1998 Milwaukee Brewers season

The Milwaukee Brewers' 1998 season was the first season for the franchise as a member of the National League. The Brewers finished in fifth in the NL Central, 28 games behind the Houston Astros, with a record of 74 wins and 88 losses. Before the 1998 regular season began, two new teams—the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays—were added by Major League Baseball. This resulted in the American League and National League having fifteen teams. However, in order for MLB officials to continue primarily intraleague play, both leagues would need to carry a number of teams that was divisible by two, so the decision was made to move one club from the AL Central to the NL Central.

1998 Milwaukee Brewers
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Bud Selig
General manager(s)Sal Bando
Manager(s)Phil Garner
Local televisionWCGV-TV
Wisconsin Sports Net
(Matt Vasgersian, Bill Schroeder)
Local radioWTMJ (AM)
(Bob Uecker, Jim Powell)
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This realignment was widely considered to have great financial benefit to the club moving. However, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, Commissioner (then club owner) Bud Selig decided another team should have the first chance to switch leagues. The choice was offered to the Kansas City Royals, who ultimately decided to stay in the American League.[1] The choice then fell to the Brewers, who, on November 6, 1997, elected to move to the National League. Had the Brewers elected not to move to the National League, the Minnesota Twins would have been offered the opportunity to switch leagues.[2]

Also, Milwaukee was not totally unfamiliar with the National League, having been the home of the NL Braves for 13 seasons (1953–1965).

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings
NL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Houston Astros 10260 0.630 — 55–26 47–34
Chicago Cubs 9073 0.552 12½ 51–31 39–42
St. Louis Cardinals 8379 0.512 19 48–34 35–45
Cincinnati Reds 7785 0.475 25 39–42 38–43
Milwaukee Brewers 7488 0.457 28 38–43 36–45
Pittsburgh Pirates 6993 0.426 33 40–40 29–53

Record vs. opponents
1998 National League Records

Sources:
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL AL
Arizona —1–85–74–56–66–24–54–86–32–74–52–76–33–95–72–75–8
Atlanta 8–1—3–67–25–37–54–58–17–26–69–38–47–25–47–26–39–7
Chicago 7–56–3—6–57–27–24–74–56–67–24–53–68–35–47–34–75–8
Cincinnati 5–42–75–6—4–59–03–85–46–58–13–64–55–71–112–78–37-6
Colorado 6–63–52–75–4—6–36–56–64–77–23–65–45–45–77–53–64–8
Florida 2–65–72–70–93–6—3–64–50–95–75–76–63–64–50–94–58–8
Houston 5–45–47–48–35–66-3—3–69–27–25–47–29–25–46–35–710–4
Los Angeles 8–41–85–44–56–65–46–3—5–45–43–55–47–55–76–64–58–5
Milwaukee 3–62–76–65–67–49–02–94–5—6–31–84–56–53–65–43–88–6
Montreal 7–26–62–71–82–77–52–74–53–6—8–45–72–74–43–63–66–10
New York 5–43–95–46–36–37–54–55–38–14–8—8–44–54–54–56–39–7
Philadelphia 7-24–86–35–44–56–62–74–55–47–54–8—8–11–82–63–67–9
Pittsburgh 3–62–73–87–54–56–32–95–75–67–25–41–8—5–42–76–56–7
San Diego 9–34–54–511–17–55–44–57–56–34–45–48–14–5—8–46–36–7
San Francisco 7–52–73–77–25–79–03–66–64–56–35–46–27–24–8—7–58–5
St. Louis 7–23–67–43–86–35-47–55–48–36–33–66–35–63–65–7—4–9

Notable transactions

Roster
1998 Milwaukee Brewers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats
= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In; SB = Stolen Bases

Pos Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB
CMike Matheny1083202476.2386271
1BJohn Jaha732162945.2087381
2BFernando Viña
3BJeff Cirillo
SSJosé Valentín
LFGeoff Jenkins842623360.2299281
CFMarquis Grissom
RFJeromy Burnitz

[12]

Other batters
Player G AB R H HR RBI Avg. SB
Dave Nilsson10230939831256.2692

Pitching

Starting pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO

Other pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO

Relief pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Louisville RiverBats International League Gary Allenson
AA El Paso Diablos Texas League Ed Romero
A Stockton Ports California League Bernie Moncallo
A Beloit Snappers Midwest League Don Money
Rookie Helena Brewers Pioneer League Tom Houk
Rookie Ogden Raptors Pioneer League Ed Sedar

[13]

References
  1. "Brewers switch leagues, join Reds in NL Central". The Kentucky Post (Associated Press). E. W. Scripps Company. November 6, 1997. Archived from the original on May 5, 2005.
  2. Pappas, Doug, "News Briefs: Fall 1997" Archived July 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Outside the Lines, Fall 1997.
  3. Jack Voigt at Baseball-Reference
  4. Marquis Grissom at Baseball-Reference
  5. Bob Hamelin at Baseball-Reference
  6. Ben McDonald at Baseball-Reference
  7. J. J. Putz at Baseball-Reference
  8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/weathda01.shtml
  9. Eric Plunk at Baseball-Reference
  10. Bill Pulsipher at Baseball-Reference
  11. Jeff Juden at Baseball-Reference
  12. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIL/1998.shtml
  13. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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