September 9

Abner Dalrymple (1857)
Frank Chance (1876)
Dots Miller (1886)
Doc Johnston (1887)
Frankie Frisch (1898)
Waite Hoyt (1899)
Hugh Mulcahy (1913)
Jay Ward (1938)
Paul Roof (1942)
Jerry Mumphrey (1952)
Tom Foley (1959)
Alvin Davis (1960)
Jim Corsi (1961)
Todd Zeile (1965)
Joey Hamilton (1970)
Dan Miceli (1970)
Mike Hampton (1972)
Edwin Jackson (1983)
Alex Romero (1983)
Kyle Davies (1983)

Dots Miller’s given name was John.  He got the nickname “Dots” because when he first came up, a sportswriter asked teammate Honus Wagner who the new guy was.  Wagner, in his thick German accent, said, “Ach, dot’s Miller.”

Hugh Mulcahy has one of the worst nicknames in the history of baseball.  In four seasons as a starting pitcher for the Phillies, he twice led the league in losses.  He went 45-89 for his career, leading to the nickname “Losing Pitcher Mulcahy”.

The brother of Phil Roof, Paul Roof was a pitcher for four seasons in the Braves’ system, never going higher than Class A.

Utility player John Francis Ward played briefly for the Twins in 1963 and 1964. He was born in Brookfield, Missouri and was signed by the Yankees as a free agent in 1956. He hit very well in the low minors, hitting exactly .300 in three years in Class D and C. He spent most of 1958 in the Washington organization, then was selected off waivers by the Kansas City Athletics. Ward was pretty average in AA and AAA, and was traded to the Dodgers after the 1961 season in a multi-player deal. He came to the Twins organization in July of 1962 in a trade for Bert Cueto. Ward was in the Twins’ organization through mid-1964, went to the Giants, came back to the Twins’ organization in 1965, went to Japan in 1966, went to Cleveland in 1967, came back to the Twins’ organization in 1968, went back to Cleveland for 1969, was with the Reds’ organization in 1970, and went to the Kansas City Royals’ organization in 1971. He got brief trials with the Twins in 1963 and 1964, batting .174/.283/.239 in 46 at-bats. Ward was also in the big leagues briefly in 1971 with Cincinnati, going 0-for-3. He showed some power in the minors, hitting 241 minor-league home runs, but never hit for a high average, and never got enough of a chance to see if he could have been a low-average slugger in the big leagues. After retiring as an active player, Jay Ward had a lengthy career as a minor league coach and manager. He then was the co-owner of a hitting school (with Wade Boggs) in Tampa, Florida, before retiring, first to Springfield, Missouri, then to Troy, Montana, where he enjoyed hunting and fishing.  Jay Ward passed away in Troy on February 24, 2012.

Outfielder Alexander Rafael (Galban) Romero did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for five seasons. He was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 2002. He worked his way up the ladder one level at a time, playing rookie ball in 2002, low Class A in 2003, high Class A in 2004, and Class AA in 2005, hitting at or very near .300 at every stop. He slumped a little in 2006, batting .263 in a year split between AA and AAA, and the Twins placed him on waivers after the season. Romero was selected by the Diamondbacks. He hit very well in AAA Tucson in 2007, and split 2008 and 2009 between AA and Arizona. Romero hit well over .300 each year in AA, but in the majors hit .239/.279/.339 in 280 major league at-bats, with 2 homers and 30 RBIs, in sporadic playing time.  He was a free agent after the 2009 season and signed with Atlanta, but was released in late June and was not picked up by anyone.  After the season, however, he signed with Florida, and hit very well in a season split between AA and AAA.  He became a free agent and was not signed, so he went to the Mexican League for 2012 and hit extremely well.  In 2013 he moved on to Italy and had an awesome year there.  He returned to Italy in 2014, but no records for his season were readily available.  He’s thirty-one today.  He’s done very well everywhere he’s been, so he might have been able to help somebody in the majors if he'd been given the chance.  He wasn't, though, and most likely it's too late now.

Right-hander Hiram Kyle Davies did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 2013.  He was born in Decatur, Georgia, went to high school in Stockbridge, Georgia, and was drafted by Atlanta in the fourth round in 2001.  He pitched quite well in the minors and reached the majors in 2005 at the age of twenty-one.  He struggled there, though, and continued to struggle through 2007, when he was traded to Kansas City at the July deadline for Octavio Dotel.  He stayed with the Royals through 2011, although his first and only full year in the majors was 2010.  From 2005 through 2011, Kyle Davies appeared in 151 games, making 144 starts.  He went 43-65, 5.59, with a 1.62 WHIP.  In his "best" season, 2008, he went 9-7, 4.06, but with a WHIP of 1.45.  The Royals finally gave up on him after the 2011 season.  He stayed out of baseball for 2012, but Minnesota signed him for 2013.  He was hurt most of the year, however, making only twelve minor league starts, one in the GCL, five for Fort Myers, and six for New Britain.  A free agent again after the season, he signed with Cleveland and has spent most of the year in AAA Columbus, where he has been okay but nothing special.  He turns thirty-one today, has never had a really good year in the majors, and hasn't even been there since 2011.  It says something about how some organizations operate that a pitcher with his record was given one hundred forty-four major league starts.  No one knows what the future holds, but it seems unlikely that "major league pitcher" will again be one of Kyle Davies' career options.