On this day in 1963 Christopher Louis Bosio was born in Carmichael, California. He was 18 years old when the Brewers took him in the second round of the 1982 January draft, and 23 when he made his major league debut as a Brewer in 1986.
Bosio needed some time to get going (he posted a 5.54 ERA in his first two big league seasons), but eventually became one of the better Brewer pitchers of his generation. Between 1988 and 1992 Bosio posted a 3.39 ERA over 985.1 innings (averaging 197 innings per season). He never racked up a lot of strikeouts but walked just 2.2 batters per nine innings, including a AL-low 1.7 BB/9 in his final season as a Brewer in 1992.
Bosio left the Brewers following the 1992 season to join the Mariners as a free agent, and pitched his final four seasons there. His 67 wins as a Brewer are still the seventh most in franchise history, and his 107 ERA+ is the fourth best ever for a pitcher who threw more than 600 innings.
Bosio, who is entering his first season as the Cubs' pitching coach, turns 49 today. With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday today to:
- Mike McClendon, who turns 27.
- 1999 Brewer Jim Pittsley, who turns 38.
- Seattle Pilot Jose Vidal, who would have turned 72.
- 1976-77 Brewer manager Alex Grammas, who turns 86.
Today is also the 14th anniversary of Jose Valentin's biggest offensive day as a Brewer, a 3-for-3 performance with a walk and three home runs in the Brewers' 7-1 win over the Marlins. We covered that event in this space last year.