Tag Archives: Happy Birthday

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–June 8

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year, which was a reprint from the year before, which has not been updated.

Cub Stricker (1859)
Van Lingle Mungo (1911)
Del Ennis (1925)
Eddie Gaedel (1925)
George Brunet (1935)
Joe Grzenda (1937)
Pete Magrini (1942)
Mark Belanger (1944)
Lenn Sakata (1954)
Don Robinson (1957)
Carmelo Castillo (1958)
Britt Burns (1959)
Kevin Gross (1961)
John Gibbons (1962)
Kevin Ritz (1965)
Dave Mlicki (1968)
T. J. McFarland (1989)

Sadly, Cub Stricker never played for the Cubs.

3' 7" Eddie Gaedel is the shortest person to play in a major league game, walking in his only plate appearance as part of a Bill Veeck promotion.  His great-nephew, Kyle Gaedele, was an outfielder in the Padres organization from 2011-15, reaching AA.  Kyle is listed at 6' 3".

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–June 7

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Due to personal time constraints this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Bones Ely (1863)
Ed Wells (1900)
Dusty Boggess (1904)
Rosey Gilhousen (1913)
Herb Score (1933)
Roger Nelson (1944)
George Mitterwald (1945)
Don Money (1947)
Thurman Munson (1947)
Bobby Marcano (1951)
Bill Hohn (1955)
Tim Laudner (1958)
Heathcliff Slocumb (1966)
Donaldo Mendez (1978)
Virgil Vasquez (1982)
Mark Lowe (1983)
Luke Farrell (1991)

Dusty Boggess was a National League umpire from 1944-62.

Rosey Gilhousen was a long-time scout who is credit for signing George Brett and Dan Quisenberry.

Bobby Marcano was an all-star in Japan.

Bill Hohn was a major league umpire from 1989-99 and 2002-10.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–June 6

Ed McKean (1864)
Jose Maria Fernandez (1896)
Fresco Thompson (1902)
Bill Dickey (1907)
Wild Bill Wright (1914)
Hector Espino (1939)
Merv Rettenmund (1943)
Bud Harrelson (1944)
Bobby Randall (1948)
Dave Bergman (1953)
Max Venable (1957)
Tony Graffanino (1972)
Brooks Kieschnick (1972)
David Lamb (1975)
Mark Ellis (1977)
Jeremy Affeldt (1979)
Matt Belisle (1980)
Anthony Rendon (1990)

 Wild Bill Wright was a star in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s and 1940s.

Hector Espino is considered the greatest player in the history of the Mexican League, hitting 453 home runs there.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–June 5

Jack Chesbro (1874)
Sandy Thompson (1895)
Harry Williams (1905)
Eddie Joost (1916)
Lou Brissie (1924)
Duke Sims (1941)
Bill Spiers (1966)
Ray Lankford (1967)
Mike Coolbaugh (1972)
Russ Ortiz (1974)
Robinson Chirinos (1984)
Manny Pina (1987)
Jake Petricka (1988)
Andrew Heaney (1991)
Dereck Rodriguez (1992)
Joe Ryan (1996)
Royce Lewis (1999)

Prior to beginning his major league career, Lou Brissie served in World War II.  He suffered severe leg injuries, receiving the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, but overcame his injuries to spend seven years in the majors.

Mike Coolbaugh was the first base coach for the Tulsa Drillers when he was struck on the head with a line drive and killed.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–June 4

Tim Murnane (1851)
Tony Venzon (1915)
Billy Hunter (1928)
John McNamara (1932)
Phil Linz (1939)
Terry Kennedy (1956)
Tony Pena (1957)
Kurt Stillwell (1965)
Scott Servais (1967)
Rick Wilkins (1967)
Darin Erstad (1974)
J. C. Romero (1976)
Aaron Nola (1993)
Cody Stashak (1994)

 Tim Murnane had a long and varied career in baseball, but is best remembered as a sportswriter in Boston.

Tony Venzon was a National League umpire from 1957-71.

John McNamara managed six different major league clubs, going to the World Series with Boston in 1986.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–June 3

Ameal Brooks (1907)
Don Osborn (1908)
Barney Morris (1910)
Jim Gentile (1934)
Steve Dalkowski (1939)
Duane Josephson (1942)
Ron Keller (1943)
Ed Glynn (1953)
Barry Lyons (1960)
Steve Lyons (1960)
Nelson Liriano (1964)
Carl Everett (1971)
Bryan Rekar (1972)
Jose Molina (1975)
Travis Hafner (1977)
Ryan Jeffers (1997)
Luis Gil (1998)

Don Osborn won 201 games in the minors.  He later was a minor league manager, pitching coach, and scout.

Some old-timers say Steve Dalkowski had the fastest fastball ever.  He struck out 1,396 batters in 995 minor league innings.  However, he also walked 1,354, which is why he never made the majors.

We also wish a happy birthday to hungry joe's son, Ravenous Rick!

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–June 2

Jack O’Connor (1866)
Frank Verdi (1926)
Bob Lillis (1930)
Larry Jackson (1931)
Bob Bennett (1933)
Jerry Lumpe (1933)
Gene Michael (1938)
Horace Clarke (1940)
Jim Maloney (1940)
Roger Freed (1946)
Jack O’Connor (1958)
Darnell Coles (1962)
Bryan Harvey (1963)
Mike Stanton (1967)
Kurt Abbott (1969)
Raul Ibanez (1972)
Neifi Perez (1973)
Jared Burton (1981)
Tim Stauffer (1982)

Bob Bennett was the baseball coach at Fresno State for many years, winning 1,302 games.

Roger Freed was drafted by Minnesota in 1966, but the pick was voided.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–June 1

Ted Breitenstein (1869)
Otto Miller (1889)
Hank Severeid (1891)
Guy Morton (1893)
Johnny Mostil (1896)
Ray Moore (1926)
Jack Kralick (1935)
Roy Majtyka (1939)
Dean Chance (1941)
Randy Hundley (1942)
Ken McMullen (1942)
Jeff Nelson (1965)
Derek Lowe (1973)
Carlos Zambrano (1981)
Andrew Stevenson (1994)

Roy Majtyka was a long-time minor-league manager, winning 1,832 games.

Jeff Nelson was a major league umpire from 1997-2023.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 31

Socks Seibold (1896)
Edward Bennett Williams (1920)
Russ Goetz (1930)
Ray Washburn (1938)
Tippy Martinez (1950)
Joe Orsulak (1962)
Kenny Lofton (1967)
Bill Miller (1967)
Dave Roberts (1972)
Ray Olmedo (1981)
Jake Peavy (1981)

Edward Bennett Williams was the owner of the Baltimore Orioles from 1979-1988.

Russ Goetz was an American League umpire from 1968-1983.

Bill Miller has been a major league umpire since 2000.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–May 30

Amos Rusie (1871)
Turkey Mike Donlin (1878)
Rube Oldring (1884)
Al Mamaux (1894)
Twink Twining (1894)
Laymon Yokely (1906)
Turk Lown (1924)
Mel Nelson (1936)
Mike Sadek (1946)
Dana DeMuth (1956)
Mike LaCoss (1956)
Mike Oquist (1968)
John Courtright (1970)
Scott Eyre (1972)
Manny Ramirez (1972)
Mark Kiger (1980)
Fernando Salas (1985)
Tony Watson (1985)
Zack Wheeler (1990)

Dana DeMuth was a major league umpire from 1983 to 2019.

Mark Kiger is the only player to have played in the major leagues in the post-season but never have played in a regular season game.  An infielder, he was added to the Oakland roster when Mark Ellis fractured a finger.  He appeared in two games in the 2006 ALCS but did not bat.

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