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He got his nickname because of his name, but "Wheels" could have just as easily earned the monicker from his outstanding speed. Finding a place for him in AWA's old and slow outfield was easy, as was finding him a spot at the top of the batting order. And Mike became a major weapon both offensively and defensively for the team's final four seasons. "Wheels" was usually among the team leaders in outfield assists, but since he rarely hit the cut-off man while trying to throw out anyone who ran on him, he was bound to get a few. He also had a few throwing errors in there. In the end, however, he became the team's most effective outfielder. The former high school base stealing champ of Minnesota (or something like that), "Wheels" actually had an infield double 1997, but then he rarely passed up an opportunity to take an extra base. He often got hosed on close plays at first. But then trying to beat out weak grounders to short was not exactly our idea of hitting.
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