Brewers A-Z: Jay Aldrich

PROGRAMMING NOTE: After over 500 installments spanning two seasons and a full offseason, there are some days where I've exhausted all of the available content for Today In Brewer History. Brewers A-Z is a supplemental feature to help fill in the gaps in my historical calendar. - KL

Pitcher Jay Aldrich was the Brewers' tenth round pick (261st overall) in the 1982 June draft, and when he reached the big leagues in 1987 he became one of just three players from Montclair (NJ) State University ever to reach the majors. He made 31 relief appearances for the Crew in his debut season, posting a 4.94 ERA but striking out just 22 over 58.1 innings.

That was enough to convince Donruss to make Aldrich part of their 1988 set. Here he is as card #460:

The Brewers, however, sent Aldrich back to AAA Denver in 1988, and he didn't pitch in the big leagues again until making 17 relief appearances for the Crew in 1989. All told Aldrich pitched three major league seasons as a member of three teams, posting a 4.72 ERA over 62 games.

With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:

• AZL Brewer Ronny Puello, who turns 23.
• 2004 Brewer Pedro Liriano, who turns 32.
• 2008-10 Brewer David Riske, who turns 36. We covered his birthday in Today In Brewer History last year.
  
• 1980 Brewer John Poff, who turns 60.