BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1854 Oscar Walker
1861 Mort Scanlan
1870 Chappie Snodgrass
1874 Joe Bean
1874 Jimmy Callahan
Nixey – signed originally by the Phillies in 1894, sent to the minors for seasoning… The Colts scooped him up in 1897 (Cap Anson’s last season) and he pitched well – winning twenty games twice. Like many of the Chicago Nationals, then called the Orphans after Anson retired, Callahan was scooped up by the AL White Sox for whom he pitched until 1903. However, Callahan was too good to play just a third of the games – he would play in the outfield or shortstop or third base when not on the hill. As he hit his 30s, Callahan might be a second baseman or left fielder.
Somewhere around 1905, Callahan got the idea that he didn’t want to just play – he wanted to own a team. He had been a player-manager; he saw both sides of the industry. So, he bought a semi-pro team in Chicago and made some money doing that. As you can imagine, this didn’t sit well with Ban Johnson, so he was suddenly added to the ineligible list. However, after five years away from the game, he had had enough of ownership and ran into Charles Comiskey, who offered him a position at the top of his organization. Problem was, of course, that Callahan didn’t think he was done as a player – so he made the team as an outfielder and three rather impressive seasons. And, he managed the Sox again for a few years.
After his career was over, the popular man became a contractor who built the waterworks for the Great Lakes Naval Station. (Who knew? I used to sell to that place in a previous life.)
James Elfers wrote his SABR Bio:
1882 Joseph Myers
1888 Wiley Taylor
1888 Eddie Higgins
1888 Cecil Coombs
1890 Tommy Mee
1893 Russ Wrightstone
1901 Johnny Cooney
1902 Squire Potter
1911 Al Benton
1916 Eddie Lake
1916 Elbie Fletcher
1916 Hi Bithorn
First name was Hiram; he wasn’t necessarily overly happy to see everyone…
1917 Ace Williams
1918 Dick Mulligan
1919 Hal White
1919 Mickey Rutner
1924 Garvin Hamner
Garvin was three years older than his more famous brother… The Phillies actually had both Garvin and Granny Hamner in camp fighting for the shortstop job in 1945. Granny won – but Garvin played second base for about two months. Unfortunately, he didn’t hit very well (.198) and was dispatched back to the minors. The sad thing – he was still young!!! Instead of working his way back, he had a series of injuries and never really got his game back to where it was when he was a prospect out of Richmond in the Piedmont League. His professional career as a baseball player ended when he turned 30. Wesley Garvin Hamner would coach youth and high school programs for years before passing away in 2003 in his hometown of Richmond.
1925 Fred Hatfield
1926 Dick Littlefield
1928 Chi-Chi Olivo
1932 Lee Tate
1940 Tony Martinez
1941 Pat Jarvis
One time Braves starter – first strikeout victim of Nolan Ryan. Alan Morris penned his SABR Bio…
1946 Van Kelly
1953 Randy Miller
1955 Dwayne Murphy
1957 Rickey Keeton
1957 Al Olmsted
1960 Matt Winters
1962 Brian Fisher
1965 Geronimo Berroa
1967 Ken Edenfield
1976 Corky Miller
1976 Scott Podsednik
A few years back, he was the topic of discussion in our fantasy baseball league. I can’t remember the circumstances, but it had to do with a White Sox trade and rhyming names and how Chicago would market things. My friend referred to him as Studriffic Podsednik – and for some reason that name stuck; and the guys in our league (led by me) followed his career more closely. The White Sox have had a lot of outfielders like Podsednik over the years for some reason.
1976 Tomo Ohka
1977 Fernando Rodney
1977 Terrmel Sledge
Saw him play a few times during spring training games and always rooted for him. One of the greatest names ever.
1981 Darren Clarke
1982 Carlos Guevara
1982 Chad Cordero
1983 Andy Sonnanstine
1983 Craig Tatum
1989 David Freitas
1991 J. T. Realmuto
Another Marlin who got away. Good luck in Philadelphia…
1991 Leury Garcia
1992 Trey Mancini
1993 Jesen Therrien
1998 Emmanuel Clase
OBITUARIES:
1892 Phil Tomney
1905 Dick Higham
1910 Alan Storke
1922 Herbert Jackson
1938 Hobe Ferris
I ran across him as he was a teammate of Rube Waddell in both St. Louis and later Minneapolis. Ferris was a pretty good infielder – strong armed, and could hit the ball a long way. In 1907, he allegedly hit a ball of Al Orth that not only cleared the fence and left the yard where the Highlanders played, but bounced down a street and plopped into the Hudson river.
1938 Milo Netzel
1939 Ralph Miller
1944 Frank Motz
1948 Fritz Von Kolnitz
1949 Rudy Sommers
1955 Ty Helfrich
1955 Morrie Aderholt
1960 Dixie Howell
1962 Elmer Bliss
1966 Frank Bennett
1968 Heinie Meine
1969 Jack Bradley
1969 Rafael Almeida
1970 John Misse
1970 Frosty Thomas
1971 Tony Welzer
1972 Frank Bushey
1975 Whitey Ock
1976 Paul Maloy
1979 Percy Jones
1984 Charlie Lau
Not as successful a hitter himself, but helped George Brett and others reach new heights.
1993 Joe Taylor
1993 Buck Jordan
2004 Gene Bearden
2011 Charlie Metro
2013 Earl Hersh
2016 Fred Richards
2018 Jerry Schoonmaker
YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!
1942 Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland work out for the White Sox in Pasadena. The White Sox manager, Jimmie Dykes, never made either player an offer.
TRANSACTION WIRE:
1838 Washington trades Joe Kuhel to Chicago (AL) for Zeke Bonura.
1977 Minnesota signs free agent pitcher Geoff Zahn.
1981 A day Jim Essian didn’t like… The White Sox signed Carlton Fisk as a free agent.
1990 Kansas City releases Bo Jackson.
2000 St. Louis sends Joe McEwing to the Mets for Jesse Orosco.
Mighty Casey Baseball 