BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1845 Bob Ferguson
The first of the great nicknames – “Death to Flying Things”…
1845 Freeman Brown
1861 Al Buckenberger
1862 Jim Manning
1863 William Smith (Rasty) Wright
1866 Pat Flaherty
1870 Joshua Mercer (Jot) Goar
1880 Walter Morris
1882 Alva Mitchell (Rip) Williams
1885 Eddie Hohnhorst
1885 Drummond Brown
1889 Carl Ray
1889 Ray Brown
1890 Alvah Jackson (Goat) Cochran
1891 Tim Hendryx
1891 Charles C. (Tex) McDonald
1892 Rees Gephardt (Steamboat) Williams
1893 George Burns
1894 John Franklin (Stuffy) Stewart
1896 William McKinley (Pinky) Hargrave
1896 Charlie Robertson
Threw a perfect game as a kid pitcher for the White Sox… Did that to the Tigers with Cobb, Heilmann, and those guys.
1898 Webb Schultz
1899 Don Songer
1900 John Francis (Honey) Barnes
1903 Abie Hood
1903 Buck Ewing
1909 Emil Planeta
1912 Jerry McQuaig
1914 Mel Mazzera
1914 Charlie Wiedemeyer
1918 Sid Peterson
1919 Jackie Robinson
1919 Ken Gables
1926 Tom Alston
1929 Duane Frederick (Duke) Maas
1931 Hank Aguirre
1931 Ernie Banks
Mr. Cub – the first African-American Cubbie, and for about a decade one of the ten best players in the game. After that, he was the best ambassador for the team and died just too soon to see his team finally win a World Series.
1941 Ike Futch
Ike Futch was one of the “ghost” players of the major leagues. He was called to the majors, played one last game in the minors and got injured – never to play in the bigs. Futch was also the hardest guy ever to strike out.
1947 Nolan Ryan
1949 Fred Kendall
1949 Jim Willoughby
1949 Mark Ballinger
1950 Bob Apodaca
1953 Mike Rowland
1955 Ted Power
1958 Rafael Santana
1963 Dave Cochrane
1963 Francisco Oliveras
1968 Steve Phoenix
1970 Joel Bennett
1970 Chris Pritchett
1982 Yuniesky Betancourt
1982 Brad Thompson
1984 Josh Johnson
One of my favorite Marlins. He threw a nasty hard fastball that would just pop in a mitt and make a sound that echoed. Threw strikes, it seemed like he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning all the time. He just had a shoulder that couldn’t take the workload and his career degenerated. At his best, though, he was just unhittable and I miss him.
1987 Caleb Thielbar
1987 Melky Mesa
1989 Tommy La Stella
1991 Guillermo Heredia
1991 Tyler Kinley
1992 Alex Claudio
1993 Locke St. John
1994 Cole Irvin
1994 Jake Thompson
1994 Rob Whale
OBITUARIES:
1900 Ed Stratton
The Baltimore native pitched on his home nine briefly in 1873 (he lost all three starts). Bright’s disease sent him to the next league. – “Local Brevities,” Westminster Democratic Advocate, February 3, 1900: 3.
1904 Dan Mahoney
Mahoney was a catcher in the 1890s – he threw with an underhand snap of sorts. After he made it to the majors with Washington, something snapped in his throwing arm and it pretty much ended his career. He apparently never got over it – his family grew tired of his brooding. When they gave him money and suggested he move out, he bought some poison and took his own life instead. – “Was Despondent,” Boston Globe, February 1, 1904: 8.
1912 Ed Taylor
1917 Pete O’Brien
1926 Lou Bierbauer
1930 Joe Cantillon
1933 Beany Jacobson
1938 Charlie Chech
1938 Jim Gray
1940 Red Fisher
1942 Henry Larkin
1942 Ed Phelps
1947 Johnny Kling
1948 Clarence Lehr
1953 Mike Handiboe
1956 Buck Weaver
1957 Chick Maynard
1958 Harry O’Donnell
1961 Guy Cantrell
1963 Ossie Vitt
1964 John Huber
1966 Pat Donahue
1971 Steve Yerkes
1973 Charles Zomphier
1980 Ed Head
1981 John Dowd
1983 Sam Gibson
1985 Joe Bradshaw
1996 Jesse Williams
1999 Norm Zauchin
2002 Harry Chiti
2004 Ernest Burke
2005 Bill Voiselle
2009 Bob Scherbarth
2012 Rick Behenna
2013 Tony Pierce
2013 Fred Whitfield
2018 Oscar Gamble
2022 Jerry Snyder
YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!
1961 Voters approve financing for a domed stadium to be built in Houston…
TRANSACTION WIRE:
1965 Houston signs amateur outfielder Bob Watson.
1980 Houston signs free agent second sacker Joe Morgan.
1996 Kansas City signs free agent pitcher Tim Belcher. That season, my wife and I got season tickets to Royals games and I swear that Belcher started 75% of the games I saw.
Mighty Casey Baseball 