On this day in 1974, Geoff Jenkins was born in Olympia, Washington. He played in college for USC and was selected ninth overall by the Brewers in the 1995 draft. He's almost certainly the best Brewer position player drafted during the Sal Bando era*.
Jenkins was a pretty highly regarded prospect for the Crew, ranking in Baseball America's top 100 in 1996, 1997 and 1998. In his final season in the minors before getting called up, he hit .330/.381/.512 for AAA Louisville. The next year, he hit .313/.371/.564 for the 1999 Brewers. His best season in Milwaukee was his next one: He hit .303/.360/.588 in 2000 and set career highs with 34 home runs, eleven stolen bases and 100 runs scored.
Jenkins' productivity faltered a little bit after that season, but he still played ten years in Milwaukee and ranks among the franchise's all time leaders in home runs (third), RBI (fourth), doubles (fourth), hits (fifth) and runs scored (fifth). By rWAR he's the tenth most valuable position player in franchise history.
With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- Huntsville Star Rob Wooten, who turns 26.
- 2008 Brewer CC Sabathia, who turns 31.
- 2001 Brewer Lance Painter, who turns 44.
- Seattle Pilot, 1970-71 and 1974-77 Brewer Mike Hegan, who turns 69.
* - One of Bando's final moves as GM was drafting Ben Sheets tenth overall in 1999. By rWAR Sheets was the more valuable of the two, 23.8 to 18.9.