On this day in 1954, Jeffrey Lynn Yurak was born in Pasadena, California. After a couple of seasons at Citrus Junior College the Giants selected the then-catcher in the 24th round (536th overall pick) of the 1974 draft. He played three seasons for the Giants in the minors, but never advanced past A ball.
The Brewers, however, gave Yurek another chance. They signed him and promoted him to AA in 1977 and in 1978 he had a career year, hitting .321/.396/.531 in 135 games for Holyoke in the Eastern League, earning a cup of coffee with the big league club down the stretch.
Unfortunately, that call to the big leagues was probably the highlight of Yurek's career. He went 0-for-5 with a walk in his five games as a Brewer, returned to the minors in 1979 and never again reached the majors.
Yurek does have this going for him, though: He's the only player with a last name starting with "Yu" to appear in a game in the major leagues in the last 59 years. The last one before him was Cardinal pitcher Eddie Yuhas, who made his final appearance in 1953.
Yurak turns 58 today. With help from the B-Ref Play Index we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to 1996 Brewer Danny Perez. He turns 41.