On this day in 1964, William Joseph Robidoux was born in Ware, Massachusetts. The Brewers selected him out of high school with their sixth round pick in the 1982 draft (157th overall), and in 1985 he had one of the best minor league seasons in Brewer franchise history: As a 21 year old in AA he hit .342/.443/.577 for AA El Paso, clobbering 23 home runs and driving in 132 runs.
Unfortunately, that was Robidoux's career year. He appeared in just 130 games over four seasons as a Brewer and hit .221/.325/.291 in 130 games. He became a free agent following the 1988 season and had two more partial campaigns in the majors, but was done as a big leaguer at age 26.
Fortunately, having an interesting name and a notable mustache has kept people remembering Robidoux over 20 years after his major league career ended. Just this winter he's been a topic of posts at NotGraphs and The Hardball Times.
Robidioux turns 48 today. With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:
- AZL Brewer Elliot Glynn, who turns 23.
- Wisconsin Timber Rattler Reggie Keen, who turns 24.
- Wisconsin Timber Rattler Eric Marzec, who turns 24.
- 2005-07 Brewer Jose Capellan, who turns 31.
- 2007 Brewer Elmer Dessens, who turns 41.
- 1988 Brewer Odell Jones, who turns 59.
- 1979 Brewer Bob Galasso, who turns 60.