After Ji-Man Choi is sent down, a look at memorable one-and-done Brewers performances

There's no reason to think Ji-Man Choi won't be back to contribute for the Milwaukee Brewers this season, but his story has certainly been one of the more compelling situations in the earliest stages of the 2018 season.

On Wednesday, Choi officially broke camp with the Brewers – even though it was clear to everyone that he would probably be sent to Class AAA once newly acquired left-handed reliever Dan Jennings passed his physical. On Thursday, Choi laced a double and scored the go-ahead run in the 12th inning of Milwaukee's 2-1 win over San Diego to open the season.

On Friday, Jennings was available, and Choi was indeed the odd man out. 

It's too early to call it a "one and done" case (thought it would certainly be memorable if it was). It also wouldn't be the only memorable "one and done" moment in Brewers lore.

Corporan makes most of it

Catcher Carlos Corporan was actually with the Brewers for a full two weeks in 2009 while backup catcher Mike Rivera was on the disabled list, but that was the summer of Jason Kendall. And that dude never left the game.

Corporan played his only two innings May 16 in a blowout against the Cincinnati Reds in his major-league debut. In his lone at-bat of the year, Corporan singled against a position player, Paul Janish, but he never got into a Brewers game again. Rivera returned quickly, Corporan was sent to the minors, and he didn't return to the majors at all for two years, then as a member of the Houston Astros. Corporan saw somewhat regular playing time in Houston from 2011-'14, then spent 2015 with the Texas Rangers.

To date, he's the only position player to appear in one game and one game only for the Brewers.

The foul ball heard round Milwaukee

On May 25, 2004, the Brewers lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but a lanky 22-year-old from Kentucky was still giving a starving fan base hope. Hart made his major-league debut against Kaz Ishii at Miller Park and received a standing ovation as fans recognized his value on the front edge of a prospect wave that later included many of the key pieces in Milwaukee's 2008 playoff run.

Hart struck out, but before he left the game, he launched a towering fly ball that curled foul down the left field line, a foul ball that left the stadium buzzing. Hart wouldn't see action again in a Brewers uniform until August of 2005. His first major-league hit was a three-run homer in his first game back.

The Chris Saenz Game

It's borderline legendary for the long-suffering Brewers fan base of the early 2000s. On April 24, 2004, spot starter Chris Saenz worked six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, three walks and two hits allowed in a 3-1 win over St. Louis. 

Saenz, who was promoted from Class AA Huntsville, was sent back to the minors after that start. Two months later, he underwent Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery that cut short his career. He never pitched in the big leagues again.

Big Daddy returns

It may not have been as memorable as others on the list, but it was a milestone all the same for Brewers starting pitcher Jeff D'Amico in the second-last game of the 1999 season. D'Amico worked his only inning of the year after missing all of 1998 and everything in 1999 to that point with shoulder injuries.

D'Amico, the Brewers' 1993 first-round draft pick, was finally back, and he wasn't finished, either. The Brewers opted to re-sign him and he delivered his best season in 2000, going 12-7 with a 2.66 ERA in 162 innings.

Three position guys take the hill

There are plenty of examples over the years of position players seeing one game as pitchers, but the game Aug. 29, 1978, really took the cake, when three position players took the hill for their lone pitching appearance of the year – including Sal Bando for three innings.

Jim Slaton and Reggie Cleveland combined to allow 11 runs in the first three innings of the game, but the game was really over when Paul Mitchell allowed four earned runs without retiring a batter in the third. So manager George Bamberger turned to Bando, who started the day at third base and finished it at second base but threw three innings of relief in the meantime (allowing two earned runs).

Jim Gantner, who started the game at his customary spot at second base, came in and allowed two hits but no runs in the seventh. Buck Martinez, a catcher who entered the game to take Gantner's place on the hill, allowed a hit and a run in the eighth. The Brewers lost, 18-8, with Martinez driving in a run (as a pitcher in the box score – and remember, this is the American League) in the top of the ninth.

Pena the price

Ariel Pena appeared in six games in 2015, making five starts, and was a fringe prospect brought over as the third member of the Brewers' trade of Zack Greinke to the Angels (Jean Segura and Johnny Hellweg were the higher-profile gets). 

In 2016, Pena appeared in one game, the Opening Day matchup with the San Francisco Giants at Miller Park on April 4. It did not go well.

Pena made the Opening Day roster as the team was scrambling to piece together its bullpen, with both Will Smith and Corey Knebel opening the year on the disabled list. The Brewers signed Carlos Torres and picked Pena over Tyler Cravy.

Pena allowed two of the first three batters he faced to reach in the eighth inning, with the Giants already up by a 7-3 count, but he retired Angel Pagan for the second out before any runs had scored. Then, everything went wrong, when the Giants hit back-to-back-to-back home runs. Denard Span, Joe Panik and Buster Posey all homered, making it 12-3, and Hunter Pence then singled before Pena was finally lifted from the game.

Pena was quickly sent to the minors when the Brewers acquired left-hander Sam Freeman for cash considerations from the Rangers. Pena did not return that season and never made it back before the club released him in June of 2017.