November 15

Tom Loftus (1856)
Pat Ragan (1883)
Mickey Livingston (1914)
Gus Bell (1928)
Big Brother A (1951)
Randy Niemann (1955)
Pedro Borbon (1967)
Dylan Bundy (1992)

Tom Loftus managed Cincinnati, Chicago, and Washington around the turn of the (twentieth) century.

Big Brother A is one of the two people–Dad A being the other–from whom I got a love of baseball and a love of the Twins.  I don’t know how it’s possible that I have a brother who’s seventy-three years old when I’m still so young, but happy birthday, Big Brother.

We also wish a happy birthday to spookymilk’s brother.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 15

Happy Birthday–November 13

Johnny Kling (1875)
Buck O'Neill (1911)
Jackie Price (1912)
Ted Wilks (1915)
Jim Delsing (1925)
Steve Bilko (1928)
Wes Parker (1939)
Mel Stottlemyre (1941)
Gene Garber (1947)
John Sutton (1952)
Dan Petry (1958)
Pat Hentgen (1968)
Jason Simontacchi (1973)
Gerald Laird (1979)
Asdrubal Cabrera (1985)
Wade Miley (1986)
Luke Bard (1990)

Jackie Price played one season in the major leagues, but was better known as a baseball entertainer.  He is sometimes called a “baseball clown”, but that’s not really accurate, because he really performed tricks more than actually clowning.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 13

Happy Birthday–November 12

Jack Ryan (1868)
Moonlight Graham (1877)
Carl Mays (1891)
Joe Hoerner (1936)
Bruce Bochte (1950)
Jody Davis (1956)
Donnie Hill (1960)
Greg Gagne (1961)
Jeff Reed (1962)
Randy Knorr (1968)
Sammy Sosa (1968)
Aaron Heilman (1978)
Charlie Morton (1983)
Mike Leake (1987)
Marcell Ozuna (1990)
Alex Faedo (1995)

Aaron Heilman was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 2000, but did not sign.

Alex Faedo is the nephew of ex-Twins Lenny Faedo.

We would also like to wish a happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. FT"HM"LT.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 12

Happy Birthday–November 11

Joe Battin (1853)
Freddy Parent (1875)
Rabbit Maranville (1891)
Al Schacht (1892)
Pie Traynor (1898)
Hal Trosky (1912)
George Case (1915)
Ike Delock (1929)
Ron Musselman (1954)
John Hobbs (1955)
Cory Snyder (1962)
Roberto Hernandez (1964)
Damion Easley (1969)
Jason Grilli (1976)

Sadly, Joe Battin wasn't much good at battin'.  An infielder, he batted .225/.241/.281.  His career spanned ten seasons, though, so I assume he was really good at fieldin'.

Al Schacht played in the majors for three years, but was better known as "The Clown Prince of Baseball".

On this Veterans' Day, we would like to thank all current and former members of the military for their service, especially those who are part of the wgom.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 11