On this day in 1944 Dick Bosman was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He had just finished high school there when the Pirates signed him as an amateur free agent in 1963, but was already on his third professional organization when he made his major league debut as a 22-year-old pitching for the 1966 Washington Senators.
Bosman pitched eleven seasons in the majors (eight with the Senators/Rangers), and is probably best remembered for leading all of baseball with a 2.19 ERA in 1969. He also started this Senators franchise's final game in Washington in 1971 before moving to Texas. All told he appeared in 306 games and pitched 1591 innings in the big leagues, and ranks eleventh all-time among Wisconsin-born pitchers in both categories.
Thanks to the B-Ref Play Index for reminding me that Bosman turns 69 today. With help from Brewerfan.net, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:
- 2012 Wisconsin Timber Rattler Maverick Lasker, who turns 23.
- 2012 Brewer Cody Ransom, who turns 37.
- Milwaukee native and UW-Madison alum Mike Hart, who turns 55. Hart played in the majors as a 1984 Twin and 1987 Oriole.
- 1981-83 Brewer Jamie Easterly, who turns 60.
Today is also the 14th anniversary of John Jaha signing with the Athletics as a free agent, putting a punctuation mark on his Brewer career. We covered that event in this space last year.