If Your Birthday is November 24th...

...you share it with the mystery player pictured above. Don't worry, I'll identify him at the end of this post. But first, some names you'll recognize:

  • Ben McDonald, a first-overall draft pick who pitched well for the Orioles during the '90s, but never quite became a star. His career was cut short early by shoulder problems.
  • Dave Hansen, the backup infielder who spent parts of 16 seasons in the majors, mainly with the Dodgers.
  • Randy Velarde, who had a career similar to Hansen's, but with several stretches as a regular with the Yankees, A's and Angels. For those who like nice round numbers, he finished his 16 years in the majors with exactly 100 home runs.
  • Steve Yeager spent 15 years in the majors, all but one with the Dodgers. He's a familiar face from the team's winning era of the late '70s and early '80s -- highlighted by sharing MVP honors with Ron Cey and Pedro Guerrero in the 1981 World Series. Yet to many -- especially non-baseball fans -- he's only the second most famous member of his family. He's a cousin of Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the speed of sound.

And we remember:
  • Bob Friend, another long-time major leaguer (with 197 lifetime victories) who spent almost all of his career with one team. In his case, the Pirates, where he pitched on the 1960 World Series champs. Oddly, the one year the didn't play for Pittsburgh, he pitched in New York -- appearing with both the Yankees and Mets during 1966, the final season of his career. What you might not know is that Friend was part of the Players Association committee (along with Jim Bunning, Harvey Kuenn and Robin Roberts) that recruited Marvin Miller to run the union and increase its influence with owners. You would be right calling that the biggest win of his career!

  • Joe "Ducky" Medwick, the sweet-swinging outfielder for the great Cardinals teams of the 1930s. He reached his peak in 1937, winning the Triple Crown. Playing decades before baseball instituted a player draft, I never knew he wasn't from the midwest or anywhere close to St. Louis. He was a born-and-bred New Jerseyan, who graduated Carteret High School, about 25 miles outside New York. Like Friend, he too shares the rare distinction of playing for two New York teams the same season -- in his case, 1943, when he appeared with both the Dodgers and Giants. This .324 lifetime hitter came full circle, returning to the Cardinals for his final two seasons, where he was a bench player on the teams led by Stan Musial. He remained a Cardinal in retirement, serving as a minor league coach and spring training instructor. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1968.
Now, for that mystery player: he's Dean Anna, a backup infielder who played a dozen games with the 2014 Yankees (I caught him in action on April 12th, 2014 against the Red Sox) and one for the 2015 Cardinals. This veteran minor leaguer spent the rest of that season and all of 2016 through '18 in Triple A, but never got the call back to "the show."

 

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