Tag Archives: Happy Birthday

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–April 3

Guy Hecker (1856)
Larry Shepard (1919)
Alex Grammas (1926)
Art Ditmar (1929)
Wally Moon (1930)
Jerry Dale (1933)
Hawk Taylor (1939)
Larry Littleton (1954)
Darrell Jackson (1956)
Gary Pettis (1958)
Doug Baker (1961)
Chris Bosio (1963)
Mark Shapiro (1967)
Mike Lansing (1968)
Ryan Doumit (1981)
Kyle Phillips (1984)

Guy Hecker is one of three pitchers to have won over fifty games in a season.  He is also the only pitcher to have won a batting title.

Larry Shepard managed Pittsburgh in 1968-1969.  Coincidentally, he was replaced by Alex Grammas.

Jerry Dale was a National League umpire from 1971-1985.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–April 2

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Tommy Bond (1856)
Hughie Jennings (1869)
Bill Yancey (1904)
Luke Appling (1907)
Al Barlick (1915)
Vedie Himsl (1917)
Bobby Avila (1924)
Billy Pierce (1927)
Gordon Jones (1930)
Dick Radatz (1937)
Al Weis (1938)
Don Sutton (1945)
Reggie Smith (1945)
Mike Kekich (1945)
Daniel Okrent (1948)
Tom Johnson (1951)
Billy Sample (1955)
Hank Steinbrenner (1957)
Pete Incaviglia (1964)
Curtis Leskanic (1968)
Denny Hocking (1970)
Jon Lieber (1970)

Shortstop Bill Yancey played in the Negro Leagues for fourteen years, later becoming a manager, coach, and scout.

Al Barlick was a National League umpire from 1940-1970.

Vedie Himsl was a longtime coach and scout, primarily in the Cubs organization.  While pitching for St. John's (Minnesota) University, he struck out twenty batters in a game.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Lucy.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–April 1

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Hugo Bezdek (1884)
Jeff Heath (1915)
Vern Hoscheit (1922)
Bo Schembechler (1929)
Giulio Glorioso (1931)
Ron Perranoski (1936)
Ted Sadowski (1936)
Phil Niekro (1939)
Rusty Staub (1944)
Willie Montanez (1948)
Mike Bacsik (1952)
Mike Kinnunen (1958)
Rich Amaral (1962)
Frank Castillo (1969)
Matt Herges (1970)

Hugo Bezdek is the only man to manage a major league team and coach an NFL team.  He was the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1917-1979 and the coach of the Cleveland Rams in 1937.  He is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Giulio Glorioso won six ERA titles and four pitching triple crowns in Italy and is a member of the Italian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Better known as a college football coach, Bo Schembechler was the president of the Detroit Tigers from 1990-1992.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 31

Bill Hallman (1867)
Jack Stivetts (1868)
Big Jeff Pfeffer (1882)
Brick Owens (1885)
Tom Sheehan (1894)
Carson Bigbee (1895)
Mule Suttles (1900)
Marv Grissom (1918)
Dave Koslo (1920)
Moises Camacho (1932)
Moose Stubing (1938)
Balvino Galvez (1964)
Chien-Ming Wang (1980)
Jeff Mathis (1983)

Brick Owens was a longtime major league umpire.  His first name was Clarence.  He got the nickname "Brick" after being hit by one while umpiring a game in Pittsburg, Kansas early in his career.

Mule Suttles is sometimes credited as the all-time Negro Leagues home run leader with 237.  He swung a fifty-ounce bat.

One of the top second basemen in the history of the Mexican League, Moises Camacho played  there from 1951-1975.  He was known as the Rogers Hornsby of Mexico.

Their birthdays are not today, but we would like to recognize Luke Easter and Henry Easterday.  There are seven players called "Bunny" and eight with the last name "Cross".

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 29

Cy Young (1867)
Duff Cooley (1873)
Bill Dietrich (1910)
Tommy Holmes (1917)
Ferris Fain (1921)
Denny McLain (1944)
Bill Castro (1952)
Tom Hume (1953)
Domingo Ramos (1958)
Mike Kingery (1961)
Billy Beane (1962)
Laz Diaz (1963)
Eric Gunderson (1966)
Brian Jordan (1967)
Alex Ochoa (1972)
Danny Kolb (1975)

Danny Kolb was drafted by Minnesota in the seventeenth round in 1993, but did not sign.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 27

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Miller Huggins (1878)
Effa Manley (1897)
Wes Covington (1932)
Bill Sudakis (1946)
Lynn McGlothen (1950)
Dick Ruthven (1951)
Dave Hostetler (1956)
Jaime Navarro (1967)
Tom Quinlan (1968)
Dee Brown (1978)
Michael Cuddyer (1979)
Brian Slocum (1981)

Effa Manley was the owner of the Brooklyn Eagles and the Newark Eagles in the Negro Leagues.

Dick Ruthven was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 1972, but did not sign.

Brian Slocum was drafted by Minnesota in the fourteenth round in 1999, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Milt on Tilt.  Gone but not forgotten.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 26

Jack McCarthy (1869)
Bill Zuber (1913)
Ben Mondor (1925)
Harry Kalas (1936)
Mel Queen (1942)
Kevin Seitzer (1962)
Jarvis Brown (1967)
Jose Vizcaino (1968)
Shane Reynolds (1968)
Jason Maxwell (1972)
Eric Hacker (1983)

Ben Mondor was the owner of the Pawtucket Red Sox from 1977-2010.  He is a member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame and the International League Hall of Fame and won numerous minor league Executive of the Year awards from various organizations.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 25

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Frank Dwyer (1868)
Clyde Milan (1887)
John Fetzer (1901)
Dutch Leonard (1909)
Ryohei Hasegawa (1930)
Woodie Held (1932)
Frank Peters (1944)
Lee Mazzilli (1955)
Jeff Kunkel (1962)
Tom Glavine (1966)
Dan Wilson (1969)
Erik Schullstrom (1969)
Travis Fryman (1969)

John Fetzer was the majority owner of the Detroit Tigers from 1961-1983.

Ryohei Hasegawa was a star in Japan in the 1950s and was also a coach, manager, and broadcaster there.

Frank Peters was a minor league player and manager.  On August 31, 1974, while managing the Portland Mavericks, he had each player play each position for one inning.  Portland won the game over the Tri-City Ports, 8-7.

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