Casey McGehee had a season to forget in his last year as a Brewer, batting just .223/.280/.346 in 155 games with 13 home runs. He did, however, occasionally have a flair for the dramatic. He showed it one year ago on this day against the Cubs.
On a Sunday afternoon at Miller Park Ron Roenicke decided to give the scuffling McGehee a day off, starting Craig Counsell in his place at third base. McGehee sat on the bench and waited for his opportunity, which came with two outs in the bottom of the eighth with the Brewers trailing 5-4.
Yuniesky Betancourt was on second (he had walked and been bunted over) when McGehee took Kerry Wood's second pitch deep to right, turning the Brewer deficit into a one run lead. John Axford came in to record the save and the rest is history.
McGehee is a career .275/.325/.500 hitter against the Cubs, and the seven home runs he's hit against them are his second most against any team. The only team he's taken deep more often is the Cardinals (8).
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd like to wish a happy birthday today to:
- 2010 Brewer Chris Dickerson, who turns 30.
- 1995-99 Brewer Alberto Reyes, who turns 41.
Today is also the anniversary of Sixto Lezcano's walkoff grand slam on Opening Day in 1980, and Don Money's ninth inning grand slam that wasn't against the Yankees in 1976. We covered those events in this space last year.