Tuesday, October 18, 2016

October 18

Candy Cummings (1848)
Cliff Carroll (1859)
Walt Wilmot (1863)
Boileryard Clarke (1868)
Hans Lobert (1881)
Burt Shotton (1884)
Charlie Berry (1902)
Skeeter Newsome (1910)
Roy Cullenbine (1913)
Andy Carey (1931)
Bobby Knoop (1938)
Willie Horton (1942)
Ed Farmer (1949)
George Hendrick (1949)
Andy Hassler (1951)
Jerry Royster (1952)
Mike Walters (1957)
Alan Mills (1966)
Doug Mirabelli (1970)
Alex Cora (1975)
David Murphy (1981)
Yoenis Cespedes (1985)
Alex Cora was drafted by Minnesota in the twelfth round in 1993, but he did not sign.
Right-hander Michael Charles Walters pitched for the Twins from 1983-1984. He was born in St. Louis, attended high school in Alta Loma, California, and then attended Chaffey College of Rancho Cucamonga, California, the same school attended by ex-Twin Al Newman and Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers. He was drafted by the Angels in the first round of the secondary phase of the 1977 draft. He had been drafted four times prior to that: by the Dodgers (June 1975), Detroit (January 1976), the Dodgers again (June 1976), and the Twins (January 1977), but did not sign. He struggled early in his minor-league career, but was converted from starting to relieving in 1980 and thrived in the latter role. He had a strong 1981 season at AAA Salt Lake City, going 7-6 with a 2.85 ERA. He was off to a good start in AAA again in 1982 when he was traded to the Twins in May along with Tom Brunansky and $400,000 for Doug Corbett and Rob Wilfong. He continued to pitch well in AAA for the Twins, and was promoted to the majors in July of 1983. He stayed in Minnesota for all of 1984. Walters did a good job for the Twins in those years. He appeared in 46 games, pitching 88 innings. He was 1-4, but had an ERA of 3.99, a WHIP of 1.33, and an ERA+ of 107. The next year, though, was spent in the minors. One wonders if injuries were the culprit; he pitched in only 13 games in 1985, and then never played again. It would be odd, considering how sought-after he was when he was younger, for him to have been given up on so quickly if he was healthy. That is mere speculation, however. At last report, it appeared that Mike Walters was living in California. He has a son, Ian, who pitched for College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California. Mike Walters was inducted into the Chaffey College Hall of Fame in 2005.


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