Today In Brewer History: Happy Birthday, Jerry Royster

On this day in 1952 Jeron Kennis "Jerry" Royster was born in Sacramento, California. He was 18 when the Dodgers signed him as an amateur free agent in 1970 and went on to play 16 major league seasons as an infielder for five teams, most notably the Braves. Royster was a career .249/.315/.333 hitter over 1428 games.

Royster retired following the 1988 season and immediately started managing in the minors with the 1989 Rookie League GCL Dodgers. He had managed in the minors for eight seasons and been a coach in the big leagues for a few years as well when the Brewers fired Davey Lopes following a 3-12 start in 2002 and named Royster as his interim replacement.

Royster, of course, wasn't able to do much better than Lopes. The Brewers went 53-94 under his leadership en route to a 56-106 season. Royster wasn't retained following the season, as the Ned Yost Era began in 2003.

Since leaving the Brewers Royster has managed a few more seasons in the minors and in Korea. He spent 2012 as the Red Sox third base coach.

Royster turns 60 today. With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:

• 1993 Brewer Carlos Maldonado, who turns 46.
• 1986-88 Brewer Steve Kiefer, who turns 52.
• 1978 Brewer Ed Farmer, who turns 63.
• Plover, Wisconsin native Walt Wilmot, who would have turned 149. Wilmot played ten major league seasons between 1888-98 as a member of the Chicago Colts (Cubs) and two other teams. We covered his birthday in this space last year.