On this day in 1991 the Brewers were still almost a week away from Opening Day and working on their final roster cuts of spring training. One of those cuts was the end of the road for a longtime Brewer, as the team released Mike "Tiny" Felder.
The Brewers had drafted Felder in the third round of the 1981 January draft, and he joined the big league roster for the first time in 1985. Felder played parts of six seasons in the outfield for the Brewers, never quite becoming a full time player but appearing in over 100 games three times.
Felder's real skill, however, was on the basepaths. He stole 108 bags in 135 attempts during his time as a Brewer, roughly one for every 3.5 times on base. At the time of his release Felder was one of just four Brewers with 100 career steals, joining Paul Molitor, Robin Yount and Jim Gantner.
Felder wasn't without a job for long: He joined the Giants and appeared in 132 games for them in 1991, making a career-high 383 plate appearances. He eventually retired following the 1994 season.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- 2000-03 Brewer Curtis Leskanic, who turns 44.
- 1982-84 Brewer Don Sutton, who turns 67. We covered Sutton's birthday in this space last year.