Jim Bouton is certainly not one of the best or longest tenured players in Brewer franchise history, but he is the only one to write a best-selling book about his time in the organization.
Most of you are probably familiar with (and many of you have likely read) Bouton's Ball Four, his collection of stories about the Seattle Pilots' inaugural season and his time in baseball, most notably with the Yankees. If you've read the book you may remember that on this day in 1969 the Pilots traded Bouton to the Astros for pitchers Roric Harrison and Dooley Womack.
Bouton, who by this point in his career was primarily a knuckleballer, had posted a 3.91 ERA in 57 games (including one start) for the Pilots, which was good enough for exactly 0.0 rWAR. The players the organization got back for him weren't any better: Womack appeared in just nine games for the Pilots and Harrison was traded again before making it to the big leagues.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to 2000 and 2002 Brewer Everett Stull, who turns 40.
Also, happy anniversary today to:
- Relief pitcher John O'Donoghue, who had his only hit as a Seattle Pilot on this day in 1969 (a 6-5 loss to Cleveland).
- Relief pitcher Matt Maysey, who had his only MLB hit on this day in 1993 (a 7-6, 13 inning win over the A's).
- Relief pitcher Shane Nance, who had his only MLB hit on this day in 2002 (a 17-10 loss to the Pirates).