Happy birthday

Born 33 years ago on this date was Chad Hutchinson, a former major league pitcher and NFL quarterback. He was neither a Sox nor a Phil, but he married Todd Walker's sister, so I guess he could be counted as a Sox-in-law.

Truthfully, I don't care about Chad Hutchinson. He only gets a mention because he is one of 38 major leaguers who share a birthday with my beautiful wife.

He is the only one who was born on the same exact day as Christine.

The best players with a birthday today (all still alive): Alan Trammell, Franklin "Death to Flying Things" Gutierrez and Jack Billingham (cousin to Christy Mathewson).

There wasn't much major league talent born on this date. There were no SoxandPhils and very few recognizable names who played for either franchise:

Phillies: Jim Olander (never played for the Phillies, but lingered in their minor league system for eight years), Ted Savage, Snipe Hansen and John Titus, better known as Silent John.

Red Sox: Joe Foy (third baseman of the 1967 Impossible Dream Red Sox), Turkey Gross and Dick McCabe.

While you couldn't field an All-Star team of players born on Feb. 21, they do have some interesting names. Besides Snipe and Turkey, there are Marsh Williams, Dummy (real name Luther) Taylor and Jouett Meekin, whose 1867 birthdate is the earliest on the list.

Perhaps the most interesting story we stumbled upon is that of Adam Greenberg, who has played in one major league game and was hit in the first pitch thrown to him in his lone at-bat in 2005. He suffered a concussion from the tragic pitch, according to Wikipedia, which also notes that the only other player to be hit by a pitch in his only at-bat was a Phillie: Fred Van Dusen.

Here's an Outside the Lines piece on Greenberg from last year:


I hope Mr. Greenberg - who ended up in the Independent Leagues instead of the Royals minor leagues in 2009 - makes it back to the majors. I wish him a happy birthday and good luck. I really didn't think this fluffy birthday post for Christine would wind up this heavy.

[Photo credit: ioffer.com]