Born on the Same Day - 6/1/1942

First a commercial: A few months ago I set up a blogroll blog here. It currently has over 230 blogs listed, and some shortcuts on the sidebar. 


Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. 

This is post #26 in the series: Randy Hundley and Ken McMullen - both born on 6/1/1942.

After a few games with the Giants in '64 and '65, Randy Hundley had a long career as the Cubs' #1 catcher from 1966 to 1973. Injuries slowed him down, and he played sporadically in his last 4 seasons for the Twins ('74), Padres ('75), and Cubs again ('76-'77).

Ken McMullen began his career with the Dodgers as a backup from 1962-64. Traded to the Senators with Frank Howard, Ken was the Nats' starting 3rd baseman for 5 season, then moved on to the Angels in 1970, anchoring the Halos' hot corner for 3 seasons. He returned to the Dodgers as a bench player from 1973-75, then finished up with the Athletics and Brewers from 1976-77.

Born on the Same Day - 3/24/1937

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. 

A few days ago, I just happened to find 4 other players who shared (2) common birthdays (Dick Egan/Bob Tillman, and Doug Clemens/Julio Gotay).

This is actually the 23rd post in the series, but since it comes chronologically after Jerry Adair and Roland Sheldon, I'm going to call it post #8.5: Dick Egan and Bob Tillman - both born on 3/24/1937.

Dick Egan was a relief pitcher who played for the Tigers in 1963 and 1964. After a season in the minors, he appeared in 10 games for the Angels early in the 1966 season, before wrapping up his career with 20 games for the Dodgers in 1967.

Bob Tillman played from 1962-1970. He was mostly a backup catcher, except for 1964-65 when he was the Red Sox' regular backstop. After 5 1/2 seasons with Boston. he made a brief stop in the Bronx before finishing up with 3 seasons in Atlanta.

Born on the Same Day - 3/3/1942

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. 

This is post #22 in the series: Don Dennis and Bob Garibaldi - both born on 3/3/1942.

Don Dennis pitched 79 games for the Cardinals (mostly in relief) from 1965-66. Traded to the White Sox after 1966, he never played for them, but pitched for their AAA team for 3 seasons before retiring.

Bob Garibaldi played in the Giants' farm system from 1962-1970, and in the Padres' system from 1971-72. He played a few games for the Giants in '62 and '63, and 1 game each in '66 and '69. After his baseball career, he was a college basketball referee for many years.

Born on the Same Day - 6/28/1941

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. 

This is post #19 in the series: Al Downing and Fred Talbot - both born on 6/28/1941.

This is the 19th post in the series, and the first one featuring teammates.

Al Downing pitched for 17 seasons, the first 9 (1961-69) for the Yankees. After splitting the 1970 season between the Athletics and Brewers, he pitched his final 7 seasons with the Dodgers. He was a 20-game winner in 1971, his first in LA. Three years later, he gave up Hank Aaron's 715th home run.


Unlike Downing, Fred Talbot did not begin his career with the Yankees (or even with Yankees-West). Fred came up with the White Sox in 1963, then was traded to the Athletics prior to 1965. He finally made it to the Big Apple midway through the 1966 season.

After several seasons in the Yankees' rotation, Talbot was quite the traveler in 1969 - playing for the Yankees, Pilots, and Athletics. He finished his career in 1970 - pitching 1 game for the Athletics.

Born on the Same Day - 7/21/1940

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. 

This is post #17 in the series: John Bateman and Denis Menke - both born on 7/21/1940.

John Bateman caught for the Astros from 1963 to 1968. Selected by the expansion Expos, he played in Montreal from 1969 to early-1972. Bateman finished his career in 1972 with the Phillies. Traded in mid-season for Tim McCarver, Bateman was on-hand to witness his battery-mate Steve Carlton win 27 games.

Denis Menke played for the Braves from 1962-67, and the Astros from 1968 to 1971. Both of his All-Star selections came while a member of the Astros. After the 1971 season, Denis accompanied Joe Morgan and others to the Reds in a blockbuster deal. He finished his career back with the Astros in 1974.

Bateman and Menke were teammates during the 1968 season.

Born on the Same Day - 10/7/1939

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. 

This is post #13 in the series: John O'Donoghue and Phil Ortega - both born on 10/7/1939.

John O'Donoghue pitched for 9 seasons, and as luck would have it, mostly for bad teams. He began with the Kansas City Athletics (1963-65), Indians (1966-67), Orioles (1968), Pilots/Brewers (1969-70), and Expos (1970-71). Only the Orioles were a "good team", and they were in a valley between their '66 and '69 peaks.

John made his only All-Star team in 1965 - surprising since he led the AL with 18 losses that season. He was a starter with KayCee and Cleveland, and a reliever thereafter.


Phil Ortega pitched for the Dodgers from 1960-64 before moving to Washington in the Frank Howard/Claude Osteen trade.

He pitched for the Sens from 1965-68, then ended his career with the Angels in 1969 - pitching 5 games in the first month of the season before he was sent to the minors. He was a starting pitcher from 1964-68.

Born on the Same Day - 8/4/1939

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. 

This is post #12 in the series: Dennis Higgins and Bob Meyer - both born on 8/4/1939.

Dennis Higgins played for the White Sox, Senators, Indians, and Cardinals from 1966-72. Most of his playing time came in 1966 (White Sox), and 1968-70 (Senators, Indians).  He led his team in saves from 1968-70.

Bob Meyer played in the minors from 1960-69, and made his major-league debut in 1964, playing for the Yankees, Angels, and Athletics (busy guy!) He returned to the minors for 4 1/2 years beginning in 1965, until pitching 6 games (5 starts) for the expansion Seattle Pilots team in the final weeks of the 1969 season. He played all of 1970 with the Brewers (his only full season in the majors).

Born on the Same Day - 2/18/1939

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year.

This is post #10 in the series: Dal Maxvill and Bob Miller - both born on 2/18/1939.

Maxvill played for 14 seasons (1962-75), the first 11 with the Cardinals. After 4 seasons on the bench, he was the Cards' starting shortstop from 1966 to August 1972. He played his final 3+ seasons as a backup with Oakland and Pittsburgh. Dal won a Gold Glove in 1968 and played in 4 World Series ('64, '67, '68, '74).

Miller had a 17-year career (1957, 59-74). Primarily a reliever, he also made quite a few starts from '62-'63 and '69-'70. Bob began with the Cardinals, then played for the 1962 expansion Mets, where he was one of 2 pitchers named Bob Miller on the team. His longest stay with any one team was 5 years with the Dodgers (1963-67). Miller later played for 8 other teams before winding up back with the Mets to close out his career.

Born on the Same Day - 11/7/1938

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year.

This is post #9 in the series: Jake Gibbs and Jim Kaat - both born on 11/7/1938.

Gibbs played only for the Yankees during his 10-year career. Some cups of coffee from 1962-64 were followed by full-season work from 1965-71, including the starter's job from 1967-78.

Kaat played for 25 seasons (1959-83) and is one of a handful of players to have played in 4 decades. He also won 16 Gold Glove awards during his career. After playing for the Twins for his first 15 seasons, he made stops with the White Sox, Phillies, Yankees, and Cardinals. He also played in 2 World Series ('65 Twins, '82 Cardinals).

Born on the Same Day - 11/17/1933

Another installment in a new series called "Born on the Same Day", featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. 

This is post #4 in the series: Dan Osinski and Orlando Pena - both born on 11/17/1933.

Osinski played for 6 teams in 8 seasons, primarily with the Angels and Red Sox. Pena played for 8 teams over 14 seasons (1958-75), the longest stint being 4 seasons with the Kansas City Athletics.

The closest these two came to being teammates was in 1962, when they both played for the Athletics (Osinski in April, Pena in August and September).

For the 3rd time in 4 posts, I found a birth date discrepancy on one of the cards. The back of Pena's card shows his birth date as 11/17/1935, but Baseball-Reference.com and Wikipedia both have 11/17/1933, so I'm once again ignoring Topps' version of the facts.

Born on the Same Day - 1/31/1931

Today I started a new series called "Born on the Same Day", featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year. The scope of this exercise is those players (or managers) who have cards in the 1965-1970 sets (because that's what I dooze). Ideally, I should also have their cards.

In researching this, I found 51 pairs and 2 trios. In a few pairs both are stars, some pairs have 1 star, and other pairs are just 2 guys named Joe. In a few cases, these players were also teammates. 

I am going to post these in chronological order, and distribute them across my 1966-1970 blogs depending on which cards I have for who. The series began earlier today on my 1968 blog. 


So now that I've dispensed with all two managers, let's get to the players: Ernie Banks and Hank Aguirre - both born on 1/31/1931.

Ernie's team is hopefully going to snare a World Series championship this month. Hank and Ernie were teammates on the 1969 and 1970 Cubs (Aguirre's final 2 seasons).

The back of Hank's card shows his birth date as 1/31/1932, but Baseball-Reference.com and Wikipedia both have 1/31/1931, so I'm subscribing to the theory that Baseball-Reference's research department in 2016 is better than Topps' research department in 1967 (or even today, for that matter - heh heh!)