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 15 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
OwnersBud Selig
General managersSal Bando
ManagersPhil 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] Fernando Vina became the first Brewer named as an National League All-Star.[3]

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 record

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

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 Viña159637101198.31174522
3BJeff Cirillo15660497194.321146810
SSJosé Valentín1514286596.224164910
LFGeoff Jenkins842623360.2299281
CFMarquis Grissom14254257147.271106013
RFJeromy Burnitz16160992160.263381257

[13]

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB R H HR RBI Avg. SB
Mark Loretta14043455137654.3169
Dave Nilsson10230939831256.2692
Bobby Hughes852182850929.2291
Darrin Jackson1142042049420.2401
Marc Newfield931861544325.2370
Bob Hamelin1091461532722.2190
Eric Owens34405514.1250
Jesse Levis223741304.3511
Brian Banks24243715.2920
Ronnie Belliard851100.2000
Greg Martinez1332000.0002
Marcus Jensen220000.0000

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Scott Karl33192.110114.40102
Steve Woodard34165.210124.18135
Jeff Juden24138.17115.53109
Cal Eldred23133.0484.8086
Bill Pulsipher1158.0344.6638
Rafael Roque948.0424.8834

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Brad Woodall31138.0794.9685
Paul Wagner1355.2157.1137
José Mercedes732.0226.7511

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA SO
Bob Wickman7282.169253.7271
Mike Myers7050.02212.7040
Al Reyes5057.05103.9558
Chad Fox4957.01403.9564
Doug Jones4654.034125.1743
Bronswell Patrick3278.24104.6949
David Weathers2847.24103.2143
Eric Plunk2631.21213.6936
Valerio De Los Santos1321.20002.9118
Rod Henderson23.20009.821
Greg Mullins21.00000.001
Bobby Chouinard13.00003.001
Travis Smith12.00000.001
Joe Hudson10.1000162.000

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball

The Brewers' farm system consisted of eight minor league affiliates in 1998.[14] The Brewers operated a Venezuelan Summer League team as a co-op with the Florida Marlins and San Francisco Giants. VSL Guacara 1 won the Venezuelan Summer League championship.

Level Team League Manager
Triple-A Louisville Redbirds International League Gary Allenson
Double-A El Paso Diablos Texas League Ed Romero
Class A-Advanced Stockton Ports California League Bernie Moncallo
Class A Beloit Snappers Midwest League Don Money
Rookie Helena Brewers Pioneer League Tom Houk
Rookie Ogden Raptors Pioneer League Ed Sedar
Rookie DSL Brewers Dominican Summer League
—
Rookie VSL Guacara 1 Venezuelan Summer League
—

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. "1998 MLB All-Star Game Roster - Major League Baseball - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  4. Jack Voigt at Baseball-Reference
  5. Marquis Grissom at Baseball-Reference
  6. Bob Hamelin at Baseball-Reference
  7. Ben McDonald at Baseball-Reference
  8. J. J. Putz at Baseball-Reference
  9. "David Weathers Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com". Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  10. Eric Plunk at Baseball-Reference
  11. Bill Pulsipher at Baseball-Reference
  12. Jeff Juden at Baseball-Reference
  13. "1998 Milwaukee Brewers Statistics".
  14. "1998 Milwaukee Brewers Minor League Affiliates". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
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