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, “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. He was actually on the Braves' major league roster as a September call-up in 1961, but did not appear in a game.
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.
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 spent most of the year in AAA Columbus, where he was okay but nothing special. He signed with the Yankees for 2015 and surprisingly made the team, making one very good appearance in April before being sent to AAA, where he remained the rest of the season. He went to Japan for 2016 and had a fairly solid year. He does not appear to have pitched anywhere in 2017, but he came back in 2018, pitching for Somerset in the Atlantic League and moving on to Lancaster for 2019. He does not appear to be playing anywhere in 2020, so one assumes his playing career is over. His major league numbers are 43-65, 5.57, 1.62 WHIP. It says something about how some organizations operate that a pitcher with his record was given one hundred forty-four major league starts. During the off-season, Kyle Davies lives in McDonough, Georgia and works for his father's construction company--one assumes that may now be his permanent occupation.
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 played in winter ball that year and every year since, and played in the Mexican League again in 2016 and 2017, batting quite well. He went back to Italy for 2018-2019. He played winter ball, but does not appear to be playing in 2020. He did very well everywhere he's played, so he might have been able to help somebody in the majors if he'd been given the chance. He never was, though, and I don't suppose he ever will be.
Right-hander Michael Matthew Bowden did not pitch for the Twins, but was in their minor league system at the end of 2015. He was born in Winfield, Illinois, went to high school in Aurora, Illinois, and was drafted by Boston in the first round of the 2005 draft with the forty-seventh pick. He pitched well in the low minors, struggled when promoted to AA in 2007, but did very well when he repeated AA in 2008, getting moved up to AAA for six starts and even making his major league debut in late August. He had a solid year in AAA in 2009 and got to the majors at the end of August. His numbers look awful, but two really bad outings skew them to an extent. He continued to bounce back and forth between AAA and the Red Sox through 2011, pitching well in AAA but never doing a lot in the majors. He was traded to the Cubs in 2012 and was with them for about half the season. That's been his best season in the majors, as he went 0-0, 2.95, 1.26 WHIP with 29 strikeouts in 36.2 innings (30 games). He stayed with the Cubs in 2013 and again got half a season in the majors, not doing quite as well but not doing too badly, either. He went to Japan for 2014 but came back to the United States in 2015, signing with Cincinnati. They sold him to Baltimore in April. The Orioles sent him to AAA and he didn't pitch badly there, but they released him in mid-July. He signed with Minnesota and was sent to Rochester, where he finished the season. He then went to Korea to play ball in 2016-17 and had a couple of decent seasons. He decided not to return to Korea for 2018 and did not play anywhere, but the Dodgers signed him for the 2019 season. He made five minor league starts and was released in early June. He finished the year with High Point in the Atlantic League. He does not appear to be playing anywhere in 2020, and one assumes his playing career is over. His major league numbers are 3-5, 4.51, 1.40 WHIP. He appeared in 103 games, all but two in relief, and pitched 133.2 innings. At last report, it appeared that Michael Bowden was living in Chicago.
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