Today In Brewer History: Happy Birthday, Dante Bichette

On this day in 1963, Alphonse Dante Bichette was born in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Angels selected him in the 17th round of the 1984 draft, and he made his major league debut with them in 1988. Three seasons later, the Brewers acquired him from California in exchange for aging DH Dave Parker.

Bichette spent two seasons in Milwaukee and for the most part those years were pretty forgettable: He hit .261/.293/.399 over 246 games in 1991-92. He mustn't have made too much of an impression on the Brewers over that time, because they left him unprotected in the expansion draft the following winter.

The Rockies, as you likely know, took Bichette in that draft and his career took off almost immediately. Aided by playing at altitude, Bichette hit .310/.348/.526 in his first season as a Rockie. Two years later he led the NL in hits, home runs and slugging in 1995. He was a four time All Star and career .316/.352/.540 hitter for Colorado, blasting 201 home runs.

Bichette turns 48 today. With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:

• AZL Brewer Michael Reed, who turns 19.
• 2004-07 Brewer Matt Wise, who turns 36.
• 1985-90 Brewer Mike Felder, who turns 50.

Also, Gary Sheffield turns 42 today.