Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–October 18

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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)

Alex Cora was drafted by Minnesota in the twelfth round in 1993, but he did not sign.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to AMR.

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. It appears that Mike Walters is currently 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.

5 thoughts on “Happy Birthday–October 18”

  1. Thanks, padre!

    The Twins have never lost a game played on my birthday.

    I took the day off work and this morning went to a) buy some pants, b) the liquor store, c) the Electric Fetus.

    At the Fetus, I bought the following (all used except for the first):
    Colin Stetson, New History Warfare, Vol 2: Judges (1)
    Merle Haggard and the Strangers, Mama Tried/Pride in What I Am (2)
    Vladislav Delay, Anima (Original Pressing) (3)
    Koko Taylor, S/T
    Albert Collins, Deluxe Edition
    Aphex Twin, 26 Mixes for Cash
    Aphex Twin, Drukqs
    The Orb, Bicycles & Tricycles (4)

    Notes:
    1. So far, this is my album of the year for 2011.
    2. The Fetus had four double-album represses from 1965-71, I picked this one over Strangers/The Bottle Let Me Down, Sing Me Back Home/The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde, and Hag/Someday We'll Look Back. If I dig this, I might have to go back there for the rest.
    2/3. The Clerk got a kick that I was buying Haggard and Delay together. "Merle Haggard and Vladislav Delay?" I said, "Yep, isn't that what everybody buys?" "Not really, but they should. Are you gonna put them on shuffle together?" "Of course, I already shuffle stuff like that as it is."
    3. I listened to this a bit on the way home. It's all one track. I had my hands on Luomo's The Present Lover at full price. Maybe I should have gone with that.
    4. I downloaded this when it was a Japanese only album, and it stunk. I later downloaded the UK/US version, which was fully re-mixed and re-sequenced and had several tracks replaced by others. Much better, so once I found it, I pounced.

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