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On this day in 1980 the Brewers swept a doubleheader against the Twins in a day full of historic events. Last year in this space we noted that Twins left fielder Gary Ward hit for the cycle, becoming the first opposing player ever to cycle against the Brewers. Two years ago we marked the anniversary of Robin Yount's 1034th hit, moving him into first place on the Brewer all-time list.
Until now, though, we neglected to mention Cecil Cooper. He went 3-for-5 with a home run in the first game, and the third hit was his 200th of the season. He was the first Brewer ever to reach that mark.
This was Cooper's fourth season as a Brewer, and probably his best. He set a career high with 219 hits, led all of baseball with 122 RBI, won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award and finished fifth in the voting for American League MVP. This was the first of three times he reached 200 hits.
Cooper's 219 hits in 1980 are still the franchise record. Paul Molitor came the closest with 216 in 1991, but after that no Brewer broke 200 until Ryan Braun had 203 in 2009.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- 2009-10 Brewer Jody Gerut, who turns 36.
- 1994-95 Brewer Jeff Bronkey, who turns 48.
- 1972 Brewer Ken Brett, who would have turned 65.
- 1973-76 Brewer Bill Champion, who turns 66.