On this day in 1971 Mark Loretta was born in Santa Monica, California. He went to college at Northwestern before the Brewers selected him in the seventh round (207th overall pick) of the 1993 draft. Two years later he made his major league debut as a September callup in 1995.
By 1997 Loretta was a big league regular despite having no regular position: He played 63 games at second base in '97, 70 at first base in '98, 74 at shortstop in '99 and 90 more there in 2000 before going back to second base in 2001, then making 47 appearances at third in 2002. Over eight seasons as a Brewer Loretta hit .289/.355/.385. His 751 hits are the 19th most in franchise history.
In August of 2002 the Brewers traded Loretta to the Astros for infielder Keith Ginter. He went on to play seven more major league seasons, make two All Star teams and win a Silver Slugger award.
Loretta turns 41 today. With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:
- Dylan Covey, the #14 overall pick in the 2010 draft (did not sign). He turns 21.
- AZL Brewer Dionis Hinojosa, who turns 22.
- 2004 Brewer Chris Saenz, who turns 31.
- 2003 Brewer David Manning, who turns 40.
- Appleton Baseball Hall of Famer Earl Weaver. He turns 82.
Today is also the 35th anniversary of Bill Travers allowing 14 earned runs in the second game of a doubleheader loss to the Indians and posting a -13 Game Score, the lowest in franchise history. We covered that event in this space last year.