Tag Archives: Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday–April 21

Hardy Richardson (1855)
Germany Smith (1863)
Ken Strong (1906)
Gary Peters (1937)
Dick Green (1941)
Al Bumbry (1947)
Jesse Orosco (1957)
Les Lancaster (1962)
Ken Caminiti (1963)
Kip Wells (1977)
Terry Tiffee (1979)

A member of the pro football Hall of Fame, Ken Strong played minor league baseball from 1929-1931 and played very well.  He hit 41 home runs and had 130 RBIs in 1930 in what is now the Eastern League and hit .340 in 1931 in the International League.

In addition, we would like to wish a very happy birthday to twayn and to Mrs. freealonzo.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 21

Happy Birthday–April 20

Tommy Dowd (1869)
Charlie Hemphill (1876)
Charlie Smith (1880)
Mike Mowrey (1884)
Dave Bancroft (1891)
Roy Hofheinz (1912)
Preston Gomez (1923)
Tom Hutton (1946)
Milt Wilcox (1950)
Doug Clarey (1954)
Floyd Chiffer (1956)
Don Mattingly (1961)
Greg Brummett (1967)
Dan Smith (1969)
Todd Hollandsworth (1973)

Dan Smith was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-second round in 1987, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 20

Happy Birthday–April 19

Bucky Walters (1909)
Hector Maestri (1935)
Rick Miller (1948)
Ed Hodge (1958)
R. J. Reynolds (1959)
Frank Viola (1960)
Spike Owen (1961)
Scott Kamieniecki (1964)
Brent Mayne (1968)
Jose Cruz (1974)
Joe Beimel (1977)
George Sherrill (1977)
Dennys Reyes (1977)
Joe Mauer (1983)

Right-hander Hector Maestri was with the Washington franchise in 1960, making one appearance in the majors.  Before the 1961 season started, however, he was selected in the expansion draft by the new Washington franchise, for whom he made one more appearance in 1961.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 19

Happy Birthday–April 18

Frank Navin (1871)
Sam Crawford (1880)
Duffy Lewis (1888)
Jack Scott (1892)
Steve Blass (1942)
Mike Paul (1945)
Doug Flynn (1951)
Bobby Castillo (1955)
Rich Bordi (1959)
Jim Eisenreich (1959)
Dennis Rasmussen (1959)
Steve Dunn (1970)
Rico Brogna (1970)
Brian Buscher (1981)
Miguel Cabrera (1983)
Billy Butler (1986)

Rich Bordi was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 1977, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Mrs. CarterHayes.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 18

Happy Birthday–April 17

Alexander Cartwright (1820)
Cap Anson (1852)
Tom Needham (1879)
Jake Daubert (1884)
Buzz Arlitt (1912)
Solly Hemus (1923)
Antonio Pollerena (1947)
Tsutomu Wakamatsu (1947)
Denny Walling (1954)
Craig Worthington (1965)
Marquis Grissom (1967)
Gary Bennett (1972)
Ryan Raburn (1981)

There do not appear to be any major league players with connections to the Minnesota Twins who were born on this day.  However, this is the birthday of Deolis Guerra (1989), so perhaps that will change at some point.

Happy Birthday–April 16

Dutch Leonard (1892)
Paul Waner (1903)
Babe Phelps (1908)
Pete Hughes (1915)
Pete Suder (1916)
Joe Bauman (1922)
Rich Rollins (1938)
Bernie Allen (1939)
Garry Roggenburk (1940)
Jim Lonborg (1942)
Bob Montgomery (1944)
Bruce Bochy (1955)
Curt Young (1960)
Fernando Vina (1969)
Antonio Alfonseca (1972)
Kelly Dransfeldt (1975)

Joe Bauman hit 72 home runs for Roswell in the Longhorn League in 1954.

Kelly Dransfeldt was drafted by Minnesota in the seventh round in 1993, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 16

Happy Birthday–April 15

Jim Creighton (1841)
Ed Abbaticchio (1877)
Ed Bailey (1931)
Willie Davis (1940)
Ted Sizemore (1945)
Jeromy Burnitz (1969)
Milton Bradley (1978)
John Danks (1985)

Until Henry Aaron came along, Ed Abbaticchio held the "first in the alphabet" record.

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

Happy Birthday–April 14

Cannonball Redding (1890)
Marvin Miller (1917)
Gordon Gillespie (1926)
Don Mueller (1927)
Marty Keough (1934)
Pete Rose (1941)
Joe Lahoud (1947)
Ron Schueler (1948)
Greg Maddux (1966)
David Justice (1966)
Greg Myers (1966)
Mike Trombley (1967)
Brad Ausmus (1969)
Steve Avery (1970)
Gregg Zaun (1971)
Kyle Farnsworth (1976)

Gordon Gillespie holds the record for most wins by a college baseball coach.

It must be kind of a bummer for a big league ballplayer to not only not be the best player born on the day and year he was born, but to not even be the best player with his first name born on the day and year he was born.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–April 14

Happy Birthday–April 12

Vic Willis (1876)
Addie Joss (1880)
Bill Bailey (1888)
Eric McNair (1909)
Bill Wight (1922)
Bob Zuk (1927)
Johnny Antonelli (1930)
Charlie Lau (1933)
Terry Cooney (1933)
Woodie Fryman (1940)
Vicente Romo (1943)
Terry Harmon (1944)
Mike Macfarlane (1964)
Paul LoDuca (1972)
Antonio Osuna (1973)

Bob Zuk was a long-time scout who was responsible for signing, among others, Reggie Jackson, Willie Stargell, and Gary Carter.

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