On this day in 1960 Tom Brunansky was born in Covina, California. The Angels made him the #14 pick in the 1978 draft out of high school, and three years later he made his major league debut in April of 1981.
Brunansky was a career .248/.330/.438 hitter over 12 major league seasons when the Brewers signed him to a two year, $2.2 million deal before the 1993 campaign. That may not sound like much now, but Brunansky was the eighth-highest paid player on that team:
| Player | Salary |
| Teddy Higuera | $3.25 million |
| Robin Yount | $2.7 million |
| B.J. Surhoff | $2.53 million |
| Bill Wegman | $2.38 million |
| Jaime Navarro | $2.1 million |
| Greg Vaughn | $1.78 million |
| Bill Doran | $1.33 million |
| Tom Brunansky | $1.1 million |
Unfortunately, Brunansky's production was nothing to get excited about. He appeared in just 96 games as a Brewer and hit .187/.263/.317 over 280 plate appearances before being traded to the Red Sox in 1994.
Brunansky is currently in his first year as hitting coach of the AAA Rochester Red Wings in the Twins organization.
Brunansky turns 52 today. With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:
- Helena Brewer Ruben Ozuna, who turns 21.
- 1979 Brewer Lance Rautzhan, who turns 60.
Today is also the 19th anniversary of a 1993 game where the Brewers beat the Angels 7-2 in ten innings and Cal Eldred went the whole way, becoming the last Brewer to record more than 27 outs in a game. We covered that event in this space last year.