Saturday, October 13, 2018

October 13

Charles Somers (1868)
Wild Bill Donovan (1876)
Rube Waddell (1876)
Pickles Dillhoefer (1893)
Frankie Hayes (1914)
Lou Saban (1921)
Charlie Silvera (1924)
Eddie Yost (1926)
Eddie Mathews (1931)
Bob Bailey (1942)
Randy Moffitt (1948)
Dick Pole (1950)
Frank LaCorte (1951)
George Frazier (1954)
Bryan Hickerson (1963)
Chris Gwynn (1964)
Trevor Hoffman (1967)
Damian Miller (1969)


Charles Somers was one of the founders of the American League and was its principal financier.
Better known as a football coach, Lou Saban was the president of the New York Yankees in 1981 and 1982.
Right-hander George Allen Frazier pitched for the Twins from 1986-1987. He was born in Oklahoma City, went to high school in Springfield, Missouri, and attended the University of Oklahoma. The Brewers drafted him in the ninth round in 1976. Frazier was a reliever for his entire minor-league career. He pitched well for a year in Class A and a year in Class AA, then was traded to St. Louis for Buck Martinez. The Cardinals shuttled him between St. Louis and AAA Springfield from 1978-1980; he pitched very well in Springfield and not too badly in the majors. He was again pitching well in Springfield in 1981 when he was traded to the Yankees in May. He came up to the Yankees in August, and this time he stayed. Frazier was a valuable member of the Yankee bullpen from 1981-1983, though he had the bad luck to be the losing pitcher in three World Series games in 1981. After the 1983 season, he was traded to Cleveland, and moved on to the Cubs in June of 1984. He did all right that year, but fell apart in 1985, producing a 6.39 ERA in 76 innings. He was not much better in 1986, and was traded to the Twins in August with Julius McDougal and Ray Fontenot for Dewayne Coleman and Ron Davis. He pitched for the Twins through the 1987 season, pitching two shutout innings in Game 4 of the World Series. Frazier was let go after the season, and decided to call it a career. As a Twin, George Frazier was 6-6 with a 4.83 ERA. He appeared in 69 games, pitching 108 innings. He was a television broadcaster for the Colorado Rockies for nineteen seasons, retiring after the 2015 campaign.  His son, Parker Frazier, has pitched for several minor league organizations, reaching AAA with Colorado in 2013 and with the White Sox in 2014.  His daughter, Georgia Frazier, was Miss Oklahoma of 2015.  At last report, George Frazier had returned to his native Oklahoma and does occasional commentary on Big Twelve baseball broadcasts.
Left-hander Bryan David Hickerson did not play for the Twins, but was drafted by them. Born and raised in Bemidji, Minnesota, he attended the University of Minnesota. The Twins drafted him in the 7th round in 1986. He pitched in Class A Visalia in 1986, but then was traded to the Giants with Jose Dominguez and Ray Velasquez for David Blakely and Dan Gladden. He had a big year in 1987 for Class A Clinton, going 11-0 with a 1.24 ERA. Apparently, Hickerson was injured in 1988, as he did not play that year. He came back in 1989, and had another good year in Class A. He had been a starter up to this point, but was converted to relief in 1990. He split both 1990 and 1991 between AA and AAA, and made his big-league debut in late July. He pitched for the Giants from 1991-1994, pitching well most of the time, but slipping in 1994. San Francisco placed him on waivers after that season, and he was taken by the Cubs. He was there until July of 1995, and then moved on to Colorado. He did not pitch well for either team in 1995, and was released after the season. Hickerson signed with Cincinnati for 1996, but did not make the team, and his career was over. He was a minor league pitching coach in the Giants organization from 1997-1998. Since then, Bryan Hickerson was on the staff of Unlimited Potential, Inc., a religious organization based in Warsaw, Indiana which combines baseball clinics and evangelism, for several years.  He has worked with Intercession Haiti, trying to help people in Haiti escape poverty.  He is also a lay pastor with Christ's Covenant Church in Winona Lake, Indiana.  He went back to coaching in 2017 and has been the pitching coach for the Altoona Curve in the Pirates organization for two seasons.
Catcher Damian Donald Miller appeared in 25 games for the Twins in 1997. He was born in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. He went to West Salem high school in West Salem, Wisconsin, where he played baseball, football, and basketball. Miller attended Viterbo University in LaCrosse, where he was NAIA District 14 player of the year. He is apparently the only major-league player the school has produced so far. He was drafted by the Twins in the 20th round in 1990. His batting was up and down in the minors, but in 1997, his third year at AAA Salt Lake, he had a breakthrough year, batting .338 with 11 home runs and earning a promotion to the Twins. That convinced Arizona to take Miller in the expansion draft for 1998. He started 1998 in AAA Tucson, but was with the Diamondbacks to stay by early May. A reserve his first two years there, he became the more-or-less regular catcher for them in 2000. He provided a batting average that was consistently in the .270s and home runs in the low double digits. He was also known as a very good defensive catcher. Miller was a solid contributor to the Diamondbacks' World Championship team in 2001, and made the all-star team in 2002. He was traded to the Cubs after that season, but spent only one year there, batting just .233, before being moved on to Oakland. His average bounced back in Oakland in 2004, but after only one season there Miller became a free agent and signed with Milwaukee. He played three years there, the last one in a reserve role, before retiring after the 2007 season. Damian Miller played 25 games as a Twin, batting .273/.282/.379 in 66 at-bats, with 2 home runs and 13 RBIs. After his retirement, Miller returned to West Salem,  where he helps coach youth baseball and is involved in helping special needs children become more active in sports.  A baseball field in West Salem has been named in his honor.  He was inducted into the LaCrosse Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

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