March 20

Bill Cammeyer (1821)

Mike Griffin (1865)

Joe McGinnity (1871)

Bob Connery (1880)

Walter Schmidt (1887)

Vern Kennedy (1907)

Clyde Shoun (1912)

Hank Izquierdo (1931)

George Altman (1933)

Pat Corrales (1941)

Rick Langford (1952)

Steve McCatty (1954)

Paul Mirabella (1954)

Si-jin Kim (1958)

Chris Hoiles (1965)

Manny Alexander (1971)

Bill Cammeyer was involved in the early days of professional baseball.  He is credited as a pioneer who put a fence around his ballpark so he could charge admission, he built a clubhouse, he graded the diamond, created a very primitive set of stands for fans, and put a saloon inside the fence.

Bob Connery is the scout credited with discovering Rogers Hornsby and Tony Lazzeri.

Paul Mirabella was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 1975, but did not sign.

Si-Jin Kim was a top pitcher in the first decade of Korean professional baseball.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to AMR’s daughter.

Catcher Enrique Roberto (Valdes) "Hank" Izquierdo was a reserve catcher for the Twins for two months in 1967.  Born and raised in Matanzas, Cuba, he started playing in organized baseball in 1951.  He spent three years playing for the Galveston White Caps, and independent team in the Class B Gulf Coast League.  He went to independent Winston-Salem in 1954 before going to the Cleveland organization with Class B Keokuk in 1955.  He hit .302 that year, his fifth in Class B, and also played at least one game at each position that season.  When he moved higher, unfortunately, his hitting ability could not keep up.  Minor league transaction records from the 1950s are not good, but Izquierdo moved to the Baltimore organization sometime in 1956 and to the Cincinnati organization in 1957.  He spent five years in AAA for Cincinnati, playing in Havana and Jersey City.  He hit .190 in 998 at-bats over that five-year period.  He retired after the 1961 season to become the bullpen coach for Cleveland, but in 1963, he made a comeback with in the Twins' organization.  He hit .297 playing in Class A at age 32.  He spent the next two years at AA before once again reaching AAA at age 35 in 1966.  He was hitting .300 in 1967 at AAA Denver when at age 36 Hank Izquierdo made his major league debut.  Used as a reserve, he went 7-for-26 with two doubles and two RBIs in the major leagues.  Izquierdo moved to the Houston organization, playing in AAA through 1969.  After the 1968 season, he was driving a taxi in Miami during the off-season and was shot in the stomach during a robbery, nearly dying.  His playing career ending in 1969 when he got into a fight with Ted Simmons in a AAA game and swung a bat at him, fortunately missing.  He managed in the Mexican League for several years and was a scout for the Twins in the 1980s.  At last report, Hank Izquierdo was living in West Palm Beach, Florida.