Deacon McGuire (1863)
Jack Coombs (1882)
Les Mann (1892)
Gene Mauch (1925)
Roy Sievers (1926)
Danny McDevitt (1932)
Cal Koonce (1940)
Jim Shellenback (1943)
Steve Henderson (1952)
Luis Pujols (1955)
Mike Felder (1961)
Jamie Moyer (1962)
Dante Bichette (1963)
Ron Coomer (1966)
Tom Gordon (1967)
Gary Sheffield (1968)
Shawn Camp (1975)
David Ortiz (1975)
Steve Bechler (1979)
C. J. Wilson (1980)
Jack Coombs (1882)
Les Mann (1892)
Gene Mauch (1925)
Roy Sievers (1926)
Danny McDevitt (1932)
Cal Koonce (1940)
Jim Shellenback (1943)
Steve Henderson (1952)
Luis Pujols (1955)
Mike Felder (1961)
Jamie Moyer (1962)
Dante Bichette (1963)
Ron Coomer (1966)
Tom Gordon (1967)
Gary Sheffield (1968)
Shawn Camp (1975)
David Ortiz (1975)
Steve Bechler (1979)
C. J. Wilson (1980)
Roy Sievers was a star for the franchise when it was in
Washington in the 1950s.
There are seventy-six current and former major league players
born on this day. I'm pretty sure that's the most on any day.
Gene William Mauch managed
the Twins from 1976-1980. He became much more famous as a manager than he had
ever been as a player. Born in Salina, Kansas, he attended Fremont High School
in Los Angeles and was signed as a free agent by Brooklyn in 1943. An
infielder, he had a very good year for Class B Durham in 1943, and started 1944
with the Dodgers. After five games, Mauch went briefly to AA Montreal, and then
went into the military. Upon his return in 1946, he was sent to AAA St. Paul.
Mauch was traded to Pittsburgh in 1947. He began that year in AAA as well, but
after hitting .300 there in 58 games, he was promoted to the Pirates. He stayed
in the big leagues through 1950, spending time with Brooklyn, the Cubs, and the
Boston Braves. Mauch was apparently injured for some of 1951, as he played only
19 games for Boston and 37 games at AAA. Most of the rest of his career was
spent in the minors, with the exception of 1957, when he played in 65 games for
the Red Sox. Mauch posted a lifetime batting line of .239/.333/.312, with an
OPS+ of 75. His playing career ended with two years as the player-manager of
AAA Minneapolis in 1958-59. He became a major league manager in 1960, when he
was hired to manage the Philadelphia Phillies. He remained their manager
through 1968, most famously in 1964, when his team lost a 6 1/2 game lead with
12 games to play. He became manager of the expansion Montreal Expos in 1969,
holding that job through 1975. Mauch became the manager of the Twins in 1976,
replacing Frank Quilici. With the Twins, Mauch did his best to make a lot out
of a little, twice keeping the Twins in contention for much of the season
despite limited talent. By 1980, however, the loss through free agency of
pretty much every good player on the team became too much for him, and he
resigned in August. Mauch moved on to twice manage the California Angels, from
1981-82 and from 1985-87. In 1982 and 1986 Mauch had the Angels within one game
of the World Series, but never was able to win that one game. As a manager,
Mauch was known for emphasizing fundamentals and small ball and using the
entire roster. He was criticized for not getting to the World Series, but many
times he got his team closer to it than it had any right to be. As Bill
James once said, Mauch's problem was that he took over too many challenges and
not enough ball clubs. Gene Mauch passed away from lung cancer on August 8,
2005.
Left-hander Daniel Eugene McDevitt appeared in sixteen games for
the Twins in 1961, near the end of his major league career. Born in New York,
he attended St. Bonaventure University and was signed by the Yankees as a free
agent in 1951. He spent two years in the low minors, posting a 2.35 ERA for
Class C Greenwood in 1952, and then missed two years due to service in the
United States Army. Upon his return in 1955, he struggled for a couple of
years, but put things together in 1957, posting a 2.30 ERA in 94 innings of AAA
before being promoted to Brooklyn, where he went 7-4 with a 3.25 ERA the rest
of the way. McDevitt was the starting pitcher for the last Dodgers home game in
Brooklyn, winning 2-0. He started 1958 with the Dodgers, now moved to Los
Angeles, but struggled early and was sent back to AAA. He came back to the
majors in 1959, and this time stayed there for three years. He had a couple of
decent seasons for the Dodgers as a sometime starter, sometime reliever. After
the 1960 season, McDevitt was sold to the Yankees, and after he got off to a
poor start in New York, he was traded to Minnesota in mid-June of 1961 for
Billy Gardner. He did not suffer from overwork, pitching only 26 innings in 16
appearances the rest of the way. He did well for the Twins when given the
chance, posting a 2.36 ERA. Control trouble, however, was a problem throughout
his career, and it showed up in Minnesota as well, as McDevitt walked 19
batters. Arm injuries contributed to his problems as well. He was sold to
Kansas City the following off-season. He made 33 appearances for the Athletics
in 1962, was in AAA in 1963, and then his playing career ended. He did
not immediately leave baseball, however, embarking on a career as a minor
league umpire. Danny McDevitt passed away in Covington, Georgia on
November 20, 2010, two days after his 78th birthday.
Left-hander James Philip Shellenback appeared for the Twins in
five games in 1977, at the end of his playing career. He was born in Riverside,
California, attended Ramona High School in Riverside, and was signed by the
Yankees as a free agent in 1962. After his first minor-league season,
Shellenback was drafted by Pittsburgh in the 1962 first-year draft. He pitched
very well in the Pirates' minor-league system, but someone must have decided he
couldn't pitch in the bigs: in almost four full seasons of AAA, from 1965-1968,
Shellenback posted an ERA of 3.08, but he got only 8 games and 26 innings in
the big leagues in that period. In May of 1969, he was traded to Washington,
and finally was given a shot in the majors. He spent four years with
Washington/Texas from 1969-1972 as a swing man, and did a decent job,
consistently posting ERAs in the mid-threes. In 1974, however, he found himself
back in AAA, which is where he remained for most of the rest of his career.
After the 1975 season, he was sold to San Diego, but never got a shot at the
big leagues there. The Padres released him in before the 1977 season, and he
was out of baseball until Minnesota signed him in August. He started at AA
Orlando, but got a September call-up with the Twins. He pitched only 5.2
innings, giving up five earned runs for a 7.94 ERA. The Twins released him
after the season, and his playing career was over. He appears to be another
player who might have been better had he been given more of a chance. After he
quit playing, Jim Shellenback then went into coaching, and was for several
years the pitching coach for the Elizabethton Twins until his retirement after
the 2011 season. No information about what he has done since then was
readily available, but it is to be hoped that wherever he is, he is enjoying
his retirement.
Corner infielder Ronald Bryan Coomer played for the Twins from
1995-2000. Born in Crest Hill, Illinois, he attended high school in Lockport
Township, Illinois. He attended Taft College in Taft, California, and was
drafted by Oakland in the 14th round in 1987. He was in Class A for three
years, hitting over .300 in two of them, but struggled when promoted to AA in
1990, and was released by Oakland in August of that year. He was signed by the
White Sox and had a couple of nondescript seasons in their minor league system,
but came alive in 1993, hitting .319 in a season split between AA and AAA.
Coomer was traded to the Dodgers after that season. He hit .338 at AAA
Albuquerque in 1994, and was hitting .322 there in 1995 when he was finally
called up to the big leagues. It wasn't with the Dodgers, however; on July 31,
he was traded to the Twins, along with Greg Hansell, Jose Parra, and Chris
Latham, for Mark Guthrie and Kevin Tapani. A third baseman throughout his minor
league career, Coomer played first base and outfield his first couple of years
with the Twins, was the regular third baseman in 1997-98, and played mostly
first base in 1999-2000. He hit in the .290s with double-digit homers in 1996
and 1997 before dropping to the .270s for the remainder of his time with the
Twins. He did not draw very many walks--his career high was 36 in 2000. As a
Twin, Ron Coomer posted a line of .278/.315/.431 with one all-star appearance,
in 1999. He became a free agent after the 2000 season, and began bouncing
around: he was with the Cubs in 2001, the Yankees in 2002, and the Dodgers in
2003. His playing time diminished, as did his effectiveness, and after 2003, he
called it a career. He then went into broadcasting. He was an analyst for
Fox Sports North for several seasons before becoming a radio broadcaster for
the Chicago Cubs in 2014.
Designated hitter/first baseman David Americo (Arias) Ortiz was
born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, went to high school in Haina,
Dominican Republic, and was originally known as David Arias. Ironically, he
would go on to become a player to be named later. He was signed by Seattle as a
free agent in 1992. He hit .332 in rookie ball in 1995, and followed it up by
hitting .322 with 18 home runs in the Midwest League in 1996. In September, he
came to Minnesota as the PTBNL in a trade that sent Dave Hollins to Seattle. He
had a big year in 1997, split between A and AA, and made his big-league debut
as a September call-up that season. He made the Twins out of spring training in
1998, and got off to a good start, but got hurt in early May, missing two
months. He did not do as well upon his return, but for the season, he hit .277
with an .817 OPS as a 22-year-old, and appeared ready to move forward. Instead,
he went backward. After a poor spring training in 1999, Ortiz was sent to AAA
and stayed there the whole season despite hitting .315 with 30 homers and
despite the fact that Doug Mientkiewicz was posting a .229 average as the
Twins' first baseman. Back in Minnesota in 2000, he stayed there through 2002.
Ortiz was better with the Twins than some would have us believe: he hit
.266/.348/.461 with a 107 OPS+. Still, the Twins soured on him and gave him his
release after the 2002 season. Teams were not falling all over themselves to
sign him, either; he was unemployed for over a month before signing with Boston
on January 22, 2003. Given regular playing time in Boston, he exploded: from
2003-2007, Ortiz averaged 42 homers and 128 RBIs, finishing in the top five in
MVP voting each year. He had a couple of down (though still productive) years
from 2008-2009, but bounced back in 2010 and remained a good batter for the
rest of his career. In fact, his final season, 2016, at age forty, was
one of his best, as he batted .315 with 38 homers and led the league in
doubles, slugging percentage, and OPS. He'll have to overcome some
anti-DH sentiment and also some steroid rumors (although no solid evidence of
his use has ever been found), but David Ortiz may very well end up in the Hall
of Fame.
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