Tag Archives: Happy Birthday

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 21

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Fred Dunlap (1859)
Eddie Grant (1883)
Earl Averill (1902)
Hank Johnson (1906)
Mace Brown (1909)
Monty Stratton (1912)
Larry Napp (1919)
Ed Fitz Gerald (1924)
El Tappe (1927)
Moe Thacker (1934)
Barry Latman (1936)
Bobby Cox (1941)
Kent Hrbek (1960)
Bryce Florie (1970)
Tom Martin (1970)
Chris Widger (1971)
Mark Quinn (1974)
Josh Hamilton (1981)
Andrew Miller (1985)
Matt Wieters (1986)

Larry Napp was an American League umpire from 1951-1974.

El Tappe had a twin brother, Mel Tappe, who played in the minors.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to zooomx.2 and a happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. MagUidhir.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 20

Walt Burnham (1860)
Joe Harris (1891)
George Grantham (1900)
Pete Appleton (1904)
Hal Newhouser (1921)
Herman Wedemeyer (1924)
Tom Morgan (1930)
Ken Boyer (1931)
Sadaharu Oh (1940)
Bobby Murcer (1946)
Ralph Bryant (1961)
David Wells (1963)
Todd Stottlemyre (1965)
Ramon Hernandez (1976)
Jayson Werth (1979)
Austin Kearns (1980)
Adam Rosales (1983)

Walt Burham was a minor league manager from 1885-1907, winning 1,164 games.

Outfielder Herman Wedemeyer played for Class C Salt Lake City in 1950.  He was a star running back in the All-America Football Conference and later appeared in over 300 episodes of the original Hawaii Five-O, playing Sergeant Edward “Duke” Lukela.

Right-hander Tom Morgan was with Washington at the end of 1960, appearing in fourteen games with them.  On January 31, 1961, before the franchise played a game in Minnesota, he was sold to the Los Angeles Angels.

Sadaharu Oh hit 868 home runs in Japan.

Outfielder Ralph Bryant was drafted by Minnesota in the thirteenth round of the January draft in 1981, but he did not sign.

This is not connected to the Twins or baseball in any way we're aware of, but we'd like to wish a happy 91st birthday to Bud Grant.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to hungry joe.

There do not appear to be any other major league players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 19

Goose Curry (1905)
Gil McDougald (1928)
Curt Simmons (1929)
Larry McCoy (1941)
Dan Ford (1952)
Rick Cerone (1954)
Ed Whitson (1955)
Luis Salazar (1956)
Eric Show (1956)
Turk Wendell (1967)
Brandon Inge (1977)
Brian Anderson (1993)

Outfielder Goose Curry was a star in the Negro Leagues, batting over .300 several times.

This author's first baseball glove was a Gil McDougald model.

Larry McCoy was an American League umpire from 1971-1999.

Eric Show was drafted by Minnesota in the 36th round in 1974, but did not sign.

Brian Anderson was drafted by Minnesota in the 20th round in 2011, but did not sign.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 18

Babe Adams (1882)
Arndt Jorgens (1905)
Gil Coan (1922)
Jack Sanford (1929)
Carroll Hardy (1933)
Brooks Robinson (1937)
Reggie Jackson (1946)
Osamu Higashio (1950)
Eric Gregg (1951)
Dennis Leonard (1951)
Jim Sundberg (1951)
Andre David (1958)
Jim Bowden (1961)
Erik Hanson (1965)
Eric Young (1967)
Rich Garces (1971)
Joakim Soria (1984)
Randy Rosario (1994)

Pitcher Osamu Higashio is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

Eric Gregg was a National League umpire from 1975-1999.

Jim Bowden was the general manager of Cincinnati and of Washington and is currently a broadcaster for MLB Network Radio.

Two players who share a name with Minnesota Twins players, Scott Baker (1970) and Roy Smith (1976), were also born on this day.

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Happy Birthday–May 16

Cy Rigler (1882)
Watty Clark (1902)
Earl Halstead (1912)
Stubby Overmire (1919)
Lefty Phillips (1919)
Dave Philley (1920)
Rube Walker (1926)
Billy Martin (1928)
Rick Reuschel (1949)
Rick Rhoden (1953)
Jack Morris (1955)
Tack Wilson (1956)
Mark Funderburk (1957)
Bob Patterson (1959)
Mitch Webster (1959)
Doug Brocail (1967)
Jim Mecir (1970)
Dietrich Enns (1991)

Cy Rigler was a National League umpire from 1906-1935.

Earl Halstead was a scout, a minor league general manager, and a minor league umpire.  He also invented the first pitching machine that could throw curve balls.

Lefty Phillips managed the California Angels from 1969-1971.

Dave Philley played five of his eighteen major league seasons in Philadelphia, three for the Athletics and two for the Phillies.

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Happy Birthday–May 15

Joe Evans (1895)
Jimmy Wasdell (1914)
Al McBean (1938)
Yukata Enatsu (1948)
Bill North (1948)
Rick Waits (1952)
George Brett (1953)
John Smoltz (1967)
Scott Watkins (1970)
A. J. Hinch (1974)
Josh Beckett (1980)
Justin Morneau (1981)
Brian Dozier (1987)

Yukata Enatsu was one of the first closers in Japan, recording 193 saves.

A. J. Hinch was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 1995, but did not sign.

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Happy Birthday–May 14

J. L. Wilkinson (1878)
Ed Walsh (1881)
Alex Pompez (1890)
Earle Combs (1899)
Bob Thurman (1917)
Les Moss (1925)
Dick Howser (1936)
Tony Perez (1942)
Dick Tidrow (1947)
Dave LaRoche (1948)
Dennis Martinez (1955)
Hosken Powell (1955)
Pat Borders (1963)
Joey Cora (1965)
Larry Sutton (1970)
Roy Halladay (1977)
Luke Gregerson (1984)

J. L. Wilkinson was the long-time owner of the Kansas City Monarchs.

Alex Pompez was the long-time owner of the New York Cubans.

We would also like to wish a very happy anniversary to Lucy and SBG.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 13

Jimmy Archer (1883)
Larry Gardner (1886)
Babe Dye (1898)
Bill McKinley (1910)
Bill Kinnamon (1919)
Dusty Rhodes (1927)
Johnny Roseboro (1933)
Leon Wagner (1934)
Juan Beniquez (1950)
Bobby Valentine (1950)
Lenny Faedo (1960)
Sean McDonough (1962)
Jose Rijo (1965)
Jack Cressend (1975)
Trajan Langdon (1976)
Barry Zito (1978)
John Ryan Murphy (1991)

Hockey Hall of Famer Babe Dye was a minor league outfielder from 1919-1926, spending much of his career in the American Association.  In 811 games, he hit .311, slugged .443, and stole 118 bases.

Bill McKinley was an American League umpire from 1946-65.

Bill Kinnamon was an American League umpire from 1960-69.

Sean McDonough has been a baseball broadcaster since 1988.

College basketball star Trajan Langdon was a third baseman in the low minors for three seasons.

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Happy Birthday–May 12

Chicken Wolf (1862)
Lave Cross (1866)
Jumping Joe Dugan (1897)
Hank Borowy (1916)
Ed Runge (1918)
Yogi Berra (1925)
Felipe Alou (1935)
Ted Kubiak (1942)
Vic Albury (1947)
Bob Heise (1947)
Joe Nolan (1951)
Lou Whitaker (1957)
Kevin Bass (1959)
Willie Lozado (1959)
Mark Clark (1968)
Wes Helms (1976)
Felipe Lopez (1980)
Evan Meek (1983)
Lance Lynn (1987)

Ed Runge was an American League umpire from 1954-1970.  His son Paul and his grandson Brian have also been major league umpires.

Infielder Willie Lozado was drafted by Minnesota in the third round of the January Secondary draft in 1978, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to MagUidhir’s sister.

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Happy Birthday–May 11

Charlie Gehringer (1903)
Rip Sewell (1907)
Eddie Chiles (1910)
Jack Lang (1921)
Nestor Chylak (1922)
Milt Pappas (1939)
Frank Quilici (1939)
Jerry Martin (1949)
Dane Iorg (1950)
Mark Huismann (1958)
Walt Terrell (1958)
Trent Hubbard (1964)
Bobby Witt (1964)
Kerry Ligtenberg (1971)
Francisco Cordero (1975)
Miguel Sano (1993)

Eddie Chiles was the owner of the Texas Rangers from 1980-1989.

Jack Lang was a long-time sportswriter in New York and was the secretary-treasurer of the Baseball Writers Association of America from 1966-1988.

Nestor Chylak was an American League umpire from 1954-1978.

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