Kyle Dean Denney (born July 27, 1977) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. Denney made four starts for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

in . Drafted in the 26th round of the

1999 Major League Baseball Draft The 1999 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1999. A total of 1474 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections ...

by the Cleveland Indians, Denney worked his way through the Indians' minor league organization, being named a Eastern League All-Star. He made his major league debut on September 14, 2004. He became a free agent after the season and signed with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

on February 10, , starting six games for their Triple-A

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

team. In , Denney played five games for the Single-A

Lakeland Tigers Lakeland is primarily a toponym. It may refer to: Places Australia * Lakeland, Queensland Canada * Lakeland (electoral district), a federal electoral district in Alberta * Lakeland County, a former municipal district in Alberta * District of ...

of the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

organization. In September 2004, while riding the team bus after a game in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, Denney was struck in the calf by a stray bullet fired by an unknown assailant. He was saved from suffering a more serious injury thanks to the pair of

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

cheerleader Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

boots he was wearing as part of a

hazing Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...

ritual. Denney was also an excellent high school quarterback and basketball guard.

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Indians' pitcher shot on team bus
1977 births Living people People from Prague, Oklahoma Baseball players from Oklahoma Major League Baseball pitchers Akron Aeros players Cleveland Indians players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Kinston Indians players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players New Orleans Zephyrs players Lakeland Tigers players Oklahoma Sooners baseball players American shooting survivors Burlington Indians players (1986–2006) Columbus Red Stixx players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1970s-stub