On this day in 1942, Jim Lonborg was born in Santa Maria, California. After attending Stanford, he debuted with the Red Sox in 1963. In 1967 he won the AL Cy Young Award, going 22-9 with a 3.16 ERA and striking out a league-leading 246.
In October of 1971, Lonborg came to the Brewers as one of six players sent from Boston in exchange for third baseman Tommy Harper and pitchers Lew Krausse and Marty Pattin. While with the Brewers, he had arguably the best season of his major league career: In 1972 he posted a 2.83 ERA in 223 innings, the only sub-3 ERA of his career. Following the season he was traded to the Phillies in a seven player deal that netted Don Money, among others.
A season with 220+ innings and a sub-3.00 ERA has only been done seven times in Brewer history:
| Pitcher | Season | IP | ERA |
| Mike Caldwell | 1978 | 293.1 | 2.36 |
| Teddy Higuera | 1988 | 227.1 | 2.45 |
| Ben Sheets | 2004 | 237 | 2.70 |
| Teddy Higuera | 1986 | 248.1 | 2.79 |
| Bill Travers | 1976 | 240 | 2.81 |
| Jim Lonborg | 1972 | 223 | 2.83 |
| Chris Bosio | 1989 | 234.2 | 2.95 |
I noted Lonborg's birthday with help from the B-Ref Play Index. We'd also like to wish a happy birthday today to:
- 1995-99 Brewer Fernando Vina, who turns 42.
- Seattle Pilot Garry Roggenburk, who turns 71.
- Seattle Pilot and 1970 Brewer Rich Rollins, who turns 73.