Today's Dodger of the Day is Herb Thormahlen.

Some databases have him listed as Hank. They're probably wrong.

Herbert Ehler Thormahlen was born July 5, 1896, in Jersey City. The youngest of five siblings, Herb was the child of a first-generation American and a recent German immigrant.

The southpaw first attracted attention as a pitcher for Public High School No. 28 after throwing 17 strikeouts in a game. His professional career began with stints with the Duquesne and Egberts clubs in Jersey City before signing with the Washington Senators in 1915. He was outrighted after spring training and spent time playing in Hackensack.

After playing with the Baltimore Orioles in early 1916, he was outrighted to Chambersburg of the Blue Ridge League. He debuted on June 9 and went 13-7, including a league-record 12-strikeout game. The Orioles brought him back to finish 1916. He played 14 games for Baltimore in 1916, going 1-7.

Thormahlen returned to Baltimore in 1917 and had a breakout season. He went 21-7 through early August. This sparked a bidding war between the Senators and New York Yankees, which the Yankees won with a $10,000 offer. Thormahlen made one appearance for the Yankees, giving up three runs over eight innings in a 3-1 home loss to the Chicago White Sox.

He then went back to Baltimore, finishing the season with a 25-12 record and 2.74 ERA.

Thormahlen pitched in 16 games for the Yankees in 1918's shortened season, starting 12. He went 7-3 with a 2.48 ERA. He threw seven straight wins during the season and didn't give up a run for 34 innings, including a 14-inning win against the White Sox. He also pitched in two games for the Toronto Maple Leafs, losing one and giving up 11 hits in 11 innings pitched.

His 1918 season ended early due to injury and he entered shipbuilding to avoid the draft. Thormahlen continued his hot streak into 1919; he won his first six decisions of the season. These included two CGSOs in May. He didn't lose a game until June, a 1.1 inning, three earned run performance against Cleveland June 18.

Thormahlen finished 1919 with a 12-8 record, 2.62 ERA and career-low 1.145 WHIP.

1920 did not go well. The season started with three straight wins, but several poor performances in June and July saw him relegated to the bullpen. He had given up seven runs on two different occasions in the span of almost a month.

His time in the bullpen did not improve matters and his 4.14 ERA was almost a full run above the team average. The New York Times quoted Yankee's evaluators as saying Thormahlen was "not consistent … something of an in-and-outer. … In one of his good streaks, he looks like one of the foremost southpaws on the diamond, but when he strikes the morass he flounders badly.”

The Yankees shipped him up to Boston in December. 1921 was a disaster for Thormahlen; not only did he go 1-7 with a 4.48 ERA, but Waite Hoyt also helped lead the Yankees to their first pennant. Hoyt was one of the pieces sent the Yankees' way in return for Thormahlen, Del Pratt, Muddy Ruel and Sammy Vick.

The Red Sox sold Thormahlen to the Minneapolis Millers in April 1922. He went 13-6 for the Millers, posting a 4.62 ERA over 148 innings. He spent 1923 with the Kansas City Blues, going 10-9. The Blues sold Thormahlen to the Dallas Steers early in 1924 and he threw 208 innings and went 11-12 for the Texas League team.

That grabbed the attention of the Brooklyn Robins, who purchased his contract in April 1925. He made five appearances for the Robins. His first was a two-inning relief appearance against the Phillies April 16.

By mid-May, Robins had sold Thormahlen to Rochester and he would never see a major-league mound against. After spending the rest of 1925 in Rochester, he pitched in Montreal and Toronto until his retirement in 1933.

After retiring, he became a bank security guard in Los Angeles and died February 6, 1955.