Today In Brewer History: Goodbye For Now, Russell Branyan

Decades from now, Russell Branyan is one of the players many of us will remember from the early 2000's Brewers despite his relatively limited contributions to the team. His great moments were few and far between, but they were spectacular.

The Brewers released Branyan on this day in 2006 after he had hit .247/.355/.506 over 136 games with the team between the 2004-05 seasons, and his 23 home runs included some of the longest in franchise history. Releasing Branyan made room for new acquisition Corey Koskie, a third baseman the Brewers also brought in from the Blue Jays seven years ago today.

Branyan's major league career was far from over, though: He appeared in 91 games between the Rays and Padres in 2006 and was eventually available for a return tour through Milwaukee for 50 games in 2008. All told Branyan has appeared in 1059 major league games over 14 seasons as a member of ten teams and is still only 37 years old.

With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:

• 2012 Helena Brewer Jameson Dunn, who turns 26.
• UW-Oshkosh alum Doe Boyland, who turns 58. Boyland played 3 major league seasons between 1978-81 as a member of the Pirates.

Above I mentioned that today is the seventh anniversary of a trade that brought former Toronto third baseman Corey Koskie to Milwaukee. We covered that event in this space last year.