Happy birthday to Damon Buford, who turns 39 today.
Buford, son of former major leaguer Don Buford, came to the Rangers from the Orioles after the 1995 season, in exchange for former Loyola Marymount swingman Terrell Lowery, who had been drafted by the Rangers in the 2nd round by Sandy Johnson a few years earlier, when Johnson was in full-on "I'm too cool to draft baseball players" mode.
Buford had a nice season as a part-time player in 1996, was given the starting centerfield job in 1997, and was awful, leading the Rangers to deal Dean Palmer to the Royals for Tom Goodwin late in the season to take over that position. Buford was dealt to the BoSox in November of 1997 as part of the deal that brought Aaron Sele to Texas.