How Much is a Name Worth? Try Ten Million!

Born on Oct. 14, 1889, just a few months after the Great Seattle Fire, Ten Million graduated from Seattle High in 1908.

The son of a prominent judge, E.C. “Elmer” Million, Ten got his name because, with the last name of Million, his mother wanted her son to stand out. As the Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia explained it, Ten’s mother had a “penchant for the unusual.”

When, years later, Ten and his wife, Christine, had a daughter, Ten’s mother bribed them with $50 to name her Decillian Million, so that she would be known as “Decillian Million, daughter of Ten Million.” Decillian Million later used the nickname “Dixie.”

Ten Million earned one varsity letter at the University of Washington (1910) and began his professional career with the Victoria Bees of the Northwestern League (1911).

After he hit .276 in 160 games for the Bees that year, the Cleveland Naps purchased his contract. But Ten Million never played in the majors due to a knee injury. In fact, he never officially made the team.

So Ten Million returned to the west and embarked upon what became a 692-game minor league career with stops in Tacoma, Sioux City (Western League), Spokane (Northwestern League) and Moose Jaw (Western Canadian League). Ten Million ended his career with a third tour in Tacoma (1912–14), playing under Iron Man McGinnity.

Done with baseball, Ten Million relocated to Seattle in 1915, served in the Army during World War I, and then returned to Seattle, where he worked as a claims adjuster, then for Spalding Sporting Goods, and kept active in sports by refereeing high school football, basketball and baseball games.

Ten Million also sold Ford automobiles. When Ford rolled its 10 millionth car off the assembly line, in the 1920s, the company shipped the vehicle to Seattle so that Ten Million could be the one to sell it, an event that rated a newspaper article and photograph.

When he finally retired, Ten Million purchased a house near Deception Pass. He died June 18, 1964, in an Anacortes hospital following a long illness. He was 74.

The Pot & Kettle baseball team was coached by Bud Thomsen who was assisted by Phil Rogers. Front Row l. to r.: Tom Rogers, Bob Thomsen, Dick Long, Dennis ________, Tom Dickson, Doug Binkley and Joe Dille. Back Row l. to r.: Phil Rogers, Frank Manthou, Ed Ward, John McMasters, Mark Cameron, unknown, Scott Eshelman and Bud Thomsen.

Recall Baseball Team—In 1910, one-hundred and fifty petitions were distributed to recall Tacoma’s mayor, A. V. Fawcett. According to The Tacoma Daily News (Januaey 17, 1910), a list of seven charges was filed against the mayor and concerned citizens showed support for the recall in different ways. South Tacoma resident, Andrew Hazen, left front and two unidentified friends, wore baseball uniforms with RECALL emblazoned on the front of the shirts while posing for a photographer at Sterling Studio in downtown Tacoma. The letter “A” is somewhat bolder than the other letters on the shirt, which may allude to the beginning of the mayor’s first name, Angelo. The ornately carved wood chair provides Hazen and his friends with a prop and the baseball mitts add a look of reality. Mr. Hazen was about to reign a career at Atlas Foundry that spanned forty-four years. (Hazen Family.)

Gertrude Wilhelmsen, a Puyallup High School graduate, played shortstop for the Tacoma Tigerettes fastpitch team in the early 40s. She also participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympics where she finished eighth in the discus and seventh in the javelin. Note the Olympics patch on her uniform.

Dennis Werth played for the Tacoma Yankees in 1978 and his son, Jason, who played 15 years in the major leagues, finished his career at age 39 with the Tacoma Rainiers in 2018.

Did you know?

•Troy Neel is the only Tacoma player to ever win the PCL batting title. Neel hit .351 in 1992 for the Tigers. Brian Raabe broke Neel’s franchise record when he batted .352 in 1997 for the Rainiers.

•John Halama threw a perfect game for the Tacoma Rainiers on July 7, 2001 at Cheney Stadium against the Calgary Cannons. It was the first 9-inning, perfect game in the PCL’s 99-year history. Three days earlier, Brett Tomko fired a no-hitter for Tacoma in Oklahoma City.

•19-year old, Alex Rodriguez hit .360 with 15 home runs and 45 RBI in 54 for the Tacoma Rainiers in 1995. Rodriguez belted a home run for the Calgary Cannons the year before at Cheney Stadium against the Tacoma Tigers.

•Ken Griffey Jr skipped one traditional step during his quick ascension to the major leagues in 1987 and ’88: Triple A. But 6½ years after breaking out as a teenage phenom for the Seattle Mariners in 1989, Griffey made an impromptu appearance in the minors during a rehab assignment, suiting up for the Tacoma Rainiers to play in the first TripleA game of his career at Tacoma’s Cheney Stadium on August 13, 1995. It was Kids Club Day that afternoon so NBA coach George Karl threw out the first pitch and Ahmad Rashad, Mt. Tahoma/NFL wide receiver handled the first base coaching duties.

•The largest crowd ever at Cheney Stadium was an estimated 25,000 people to hear President John F. Kennedy speak on September 27, 1963. Kennedy was assassinated two months later in Dallas.