On this day in 1999 the Brewers were off, but they made news in a big way anyway by firing manager Phil Garner.

The Brewers were 52-60 through 112 games in Garner's eighth season as manager, en route to their seventh straight losing season. They hadn't finished above .500 since Garner's rookie campaign in 1992, when they won 92 games and finished second to the Blue Jays in the AL East.

Garner received Manager of the Year votes in 1992 (second place), 1995 (sixth place) and 1997 (third place) and is the Brewer all-time leader in both managerial longevity (1180 games) and wins (563). In 2000 he took over the helm of the Tigers, and also managed the Astros from 2004-07.

Garner was replaced on an interim level by Jim Lefebvre, who guided the Brewers to a 22-27 record over their final 49 games. After the season the team hired Davey Lopes, who turned out to be a significant downgrade.

With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:

• Wisconsin Timber Rattler Mark Williams, who turns 23.
• Brevard County Manatee Austin Ross, who turns 24.
• 1999 Brewer Reggie Harris, who turns 44.
• 1953-62 Milwaukee Brave Bob Buhl, who would have turned 84.

Today is also the second anniversary of a 4-for-4 game for Casey McGehee against the Diamondbacks as he notched hits in his sixth, seventh, eighth and franchise record ninth consecutive at bats. We covered that event in this space last year.