Twins Birthdays--August 3

Also published at wgom.org

Travis Bowyer (1981)

Right-hander Travis Charlton Bowyer made eight relief appearances for the Twins in 2005. He was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, went to high school in Bedford, Virginia, and was drafted by Minnesota in the twentieth round in 1999. He struggled as a starter, but turned things around when he was moved to the bullpen in 2002. He had some outstanding seasons as a reliever in the Twins’ system; the best was the last one, 2005, when he went 4-2, 2.78 with 23 saves and a WHIP of 1.22 for AAA Rochester. He got a September call-up with the Twins, pitching 9.2 innings. He was 0-1, 5.59, but with a WHIP of 1.35. He did very well until his last outing, in which he gave up five runs in one inning. If you eliminate that, his numbers are 0-0, 1.04, 0.92 WHIP in 8.2 innings. After the 2005 season, Bowyer was traded to Florida with Scott Tyler for Luis Castillo. He was thought of as a potential closer, but sadly, he suffered a torn rotator cuff that spring. He spent a couple of years trying to come back, but was not able to do so. It looked as if his career had come to an end, but apparently the desire to play ball never left him. He played amateur baseball for a few years, then attempted a comeback with Somerset of the Atlantic League in 2012. He pitched in relief fifteen times and did well before landing on the disabled list in mid-June. No information was available regarding whether this injury was related to his previous injury, but he did not return and there is no report of him pitching anywhere in 2013. One assumes that his baseball career is over now, but he’s only 32, and we’ve assumed that before.