If you've read Ball Four, odds are you don't have a very high opinion of 1969 Seattle Pilots manager Joe Schultz (or at least you know that Jim Bouton, the book's author, didn't care for him). Apparently the organization felt the same way, as on this day they fired the first manager in franchise history after just one year on the job.
Schultz had gone 64-98 in his lone season as a major league manager, but to be fair he didn't have much talent behind him. By 1973 just one of the 55 players to wear a Pilots uniform was still on the Brewers' major league roster, although two would later return.
The Pilots were Schultz's first and only opportunity to manage in the majors in a non-interim role. He would later take the helm on an interim basis for the final 14 games of the 1973 Tigers' season.
With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- 2012 Wisconsin Timber Rattler Chad Pierce, who turns 25.
- 2001 Brewer Brandon Kolb, who turns 39.
- Milwaukee native and 1901 Milwaukee Brewer George McBride, who would have turned 133.