Name: Larry Hisle

Claim to Fame, Minnesota: an outfielder for the Twins in the mid-‘70s, Hisle put together a tremendous 1977 season. Subsequently, at least one young Twins fan would get his first exposure to concepts like “contract year,” “hometown discount,” and “the Minnesota Twins are happy to let their best players go when they get too expensive.” Ended up signing with the Milwaukee Brewers in the offseason for an outrageous sum of $3.1 million for six years.

Claim to Fame, Everywhere Else: had an even better 1978 for the Brewers, finishing third in the MVP race behind Jim Rice and Ron Guidry. Sadly, he blew out his rotator cuff in 1979, and that was pretty much it for his career. Was also the very first designated hitter.

Where He Is Now: holds the title of Manager of Youth Outreach for the Brewers. Examples of his work in the Milwaukee area can be found here and here. Sounds like a perfectly decent human being.

Glorious Randomness: Hisle’s hometown of Portsmouth, Ohio, is also home to country singer Earl Thomas Conley. I bring this up only because Conley’s discography contains the song, “I Have Loved You Girl (But Not Like This Before),” which has to be in the conversation for Finest Country Song Title with a Parenthetical (of All Time).

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