Grover Alexander (1887)
Rip Collins (1896)
Preacher Roe (1916)
Johnny Blanchard (1933)
Don Lee (1934)
Hiromitsu Kadota (1948)
Jack Brohamer (1950)
Rick Wieters (1955)
Kelly Gruber (1962)
Scott Service (1967)
J. T. Snow (1968)
Mark DeRosa (1975)
Trevor Larnach (1997)
Hiromitsu Kadota is third on the Japanese professional baseball home run list with 567.
The father of Matt Wieters, Rick Wieters pitched in the minor leagues for five years, reaching AA.
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. That means we don't have a biography of Brooks Lee. Sorry, Brooks. We'll shoot for next year.
Joe Gerhardt (1855)
Arthur Irwin (1858)
Pretzels Getzien (1864)
Morgan Murphy (1867)
Candy LaChance (1870)
Bob Quinn (1870)
Earl Smith (1897)
Mel Allen (1913)
Red Barrett (1915)
Len Gabrielson (1940)
Ken Levine (1950)
Larry Milbourne (1951)
Will McEnaney (1952)
Dave Dravecky (1956)
Alejandro Sanchez (1959)
John Marzano (1963)
Kelly Stinnett (1970)
Damaso Marte (1975)
Tyler Clippard (1985)
Brooks Lee (2001)
Bob Quinn was a long-time executive for the St. Louis Browns, the Boston Red Sox, and the Boston Braves. He was later the director of the Hall of Fame.
Ken Levine has been a broadcaster for Baltimore, San Diego, and Seattle. He has also worked on a number of television programs, notably including "Cheers" and "Frazier".
John Marzano was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 1981, but he did not sign.
There have been eight major league players with the last name "Valentine". The most recent was Joe Valentine, a reliever for Cincinnati from 2003-05. The best was Ellis Valentine, who played from 1975-83 and 1985, mostly for Montreal. One became a manager, Bobby Valentine.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Mother 6.
Ray Hayworth (1904)
Wilson Redus (1905)
Pancho Coimbre (1909)
Bill Rigney (1918)
Hank Edwards (1919)
Frank Gravino (1923)
Bobby Bolin (1939)
Sergio Ferrer (1951)
Steve Sax (1960)
Mike Aldrete (1961)
John Habyan (1964)
Jason Schmidt (1973)
Jose Abreu (1987)
Alex Avila (1987)
Hank Conger (1988)
Pancho Coimbre was a star in the Caribbean Leagues and the Negro leagues in the 1940s. Roberto Clemente said that Coimbre was a better player than Clemente was. Coimbre played two full seasons in the Puerto Rican League in which he did not strike out.
Frank Gravino played in the minors from 1940-1942 and 1946-1954. He has been called the greatest slugger in Northern League history, hitting 108 home runs in two seasons there.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Beau's son.
Louis Santop (1890)
Hank Leiber (1911)
Lum Harris (1915)
Mayo Smith (1915)
Don Zimmer (1931)
Keith Lieppman (1949)
Antonio Munoz (1949)
Pete LaCock (1952)
Darrell Porter (1952)
Mark Littell (1953)
Jerry Turner (1954)
Doug Simunic (1956)
T. R. Bryden (1959)
Chili Davis (1960)
SBG (1965)
Tyler Houston (1971)
Rob Bell (1977)
Trevor Bauer (1991)
Randy Dobnak (1995)
Catcher Louis Santop was a star in the Negro Leagues, hitting .349 over fifteen seasons.
Keith Lieppman was Oakland's Director of Player Development from 1992-2021, when he became a special advisor for player development.
Antonio Munoz was a long-time star in Cuba, winning eight home run titles and becoming the all-time leader in walks.
Doug Simunic was the manager of the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks from 1996-2017.
Ty Cobb (1886)
Dick Coffman (1906)
Gino Cimoli (1929)
Moose Skowron (1930)
Zoilo Versalles (1939)
Steve Hovley (1944)
Drew Coble (1947)
Roy Howell (1953)
Jim Clancy (1955)
Scott Bailes (1961)
Willie Blair (1965)
Joe Randa (1969)
Jose Rodriguez (1974)
Byron Buxton (1993)
Ronald Acuna (1997)
Drew Coble was an American League umpire from 1982-1999.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to cheaptoy.
Cy Falkenberg (1879)
Ted Trent (1903)
Ray Jablonski (1926)
Cal Ripken (1935)
Jerry Adair (1936)
Leo Cardenas (1938)
Bob Ojeda (1957)
Marvell Wynne (1959)
Curtis Pride (1968)
Alex Cintron (1978)
Chase Utley (1978)
Fernando Abad (1985)
Taylor Rogers (1990)
Tyler Rogers (1990)
Brent Headrick (1997)
Cal Ripken was in the Orioles organization for many years, managing in the minors from 1961-1974, coaching in the majors from 1976-1986 and 1989-1992, and managing the big club from 1987-1988. He had a son, also named Cal, who had a fairly decent major league career.
Phenomenal Smith (1864)
Tully Sparks (1874)
Buzzie Bavasi (1915)
Clyde Kluttz (1917)
Ralph Garr (1945)
Gorman Thomas (1950)
Steve Farr (1956)
Alonzo Powell (1964)
Orlando Hudson (1977)
Ervin Santana (1982)
Sawyer Gipson-Long (1997)
Matt Wallner (1997)
Emil "Buzzie" Bavasi was the general manager of the Dodgers from 1951-1968, San Diego from 1969-1972, and the Angels from 1977-1984.
Joe Kelley (1871)
Cy Seymour (1872)
Adam Comorosky (1905)
Joe DeMaestri (1928)
Billy Klaus (1928)
Darold Knowles (1941)
Jim Merritt (1943)
Del Unser (1944)
Jerry Cram (1947)
Doc Medich (1948)
Steve Christmas (1957)
Ed Romero (1957)
Juan Samuel (1960)
Tony Tarasco (1970)
Todd Van Poppel (1971)
Tony Batista (1973)
Adam Wilk (1987)
Louie Varland (1997)
Outfielder Del Unser was drafted by Minnesota in the second round in 1965, but did not sign. Catcher Steve Christmas was drafted by Minnesota in the thirty-third round in 1975, but did not sign.
Bullet Joe Bush (1892)
Johnny Schmitz (1920)
Billy Moran (1933)
Jose Tartabull (1938)
Dave Giusti (1939)
Dan Spillner (1951)
Mike Scioscia (1958)
Randy Milligan (1961)
Tim Laker (1969)
Ivan Rodriguez (1971)
Willie Bloomquist (1977)
Jimmy Rollins (1978)
Kody Funderburk (1996)
Billy Moran was part of a three-team trade involving Minnesota, Cleveland, and the Los Angeles Angels. Minnesota acquired Frank Kostro and Jerry Kindall and sent Lenny Green and Vic Power to Los Angeles. Moran was sent from the Angels to Cleveland in that trade.
Harry Rice (1901)
Dick Bartell (1907)
Fred Bankhead (1912)
Lew Burdette (1926)
Wade Blasingame (1943)
Rich Chiles (1946)
Greg Luzinski (1950)
Lyman Bostock (1950)
Wayne Tolleson (1955)
Lee Guetterman (1958)
Mike Benjamin (1965)
Jay Payton (1972)
Ricky Ledee (1973)
Joe Nathan (1974)
Jonny Gomes (1980)
Yusmeiro Petit (1984)
Adam Ottovino (1985)
Drew Pomeranz (1988)
Austin Romine (1988)
Griffin Jax (1994)
Mike Benjamin was drafted by Minnesota in the seventh round in January, 1985, but did not sign.
