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On this day in 1986 Yovani Gallardo was born in La Piedad, Michoacan, Mexico. It's a city of roughly 100,000 people about 100 miles east of Guadalajara. After his family moved to the US, Gallardo attended high school in Fort Worth, Texas before the Brewers selected him in the second round (46th overall pick) of the 2004 draft. He's one of just six players the Brewers drafted that year who have played in the majors, and he's the only one who's made a serious impact:
| Player | Round | MLB Games |
| Mark Rogers | 1 | 4 |
| Yovani Gallardo | 2 | 121 |
| Angel Salome | 5 | 3 |
| Lorenzo Cain | 17 | 49 |
| Darren Ford | 18 | 33 |
| Kanekoa Texeira | 31* | 49 |
* - Texeira was drafted out of high school but didn't sign.
After posting a 2.59 ERA in four seasons in the minors and being named the #16 prospect in the game by Baseball America Gallardo joined the Brewers in 2007 and has started 115 games since, including 30 or more in each of the last three seasons. In 2010 he made his first All Star team, and last year he finished seventh in the NL Cy Young voting.
All told, Gallardo has posted a 3.63 ERA over 712.1 big league innings, and until yesterday he was only 25 years old. He turns 26 today. With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to 2002 Brewer Matt Stairs. He turns 44.