Today In Brewer History: Happy Anniversary, Marquis Grissom

On this day in 1997, the Brewers made a trade that probably seemed like a good idea at the time: They sent pitchers Ben McDonald, Mike Fetters and Ron Villone to the Indians and received pitcher Jeff Juden and center fielder Marquis Grissom.

Juden's stay in Milwaukee was brief: the Brewers were already his sixth major league team and after one season where he posted a 5.53 ERA in 24 starts, he was gone. Grissom, though, was supposed to be the centerpiece of the deal and turned out to be a pretty significant disappointment. He appeared in 442 games over three seasons as a Brewer (at least he stayed healthy) and posted just a .260/.304/.383 batting line.

I can't remember which season it was, but I was at a Brewer game during the Grissom era that sticks out in my mind. The Brewers were down in the bottom of the ninth, but had the tying run in scoring position with two outs. Grissom came to the plate, and the entire row in front of me got up and left without waiting to see the outcome.

Following the 2000 season, the Brewers dealt Grissom to the Dodgers for Devon White. Grissom played for six teams in his major league career, but Milwaukee was the only place where he posted an OPS under .700.

If it makes you feel any better, the Indians didn't get much out of this deal either. They traded Mike Fetters again before he'd even appeared in a game, got 25 appearances and a 6.00 ERA from Ron Villone in his only season in Cleveland and didn't get a single start from Ben McDonald.

With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to Seattle Pilot Jim Pagliaroni. He would have turned 74.