The Forgotten Brewers Series: Part XI

This week’s Forgotten Brewer comes to us courtesy of backtocali, who complained back in November that BCB was not keeping him entertained at work on a Friday.

Semi slow work day for me as well, nothing baseball or Brewer related to keep me off track at all here.

Here’s an interesting Brewer note, good topic for the forgotten Brewers: worst game score in franchise history for a starting pitcher who got the win……

1995 against the Yankees, Sid Roberson…who the heck is that?

Sid Roberson, for those of you who do not remember, pitched in the major leagues for just one season—1995. He appeared in 26 games that year, going 6-4 with a 5.76 ERA and a 1.648 WHIP in 84.1 innings of work. His career was over before it really got started. He retired from baseball following the 1997 season after various arm injuries and two rotator cuff surgeries.

Despite being drafted in the 29^th round as the 808^th overall pick in 1992, Roberson made quick work of the minor leagues. On two occasions he was the Brewers minor league pitcher of the year and in 1994 he was the pitcher of the year in the Texas League. While with El Paso, he went 15-8 with a 2.83 ERA.  Roberson was promoted to the big league squad after pitching just one game in Triple A and made his major league debut on May 20, 1995. Roberson got tossed in his first game for hitting a Texas batter with a pitch. (He hit eight batters that year.) In his next appearance, a start against the Royals, he took a two-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up a homerun to Gary Gaetti. He would eventually take the loss.

The lefthander was always considered something of a long shot to make the big leagues, as he was only 5’9" and 170 pounds. His final game as a Brewer—and as a major leaguer—was September 29, 1995.

Roberson was born in Jacksonville, Florida on September 7, 1971 and attended Orange Park High School and the University of North Florida. While at UNF, Roberson was twice named to the NAIA All-America team and earned National Player of the Year honors. He was also a finalist for the Dick Howser award. During his collegiate career, he went 36-6 and struck out 360 batters. Roberson was the first player from UNF to play at the major league level. The program, which started in 1988, has since sent five other players to the big leagues. Roberson graduated with a 3.91 GPA in accounting and, following his retirement, has worked in the financial services sector.

The oddest little tidbit I could find about Roberson was the statement made by backtocali that Roberson had the "worst game score in franchise history for a starting pitcher who got the win." Roberson started a June 30, 1995 game against the Yankees at County Stadium. He gave up six runs in five innings but still won the game, 12-6. In the spirit of not working on a Friday, were Roberson’s six runs the most ever given up by a Brewers starting pitcher who earned a win?

Sidney Dean Roberson, you are no longer forgotten.