On this day in 1980 the Brewers beat the Twins 9-8 in a thriller in game one of a doubleheader. The Brewers scored seven runs in the second inning to take a 7-1 lead, but went to the ninth trailing 8-7 and won on a walkoff home run by Gorman Thomas.
Looking back, though, the reason this game is historically relevant is Twins left fielder and leadoff man Gary Ward. He doubled to lead off the game, singled in the third and homered in the fifth, and when he tripled in the seventh he became the first opposing player to cycle in franchise history.
Seven Brewers have hit for the cycle over the years, but only five players have done it against them:
| Player | Team | Date | Result |
| Gary Ward | Twins | September 18, 1980 (first game) | Brewers win, 9-8 |
| Damion Easley | Tigers | June 8, 2001 | Tigers win, 9-4 |
| Mark Grudzielanek | Cardinals | April 27, 2005 | Cardinals win, 6-3 |
| Michael Cuddyer | Twins | May 22, 2009 | Twins win, 11-3 |
| Aaron Hill | Diamondbacks | June 29, 2012 | Diamondbacks win, 9-3 |
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- 2009-10 Brewer Jody Gerut, who turns 35.
- 1994-95 Brewer Jeff Bronkey, who turns 47.
- 1972 Brewer Ken Brett, who would have turned 64.
- 1973-76 Brewer Bill Champion, who turns 65.
Today is also the anniversary of the 1980 game where Robin Yount collected hit #1034, passing Don Money for first place on the Brewer all time list. We covered that event in this space last year.