The Brewers Advent Calendar #7: Randy Wolf

Let's open door #7 and find new addition...Randy Wolf!

The Brewers signed Wolf to a three year, $29.75 million deal in early December.  The 33-year-old lefthander is entering his 12th major league season in 2010, having debuted with the Phillies back in 1999.  He spent the first eight years of his career pitching in Philadelphia.  He spent the last three seasons bouncing between the Dodgers, the Padres, and the Astros.  He is 101-85 in his career with a 4.13 ERA.  After missing significant portions of each season from 2004 through 2007, he set a career high in starts and innings pitched in 2009.

But Randy isn't the only Wolf in Major League Baseball.  There's Ross Wolf, the 2007 Marlin who has toiled away in AAA the past two years.  Former Brewers farmhand Brian Wolfe struggled in Toronto last year.  Astros prospect Shane Wolf hopes to join his similarly surnamed brethren in the majors soon.  But none of those three are related to the Brewers' new pitcher.

You may recognize Randy's brother, Jim, as an occasionally psychic umpire.  Jim also debuted in the majors in 1999, umpiring his first game on September 2, 1999, while his brother was in the visiting dugout.  Jim spent the next five years bouncing between AAA and the majors before joining the MLB staff full-time in 2004.  Randy and Jim are the second set of player-umpire brothers, behind Bill and Tom Haller in the 1970s.

Major League Baseball does not allow Jim to call balls and strikes when his brother pitches, but the duo has been on the field at the same time in five different games over the years:

• April 18, 2001
• April 30, 2004
• August 6, 2004
• June 1, 2008
• August 13, 2008

All five games saw Jim stationed at third base.  He did not umpire any Dodgers games last year and it remains to be seen how many Milwaukee games he gets assigned in 2010, 2011, and 2012.  One thing's for sure, though: it'll always be worth a glance at the umpires before every Randy Wolf start.