Milwaukee Brewers - The Beginning Years (1969-1979)

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1969

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1972

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1977

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Decade

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1973

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1978

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1971

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1974

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1979

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1975

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1976

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Titles:

Top Brewers Players of the Seventies

None

Pitchers:

Ballpark:

Jim Slaton (14.16) - 52

1969 Sicks' Stadium (Seattle)

Jim Colborn (12.43) - 33

1970-1979 Milwaukee County Stadium

Mike Caldwell (13.18) - 25

Larry Sorensen (10.48) - 24

Team Name:

Bill Travers (7.62) - 24

1969 Pilots

Marty Pattin (7.43) - 22

1970 - 1979 Brewers

Ken Sanders (8.76) - 22

Jerry Augustine (6) - 21

Owner:

Bill Parsons (0.49) - 16

William Daley (1969)

Eduardo Rodriguez (4.76) - 15

Bud Selig (1970-1979)

Skip Lockwood (3.78) - 14

Gene Brabender (-0.14) - 12

General Managers:

Moose Haas (2.14) - 12

Marvin Milkes (1969-1970)

Lew Krausse (2.26) - 12

Frank Lane (1971-1972)

Tom Murphy (2.98) - 11

Jim Wilson (1973-1974)

Diego Segui (2.4) - 10

Jim Baumer (1975-1977)

Jim Lonborg (3.23) - 9

Harry Dalton (1978-1979)

Williams Castro (5.76) - 6

Managers:

Catchers:

Joe Schultz (1969)

Darrell Porter (11.07) - 31

Dave Bristol (1970-1972)

Charlie Moore (4.5) - 21

Del Crandall (1972-1975)

Ellie Rodriguez (8.01) - 19

Alex Grammas (1976-1977)

George Bamberger (1978-1979)

First Basemen:

George Scott (22.52) - 56

Hall of Famers:

Cecil Cooper (9.39) - 19

Hank Aaron

Mike Hegan (8.27) - 12

Paul Molitor

Robin Yount

Second Basemen:

Paul Molitor (8.38) - 16

Rookie of the Year:

Ron Theobald (4.52) - 6

None

ShortStop:

MVP

Robin Yount (14.91) - 33

None

Third Base:

No Hitters:

Don Money (24.66) - 48

None

Tommy Harper (8.69) - 23

Sal Bando (9.97) - 10

Cy Young:

None

Outfield:

Sixto Lezcano (17.62) - 43

Notable Events:

John Briggs (14.33) - 34

Dave May (11.37) - 29

1969 - Major League Baseball votes to expand four teams in 1969.

Gorman Thomas (8.18) - 19

One of the new franchises is placed in Seattle, which is woefully unprepared

Ben Oglivie (7.16) - 17

to start playing major league baseball. They haven't assembled the

Rob Colluccio (4.14) - 13

management staff to stock the club properly and Sicks' Stadium is a small

Larry Hisle (5.44) - 10

minor league ballpark with no new park in sight.

Henry Aaron (0.47) - 5

1969 - Meanwhile, Major League Baseball doesn't put a franchise in

Notable Events:

Milwaukee, where they should have. It is a great baseball town which got

stiffed big time by the Braves when Braves owner Bill Bartholomay callously

1969 - Milwaukee loses heavily for the first nine years of the franchise's

and foolishly moved the team to Atlanta two years earlier. At this point in time,

existence. The sliver lining is that they get a lot of primo picks in the

baseball was clearly a rudderless ship - totally out of control allowing greedy

amateur draft setting them up for a nice run at the end of this decade and

owners to bail on perfectly good and supportive cities to squeeze money

into the beginning of the 80's. The Brewers build a team that will bludgeon

out of another metropolis. It was a time that baseball should be ashamed of

the opposition, unfortunately they weren't nearly as good with

acquiring top pitching to go with the hitting.

1969 - On the field, the Pilots are a mess. They're bad, even as expansion

A list of the top picks and acquisitions of the decade:

clubs go. With this management group, had the club stayed, Seattle fans

□ 1969 - OF Gorman Thomas, 18, 21st overall pick (1st round) in amateur draft

were in for hard times.

Thomas came up as a rookie in 1973

□ 1969 - Righty Jim Slaton, 19, 15th round pick in amateur draft - rookie in '71

1969 - It only gets worse as the Seattle Pilots owner, William Daley, gives up

□ 1970 - C Darrell Porter, 18, 4th overall pick in draft - rookie in 1971

and sells the club to a group who move the franchise to Milwaukee after

□ 1970 - OF Sixto Lezcano, 16, IFA - rookie in 1974

only one season in Seattle. What in the world was Major League Baseball

□ 1970 - Lefty Bill Travers,17, 6th round pick in draft - rookie in 1974

thinking to cause this fiasco to happen in the first place?

□ 1971 - C Charlie Moore, 18, 5th round pick in draft - rookie in 1973

□ 1972 - 1B George Scott, 28, obtained from Boston in ten player deal

1969 - Jim Bouton writes his book, Ball Four, about his Seattle

□ 1972 - Righty Jim Colborn, 26, obtained from the Cubs for Jose Cardenal

Pilots experience. It was the first sports book that revealed, in detail,

□ 1973 - SS Robin Yount, 17, 3rd overall pick in draft - rookie in 1974

what went on in a big league clubhouse. It's revelations are mild by today's

□ 1973 - 3B Don Money, 26, otained from Phillies in seven player deal

standards, but in the early 1970's, they were dynamite and Bouton was

□ 1974 - 2B Jim Gantner, 21, 12th round pick in draft, rookie in 1976

turned into a pariah by many ballplayers as a result.

□ 1974 - Righty Moose Haas, 18, 2nd round pick in draft, rookie in 1976

□ 1976 - Righty Larry Sorensen, 20, 8th round pick in draft, rookie in 1977

1969 - The Milwaukee group that bought the franchise is headed by future

□ 1977 - 2B Paul Molitor,20, 3rd overall pick in draft, rookie in 1978

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. This group had been trying to

□ 1977 - 1B Cecil Cooper, 27, obtained in deal with Boston

pilfer teams from other cities since 1967 when the Braves had unjustly been

□ 1977 - Lefty Mike Caldwell, 28, obtained in mid season deal with the Reds

moved out of Milwaukee. They finally found a seller in Daley. While Milwaukee

certainly had shown that it deserved a franchise, the cutthroat means at which

1970 - The franchise moves to Milwaukee and becomes the Brewers.

they got one was not in the best interest of baseball, at large. Just the opposite.

What flabbergasts me is that, of all people, the head of this group ends up

1972 - The Brewers move from the Western Division to the East to

being the future major league baseball commissioner. A person with this

accommodate the Rangers moving from Washington to Texas and

me-first, to hell with the game of baseball attitude is absolutely the last

moving to the Western Division.

person that you would want as commissioner. You want someone who has

vision, not someone who cared only myopically about his own interests and

1975 - Hank Aaron returns to Milwaukee.

had zero interest in the sport at large. Selig was a used car salesman and

this same selfish attitude is precisely what has given used car salesmen

1978 - The Brewers finally get serious about winning, bringing in Harry Dalton

a bad name.

as GM. Dalton had been a major factor in building the Baltiore Oriole dynasty

and, altho' it didn't work out at his next stop in Anaheim, he was a highly

1969 - This franchise move causes major league baseball huge headaches

respected baseball man. It's not like Milwaukee hadn't been amassing talent,

down the road. The city of Seattle understandably sues the major leagues.

they had, but they were still losing heavily. Dalton brings in George Bamberger

Fast (slow, really) forward seven years and the city of Seattle win their case

to manage and things start looking up

and major league baseball is obligated to place a franchise in Seattle.

In 1977 the Seattle Mariners franchise is created thru another expansion

1978 - The Brewers first winning season is a rousing one as they improve

that major league baseball didn't want and wasn't prepared for.

twenty six games in the standings and finish a competitive third. The young

The American League now had two more teams than the National.

guys were starting to mature.

It was an extremely clunky setup. Exactly the opposite of how you would

want to run your business - by court ordered activities.

Welcome to the fruits of Bud's World of myopic self-serving thinking.