On this day in 1934 Russ Snyder was born in Oak, Nebraska. He signed with the Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1953 but was later traded to the Kansas City Athletics, where he made his major league debut in 1959.

Snyder was already 35 years old and had patrolled the outfield for the A's, Orioles, White Sox and Indians when the Brewers acquired him as part of a four player trade on April 4, 1970. Three days later he started in center field on Opening Day as a member of the inaugural Milwaukee Brewers.

Snyder's lone season in Milwaukee wasn't much to write home about: He hit .232/.270/.315 over 124 games, and when the Brewers released him the following spring he was done as a major leaguer. There are only nine men who can claim they started the Brewers' first game, though, and he's one of them.

Snyder is also one of just three Brewers ever to be born in Nebraska:

Snyder turns 78 today. With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:

• Nashville Sound Dayton Buller, who turns 31.
• 1991 Brewer Jim Hunter, who turns 48.

Today is also the fifth anniversary of Ryan Braun hitting a homer and stealing two bases in an 11-6 win over the Royals in 2007, a feat no Brewer has matched since. We covered that event in this space last year.