BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1859 Art Sladen
Technically a major leaguer – played two games with the Boston Reds of the Union Association in 1884.
1863 Tommy Tucker
A switch hitting first baseman who once won a batting title by hitting .372, but then angered his teammates and opponents with his foul mouth and dirty playing tactics.
David Nemec, who may be my favorite baseball researcher, wrote his biography for SABR.
1864 Dan Dugdale
Briefly a player with Kansas City in the only year KC was in the NL (1886) and then about a decade later he was a backup in Washington. Dugdale is most famous for being the person who brought baseball to Seattle. He didn’t fare as well when the PCL tried to move into Seattle but he created the first Northwest League entry and the Rainers played in Dugdale Park for years.
Jeff Obermeyer wrote his bio for SABR.
1867 Bill Wilson
Catcher with some awful baseball teams (1890 Pittsburgh, 1897-1898 Louisville), left baseball to pursue a life of crime and was stabbed to death in May, 1924.
Bill Lamb wrote his unbelievable (and well researched) story for SABR.
1875 Bert Miller
One of many rookies and baseball nomads given tryouts by the 1897 Colonels, Miller wasn’t really MLB quality and was tossed to the minor league winds. Died penniless during the depression. According to Peter Morris’s SABR bio, he lived a rather nomadic experience as a matter of course.
1877 Joe Adams
Came on in relief in one game for the Cardinals in 1902, pitched four forgettable innings after Stanley Yerkes was removed for a pinch hitter in the fifth and already trailing 8 – 4, and batted twice without reaching base. Adams was only in trouble once – he gave up five runs in his final frame.
His Wikipedia entry suggests he was never far from the game, eventually owned a restaurant, and owned one of the better nicknames in baseball history – Wagon Tongue.
1877 Vive Lindaman
1879 Benny Bowcock
1879 Frank Smith
1883 Frank Lange
1884 Chet Chadbourne
1886 Ed McDonald
1890 John Leonard (Doc) Lavan
1892 Bill McCabe
1894 John Bischoff
1896 Wyatt Eure (Roxy) Snipes
1899 Percy Jones
1900 Johnny Neun
1903 Hank Boney
1904 Elias Calvin (Liz) Funk
1904 Joe O’Rourke
1906 Ed Clough
1907 George Hennessey
1914 Johnny Rigney
1916 Ed Levy
1917 Joe Page
1920 Artie Wilson
1925 Luis Marquez
1926 Rudy Rufer
1926 Bowie Kuhn
1931 Gair Allie
1935 Bob Veale
1954 Gary Rajsich
1954 Sammy Stewart
1960 Mark Knudson
1961 Bob Melvin
1964 Lenny Harris
1965 Larry Casian
1966 Tim Bogar
1966 Juan Guzman
1969 Kirk Bullinger
1974 Braden Looper
1977 Chin-Feng Chen
1979 Bobby Cramer
1981 Nate McLouth
Passed up a scholarship to his home state school – Michigan – to sign with the Pirates in the 2000 draft. Worked his way up – made the bigs in 2005 and by 2008 he was an all-star with 46 doubles and 26 homers, not to mention 94 RBIs.
At that point, he stopped getting better. He was traded to Atlanta in 2009 (I remember being stunned by this) for a few arms (Jeff Locke, Charlie Morton, Gorkys Hernandez) and had one of those seasons that escapes you – .190 in about a half season of work in 2010. Instead of being an all-star, he was a fourth outfielder and working his way from Atlanta to Pittsburgh, Baltimore and finally Washington. He tore a labrum in his shoulder after trying to make a catch in 2013 and never was able to play again.
1982 Jeremy Bonderman
Drafted in the first round by the As in 2001 – Moneyball says it angered Billy Beane such that he threw a chair against the wall – Bonderman was a JUNIOR in high school when drafted. Not long after, he was sent to the Tigers in a multi-team deal where he would make his debut as a 20-year-old. Suffered through a 6 – 19 season as a rookie, but in a couple of years it was 14-13.
Brandishing a decent fastball and solid slider, Bonderman helped the 2006 Tigers to the World Series but things went awry in the 2007, leading to surgery to remove a blood clot (and a rib). He lost the better part of two seasons to shoulder pain and recovery. After a rough 2010, he was allowed to become a free agent with little or no interest. Seattle gave him a minor league deal for the 2013 season and he made the big league club, but eventually gave up on him. Detroit brought him back as a reliever to close out 2013 season – and it ended up closing out his career. He was just 30. He threw 900+ innings before 25, barely 300 after that…
1982 Anthony Lerew
Professional pitcher – thrown everywhere, but not as successfully in the majors as he might have hoped… Signed by the Braves and made the bigs in 2005 – got a few shots and left with a career ERA around 8… The Royals signed him, gave him a few starts in 2009 and 2010. He got his only win in 2010, and became a nomad.
1983 Esmailin Caridad
Dominican reliever, came up with the Cubs in 2009, left in 2010. The righty has pitched all over the Americas…
1986 Josh Thole
Mets took him in the 2005 draft, thought he might be a first baseman then converted him to catcher. Once he proved he could handle the job, they then sent Thole to the Blue Jays in the R.A. Dickey trade (NY picked up John Buck, Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard). He’s a decent catcher, looked like a hitter in NYC but hasn’t had much success in Toronto. In fact, he hit .321 as a rookie in 2009, and his batting average has consistently gotten lower – sinking to .169. In fact, his hitting problems started when he was run over by Ty Wigginton in a play at the plate, earning a concussion for his effort.
Thole was frequently Dickey’s catcher.
1987 Casey Lawrence
1988 Corban Joseph
Two games as a Yankee in 2013 without appearing in a game, then called up for a doubleheader. He appeared in both games, got a hit in the second game, and was sent back to the minors. Franklin, TN native, Joseph passed up a scholarship to Kentucky to sign with the Yankees after being drafted in the fourth round… His brother, Caleb, played for Baltimore.
1990 Justin Hancock
1991 Daniel Palka
1996 Jake Woodford
OBITUARIES:
1879 Jimmy Hallinan
1904 Sam Field
1907 Ted Kennedy
1911 George Taylor
1925 Willy Wilson
1937 Jesse Whiting
1937 Gus Shallix
1942 Dan Coogan
1948 Roy Ellam
1952 Bob Lawson
1965 Walter Barbare
1969 Dave Callahan
1969 Joe Rullo
1970 Wedo Martini
1974 George Wilson
1979 Mel Ingram
1983 Ray Sanders
1987 Robert Hugh (Pete) McClanahan
1988 Dave Tyriver
1993 Bob Seeds
1993 Cal Koonce
1996 Joe Samuels
2000 Andujar Cedeno
Car wreck in the Domincan Republic.
2011 Ricky Adams
YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!
1961 Ground is broken on a new stadium – originally called Flushing Meadow Stadium, but later named after Bill Shea.
1989 Oakland finishes off the Giants, 9 – 6, to win the World Series in four games.
1995 Atlanta blanks the Indians, 1 – 0, the lone run scoring on a David Justice homer. Tom Glavine and Mark Wohlers combined to throw a one-hitter.
2011 St. Louis takes game seven and the World Series, topping Texas, 6 – 2.
TRANSACTION WIRE:
1937 The Cubs signed free agent infielder Tony Lazzeri.
1947 The Boston Braves purchased Hoyt Wilhelm from Mooresville of the North Carolina State League.
1968 Detroit releases Eddie Mathews
1975 Chicago sends Don Kessinger to St. Louis for Mike Garman and a player to be named later (Bobby Hrapmann).
1988 Detroit sends Walt Terrell to the Padres for Chris Brown and Keith Moreland.
1996 Kansas City sends Mark Gubicza and Mike Bovee to the Angels for Chili Davis.
2000 Seattle sends Antonio Perez and manager Lou Piniella to Tampa Bay for Randy Winn.
Mighty Casey Baseball 