On this day in 1927, Joseph Wilbur Adcock was born in Coushatta, Louisiana. He went to college at LSU and was signed by the Reds in 1947 as a 19 year old. By 1950 he was a full time major leaguer.
Adcock had been a big leaguer for three seasons when a four team, five player deal sent him to the Braves, who had just moved to Milwaukee. He spent the next ten largely underrated years there, hitting .285/.343/.511 in over 1200 games (mostly at first base) but getting overshadowed by all time greats like Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews.
Adcock's best season was 1956, when he finished second in the NL with 38 home runs and 103 RBI. He made his lone All Star appearance in 1960, a season where he hit .298/.354/.500. All told, he's 94th on baseball's all time list with 336 career home runs over 17 seasons.
Adcock passed away in 1999, or he would have turned 84 today. With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday today to:
- Manny Parra, who turns 29.
- 2006-08 Brewer Laynce Nix, who turns 31.
- 1994 Brewer Dave Valle, who turns 51.
- 1963-65 Milwaukee Braves manager Bobby Bragan, who would have turned 94.