March 18

Nixey Callahan (1874)

Johnny Cooney (1901)

Al Benton (1911)

Elbie Fletcher (1916)

Hi Bithorn (1916)

Eddie Lake (1916)

Bob Broeg (1918)

Hal White (1919)

George Plimpton (1927)

Charley Pride (1938)

Pat Jarvis (1941)

Dwayne Murphy (1955)

Geronimo Berroa (1965)

Tomo Ohka (1976)

Scott Podsednik (1976)

Corky Miller (1976)

Fernando Rodney (1977)

Hi Bithorn was the first Puerto Rican to play in the major leagues, making his first appearance for the Cubs in 1942.

Sportswriter Bob Broeg covered the St. Louis Cardinals for forty years and was on the Hall of Fame Board of Directors for twenty-eight years.

Author George Plimpton introduced the world to Sidd Finch in 1985.

Country singer Charley Pride pitched in the minor leagues for parts of three seasons from 1953-1960.  He also played in the Negro Leagues for a couple of seasons as those leagues were nearing the end of their existence.

One of the finest fourth-string catchers in the history of baseball, Abraham Philip "Corky" Miller played for the Twins at the beginning of 2005.  Born and raised in Yucaipa, California, he attended the University of Nevada--Reno and was signed by Cincinnati as a free agent in 1998.  He had an excellent year in 2001 split between AA and AAA, hitting .309 with 16 home runs in 314 at-bats.  That got him a September call-up, and was the first of ten consecutive years in which Miller played at least part of the season in both the majors and the minors.  The most playing time Miller has gotten in a major league season came in 2002, when he played in 39 games and had 114 at-bats for Cincinnati.  He was placed on waivers after the 2004 season and was claimed by Minnesota.  He started 2005 with the Twins and played in five games, getting twelve at-bats.  As a Twin, Corky Miller hit .000/.000/.000.  Sent to AAA at the end of April, he hit .229 there and became a free agent after the season.  He started 2006 with Seattle, was released in mid-April, and finished the campaign with the Red Sox, for whom he went 0-for-4 (for the three-year period from 2004 through 2006, Miller's major league average was .018 (1-for-55)).  He was with Atlanta for 2007 and 2008, signed with the White Sox for 2009, and was traded to Cincinnati in late June.  He remained there for 2010, splitting the season between AAA and the majors, and actually had one of his better seasons, hitting .243/.282/.392 in 74 major league at-bats.  He could not sustain his success in 2011, hitting .200 (although with an OBP of .348) in 145 at-bats for AAA Louisville.  He bounced back in 2012 for Louisville, hitting .235 with an OBP of .386.  He split 2013 between Louisville and the Reds, spending nearly half the season in Cincinnati and improbably hitting .257 with an OPS of .766.  Okay, it was thirty-five at-bats, but still.  In eleven partial seasons in the majors, Miller has hit under .200 six times and under .100 four times.  His career major league numbers are .193/.277/.306 in 539 at-bats.  He spent 2014 in the Cincinnati organization as well, spending the season in Louisville.  That appears to have brought his playing career to an end, as this year Corky Miller will be a coach in the Cincinnati organization with the Class A Dayton Dragons.  One suspects, though, that should the Reds have some injuries to their catchers, he might be asked to put on the tools of ignorance one more time.  Regardless, the feeling here is that Corky Miller will be in baseball in some capacity for at least the next thirty years or so.