Tag Archives: Minnesota Twins

Happy Birthday–February 26

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.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–February 26

Happy Birthday–January 17

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.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 17

Happy Birthday–January 8

Bob Clarke (1903)
Walker Cooper (1915)
Jim Busby (1927)
Gene Freese (1934)
Reno Bertoia (1935)
Bruce Sutter (1953)
Ramon Romero (1959)
Randy Ready (1960)
Brian Boehringer (1969)
Jason Giambi (1971)
Mike Cameron (1973)
Carl Pavano (1976)
Jeff Francis (1981)
Jeff Francoeur (1984)
Chris Paddack (1996)
Jhoan Duran (1998)

Three players named Jeff were born on this day.  In addition to the two listed above, this is also the birthday of Jeff Hoffman of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 8

Happy Birthday–December 22

Connie Mack (1862)
Matty Alou (1938)
Elrod Hendricks (1940)
Steve Carlton (1944)
Hiroyuki Yamazaki (1946)
Charley Taylor (1947)
Steve Garvey (1948)
Tom Underwood (1953)
Ken Landreaux (1954)
Lonnie Smith (1955)
Glenn Wilson (1958)
George Wright (1958)
Jeff A (1958)
Andy Allanson (1961)
Mike Jackson (1964)
Jason Lane (1976)
Zack Britton (1987)

Second baseman Hiroyuki Yamazaki was a five-time all-star in Japan over a twenty-year career.

Charley Taylor was a minor-league pitching coach for over thirty years in the Houston Astros organization.

Steve Garvey was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 1966, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 22

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.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 18

Happy Birthday–December 17

Cy Falkenberg (1879)
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)
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.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 17

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.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 9

Happy Birthday–November 27

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.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 27

Happy Birthday–November 22

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.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 22

Happy Birthday–November 9

George Wood (1858)
Harvey Hendrick (1897)
Johnny Gooch (1897)
Jerry Benjamin (1909)
Jerry Priddy (1919)
Bob Wren (1920)
Bill Bruton (1925)
Whitey Herzog (1931)
Bob Gibson (1935)
Jim Riggleman (1952)
Teddy Higuera (1958)
Dion James (1962)
Chad Ogea (1970)
Adam Dunn (1979)
Chuck James (1981)
Joel Zumaya (1984)
Curt Casali (1988)
Alex Kirilloff (1997)

Bob Wren was the head coach of Ohio University from 1949-1972.

Jim Riggleman managed San Diego, the Cubs, Seattle, and Washington.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 9