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. 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" , Outside the Lines, Fall 1997. Fernando Vina became the first Brewer named as an National League All-Star.

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

Record vs. opponents

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. 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 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

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

The Brewers' farm system consisted of eight minor league affiliates in 1998. 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.

References

1998 Milwaukee Brewers team at Baseball-Reference 1998 Milwaukee Brewers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com