1998 Milwaukee Brewers season

30th season in franchise history, first in National League March 2026 November 2013 Milwaukee Brewers 1998 National League Central Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States 74 88 y 5th Bud Selig Sal Bando Phil Garner WCGV-TVWisconsin Sports Net(Matt Vasgersian, Bill Schroeder) WTMJ (AM) (Bob Uecker, Jim Powell) The 1998 Milwaukee Brewers season was the 29th season for the Brewers in Milwaukee, their first in the National League, and their 30th overall. 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.http://www.cincypost.com/sports/1997/brew110697.html Brewers switch leagues, join Reds in NL Central The Kentucky Post (Associated Press) E. W. Scripps Company November 6, 1997 https://web.archive.org/web/20050505095313/http://www.cincypost.com/sports/1997/brew110697.html May 5, 2005 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.Pappas, Doug, "News Briefs: Fall 1997" https://web.archive.org/web/20080727032139/http://www.roadsidephotos.com/baseball/97-4news.htm July 27, 2008 , Outside the Lines, Fall 1997. Fernando Vina became the first Brewer named as an National League All-Star.http://www.espn.com/mlb/allstargame/history/results/_/year/1998 1998 MLB All-Star Game Roster - Major League Baseball - ESPN ESPN.com August 6, 2023 Offseason December 1, 1997: Jack Voigt was released by the Brewers.Jack Voigt at Baseball-Reference December 8, 1997: Mike Fetters, Ben McDonald, and Ron Villone were traded by the Brewers to the Cleveland Indians for Marquis Grissom and Jeff Juden.Marquis Grissom at Baseball-Reference January 14, 1998: Bob Hamelin was signed as a free agent by the Brewers.Bob Hamelin at Baseball-Reference March 11, 1998: Mark Watson was traded by the Brewers to the Cleveland Indians for Ben McDonald.Ben McDonald at Baseball-Reference Regular season Season standings Milwaukee Brewers Record vs. opponents MIL Notable transactions June 2, 1998: J. J. Putz was drafted by the Brewers in the 17th round of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.J. J. Putz at Baseball-Reference June 24, 1998: Dave Weathers was selected off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers from the Cincinnati Reds.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/weathda01.shtml David Weathers Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com August 6, 2023 July 23, 1998: Doug Jones was traded by the Brewers to the Cleveland Indians for Eric Plunk.Eric Plunk at Baseball-Reference July 31, 1998: Mike Kinkade was traded by the Brewers to the New York Mets for Bill Pulsipher.Bill Pulsipher at Baseball-Reference August 7, 1998: Jeff Juden was selected off waivers from the Brewers by the Anaheim Angels.Jeff Juden at Baseball-Reference Roster 1998 Milwaukee Brewers Roster Pitchers 52 Bobby Chouinard 58 Valerio de los Santos 21 Cal Eldred 40 Chad Fox 53 Rod Henderson 43 Joe Hudson 43 Doug Jones 14 Jeff Juden 42 Scott Karl 41 José Mercedes 57 Greg Mullins 28 Mike Myers 31 Bronswell Patrick 39 Eric Plunk 46 Bill Pulsipher 47 Al Reyes 52 Rafael Roque 89 Travis Smith 46 Paul Wagner 49 David Weathers 27 Bob Wickman 48 Brad Woodall 37 Steve Woodard Catchers 25 Brian Banks 33 Bobby Hughes 23 Marcus Jensen 16 Jesse Levis 22 Mike Matheny Infielders 11 Ronnie Belliard 26 Jeff Cirillo 30 Bob Hamelin 32 John Jaha  8 Mark Loretta  7 Dave Nilsson  2 José Valentín  1 Fernando Viña Outfielders 20 Jeromy Burnitz  9 Marquis Grissom 24 Darrin Jackson  5 Geoff Jenkins 50 Greg Martinez 10 Marc Newfield 39 Eric Owens Manager  3 Phil Garner Coaches 12 Chris Bando (Bench) 35 Bill Castro (Bullpen) 23 Lamar Johnson (Hitting) 29 Jim Lefebvre (Hitting) 38 Doug Mansolino (First Base), (Third Base) 45 Don Rowe (Pitching) 36 Joel Youngblood (First Base), (Third Base) 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 7https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIL/1998.shtml 1998 Milwaukee Brewers Statistics 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 Minor League Baseball The Brewers' farm system consisted of eight minor league affiliates in 1998.https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/affiliate.cgi?id=MIL&year=1998 1998 Milwaukee Brewers Minor League Affiliates Baseball-Reference Sports Reference December 30, 2020 The Brewers operated a Venezuelan Summer League team as a co-op with the Florida Marlins and San Francisco Giants.October 2022 VSL Guacara 1 won the Venezuelan Summer League championship.October 2022 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 1998 Milwaukee Brewers team at Baseball-Reference 1998 Milwaukee Brewers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com 53em Category:Milwaukee Brewers seasons Milwaukee Brewers season Milwaukee Brew