On this day in 1954, Willie Randolph was born in Holly Hill, South Carolina. He was only 17 when the Pirates selected him in the seventh round of the 1972 draft, and made his major league debut for Pittsburgh in 1975. After the season he was traded to the Yankees as part of a four-player deal and had his most memorable seasons in pinstripes, making five All Star appearances and winning a Silver Slugger Award.
Randolph was nearing the end of the road when he came to Milwaukee for the 1992 season, but had an excellent year in his final campaign as a big league regular. He hit .327/.424/.374 in 124 games as the Brewers fell just short of the playoffs, and was worth 4.4 rWAR, the second highest total ever for a Brewer who played over 50% of his games at second base. Only Paul Molitor's 4.9 in 1979 was higher.
Randolph later returned to the Brewers as Ken Macha's bench coach. He's currently coaching third base for the Orioles.
Randolph turns 58 today. With help from B-Ref and Brewerfan.net, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday today to:
- Huntsville Star Chuckie Caufield, who turns 28.
- Former Brewer hitting coach Jim Skaalen, who turns 57.