1998 Milwaukee Brewers
LeagueNational League
DivisionCentral
BallparkMilwaukee County Stadium
CityMilwaukee, Wisconsin
OwnersBud Selig
General managersSal Bando
ManagersPhil Garner
TelevisionWCGV-TV
Wisconsin Sports Net
(Matt Vasgersian, Bill Schroeder)
RadioWTMJ (AM)
(Bob Uecker, Jim Powell)
← 1997 Seasons 1999 →

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 National League 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.

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 102 60 0.630 — 55–26 47–34
Chicago Cubs 90 73 0.552 12½ 51–31 39–42
St. Louis Cardinals 83 79 0.512 19 48–34 35–45
Cincinnati Reds 77 85 0.475 25 39–42 38–43
Milwaukee Brewers 74 88 0.457 28 38–43 36–45
Pittsburgh Pirates 69 93 0.426 33 40–40 29–53

Record vs. opponents

1998 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL AL
Arizona — 1–8 5–7 4–5 6–6 6–2 4–5 4–8 6–3 2–7 4–5 2–7 6–3 3–9 5–7 2–7 5–8
Atlanta 8–1 — 3–6 7–2 5–3 7–5 4–5 8–1 7–2 6–6 9–3 8–4 7–2 5–4 7–2 6–3 9–7
Chicago 7–5 6–3 — 6–5 7–2 7–2 4–7 4–5 6–6 7–2 4–5 3–6 8–3 5–4 7–3 4–7 5–8
Cincinnati 5–4 2–7 5–6 — 4–5 9–0 3–8 5–4 6–5 8–1 3–6 4–5 5–7 1–11 2–7 8–3 7-6
Colorado 6–6 3–5 2–7 5–4 — 6–3 6–5 6–6 4–7 7–2 3–6 5–4 5–4 5–7 7–5 3–6 4–8
Florida 2–6 5–7 2–7 0–9 3–6 — 3–6 4–5 0–9 5–7 5–7 6–6 3–6 4–5 0–9 4–5 8–8
Houston 5–4 5–4 7–4 8–3 5–6 6-3 — 3–6 9–2 7–2 5–4 7–2 9–2 5–4 6–3 5–7 10–4
Los Angeles 8–4 1–8 5–4 4–5 6–6 5–4 6–3 — 5–4 5–4 3–5 5–4 7–5 5–7 6–6 4–5 8–5
Milwaukee 3–6 2–7 6–6 5–6 7–4 9–0 2–9 4–5 — 6–3 1–8 4–5 6–5 3–6 5–4 3–8 8–6
Montreal 7–2 6–6 2–7 1–8 2–7 7–5 2–7 4–5 3–6 — 8–4 5–7 2–7 4–4 3–6 3–6 6–10
New York 5–4 3–9 5–4 6–3 6–3 7–5 4–5 5–3 8–1 4–8 — 8–4 4–5 4–5 4–5 6–3 9–7
Philadelphia 7-2 4–8 6–3 5–4 4–5 6–6 2–7 4–5 5–4 7–5 4–8 — 8–1 1–8 2–6 3–6 7–9
Pittsburgh 3–6 2–7 3–8 7–5 4–5 6–3 2–9 5–7 5–6 7–2 5–4 1–8 — 5–4 2–7 6–5 6–7
San Diego 9–3 4–5 4–5 11–1 7–5 5–4 4–5 7–5 6–3 4–4 5–4 8–1 4–5 — 8–4 6–3 6–7
San Francisco 7–5 2–7 3–7 7–2 5–7 9–0 3–6 6–6 4–5 6–3 5–4 6–2 7–2 4–8 — 7–5 8–5
St. Louis 7–2 3–6 7–4 3–8 6–3 5-4 7–5 5–4 8–3 6–3 3–6 6–3 5–6 3–6 5–7 — 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
C Mike Matheny 108 320 24 76 .238 6 27 1
1B John Jaha 73 216 29 45 .208 7 38 1
2B Fernando Viña 159 637 101 198 .311 7 45 22
3B Jeff Cirillo 156 604 97 194 .321 14 68 10
SS José Valentín 151 428 65 96 .224 16 49 10
LF Geoff Jenkins 84 262 33 60 .229 9 28 1
CF Marquis Grissom 142 542 57 147 .271 10 60 13
RF Jeromy Burnitz 161 609 92 160 .263 38 125 7

[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 Loretta 140 434 55 137 6 54 .316 9
Dave Nilsson 102 309 39 83 12 56 .269 2
Bobby Hughes 85 218 28 50 9 29 .229 1
Darrin Jackson 114 204 20 49 4 20 .240 1
Marc Newfield 93 186 15 44 3 25 .237 0
Bob Hamelin 109 146 15 32 7 22 .219 0
Eric Owens 34 40 5 5 1 4 .125 0
Jesse Levis 22 37 4 13 0 4 .351 1
Brian Banks 24 24 3 7 1 5 .292 0
Ronnie Belliard 8 5 1 1 0 0 .200 0
Greg Martinez 13 3 2 0 0 0 .000 2
Marcus Jensen 2 2 0 0 0 0 .000 0

Pitching

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 Karl 33 192.1 10 11 4.40 102
Steve Woodard 34 165.2 10 12 4.18 135
Jeff Juden 24 138.1 7 11 5.53 109
Cal Eldred 23 133.0 4 8 4.80 86
Bill Pulsipher 11 58.0 3 4 4.66 38
Rafael Roque 9 48.0 4 2 4.88 34

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 Woodall 31 138.0 7 9 4.96 85
Paul Wagner 13 55.2 1 5 7.11 37
José Mercedes 7 32.0 2 2 6.75 11

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 Wickman 72 82.1 6 9 25 3.72 71
Mike Myers 70 50.0 2 2 1 2.70 40
Al Reyes 50 57.0 5 1 0 3.95 58
Chad Fox 49 57.0 1 4 0 3.95 64
Doug Jones 46 54.0 3 4 12 5.17 43
Bronswell Patrick 32 78.2 4 1 0 4.69 49
David Weathers 28 47.2 4 1 0 3.21 43
Eric Plunk 26 31.2 1 2 1 3.69 36
Valerio De Los Santos 13 21.2 0 0 0 2.91 18
Rod Henderson 2 3.2 0 0 0 9.82 1
Greg Mullins 2 1.0 0 0 0 0.00 1
Bobby Chouinard 1 3.0 0 0 0 3.00 1
Travis Smith 1 2.0 0 0 0 0.00 1
Joe Hudson 1 0.1 0 0 0 162.00 0

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.[citation needed] VSL Guacara 1 won the Venezuelan Summer League championship.[citation needed]

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.
Categories