Today In Brewer History: Goodbye For Now, Ned Yost

Many younger Brewer fans probably remember Ned Yost as the Brewer manager for the mid-2000's, while fewer remember his run as a backup catcher for some of the best teams in franchise history. Yost hit .233/.264/.372 over 134 games for Milwaukee between 1980-83 before being traded to the Rangers for veteran backstop Jim Sundberg 29 years ago today.

Sundberg was 32 at the time of the trade and there was probably reason to believe his best years were behind him: He had already played 1398 career games for Texas, mostly at catcher, and that's a feat most people wouldn't handle well. In 1983 he appeared in 131 games and hit just .201/.272/.254. With that said, Sundberg had appeared in two All Star Games and at one point he was the AL Gold Glove catcher for six consecutive years.

Sundberg resurrected his career in Milwaukee, appearing in 110 games and hitting .261/.332/.399. He represented the Brewers in the 1984 All Star Game and when the Crew traded him to the Royals following the season he still had five years left in the tank. When he finally retired Sundberg had caught 1927 career games, still the eighth highest total in major league history.

Yost, meanwhile, caught 80 games for the Rangers in 1984 and hit .182/.201/.273.

With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd like to wish a happy birthday today to Seattle Pilot Jim Pagliaroni, who would have turned 75.

Today is also the 15th anniversary of a 1997 five-player deal that brought Marquis Grissom from Cleveland to Milwaukee. We covered that event in this space last year.