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On this day in 1986 the Mariners beat the Brewers 9-3 at County Stadium. Mike Morgan pitched a complete game for the victory and worked around a Rob Deer home run as the Brewers lost their sixth consecutive game. The lone bright side for the Crew was Jim Gantner, whose fifth inning single gave him 1000 career hits.
Earlier this week Justin Hull labeled Gantner as the anti-Rickie Weeks, and I think that's fair. He was never a star player, an All Star or a feared hitter, but he was a consistent player at a relatively difficult defensive position for a long time. At this point he was just the sixth Brewer to reach 1000 hits, joining Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper, Paul Molitor, Don Money and Ben Oglivie.
Gantner finished his career with 1696 hits, which is still the fourth most in franchise history. Ryan Braun is the top active Brewer, ranking seventh with 1155.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- 1977 Brewer Sam Hinds, who turns 60.
- 1976-77 Brewer Jack Heidemann, who turns 64.
Today is also the 35th anniversary of the 1978 All Star Game, where Brewers made the first All Star start, pitched in the All Star Game for the first time and got their first hit. We covered that event in this space last year. It's also the 37th anniversary of Hank Aaron's final walkoff home run, which we covered in this space two years ago.