When we talk about the greatest Brewers in franchise history, Ben Oglivie is a guy we probably don't give as much credit as we should. The Panamanian outfielder hit 176 home runs as a Brewer, leading the American League with 41 in 1980.
Oglivie made his third AL All Star team in 1983, and the game he played on this day that year is probably part of the reason why. In an 8-7 come-from-behind win over the Red Sox Oglivie homered three times:
- A second inning solo shot to give the Brewers their first run.
- A sixth inning two-run blast to bring the Brewers back within two at 6-4.
- A ninth inning two-run homer to tie the game at six and send it to extra innings.
The Brewers eventually won 8-7 on Charlie Moore's walkoff single in the tenth inning.
This was the third time in his career Oglivie hit three home runs in a game. Three other Brewers have done it twice, but he's the only one to do it three times. In all three cases Oglivie was playing one of his former teams: The first two were against the Tigers, and this one was against the Red Sox.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to Cardinal Stritch alum Anthony Shumaker. He was a member of the 1999 Phillies and turns 39.
Today is also the 32nd anniversary of a game in 1980 where Robin Yount scored career run #403, moving him past George Scott and into second place on the Brewer all-time list. We covered that event in this space last year.