Top 50 Milwaukee Brewers
The city of Milwaukee had a baseball team from 1953 to 1965 when the Braves played there. Wisconsin did not have to wait a long time to receive another team as the expansion Seattle Pilots moved there after one year of existence in 1970.Now named the Milwaukee Brewers, the “Blue Brew Crew” did not have a lot of success in the 1970s but would go to the World Series in 1982 with Hall of Famers Paul Molitor and Robin Yount, though they would go down to defeat in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals.
They haven’t been to the World Series since.
Since that time, the Brewers have moved leagues from the American to the National but have yet to win the Pennant in their new league.
This list is up to the end of the 2024 Season.
Note: Baseball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
The first Pitcher to ever win 20 Games for the Brewers, Jim Colborn easily had his best year in Major League Baseball when he accomplished that feat. That year Colborn was named to the All Star Team and finished 6th in Cy Young Voting. He would have four other seasons with Milwaukee, but did not approach his accomplishments from 1973.
In what was considered a minor surprise, the Tampa Bay Rays traded Willy Adames early in the 2021 Season to Milwaukee, and from that point until 2024, he was one of the more dependable Infielders in the game. Adames, finished the season with 20 Home Runs and a .285 Batting Average, and the year after, his Batting Average dipped (.238), but he provided the Brewers with his first 30-plus Home Run Season. In 2024, he had his best power year for the Brewers, with 32 Home Runs and 112 RBIs, and was tenth in MVP voting. Adames left after the…
Drafted from the University of Missouri, Devin Williams had a delated start with a UCL tear and subsequent Tommy John Surgery, but he debuted for the Brewers in 2019, and was in the Futures Game. COVID-19 ravaged the 2020 season, but Williams, who was still rookie eligible, had a phenomenal year, winning the Rookie of the Year with a 0.33 ERA over 27 Innings, and was the best set-up man in Baseball. Williams continued with another good year in 2021 (8-2, 2.50 ERA), and was an All-Star in 2022 and 2023, moving more towards a closer role with Josh Hader…
The best season of Dave May’s career occurred in 1973 when he would make the All-Star Team and finish 8th in MVP voting. That year, May would have 25 Home Runs with 189 Hits, a .303 Batting Average and would also lead the American League in Total Bases and Win Probability Added. While Dave May would never have a season like that again, he would have another two decent campaigns with Milwaukee. Over May's two runs in Milwaukee, he would have 652 Hits.
An All-Star in 1978, Lary Sorenen would go 18 and 12 and finish 2nd in BB/9. Sorensen was a very good control pitcher who would have two more seasons with 12 Wins or more and two more top ten finishes in BB/9. Overall, he gave Milwaukee three good seasons as a Starting Pitcher, which was the first team he played for. Sorensen had a Brewers record of 52-46.
Richie Sexson was only with the Milwaukee Brewers for three and a half seasons but this was where he had his greatest offensive output. Sexson had two 45 Home Run seasons as a Brewer and put together three straight seasons accumulating over 100 Runs Batted In. He would also have a Slugging Percentage over .500 every year in Milwaukee.As a Brewer, Sexson would go deep 133 times with a .536 Slugging Percentage.
The story of Dave Nilsson cannot be told without specifying that he left MLB to represent Australia in the 2000 Olympics. This was right after Nilsson was named to his first (and only) All-Star Game.
While Pete Vuckovich would win the Cy Young Award in 1982 and finish fourth in voting the year before that, he probably shouldn’t have. Vuckovich won on the strength of am 18-6 record but had a WHIP over 1.5 and did not finish in the top ten in bWAR for Pitchers. Actually, he really wasn’t close.
Darrell Porter is far more known for his work with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals, but he would get his start in Milwaukee. As a Brewer he would finish third in Rookie of the Year voting in 1973 and would make the All-Star Game in 1974.
Arguably, Darryl Hamilton would have better seasons outside of Milwaukee, but the first half of his career was with the Brewers where he did offer some valuable contributions. Hamilton would bat over .310 in two of Brewers campaigns and would also have a 41 Stolen Base season. Overall, Hamilton 637 Hits with a .290 Batting Average as a Milwaukee Brewer.
Although Jose Valentin showed better seasons with the Chicago White Sox later in his career, he did produce good power numbers for the Brewers. He would exceed 15 Home Runs three times as a Brewer and collected 577 Hits for the team.
Ken Sanders has to be considered the first real reliever in franchise history and was one of the few bright spots for the team in the early 1970’s. Sanders would lead the American League in Saves in 1971 with 31, a very high number for those days. He would also lead in Games Played and Games Finished that year. He would actually finish 16th in MVP voting.