On this day in 1950, Jim Slaton was born in Long Beach, California. He was only 18 when he was drafted by the Seattle Pilots in the 15th round of the 1969 draft, and two years later he made 26 appearances (23 starts) for the 1971 Brewers.
Slaton played six seasons as a Brewer before being traded to the Tigers following the 1977 season in a deal that netted Ben Oglivie. He played just one season in Detroit before returning to the Crew as a free agent and pitching for them again from 1979-83.
All told, Slaton made 364 appearances over 12 seasons as a Brewer, and is at or near the top of the franchise leaderboard in all of the following categories:
| Stat | # | Rank |
| Wins | 117 | 1 |
| Starts | 268 | 1 |
| Shutouts | 19 | 1 |
| Losses | 121 | 1 |
| IP | 2025.1 | 1 |
| Walks | 760 | 1 |
| CG | 69 | 2 |
| Strikeouts | 929 | 3 |
For much more on Slaton, check out his entry in Hangwith'em Rach's Forgotten Brewers series.
Slaton turns 61 today. With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday today to:
- 2007 and 2009-10 Brewer Claudio Vargas, who turns 33.
- 1987 Brewer Steve Stanicek, who turns 50.
- 1983-86 Brewer Bob Gibson, who turns 54.
- 1989 Brewer Jerry Reuss, who turns 62.