Throwback Chris Bosio

Christopher Louis Bosio was born in 1963 in Carmichael, California. He was selected by the Brewers in the 2nd round of the 1982 draft out of Sacramento City College. The big right hander was mostly a starting pitcher until 1986, when the club moved him to relieving at AAA. Bosio had a great year, and was rewarded with a cup of coffee that season.

In 1987, the 24-year old Chris Bosio made the club as a swingman, starting 19 games and relieving 27.

He continued in the same role in 1988, before moving to the rotation permanently in '89. For three of the next four years he would be a workhorse, twice throwing more than 230 innings (his 1990 campaign was limited to 19 starts due to a knee injury). He won 15, 14 and 16 games during the span, with an ERA as low as 2.95. He also won 10 straight games in the second half of the 1992 season to help the Brewers battle Toronto for the division title. (Alas, Milwaukee came in second, despite winning 92 games. Were was the wild card when you needed it?)

Bosio's success made him a hot prospect when he reached free agency after the 1992 season. The Brewers had what looked like a solid core of pitchers (Cal Eldred, Jaime Navarro, Ricky Bones, Bill Wegman ), and elected not to get into a bidding war for Bosio's services.

The Seattle Mariners were loaded with young talent, including Ken Griffey Jr. , but needed arms to go with Randy Johnson . The result was a four-year, $16 million contract for Boz, the largest in team history. Just like that, Milwaukee's best pitcher was gone.

Bosio would never equal the success he had in Milwaukee. Injuries (nine knee surgeries) sapped him of his skills, and he never pitched more than 170 innings in Seattle. He did however have a historic day on April 22, 1993, when he tossed a no-hitter against Boston.

After three games in the minors in 1997, Bosio retired.

After baseball, Bosio moved right into coaching, serving as pitching coach at the college, minor league and major league levels. He continued his close ties to Wisconsin by serving as the assistant pitching coach at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh in 2006. In 2007, he became the pitching coach and then interim manager at Lawrence University (located near Appleton). He joined the Brewers in 2009, serving as pitching coach at AAA. At the big league level, he served as pitching coach as well as an advanced scout.

After the 2012 season, Bosio joined Dale Sveum 's staff with the Chicago Cubs as pitching coach, earning a championship ring for the club's 2016 World Series title. He was let go by the Cubs the following year, and moved onto Detroit, but was terminated in 2018 after reportedly making some 'insensitive comments' in the clubhouse.

For Milwaukee, Bosio pitched for six full seasons, averaging almost 200 IPs per year. He had a 4.13 ERA, and had two seasons with a bWAR over 5.0. His 18.6 bWAR represents the 3rd most in team history (behind Teddy Higuera and Ben Sheets ). His 67 wins and 1,190 IPs rank high on the Brewer 'all-time' list as well. He threw 32 complete games and 8 shutouts.

At his best, Bosio took the ball every fifth day, went deep into a game, avoided walking too many players, and limited home runs. He was a key member of late 80s/early 90s teams that were often good (winning 91, 87, 81, 83 and 92 games), but never great (none of the teams made the playoffs).

Bosio endeared himself to fans not only with his play, but his fiery attitude and dogged approach to the game.

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