If Your Birthday is July 8th...

...you share it with Hector Lopez. The valuable utilityman was one of many important Yankees who came to the Bronx via Kansas City -- in his case along with Ralph Terry -- in a mid-season 1959 deal. Whether it was playing 3rd base, platooning with Yogi Berra in left field or filling in for an ailing Mantle or Maris, Lopez was one of the Yankees of my youth. Never a big star, but just the kind of player successful clubs always need.
As the Yankees first Panamanian player, Hector helped mint legions of Yankee fans in his home country. And he's been a fixture at Old Timers Games since his retirement after the 1966 season.

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