Today In Brewer History: Happy 100th, Chet Laabs

On this day in 1912 Chester Peter "Chet" Laabs was born in Milwaukee. He made his major league debut just a few days after his 25th birthday as an outfielder with the 1937 Tigers, and played parts of three seasons there before being dealt to the St. Louis Browns as part of a ten player deal in 1940.

Laabs had his best seasons in St. Louis, hitting .272/.362/.469 over a five year stretch and making his only AL All Star appearance in 1943. He played 794 games over eight seasons as a Brown, the 18th most during that franchise's 52 years before moving to Baltimore.

Laabs passed away in 1983, or he would have turned 100 today. With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:

• 1992-99 Brewer manager Phil Garner, the winningest manager in franchise history. He turns 63 today, and we marked his birthday in this space last year.
• 1961-63 Milwaukee Brave Bob Hendley, who turns 73.