The 1981 Milwaukee Brewers season was the franchise's 13th overall season and 12th season based in Milwaukee. The Brewers finished first in American League East during the second half of the split season (caused by the 1981 Major League Baseball strike) and compiled an overall record of 62 wins and 47 losses. The team advanced to the postseason for the first time in franchise history due to their second-half first-place finish, but lost to the New York Yankees in the ALDS. Rollie Fingers became the first relief pitcher in the history of the American League to win the MVP Award.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,

Offseason December 12, 1980: Sixto Lezcano, David Green, Lary Sorensen and Dave LaPoint were traded by the Brewers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ted Simmons, Rollie Fingers and Pete Vuckovich.Ted Simmons at Baseball-Reference January 13, 1981: Ernest Riles was drafted by the Brewers in the 3rd round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft (Secondary phase).Ernest Riles at Baseball-Reference February 21, 1981: Paul Hartzell was signed as a free agent by the Brewers.Paul Hartzell at Baseball-Reference March 20, 1981: Bob Galasso was released by the Brewers.Bob Galasso at Baseball-Reference

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 1, 1981: John Poff was traded by the Brewers to the Chicago White Sox for Thad Bosley.John Poff at Baseball-Reference April 4, 1981: Bill Lyons was released by the Brewers.Bill Lyons at Baseball-Reference April 5, 1981: Dan Boitano was purchased from the Brewers by the New York Mets from the Milwaukee Brewers.Dan Boitano at Baseball-Reference June 8, 1981: Bryan Clutterbuck was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 7th round of the 1981 amateur draft. July 8, 1981: Paul Hartzell was released by the Brewers.

Roster 1981 Milwaukee Brewers roster Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C 100 380 82 .216 14 61 1B Cecil Cooper 106 416 133 .320 12 60 2B Jim Gantner 107 352 94 .267 2 33 SS Robin Yount 96 377 103 .273 10 49 3B Don Money 60 185 40 .216 2 14 LF Ben Oglivie 107 400 97 .243 14 72 CF Gorman Thomas 103 363 94 .259 21 65 RF Mark Brouhard 60 186 51 .274 2 20 DH Larry Hisle 27 87 20 .230 4 11

Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI 64 251 67 .267 2 19 Roy Howell 76 244 58 .238 6 33 Charlie Moore 48 156 47 .301 1 9 42 105 24 .229 0 3 Ed Romero 44 91 18 .198 1 10 Sal Bando 32 65 13 .200 2 9 Marshall Edwards 40 58 14 .241 0 4 Ned Yost 18 27 6 .222 3 3

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 Pete Vuckovich 24 149.2 14 4 3.55 84 24 144.1 11 9 3.93 41 Moose Haas 24 137.1 11 7 4.46 64 Jim Slaton 24 117.1 5 7 4.37 47 Randy Lerch 23 110.2 7 9 4.31 53

Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO 47 6 3 28 1.04 61 Jamie Easterly 44 3 3 4 3.19 31 35 2 3 1 5.15 18 Jerry Augustine 27 2 2 2 4.26 26 17 1 0 0 5.09 9 6 0 0 0 3.60 1 Bob McClure 4 0 0 0 3.52 6 3 0 0 0 4.15 1 Donnie Moore 3 0 0 0 6.75 2 Frank DiPino 2 0 0 0 0.00 3 Willie Mueller 1 0 0 0 4.50 1

ALDS

New York wins series, 3–2.

GameScoreDate1New York 5, Milwaukee 3October 72New York 3, Milwaukee 0October 83Milwaukee 5, New York 3 October 94Milwaukee 2, New York 1 October 105New York 7, Milwaukee 3 October 11

Awards and honors Cecil Cooper, Silver Slugger Award Rollie Fingers, American League Cy Young Award Rollie Fingers, American League MVP

Farm system

The Brewers' farm system consisted of five minor league affiliates in 1981. The Butte Copper Kings won the Pioneer League championship.

Notes

References 1981 Milwaukee Brewers team at Baseball-Reference 1981 Milwaukee Brewers at Baseball Almanac