Today In Brewer History: Happy Birthday, Richie Sexson

On this day in 1974, Richmond Lockwood Sexson was born in Portland, Oregon. He was 18 when the Indians selected him in the 24th round of the 1993 draft, 671st overall. He would go on to be the most valuable player they chose that year.

Sexson made his major league debut as an Indian in 1997, but Cleveland already had Jim Thome at first base so they struggled to find a spot for him. Finally, a trade opened the door for him to play the same position everyday: The Indians traded him to the Brewers in 2000 as the centerpiece of a seven player deal that brought Bob Wickman and Steve Woodard to Cleveland.

As a Brewer, it would have been hard to ask for much more from Sexson. He hit .296/.398/.559 in 57 games in his first season in Milwaukee, and remained somewhat steady at .276/.366/.536 over four seasons with the team. Finally, when the Brewers traded him to Arizona they got a pretty great deal: Sexson had one year of team control left and netted six players from the Diamondbacks, most notably Chris Capuano.

Unfortunately, Sexson's career took a significant downturn with the trade: He played in just 23 games in his lone season with the Diamondbacks and only had one more really good year after that. He played his last major league season as a Mariner and Yankee in 2008.

Sexson turns 37 today. With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday today to:

• 2000-01 Brewer James Mouton, who turns 43.
• 2001 Brewer Devon White, who turns 49.
• 1970 Brewer Bruce Brubaker, who turns 70.