The Chicago Cubs hired former big-leaguer Rob Deer as an assistant hitting coach. He hit .220 with 230 home runs, 600 RBI, 575 walks and 1,409 strikeouts during his 11-year career, which included stints with the San Francisco Giants, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Detroit Tigers, the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres.
Deer played in the Midwest League in 1979 and 1980. He hit .209 with 1 HR and 16 RBI in 29 games with the 1979 Cedar Rapids Giants. He hit .263 with 13 HR and 58 RBI in 127 games with the 1980 Clinton Giants.
Deer and Cubs manager Dale Sveum were Brewers teammates from 1986 to 1990. Sveum also played in the Midwest League, but only six games during a rehab stint with the Beloit Brewers in 1989. He went 2-for-15 with a double, two RBI, five walks and six strikeouts.
They also were Brewers teammates with Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio, who started 44 games with the Beloit Brewers (17 in 1983, 26 in 1984 and one in 1990). His overall record in the Midwest League: 20-16, 3.80 ERA, 14 CG, 98 walks and 229 strikeouts in 291.2 IP.
I remember Deer from his time with the Tigers. One of the ‘gorillas of the missed’ with C. Fielder and Tettleton. I worked with his niece at a children’s camp downstate, too. They seemed like a nice family, and I wish him the best!
–Mike