Tag Archives: Minnesota Twins

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 8

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Harry Lord (1882)
Pat Flaherty (1897)
Bobby Goff (1902)
Pete Fox (1909)
Ray Mueller (1912)
Al Gionfriddo (1922)
Carl Furillo (1922)
Jim Bouton (1939)
Jacques Doucet (1940)
Dick Allen (1942)
Jim Rice (1953)
John Butcher (1957)
Mark Salas (1961)
Lance Barksdale (1967)
Mike Moriarty (1974)
Juan Encarnacion (1976)
Hines Ward (1976)
Tommy Pham (1988)
David Festa (2000)

If you have a few minutes to spare, I would very much recommend reading Harry Lord’s biography at baseball-reference.com.

Pat Flaherty pitched in the minors from 1917-1921.  He also played in the NFL from 1923-1928, was a major in the Air Force, and appeared in about 250 movies from 1934 to the 1950s.

Bobby Goff played in the minor leagues for nineteen years, 1923-1941.  He also was a minor league manager and general manager and a major league scout, remaining in baseball until 1972.

Jacques Doucet was the French-language play-by-play announcer for the Montreal Expos from 1972 until the team left.

Lance Barksdale has been a major league umpire since 2000.

NFL star Hines Ward was drafted by the Florida Marlins in 1994, but did not sign.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–March 7

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

Ed Willett (1884)
Dave Danforth (1890)
Andy Porter (1911)
Andy Phillip (1922)
Bobo Holloman (1923)
Red Wilson (1929)
Galen Cisco (1936)
J. R. Richard (1950)
Jeff Burroughs (1951)
Albert Hall (1958)
Joe Carter (1960)
Jose Cano (1962)
German Gonzalez (1962)
Mauro Gozzo (1966)
Jeff Kent (1968)
Tyler Ladendorf (1988)
Justin Topa (1991)
Pablo Lopez (1996)
Michael Harris (2001)

A member of the basketball Hall of Fame, Andy Phillip played minor league baseball in 1947, 1949, and 1952, batting .281 in 123 games.

Bobo Holloman is sometimes referred to as the worst pitcher ever to throw a major league no-hitter.

The father of Robinson Cano, Jose Cano appeared in six games for Houston in 1989.

Two members of the all-Jeff team were born on this day.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to strategery's son.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 26

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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.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–February 14

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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.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 29

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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.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 17

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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.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 18

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.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 17

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.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 12

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.

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Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–December 9

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.

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