Today In Brewer History: Happy birthday, Steve Hovley

On this day in 1944 Stephen Eugene Hovley was born in Ventura, California. He played baseball at Stanford before being selected by the Angels in the 35th round of the 1966 amateur draft, but had yet to make his MLB debut when the Seattle Pilots selected him in the 1968 expansion draft.

Hovley played 91 games in the outfield for the first-year Pilots, batting .277/.338/.365 with ten stolen bases. He followed the team to Milwaukee in 1970 and was the new Brewers' Opening Day right fielder, batting fifth and going 3-for-3 with a double in the 12-0 loss to the Angels. As a team the Brewers only had four hits on the day.

A few weeks later the Brewers traded Hovley to Oakland for catcher Tito Francona and pitcher Al Downing. Hovley went on to play four more seasons in the majors as a member of the A's and Royals, finishing with a career .258/.335/.330 batting line in 436 games.

Thanks to the B-Ref Play Index for reminding me that Hovley turns 69 today.