Happy Birthday to Dan Rohn, Traded from Cubs for one of the Greatest Baseball Names

Today is Dan Rohn's 62nd birthday. Not to be confused with Dan Roan. The former played with the Chicago Cubs while the latter talks about the Chicago Cubs as a sports anchor for WGN-TV.

Dan Rohn should also not be confused with Don Rohn of the 1984 Iowa Cubs as seen on this TCMA baseball card.

That's because Don Rohn doesn't exist, it's just a misspelling. The man pictured is in fact Dan Rohn who hit .268 in 109 games in Des Moines while smacking eight home runs and driving in 46 runs.

Rohn appeared in 48 games with the Chicago Cubs between 1983 and 1984. He hit one home run during his brief three-year big league career (1984 with the Cubs).

Rohn was traded by Chicago to the Cleveland Indians on April 1, 1985. It was a one-for-one swap with Chicago receiving one of the best baseball names of the 1980's: Jay Baller.

Jay didn't quite live up to his Baller last name, logging 156.1 innings across six seasons in Major League Baseball. Baller did start four games for the 1985 Cubs (of five career starts). The journeyman pitcher also played for the Royals and Phillies. But what Jay lacked on the mound, his baseball card was Baller. Mustache, check. Perm, check, chest hair, check. Gold necklace, bonus! 

Back to the birthday boy. Rohn returned to Chicago prior to the 1987 season signing as a free agent, but was quickly moved to the Oakland Athletics with a pretty famous reliever, Dennis Eckersley. The duo went to the bay in exchange for a trio of minor leaguers that did not equate to big league success: Brian Guinn, Mark Leonette, and Dave Wilder.

Rohn never appeared in a game with Oakland and later went into coaching with stints in the minor leagues with the Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, and Toronto Blue Jays.