December 20
Senators Birthdays
Today we sing a refrain of “Me And Julio Down At The Ballpark” (With apologies to Paul Simon) as our duo of birthday boys share the first name of Julio and both are members of the Senators’ Cuban Connection.
Julio Enrique Gonzalez B Dec. 20, 1920 D Feb. 15, 1991
In addition to being a member of the Cuban Connection, pitcher Julio Gonzalez gets tagged with the label “Single Season Senator” courtesy of the 47 days he spent on the Washington roster in 1949.
Debuting as a 28 year old rookie in early August of that year, Gonzalez would pitch in 13 games, giving up 33 hits, 18 earned runs and 3 homers in 34 and 1/3rds innings.
He’d leave the Senators in late September with a 4.72 ERA.
Julio Villegas Becquer B Dec. 20, 1931 Still Living
Julio Becquer joined the Senators in mid-September of 1955. Primarily a 1st baseman, Becquer would remain with the Senators through the end of the 1960 season when the Senators went searching for greener pastures in Minnesota.
Becquer would play in over 100 games in 1957, 1959 and 1960, his best season at the plate coming in 1959 when he’d hit .268 with 12 doubles, 5 triples and 26 RBI’s.
Selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the expansion draft, Becquer would only play in 11 games for the Angels before being purchased in May by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Becquer would never don a Phillies uniform, being sold to the Minnesota Twins less than a month later.
Back with the franchise where his career started, now performing in Minnesota, Becquer would appear in 57 games for the Twins in their inaugural season.
Out of the major leagues in 1962, Becquer would add a footnote to his career by playing in one last game in mid-September of 1963.
