1959
Born October 16, 1959
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Brian Harper Marquee
b. October 16, 1959 · California Angels 1979, 1981, Pittsburgh Pirates 1982–1984, St. Louis Cardinals 1985, Detroit Tigers 1986, Oakland Athletics 1987, 1995, Minnesota Twins 1988–1993, Milwaukee Brewers 1994
He spent his twenties bouncing between five organizations as a fringe outfielder and part-time catcher before Minnesota made catching his full-time job in 1988, at twenty-eight. He hit .294 in 1990 and .311 for the 1991 club that won the World Series, catching every game of that seven-game Series.
Sixteen seasons gave him 931 hits, 186 doubles, 339 runs batted in and a .295 average, with 688 games behind the plate and 114 in the outfield. He rarely struck out and rarely walked, putting the ball in play at a rate that kept his average high across a career built on contact.
He finished with Milwaukee in 1995 at thirty-five. He is not on a Hall of Fame ballot.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Player of the Week | 1 | 1992 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | CAL | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1981 | CAL | 4 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .273 |
| 1982 | PIT | 20 | 29 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .276 |
| 1983 | PIT | 61 | 131 | 16 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 2 | 15 | 0 | .221 |
| 1984 | PIT | 46 | 112 | 4 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 0 | .259 |
| 1985 | STL | 43 | 52 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .250 |
| 1986 | DET | 19 | 36 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | .139 |
| 1987 | OAK | 11 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .235 |
| 1988 | MIN | 60 | 166 | 15 | 49 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 0 | .295 |
| 1989 | MIN | 126 | 385 | 43 | 125 | 24 | 0 | 8 | 57 | 13 | 16 | 2 | .325 |
| 1990 | MIN | 134 | 479 | 61 | 141 | 42 | 3 | 6 | 54 | 19 | 27 | 3 | .294 |
| 1991 | MIN | 123 | 441 | 54 | 137 | 28 | 1 | 10 | 69 | 14 | 22 | 1 | .311 |
| 1992 | MIN | 140 | 502 | 58 | 154 | 25 | 0 | 9 | 73 | 26 | 22 | 0 | .307 |
| 1993 | MIN | 147 | 530 | 52 | 161 | 26 | 1 | 12 | 73 | 29 | 29 | 1 | .304 |
| 1994 | MIL | 64 | 251 | 23 | 73 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 32 | 9 | 18 | 0 | .291 |
| 1995 | OAK | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 1001 | 3151 | 339 | 931 | 186 | 7 | 63 | 428 | 133 | 188 | 8 | .295 |
On this day & linked events
1979
Major-league debut: Brian Harper
Brian Harper made a major-league debut on September 29, 1979.
1995
Final major-league game: Brian Harper
Brian Harper played a final major-league game on April 29, 1995.
Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain