Willie Eyre

William Mays Eyre was born on July 21, 1978 in Fountain Valley, California.

He was an All-American outfielder at JUCO's College of Eastern Utah, but drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1999 with the intent of bringing him through the minor league system as a pitcher. It was a slow trek through the minors, not reaching Triple-A until 2004 and not reaching the Majors until 2006.

Eyre made the Opening Day roster in 2006, debuting with a shutout innings of relief work on April 6th. He remained on their big league roster for the entire season,  recording a 5.31 ERA across 59.1 innings out of the bullpen. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire mostly called on him for long relief work, with Eyre getting six or more outs in 12 of his 42 appearances that season. Much of his usage was also in lower leverage, with the Twins either leading or trailing by four or more runs in 30 of those 42 appearances. His lone decision was a win against the Chicago White Sox on August 26th.

Minnesota non-tendered Eyre after his rookie season, making him a free agent. He signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers, but was called up to the Majors by mid-April in 2007. Eyre pitched 68.0 innings for the Rangers in 2007, serving as a long reliever and occasional spot starter. His season ended in late August due to a torn UCL, causing him to miss all of 2008 while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

He returned to the Rangers when healthy in 2009, before spending all of 2010 in the minor leagues. Eyre had a brief stint with the Baltimore Orioles in 2011. He last pitched professionally in 2012 for the Round Rock Express, the Triple-A affiliate of the Rangers.

• He is the younger brother of Scott Eyre, who had a 13-year big league career and won a World Series in 2008 with the Philadelphia Phillies