On this day in 1948 Wayne Twitchell was born in Portland, Oregon. He was 18 when the Astros made him the #3 overall pick in the 1966 draft, one pick after the A's selected future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson. Before he could reach the big leagues, though, the Astros sold Twitchell to the Seattle Pilots in November of 1969.
The next year Twitchell made his major league debut as a Brewer, appearing in a pair of September games and posting a 10.80 ERA. He went on to pitch nine more major league seasons, but none for Milwaukee: They traded him to the Phillies in a minor deal after the 1970 season.
All told Twitchell posted a 3.98 career ERA over 282 appearances (1063 innings) as a member of five teams. He was an All Star for the Phillies in 1973, when he pitched 223.1 innings with a 2.50 ERA.
Twitchell died in 2010, or he would have turned 65 today. With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:
- Donnie Murphy, who turns 30.
- 1998-99 Brewer Bobby Hughes, who turns 42.
- John Cangelosi, 2007 inductee into the Appleton Baseball Hall of Fame. He turns 50.
- 1986-89 Brewer Mike Birkbeck, who turns 52.
- 1971-75 Brewer John Briggs, who turns 69. We covered his birthday in this space last year.