July 8

Hank O’Day (1862)
Ivey Wingo (1890)
Clint Brown (1903)
Salty Parker (1912)
Hector Lopez (1929)
Al Spangler (1933)
Darrell Brandon (1940)
Ken Sanders (1941)
Jim Ollom (1945)
Lerrin LaGrow (1948)
Alan Ashby (1951)
Terry Puhl (1956)
Bob Kipper (1964)
Jerome Walton (1965)
Bobby Ayala (1969)
Danny Ardoin (1974)

Hall of Fame umpire Hank O'Day was the home plate umpire in the first world series game in 1903.  He umpired in ten World Series.

Salty Parker was a long-time minor league manager and major league coach.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to AMR’s daughter, Moss’ son, and FTLT's daughter.

Right-hander Darrell “Bucky” Brandon made three appearances for the Twins in 1969.  Born and raised in Nacogdoches, Texas, he signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent in 1959.  He made only one appearance in Class D for the Pirates, went to St. Louis, made only five appearances in Class D for the Cardinals in 1960, was out of baseball in 1961 (pitching semi-pro ball and working as a milkman), then went to the Houston organization.  He toiled there for four years and pitched pretty well, slowly making his way up the minor league system.  He reached AAA in 1965, then was traded to Boston.  He both started and relieved for the Red Sox for two season, not doing great but not doing too badly, either.  He was back in AAA in 1968, where he had a very good year, and also made eight appearances in the majors.  He was left unprotected in the expansion draft and was chosen by Seattle.  He again was mostly in the minors, making eight appearances in the big leagues with the Pilots, and was sold to Minnesota in early July.  The Twins mostly kept him in AAA, too; he made three appearances with Minnesota, two in July and one in September.  He pitched 3.1 innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks.  The Twins released him at the end of spring training of 1970, and he signed with the White Sox.  He spent another year in AAA, pitching 214 innings there and winning 15 games.  The White Sox traded him to Philadelphia after the season.  It was the best thing that could have happened to him:  he got three more years in the majors in the Phillies bullpen.  He had a poor year in 1973, was in AAA for 1974, then his playing career came to an end.  After that, he operated pitching schools, first in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, later in Hanover, Massachusetts (one of his pupils was Orel Hershiser).  At last report, Darrell Brandon was living in Hanover, Massachusetts, where he worked in the insurance business for many years before retiring in 2013.

Left-handed reliever Jim Ollom appeared in twenty-four games for the Twins from 1966-1967.  Born and raised in Snohomish, Washington, he signed with the Yankees as a free agent in 1963.  He played rookie ball for them for one year, then was chosen by Minnesota in the first-year player draft.  He did better at AAA than he had done in the low minors, including winning 20 games for Denver in 1966, when he pitched 247 innings.  He made his major league debut with the Twins that year as a September call-up and was with them for all of 1967.  He was seldom used, however, appearing in only 21 games and working only 35 innings.  As a Twin, he was 0-1, 5.00 with a WHIP of only 1.13 in 45 innings.  He went back to the minors for 1968-1969, did not pitch well, and his playing career came to an end.  His lack of a major league career has been explained by saying that he had a major-league fastball but little else, as he could not consistently throw any breaking pitches for strikes.  At last report, Jim Ollom was living in Phoenix, Arizona and Everett, Washington, and was a regional sales manager for a baking products company.  That report is several years old, however, and it's entirely possible that he has retired by now.

Left-hander Bob Kipper pitched for the Twins in 1992.  Born and raised in Aurora, Illinois, he was the eight pick of the draft in 1982, chosen by California.  He was in Class A for three years, but the third one, when he was still only 19, was a good one:  he went 18-8, 2.04 for Redwood.  He rose quickly after that, pitching well at every minor league stop.  He made the Angels out of spring training in 1985, but wasn’t ready and went back down after only two appearances.  In August, he was traded to Pittsburgh in a multi-player deal that included John Candelaria.  He was in the Pirates’ rotation most of 1986-1987, doing decently in 1986 and poorly in 1987.  He moved to the bullpen in 1988 and had some fairly good years as a middle reliever/set-up man.  His best year was 1989, when he had an ERA of 2.93 and a WHIP of 1.06 in 83 innings.  He had a weaker year in 1991, became a free agent, and signed with Minnesota.  He made 25 appearances with the Twins, going 3-3, 4.42 with a WHIP of 1.40 in 38.2 innings.  He was released at the end of July, and was not picked up by anyone.  He tried to make a comeback with the Mets in 1994, but abandoned it after pitching poorly in nine AAA outings.  Since then, he has been a minor league pitching coach, working mostly in the Red Sox’ organization.  Bob Kipper is currently the pitching coach of the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox.

Catcher Danny Ardoin appeared in fifteen games for the Twins in 2000.  He was born in Mamou, Louisiana, went to high school in Villa Platte, Louisiana, and attended McNeese State University.  He was drafted by Oakland in the fifth round in 1995.  He was in the minors with the Athletics for several years, not being horrible but not doing much to stand out, either, although he did hit sixteen home run at AA Huntsville in 1998.  In late July of 2000, Oakland traded Ardoin to Minnesota, where he became one of five catchers the Twins used that year (Matthew LeCroy, A. J. Pierzynski, Chad Moeller, Marcus Jensen).  He was with the Twins for about a month, hitting .125/.300/.250.  He was in AAA for the Twins in 2001, then was allowed to become a free agent.  He signed with Kansas City for 2002, was released in May, and signed with Texas.  He remained in the Rangers’ organization through 2004, making it back to the majors for three weeks in 2004.  He signed with Colorado for 2005 and spent much of the season with the Rockies, getting 210 at-bats in 80 games.  He was in the majors for much of 2006 as well, but was placed on waivers by the Rockies at the end of August and was selected by Baltimore.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Washington for 2007, but was traded to Houston near the end of spring training.  He never got out of AAA there and was traded again in late August, this time to St. Louis.  A free agent after the season, he signed with the Dodgers, where he stayed through 2009.  He spent the majority of 2008 in the majors, although he was rarely used.  He did not sign with anyone in 2010, bringing his playing career to an end.  At last report, Danny Ardoin was living in Lake Charles, Louisiana and was a vice president/regional sales manager for First South Farm Credit.