On this day in 1992 the Brewers opened the season with a home loss, falling 4-2 to the Twins at County Stadium. Greg Vaughn went 2-for-4 and scored both Brewer runs while Bill Wegman pitched eight innings, but it wasn't enough to get past Chuck Knoblauch, who had four hits, and Kirby Puckett, who homered.
The Twins spoiled the debut of 42-year-old Brewer manager Phil Garner, who was at the helm for the first time in the majors. Garner had spent the previous three seasons as a coach with the Astros before moving to Milwaukee to replace Tom Trebelhorn, who at that point led all Brewer managers with 422 career wins.
Things got better for Garner shortly after this game.The Brewers were off the next day but got Garner his first managerial win on April 8 and 91 more over his debut season. When the Brewers fired Garner in 1999 he had a 563-617 record, making him the winningest manager in franchise history by a wide margin.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- Kenny Williams, 2006 inductee into the Appleton Baseball Hall of Fame. He turns 49.
- Seattle Pilot and 1970-71 Brewer Marty Pattin. He turns 70.
Today is also the 12th anniversary of the first game at Miller Park, which we covered in this space last year, and the 36th anniversary of the return of baseball in Seattle as the Mariners played their first game, which we covered in this space two years ago.