Aaaaaaaand … she’s back. The Queen has returned (though admittedly my trip out west did not include playing polo in Santa Barbara like some royalty I could mention) and with a slew of debuts having occurred in the last week, we’ll get right to the good stuff.

Kudos this span go to the Tampa Bay Rays who not only had three players make their Major League debuts, but two of them took some long roads to get them — and as you know, the Queen especially loves that kind of “feel good” story.

With some wholesale battery changes, two pitchers — top southpaw prospect Alex Torres and well-traveled reliever Dane de la Rosa — and a catcher, Robinson Chirinos, who capped a decade of tireless work in the minors with his debut — reached the big leagues for the Rays.

Torres, acquired from the Angels in late 2009 along with infielders Sean Rodriguez and Matt Sweeney (yay, Gaithersburg!) for pitcher Scott Kazmir, originally signed out of Venezuela. At Durham before his promotion, he was 6-6 with a 3.23 ERA in 18 starts for the Bulls, fanning 99 in 94 2/3 innings. He’d gone 11-6 with 3.47 ERA at Double-A Montgomery in 2010 after combining for a 13-6 record, .277 ERA and 156 strikeouts in as many innings at three stops in 2009. Armed with a plus slider, a lively fastball and a good changeup, he has great makeup and a high ceiling. His debut may not have been one he’s going to want to remember, walking in the winning run on July 18 against the Yankees, but he’ll have plenty of opportunity to make up for it.

De La Rosa also has Yankees connections, having originally been drafted by that club back in the 24th round of 2002. Signed as a draft-and-follow, he saw brief time and some success in ’03 and ’04 in their short-season system but was released that December which began his circuitous path to the big leagues. De La Rosa played for four different teams in the independent Golden League, one in the American Association and, finally, lit up the board with a 1.11 ERA in 18 games for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the Atlantic League in 2009. Inked that off-season by the Rays, he posted a 1.97 ERA in 47 games in relief at Double-A Montgomery last summer. This summer he had a 3.86 ERA in 35 games in relief at Durham prior to his promotion.

Chirinos began his pro career back in 2000 when he signed with the Chicago Cubs as a non-drafted free agent, also out of Venezuela. Shifted to catcher in 2009, he took to the position defensively and his bat did as well, as he made his league’s respective All-Star squads both summers, including Double-A Southern League honors in 2010 when he hit .318 at West Tenn. Last summer he combined between that club and Triple-A Iowa to add 18 homers and 74 RBI. He was added to an already-impressive package that included outfielders Sam Fuld and Brandon Guyer, deft shortstop Hak-Ju Lee (a 2011 Futures Game standout) and ace Chris Archer, considered the top prospect in the Cubs system prior to the trade, in the January 2011 deal for pitcher Matt Garza and outfielder Fernando Perez. With five catchers on their 40-man roster, the Rays were deep in the position but when first John Jaso and then just-recalled Jose Lobaton both landed on the DL, Chirinos got the call and made the start that night behind the plate on July 18 against the Yankees. He’d been hitting .265 with five homers and 22 RBI in 68 games for the Bulls.

ROBINSON CHIRINOS
C, Tampa Bay Rays
B/T: R/R H/W: 6-1/195 BORN: June 5, 1984
ACQUIRED: Via trade from the Chicago Cubs in January 2011, coming over with OFs Sam Fuld and Brandon Guyer, P Christopher Archer and SS Hak-Ju Lee for P Matt Garza and OF Fernando Perez.
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Durham July 18 when C Jose Lobaton went on DL.
DEBUT: July 18 in a 5-4 loss to the New York Yankees. The starting catcher, he batted eighth and went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.

DANE De La ROSA
RHP, Tampa Bay Rays
B/T: R/R H/W: 6-7/245 BORN: Feb. 1, 1983
ACQUIRED: Signed as minor league free agent Nov 11, 2009
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Durham July 19 when Alexander Torres was sent down.
DEBUT: July 20 in a 4-0 loss to the New York Yankees: The second of three pitchers, he gave up two runs in one inning despite not allowing a hit, as he walked two batters (and struck out out) in the ninth and both came around to score against reliever Cesar Ramos.

ALEX TORRES
LHP, Tampa Bay Rays
B/T: L/L H/W: 5-10/175 BORN: Dec. 8, 1975
ACQUIRED: Via trade from the Los Angeles Angels with IFs Sean Rodriguez and Matt Sweeney for P Scott Kazmir Aug. 28, 2009
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Durham July 18 when Ps Juan Cruz (DL) and Adam Russell (DFA) were removed from active roster.
DEBUT: July 18 in a 5-4 loss to the New York Yankees: The last of five pitchers, he took the loss as he allowed the winning run on one hit and three walks, walking in the deciding run. He also struck out out.

But the Rays weren’t the only team to do some promotional work … I need to chime in a little bit on the Houston Astros’ addition of second baseman Jose Altuve, and not only because QofD fans KNOW I love the “little guys.” Baseball America ranked three Astros second base prospects on their pre-season depth chart with Altuve tucked neatly between two others who hold special places in my heart. Not surprisingly their top prospect there is Delino Deshields Jr., whose dad was the first player about whom I wrote a cover story back in my beloved Baseball Weekly days (and who is now managing the Class A Dayton Dragons.) I met (if you can call meeting a wee one) Delino while I did the interview — because Delino Sr.‘s nickname was “Bop,” we called Junior “Baby Bop.” Barney the Dinosaur fans will recognize the reference. But the third on the list may not be quite as recognizable. It’s a young man named Josh Magee. HIS dad, Wendell Magee Jr., was also a major leaguer and one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. He had a brief career with the Philadelphia Phillies and I remember even then chatting about his little boy, Joshua, of whom he was so proud.

JOSE ALTUVE
2B, Houston Astros
B/T: R/R H/W: 5-7/170 BORN: May 6, 1990
ACQUIRED: Signed as a non-drafted free agent out of Venezuela March 2007
PROMOTED: Contract purchased from Double-A Corpus Christi July 19 when IF Jeff Keppinger was traded to San Francisco.
DEBUT: July 20 in a 3-2 win against the Washington Nationals in 11 innings: The starting second baseman he batted second and went 1-for-5 with a strikeout.
NOTES: Nicknamed “Mighty Mouse,” his listed height may be generous and his weight a little lighter. A stocky, strong middle infielder with a good arm, he is excellent defensively and a smart player with good skills across the board and great makeup. But it was this year that he really exploded as perhaps the biggest breakthrough prospect in the minors. After opening the season hitting .408 in 52 games at Advanced A Lancaster, he moved up to Double-A Corpus Christi where he continued to hit, batting .361. Combined between the two stops before his promotion, he was hitting .389 with 10 homers, 59 RBI and 24 steals. At Class A Lexington last summer combined with Lancaster he hit closer to .300 with 15 homers, 77 RBI and 38 steals and brought a .307 average over four seasons into the 2011 campaign. He was chosen to play in the 2011 Futures Game as well.

MATT ANGLE
OF, Baltimore Orioles
B/T: L/R H/W: 5-10/175 BORN: Sept. 10, 1985
ACQUIRED: Selected in the seventh round of 2007 out of Ohio State.
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Norfolk July 17 when DH Vladimir Guerrero went on the DL.
DEBUT: July 17 in an 8-3 win against the Cleveland Indians: Batted leadoff and played left field, going 0-for-3 with a walk.
NOTES: Ranked as the Orioles’ No. 13 prospect but second among their outfielders, Angle is a true center fielder with leadoff capabilities (which makes it ironic that he made his debut in left field). He’s zoomed up from No. 25 in 2010 to halve that distance despite missing the first two months of 2010 with a broken hamate bone. A plus defender with good speed, he was hitting .266 with four homers, 29 RBI and 20 steals, having been caught just twice, in 87 games at Norfolk before getting the call. He was hitting .380 in two weeks prior to the move. In 2009 he was a Carolina League All-Star when he swiped 42 steals at Advanced A Frederick, up from 37 at Class A Delmarva in 2008 and 34 at short-season Aberdeen in his 2007 pro debut, a tally that ranked second in the New York-Penn League. He was sent back down when DH Luke Scott was activated a week later.

DUANE BELOW
LHP, Detroit Tigers
B/T: L/L H/W: 6-3/220 BORN: Nov. 15, 1985
ACQUIRED: Selected in the 19th round of 2006 out of Lake Michigan Junior College
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Toledo July 20 when P Adam Wilk was sent down.
DEBUT: July 20 in a 7-5 loss to the Oakland Athletics: The starting pitcher, he did not factor in the decision, allowing three runs, only one earned, on five hits in five-plus innings, walking one and striking out two and leaving with the lead.
NOTES: Below is a “local boy,” having grown up in Britton, Mich., an outer suburb of Detroit, and being drafted out of Lake Michigan Junior College. Though he missed most of 2009 following Tommy John surgery, he has rebounded well since then, obviously, with a 4.93 ERA at Double-A Erie in 2010 and a 9-4 record and 3.13 ERA in 18 starts at Toledo this season. His best summer came in his first full season, 2007, when he was the Tigers’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year at Class A West Michigan, going 13-5 with a 2.97 ERA and a Midwest League-best 160 strikeouts. He also led the Florida State League in that category the next summer with 127 at Lakeland. With an easy delivery of a fastball in the low-mid 90s and an effective curveball, he could factor into the Tigers mix for awhile.

RYAN COOK
RHP, Arizona Diamondbacks
B/T: R/R H/W: 6-3/200 BORN: June 30, 1987
ACQUIRED: Selected in the 27th round of 2008 out of Southern Cal
PROMOTED: Contract purchased from Double-A MobileReno July 20 when P Barry Enright was sent down
DEBUT: July 20 in a 5-2 10-inning loss to the Milwaukee Brewers: The fourth of six pitchers, he did not get an out, allowing three runs on three hits and walking one facing four batters in the 10th. He also threw a wild pitch and balked.
NOTES: If you were wondering, yes, Cook brought his ERA below infinity when he took the mound again two nights later and gave up a run in one inning in an 8-4 loss to the Rockies. He came into his promotion with a 2.25 ERA and 13 saves in 34 games in relief at Mobile, where he’d limited Southern League batters to a .179 average and had fanned 50 in 44 innings while walking just 14 so you can chalk this up to rookie nerves. In 2010 he worked as a starter with a 4.24 ERA in 20 games at Advanced A Visalia and a brief but effective stint at Mobile, after a 3.66 ERA in 143 innings in his full-season debut at Class A South Bend in 2009.

SCOTT DIAMOND
LHP, Minnesota Twins
B/T: L/L H/W: 6-3/215 BORN: July 30,1986
ACQUIRED: Selected from the Atlanta Braves in the 2010 Rule 5 Draft and maintained rights via later trade for P Billy Bullock.
PROMOTED: Contract purchased from Triple-A Rochester July 18 when IF Matt Tolbert was sent down.
DEBUT: July 18 in a 6-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians in the nightcap of a doubleheader: The starting pitcher, he threw 6 1/3 innings of seven-hit ball, allowing four runs — three of the earned — and walking two while striking out one.
NOTES: Originally signed by the Braves as a non-drafted free agent out of SUNY Binghamton in August 2007, Diamond has significant international experience as a member of Team Canada, both in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and Pan-Am Games. Taken in the Rule 5 Draft last winter, he didn’t make the Twins’ 25-man roster but they thought highly enough of him to send the Braves 2009 second-round pitcher Billy Bullock to maintain his rights. Armed with four solid pitches including a plus curveball, he had a 4-8 record and 4.70 ERA in 17 starts at Rochester. Brought up for the doubleheader, he was returned to the minors following his debut.

JASON KIPNIS
2B, Cleveland Indians
B/T: L/R H/W: 5-11/185 BORN: April 3, 1987
ACQUIRED: Selected in the second round of 2009 out of Arizona State
PROMOTED: Contract purchased from Triple-A Columbus July 22 when IF Luis Valbuena was sent down.
DEBUT: July 22 in a 3-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox. The starting second baseman, he batted eighth and went 0-for-2.
NOTES: The Indians continue to load up with hot-hitting infielders from the 2009 draft as Kipnis follows in the footsteps of first-rounder Lonnie Chisenhall, summoned a few weeks ago. Both a Futures Game and Triple-A All-Star Game honoree this summer, Kipnis was the International League’s Player of the Week for July 4 before falling into a 1-for-18 funk prior to his promotion. He was still hitting .279 with 12 homers, 55 RBI and 12 steals (caught just once) before his callup after hitting .300 at Advanced A Kinston and .311 at Double-A Akron in 2010, combining for 16 homers and 74 RBI. He made his pro debut in 2009 at short-season Mahoning Valley, batting .306. The Pac 10 Player of the Year his draft season, he was converted from outfielder to second base and has a high offensive ceiling.

BRANDON LAIRD
3B, New York Yankees
B/T: R/R H/W: 6-1/215 BORN: Sept. 11, 1987
ACQUIRED: Selected in the 27th round of 2007 out of Cypress Community College in California
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre July 18 whe SS Ramon Pena went on the DL
DEBUT: July 22 in a 17-7 win against the Oakland Athletics: Pinch-hitting for SS Derek Jeter in the seventh inning, he drew a walk and stayed in the game at third base. Coming to bat later, he singled, scored a run and added an RBI.
NOTES: The younger brother of St. Louis Cardinals catcher Gerald Laird enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2010 when he was named Eastern League MVP and Rookie of the Year, batting .291 at Trenton and, combined with a month at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, combined for 25 homers and 102 RBI, both of which led the organization. Also a 2009 Florida State League All-Star and a 2007 Gulf Coast League All-Star, he was hitting .266 with 10 homers and 49 RBI at the time of his promotion and with third baseman A-Rod out for awhile could get a chance to show what he can do.

In another kinda neat little combination of debuts, two catchers each got their first big-league appearance in the same game:

LUIS MARTINEZ
C, San Diego Padres
B/T: R/R H/W: 6-0/210 BORN: April 3, 1985
ACQUIRED: Drafted in the 12th round of 2007 out of Cumberland (Tenn.) University
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Tucson July 7 when C Nick Hundley went on the DL.
DEBUT: July 15 in a 6-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants: Pinch-hitting for C Kyle Phillips in the seventh inning, he lined out.
NOTES: The Miami native was named by Baseball America the best defensive catcher in the Padres system heading into 2011 but his offense hasn’t been too shabby either. Prior to his recall, he was hitting .313 in 38 games for the T-Pods. In 2010, at Double-A San Antonio, he batted .282 with two homers and 31 RBI and not only got the nod for the mid-season Texas League All-Star Game but earned that contest’s MVP honors. Martinez was returned to Tucson July 15 to make room for infielder Logan Forsythe.

HECTOR SANCHEZ
C, San Francisco Giants
B/T: B/R H/W: 5-11/235 BORN: Nov. 17, 1989
ACQUIRED: Signed as a non-drafted free agent out of Venezuela July 2006
PROMOTED: Contract purchased from Triple-A Fresno July 14 when OF Pat Burrell went on the DL
DEBUT: July 15 in a 6-1 win against the San Diego Padres: Pinch-hitting for P Sergio Romo in the ninth, he drew a walk.
NOTES:

The catching prospect parade continues in San Francisco as Buster Posey’s stint on the DL for the rest of the summer has forced some shuffles and some unexpected early promotions such as that of young Sanchez. He started the 2011 season at Advanced A San Jose where he was hitting .301 with eight homers and 46 RBI in 42 games, but the shuffle bumped him to Fresno and he kept pace with a .300 average in 27 more games. In 2010 at Class A Augusta he batted .274 with five home runs after spending his first three pro seasons in short and complex ball.

During my recent massive annual spring ritual of house-cleaning, file-cleaning and computer-cleaning, I’ve come across some of my favorite columns and articles that I wrote in years past. Thought it might be fun to re-print them here.

With the three players on my “Players You’d Let Your Daughter Marry” list all starting wonderful new jobs this spring, I couldn’t think of a better column to kick things off with.

So, from the Feb. 15, 2008 Designated Hitters column of the wonderful Baseball Analysts website, here is … MY SON-IN-LAW THE BALLPLAYER

The list actually started back when I arranged for Derek Jeter to take my then-4-year-old daughter to her senior prom.

List? What list?

Okay, I guess a bit of backtracking is probably in order here, yes?

I first met Jeter when he was a Yankees minor league prospect. Over the course of his breakthrough 1994 season, when he fast-tracked from Class A Tampa to Double-A Albany to Triple-A Columbus, and his 1995 campaign at Columbus before he made it to the big leagues, I got to know not only Jeter but his family as well, his parents and sister and grandmother and aunt.

There was no doubt in my mind he was going to be a mega-superstar. He had all the tools but beyond that he had poise, he was smart, he was sweet and to top it all off he looked like one of those statues of a Greek or Roman god you see in the first chapters of the Art History 101 books.

I was the minor league editor at USA Today’s Baseball Weekly at the time and at the end of 1994, we (okay I) named him our Minor League Player of the Year.

We’d never had a minor league player on the cover of the paper, and though I left prior to the 2006 season I don’t believe that with the exception of Michael Jordan there has ever been a minor leaguer on the cover of the publication to this day, in its 17 years of its existence. But it looked for awhile like that might change.

We had a portrait of him in Yankee pinstripes (though he had yet to make his major league debut), with those sea-green eyes and that half smile which, as I wrote to open the feature, “makes the Mona Lisa look like she’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown.” And as luck would have it, we didn’t have any other major player features running that week so until the last minute, it appeared that Derek Jeter would become the first minor leaguer to grace the cover of Baseball Weekly.

Until, that is, about a day before we went to press, when a power-that-be decided that we couldn’t possibly put a no-name minor leaguer on the cover because no one would know who “that Jeter guy” was. So instead it was hastily replaced by a stock action picture of Frank Thomas which had absolutely no connection whatsoever to anything in the paper. (Oh and just for the record, in case you’re wondering, no, that power that be was NOT Paul White, who has always been as big a proponent of getting minor leaguers their due as I was). But after that “that Jeter guy” was a popular expression in the office.

Imagine what a collector’s item that paper would be now had it been the first national cover of Derek Jeter, two years before he took New York by storm and won the American League Rookie of the Year award.

So anyway, before I digress too much (oops, too late!) … fast-forward to the end of 1995. Jeter has been called up to the big leagues but is obviously nowhere near the superstar status that he will reach in a year or so.

I get a phone call from a former colleague who now worked for a luxury car dealership in the New York area, a company that apparently worked with the Yankees when it came to leasing cars for their players. They were looking for a personal reference for the new kid and remembered that I knew him. Could I tell them a little bit about him?

I am not kidding. They were asking ME for a personal reference for Derek Jeter. I know it was just standard operating procedure with paper work but still … And this is what I told them:

“The best way I can describe Derek Jeter is that this is the guy you want to show up at your front door the night of your daughter’s senior prom.”

And that became the genesis for my “Players You’d Want to Take Your Daughter To The Prom” list. Which eventually morphed into the “Players You’d Want Your Daughter To Marry” list, which was more elite.

It’s something I’ve bandied about with co-workers, with front office executives, even with other players (about half of whom say “I’d NEVER let my daughter marry a baseball player”).

Maybe it’s a girl thing, but my husband totally doesn’t get it. He is convinced that my “Players I’d Want My Daughter To Marry” list is really just a euphemism for a “Players I’d Want to Date If I Were 25 Years Younger And Single And Didn’t Work in Baseball Where It Would Be Totally Unprofessional Not To Mention A Conflict Of Interest” list.

Totally not true. This list is totally about character. In short, it’s all about heart (cue the chorus of “Damn Yankees” or the 1969 New York Mets on the Ed Sullivan Show).

And yes, you skeptics, there are players who fit the bill. And for the sake of brevity (obviously not my strong point) I am going to narrow this down to my top three on my “Current Major Leaguers I’d Want My Daughter To Marry If She Were Older And They Weren’t Already Happily Married” list.

Disclaimer: I have been covering baseball for almost 20 years now. And despite the sometimes prevailing thought by the general public that most professional baseball players are complete asses, the truth is my list of Complete Asses That I Would Rather Chew On Tinfoil Than Ever Let Breathe The Same Air As My Daughter list is much shorter than the other one (maybe I’ll do that for next year’s DH).

With that in mind, I worry about hurting the feelings of some great guys I’ve gotten to know over the years. But I don’t think any of them would argue the three I’m writing about: Dave Roberts, Sean Casey and Kevin Millar.

The trio may corner the Major League market on niceness, kindness and heart. All three go above and beyond when it comes to being active in their communities and charitable foundations, and not just for show and not just when the cameras are clicking.

Dave Roberts, outfielder for the San Francisco Giants, is not only one of the nicest guys in baseball, he is quite simply one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, period. (That’s us, taken by photographer extraordinaire Barbara Jean Germano, during spring training at Brevard County.)



Originally drafted out of UCLA by the Tigers back in 1994, he’s been the proverbial journeyman, with the Giants being his seventh organization. But it was in his very brief tenure with the Boston Red Sox that “Doc” reached that nirvana of baseball immortality.

It’s the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees, the Sox trailing 4-3 and an inning away from elimination. Roberts, who was in to pinch run, ironically, for Millar, steals second against Mariano Rivera. The Sox rally, Roberts scores the tying run and, well, you know the rest. And as I watched the game from a hotel room in Arizona, on the road for Arizona Fall League, I knew that Roberts had just ensured himself fame forever and a head full of cheap champagne.

And all I could think was “this couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

Born in Okinawa, Japan, Roberts the son of an American-born Marine dad and a Japanese mom, he has always been a proud ambassador for all of his cultural roots. As a member of the 1999 Team USA squad that earned the United States the berth in the 2000 Summer Olympics where they won their last gold medal, he was both a team leader and its leadoff-hitting sparkplug.

It’s funny that there is this “connect” among the three guys on my list. On the one hand, Roberts and Millar were teammates on that historic world champion 2004 Boston Red Sox team.

But one of my favorite Roberts stories is one that Sean Casey himself told me. When Roberts was traded by Detroit to the Cleveland Indians in June 1998 for outfielder Geronimo Berroa, he joined the Double-A Akron Aeros. The guy who lost the most playing time with the acquisition of Roberts was outfielder Mark Budzinski, a teammate of Casey’s at the University of Richmond and one of his best friends.

Casey, himself originally an Indians prospect, had been traded the previous off-season to Cincinnati but stayed in close touch with Budzinski. When he commiserated with his friend on his decreased playing time, he told me later, Budzinski’s response was something along the lines of: “The thing is, Dave Roberts is such a great guy I can’t even get upset about losing time to him.”

It is the newly inked Boston Red Sox first baseman Casey himself, though, who is most widely acknowledged to be, officially, the Friendliest Guy In Baseball. A recent poll in Sports Illustrated, conducted among Major Leaguers themselves, saw a whopping 46 percent of the respondents name Casey (let the record show that Roberts ranked fourth and Millar sixth so I am not alone in my opinion here).

I had the great good fortune of first getting to know him well before he made it to the big leagues, back when I covered the Indians’ first winter development program in Cleveland in January 1996, just a few months after he was drafted. From the “small world” department, one of his best friends from college happened to live in my town, just down the block from my own daughter’s best friend.

It says something about how friendly he was that this fact would even come up, no less the tidbit I learned about his having worked making bagels at the local Stop N Shop when he was playing Cape Cod League baseball.

It was easy to see how Casey had earned the nickname “The Mayor” for his incredible natural chatty ease with everyone he meets, not just the players who pass through his first base watch over the course of a game. And it certainly didn’t surprise me to learn that then-farm director Mark Shapiro literally cried two years later when his team dealt Casey to Cincinnati for pitcher Dave Burba. (You can see Casey just over my left shoulder, which means he’s to my right in this fantastic picture of the 1997 American Association champion Buffalo Bisons team picture!)



Now, I realize that Millar may seem to be the “one of these things is not like the others” name on this list to the uninitiated. I mean, this is Rally Karaoke Guy whose 18-year-old self got down and dirty to “Born In The U.S.A.” on a nightly basis on the Fenway Park scoreboard. The guy who made taking ceremonial shots of Jack Daniels before a big game a team tradition. A guy known for his bizarre facial hair, his passion for Harley Davidson motorcycles and tattoos.

Is this really the kind of guy I’d want my daughter to marry?

Bet your ass it is.

If Dave Roberts is the nicest guy in baseball and Sean Casey is the friendliest, then it is Kevin Millar who has the game’s biggest heart. (Here we’re reuniting at the 2010 Winter Meetings at Disney World, photo courtesy of THE Erica Brooks)



A non-drafted free agent who made his way to the big leagues through the independent Northern League and by all accounts Against All Odds (which he has tattooed on his arm), he brings his unbridled passion and enthusiasm and love for the game to every aspect of his life. And to other people’s lives as well.

Back in 1997, when he was earning Eastern League MVP honors with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, Millar got to know a young fan named Morgan Grant and her family who hailed from nearby Pownal, Maine.

Morgan was terminally ill with brain cancer, but she and her family rarely missed a Sea Dogs game and not surprisingly it wasn’t long before the scrappy Millar was her favorite player. The two forged a friendship over that summer that resulted in his helping to grant one of her last wishes – to come with her family to visit him that winter in southern California.

When Morgan was too weak to change out of her pajamas, Millar simply got into his own jammies and the families had a pajama party. It was there in California that Morgan took a turn for the worse and passed away, having spent her final days with the people she loved the most.

How can you not love a guy like this?

By the way, you may have noticed that Derek Jeter isn’t on the list. I honestly think that there comes a level of superstardom where a guy is automatically eliminated from the list. Because truthfully I wouldn’t want my daughter to be married to someone with whom she couldn’t even go out to Outback without causing a small public riot.

So Derek, you’re off the hook. But in case you were wondering, Dana’s senior prom is May 2. Time flies, doesn’t it? I realize you probably can’t make it, but if you feel like sending a corsage, you know where to find her.

(UPDATE NOTE: Obviously much has changed for the players mentioned in this story in the past three years. Casey is now a radio voice of the Cincinnati Reds. Millar has a new show, “Intentional Talk,” on the MLB Network. Roberts has overcome a battle with cancer and is the San Diego Padres’ first base coach. Jeter is still technically single, but rumored to be tying the knot with longtime love, actress Minka Kelly, any day now. … And Dana? She will be graduating from Berklee College of Music in May with a degree in songwriting and heading out to Los Angeles this fall to try to launch her career. She did however have a kickass time at her prom — see? That’s her in the red gown.)