Kevin Kobel had a relatively brief Brewer career, but does hold one claim to fame. He was a tenth round draft pick out of high school in 1971 and progressed through the organization pretty quickly: On this day in 1973 he became the only pitcher in franchise history to make his major league debut before his 20th birthday. He was 19 years and 341 days old.
The circumstances behind his debut where about what you'd expect: The Brewers had allowed ten runs in the first four innings of a game at Yankee Stadium and needed someone to eat the final two frames in a blowout loss. The results weren't pretty but Kobel did what was asked of him, allowing four runs on two hits and two walks while pitching the seventh and eighth. All four runs scored on a grand slam.
Kobel made one more appearance in 1973, a start against the Red Sox in a doubleheader during the season's last week, and pitched in 37 more games as a Brewer over the following three seasons before being claimed off waivers by the Mets before the 1978 season.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- Logan Schafer, who turns 25.
- Nashville Sound Mike Rivera, who turns 35.