Milwaukee Brewers


The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They compete in Major League Baseball as a member club of the National League Central division. The team is named for the city's association with the brewing industry. Since 2001, the Brewers have played their home games at Miller Park, which has a seating capacity of 41,900.
The team was founded in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots, an expansion team of the American League, in Seattle, Washington. The Pilots played their home games at Sick's Stadium. After only one season, the team relocated to Milwaukee, becoming known as the Brewers and playing their home games at Milwaukee County Stadium. In, the Brewers joined the National League. They are the only franchise to play in four different divisions since the advent of divisional play in Major League Baseball in 1969. They are also one of two current MLB franchises to switch leagues in their history, the other one being the Houston Astros.
The team's only World Series appearance came in, and they are one of only six current MLB teams that have never won the World Series. After winning the ALCS against the California Angels, the Brewers faced off against the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, losing 4–3. In 2011, the Brewers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks to win the NLDS 3–2, but lost in the NLCS to the eventual World Series champion Cardinals 4–2. In 2018, the Brewers swept the Colorado Rockies in the NLDS 3–0, but lost in the NLCS to the Los Angeles Dodgers 4–3.
From 1969-2019, the Brewers overall win-loss record is 3913-4217.

History

Originating as an expansion team in 1969, in Seattle, Washington, as the Seattle Pilots, the club played for one season in the American League West Division before being acquired in bankruptcy court by Bud Selig, who then moved the team to Milwaukee. They would continue to play in the West Division for two more years. Before the beginning of the 1972 season the Brewers agreed to switch over to the American League East to make room for the Texas Rangers who had relocated from Washington, DC. Beginning in 1994, due to divisional re-alignment, the Brewers moved to the newly created American League Central division. In all, the Brewers were part of the American League from their creation in 1969 through the 1997 season, after which they moved to the National League Central Division. Milwaukee had previously been a National League city when its team was the Milwaukee Braves. It had also been an American League city, albeit briefly, when the original Milwaukee Brewers became an AL charter team in 1901 before moving to St. Louis to become the Browns the following season.
In 1981, Milwaukee won the American League East Division in the second half of the strike-shortened season. In the playoffs, they lost the divisional series to the New York Yankees, three games to two.
In 1982, Milwaukee won the American League East Division and the American League Pennant, earning their only World Series appearance to date as the Brewers. In the Series, they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals four games to three.
In 2008, for the first time in the 26 years since their World Series appearance, the Brewers advanced to postseason play by winning the National League wild card. They were eliminated in the National League Division Series by the eventual World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies.
On September 23, 2011, the Milwaukee Brewers clinched their first division title in 29 years. They won the National League Division Series in five games over the Arizona Diamondbacks, but lost the National League Championship Series to the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in six games.
In 2018, the Brewers clinched a spot in the post-season for the first time since 2011 with a 2–1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on September 26, 2018.
On September 29, they tied with the Cubs for first place in the National League Central, with a record of 95–67; at the end of the day on September 30, the Cubs and Brewers were still tied. This tie was broken on October 1, when the Brewers defeated the Cubs 3–1 in the NL Central tiebreaker to improve to 96–67 and win the division by one game. They went on to defeat the Colorado Rockies 3–0 to win the NLDS, but in the following NLCS, they lost out to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 7 games.
In 2019, the Brewers returned to the postseason and made an appearance in the National League Wild Card Game, where they were defeated by the eventual World Series champion Washington Nationals 4-3.

Team uniforms

Uniforms

1970–1977

The first Brewers uniforms were "hand-me-downs" from the Seattle Pilots. Because the move to Milwaukee received final approval less than a week before the start of the season, there was no time to order new uniforms. Selig had originally planned to change the Brewers' colors to navy blue and red in honor of the minor league American Association's Milwaukee Brewers, but was forced to simply remove the Seattle markings from the Pilots' blue-and-gold uniforms and sew "BREWERS" on the front. However, the outline of the Pilots' logo remained visible. The uniforms had unique striping on the sleeves left over from the Pilots days. The cap was an updated version of the Milwaukee Braves cap in blue and yellow. Ultimately, it was decided to keep blue and gold as the team colors, and they have remained so ever since.
The Brewers finally got their own flannel design in 1971, but only for their home jerseys. This design was essentially the same as the one used in 1970, but with blue and yellow piping on the sleeves and collar. Meanwhile, the road jerseys did not add the trim around the collar and kept the wide-banded striping on the sleeves from the Pilots era. Additionally, player numbers were added to the front of both jerseys for 1971.
In 1972, the Brewers entered the double-knit era with uniforms based upon their flannels: all white with "BREWERS" on the front and blue and yellow trim on the sleeves, neck, waistband and down the side of the pants; the uniform took on the form of a pullover jersey and an elastic waistband. The road uniforms remained blue, although a darker shade than those of 1970 and '71. In 1974, a yellow-paneled cap was added for road games. This is the uniform that Hank Aaron wore with the club in his final seasons and that Robin Yount wore in his first. During this period, the logo of the club was the Beer Barrel Man, which had been used by the previous minor league Brewers since at least the 1940s. The Brewers mascot, Bernie Brewer was introduced in 1973.

1978–1993

The Brewers unveiled new uniforms for the 1978 season. The uniforms continued to use the pullover jersey/beltless pants combo, and featured pinstripes with a solid blue collar and waistband. The road uniforms continued to be powder blue, but for the first time the city name, "Milwaukee", graced the chest in an upward slant in script form. In addition, this season saw the introduction of the logo that was to define the club: "M" and "B" in the shape of a baseball glove. The logo was designed by Tom Meindel, an art history student at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The home cap was solid blue, and the road cap was blue with a yellow front panel. Additionally, their batting helmets had a white front panel. The club wore these uniforms in their pennant-winning season of 1982. Only minor changes were made until 1990; the color of the road uniforms changed to gray in 1985 while the blue-yellow-blue road cap and white-paneled batting helmets were abandoned at the same time.
In 1990, the Brewers made significant modifications to their uniforms, switching from pullover to button-down jerseys. Their individual uniforms showed other changes as well; at home, the blue piping was removed and the block lettered "BREWERS" was changed to a script version with a tail similar to the script used on road uniforms, while those outfits had their piping changed from blue-yellow-blue to blue-yellow. The road jerseys were the first uniforms in franchise history to feature player names on the back, introduced in the first year of this uniform set; names were added to the home jerseys beginning in 1993, the last year of this set.

1994–1999

In 1994, in collaboration with the Brewers celebrating their 25th year in Milwaukee, the team did a radical makeover of their uniforms. The ball-in-glove logo was removed and replaced with a stylized interlocking "M" and "B" set on a pair of crossed bats and a diamond background. The royal blue changed to navy blue, while the yellow changed to a metallic gold. Forest green was added as a third color. The jerseys swapped pinstripes for retro-themed piping around the collar, buttons, and sleeves, following a trend that was popular in the 1990s. The uniforms' lettering had the same style of letters as the new cap logo with heavily stylized "BREWERS" lettering on the home jerseys and "MILWAUKEE" on the road grays. For the first time, an alternative jersey was introduced. It was navy blue with the home "BREWERS" lettering on the front and featured the Brewers' logo on the lower left side. The caps featured the interlocking "MB" logo on both the home and away versions. The home cap was completely navy blue, while the away cap featured a navy blue crown and a forest green bill.
In 1997, the uniforms were slightly modified, with the main logo being removed from the caps and replaced with an "M". All navy caps were worn with both the home and away uniforms; the home hats featured a white "M" and the road caps had a gold "M." The green socks that had previously been worn on the road were changed to navy blue. The blue alternate jersey placed the player's number on the lower left side instead of the logo.

2000–2019

Before the 2000 season, to coincide with the anticipated opening of Miller Park, the Brewers changed their uniforms again. The block letters on the front were replaced with "Brewers" in a flowing script, and green was removed as the third color. The cap logo was a script "M", similar in style to the Miller logo, with a head of barley underlining it, symbolizing Milwaukee's beer-making industry. The home uniforms also featured a patch on the left sleeve consisting of the cap logo with a gold outline of the state of Wisconsin behind it, showing the Brewers statewide appeal. The road uniforms were grey and featured the same script "Brewers" on the front, with a simple patch on the left sleeve bearing a script "Milwaukee". There was also an alternate navy blue jersey that had the same features as the home jersey.
Although the uniforms were supposed to debut with the opening of Miller Park, the Big Blue crane collapse in July 1999, which took the lives of three workers and caused damage to the first base side of the stadium, delayed the opening of Miller Park for one year, so the uniforms actually debuted at Milwaukee County Stadium in the ballpark's final year.
In 2006, the Brewers introduced Retro Sundays, when the Brewers would wear uniforms featuring the "ball-in-glove" logo. The uniforms are similar to the uniforms worn from 1978 to 1989, but with some modern modifications, such as the uniforms having a button-down front instead of being a pullover jersey, displaying players' last names on the backs of the jerseys, and a "ball-in-glove" logo patch on the left sleeve. In 2007, the Retro day was changed from Sunday to Friday, though they may also be worn outside of those days if a starting pitcher chooses the retro uniforms to wear during his start. In 2010, the Brewers debuted a new alternate road jersey which, like the other alternate jersey, is navy blue, but bears a script "Milwaukee" on the front. In 2013, a gold alternate jersey with "Brewers" on the front was introduced, as well.
During the off-season before the 2013 season, the Brewers allowed fans to design their own Milwaukee Brewers uniforms. Three finalists were chosen, which fans were given the opportunity to vote for their favorite through the Brewers website. The winning uniform was designed by Ben Peters of Richfield, Minnesota, and was worn by the Brewers for two spring training games.
In 2016, the Brewers replaced their road navy and home gold alternates with a new navy alternate jersey. The uniform is similar to the previous road navy alternate but with yellow replacing gold as the trim color, and is paired with a navy cap featuring the "ball-and-glove" logo. From 2017 to 2019, both alternate navy uniforms were used for both home and away games, and each were worn more often the traditional white and gray tops.

2020–present

On November 18, 2019, the Brewers published "Glove Story", a series of videos and written work showcasing the new branding of the team, with a uniform unveiling event at Miller Park occurring the same evening. The look throws back to past iterations of designs used for the team, with a modernized version of the classic "ball-in-glove" logo being the centerpiece of the new identity. The navy blue from the previous logo and uniform set was retained, but the metallic gold was replaced with the mustard gold, and royal blue was returned to the team's color scheme for the first time since 1993.

Achievements

Awards

Four Brewers have won MVP awards during their career with the team. While in the American League, Rollie Fingers won the award in 1981, and Robin Yount received the honor in 1982 and 1989. Since the team's move to the National League, Ryan Braun was named the NL MVP in 2011, and Christian Yelich received the honor in 2018. Two pitchers have won the Cy Young Award in the American League. Rollie Fingers won in 1981, and Pete Vuckovich won in 1982. Two players have been named Rookie of the Year. Pat Listach won the American League's award in 1992, and Ryan Braun won the National League award in 2007.
Christian Yelich won the National League Batting title in 2018. The batting title was the first in Milwaukee Brewers history.

Hall of Famers

The following inducted members of the Baseball Hall of Fame spent some or all of their careers with the Brewers.

Ford C. Frick Award recipients

Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame

Retired numbers

In addition to the six numbers retired by the Brewers, the number 50 has been placed in the Brewers' Ring of Honor for Bob Uecker and his half-century in baseball.

Out of circulation, but not retired

Franchise leaders

Single-season records

Career leaders

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; R = Runs; H = Hits; RBI = Runs batted in; HR = Home runs; * = current Brewers player
PlayerPosABHRGP
Ryan Braun*OF64933441727
Robin YountSS/OF110082512856
Prince Fielder1B3527230998
Geoff JenkinsOF44072121234
Gorman ThomasOF36442081102
Cecil Cooper1B60192011490
Ben OglivieOF41361761149
Greg VaughnOF3244169903
Jeromy BurnitzOF2768165782
Paul Molitor3B75201601856

PlayerPosRBI
Robin YountSS/OF1406
Ryan Braun*OF1128
Cecil Cooper1B944
Paul Molitor3B790
Geoff JenkinsOF704
Ben OglivieOF685
Prince Fielder1B656
Gorman ThomasOF605
Jim Gantner2B568
Greg VaughnOF566

PlayerPosH
Robin YountSS/OF3142
Paul Molitor3B2281
Ryan Braun*OF1933
Cecil Cooper1B1815
Jim Gantner2B1696
Geoff JenkinsOF1221
Don Money3B1168
Ben OglivieOF1144
BJ SurhoffUtil1064
Charlie MooreC1029

PlayerPosR
Robin YountSS/OF1632
Paul Molitor3B1275
Ryan Braun*OF1066
Cecil Cooper1B821
Jim GantnerOF781
Rickie Weeks2B684
Geoff JenkinsOF661
Don Money3B596
Prince Fielder1B571
Ben OglivieOF567

PlayerPosSB
Paul Molitor3B412
Robin YountSS/OF271
Ryan Braun*OF215
Carlos GómezOF152
Jim Gantner2B137
Tommy HarperOF/3B136
Rickie Weeks2B126
Scott PodsednikOF113
Pat ListachSS112
Darryl HamiltonOF109

All records updated on November 8, 2019.

Roster

Team managers

Through seasons of play, the Brewers franchise has employed 18 managers. The records and accomplishments of the last five Brewers' managers are shown below.

Minor league affiliations

The Milwaukee Brewers farm system consists of nine minor league affiliates.
LevelTeamLeagueLocation
Triple-ASan Antonio MissionsPacific Coast LeagueSan Antonio, Texas
Double-ABiloxi ShuckersSouthern LeagueBiloxi, Mississippi
Class A-AdvancedCarolina MudcatsCarolina LeagueZebulon, North Carolina
Class AWisconsin Timber RattlersMidwest LeagueGrand Chute, Wisconsin
RookieRocky Mountain VibesPioneer LeagueColorado Springs, Colorado
RookieAZL Brewers BlueArizona LeaguePhoenix, Arizona
RookieAZL Brewers GoldArizona LeaguePhoenix, Arizona
RookieDSL BrewersDominican Summer LeagueSanto Domingo, Distrito Nacional
RookieDSL Brewers/IndiansDominican Summer LeagueSanto Domingo, Distrito Nacional

Radio and television

The Brewers' flagship radio station is WTMJ. Bob Uecker, a winner of the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame, joined the Brewers in 1970, when the team moved from Seattle, and has been with the team ever since. Alongside Uecker are Jeff Levering and Lane Grindle. Levering joined the team's radio broadcast in 2015 as a fill-in for Uecker on select road games and Grindle joined the team in 2016, replacing Joe Block, who had left to join the Pittsburgh Pirates after the 2015 season. Block replaced Cory Provus who had left to become the Minnesota Twins lead broadcaster on radio after the 2011 season. Provus, formerly of WGN radio in Chicago, replaced Jim Powell, who left Milwaukee for the Atlanta Braves radio network. Powell in turn replaced Pat Hughes, who departed to do play-by-play for the Cubs on WGN in 1996. The Brewers radio broadcasts usually feature a 2-2-2-1-2 format where Uecker does solo play-by-play for the first, middle and last 2 innings, while Levering does innings 3-4 and 7, and both doing analysis throughout and varied presentation for extra innings games. Starting with the 2014 season Uecker cut back on the number of road games he works due to health concerns, mainly involving West Coast trips and distant road games in Colorado and Atlanta; Block handled the play-by-play, with former Brewer and Met Darryl Hamilton on color for the first series at Atlanta.
Select daytime home games were formerly broadcast in Spanish over Waukesha-licensed ESPN Deportes Radio affiliate WRRD, with Jaime Cano serving as play-by-play announcer. In 2017 the station was purchased by another party which instituted an English-language talk format, effectively ending that arrangement.
Most of the team's television broadcasts are aired on Fox Sports Wisconsin. Brian Anderson, who has worked on The Golf Channel, took over as the Brewers' play-by-play announcer for the 2007 season. He replaced Daron Sutton, who joined the Arizona Diamondbacks. The color commentator is Bill Schroeder, a former major league catcher who played six of his eight seasons for the Brewers. As of 2014 Schroeder is in his 20th season as the Brewers' color commentator. The 2010 season was the first year where all of Fox Sports Wisconsin's games were broadcast in high definition. Anderson also provided play-by-play for the 2011 NLCS due to Ernie Johnson stepping aside for the year due to a medical situation with his son. Since 2014, as Anderson's Turner Sports duties have increased along with the addition of NCAA college basketball and NBA on TNT play-by-play duties, Wisconsin Badgers football and men's college basketball radio announcer Matt Lepay has served as play-by-play man on days when Anderson has other assignments for Turner Sports.
From 2007–2011, the Brewers and FSN Wisconsin subcontracted to Weigel Broadcasting a package of 15 games and one spring training game over-the-air on WMLW-CA in Milwaukee each season with FSN Wisconsin producing the telecasts and Weigel selling air time for each of those games and additional games added depending on weather postponements and pennant race standings. The deal was ended before the 2012 season in order to facilitate full-season HD coverage on FSN Wisconsin and distribution complications, along with the addition of a "Plus" channel for Milwaukee Bucks play-by-play conflict situations. Weigel continues to air a few Sunday home broadcasts per year with Spanish language play-by-play on Telemundo affiliate WYTU-LD, which produces their own broadcasts using FSN's camera positions with Hector Molina on play-by-play and bilingual WDJT sports anchor Kevin Holden on color.
Five of the six major network television stations in Milwaukee, along with WMLW-CA, have carried game broadcasts over the years, with WTMJ-TV being the original broadcaster in the 1970s. WVTV carried the team for the bulk of the 1980s and early 1990s, with WCGV-TV following from 1994 until 2004, and WISN-TV carrying select Sunday games at the beginning of the 2000s. WITI is the only station not to have carried local coverage of the team through its history, although it has aired national games from CBS and Fox involving the Brewers through the years.