A year ago on this day, the Brewers' roster decisions looked to be all but wrapped up. Doug Melvin and the Brewer front office changed things quickly, though, by acquiring Nyjer Morgan from the Nationals for minor leaguer Cutter Dykstra. At the time I was pretty resoundingly against the move. Morgan was coming off a terrible season in Washington, and had shown some personality issues to boot. I had no idea why the Brewers would bring this guy into their clubhouse. And I could not have been more wrong.
Within a few weeks the Tony Plush Golden Era had begun in Milwaukee. Morgan hit .364/.407/.600 in his first 23 games as a Brewer, inspired the @Tony_Plush Twitter feed (later renamed @Not_Tony_Plush), joined Twitter himself and won the hearts of the Brewer fanbase.
Oh, and by the way, he was also a postseason hero. His single drove in Carlos Gomez with the game winning run in the tenth inning of Game 5 of the NLDS, the Brewers' first postseason series win since 1982.
You win this one, Doug Melvin.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- 1989-94 and 2000 Brewer Jaime Navarro, who turns 46.
- 1980 Brewer Vic Harris, who turns 63.
- 1956-61 Milwaukee Brave Wes Covington, who would have turned 80.