1970 Milwaukee Brewers season

1970 Milwaukee Brewers
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Bud Selig
General manager(s) Marvin Milkes
Manager(s) Dave Bristol
Local television WTMJ-TV
Local radio WEMP
(Merle Harmon, Tom Collins)
Stats ESPN.com
BB-reference
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The 1970 Milwaukee Brewers season was the second season for the franchise. The team finished fourth in the American League West with a record of 65 wins and 97 losses, 33 games behind the Minnesota Twins. This was the team's inaugural season in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after spending its first year of existence in Seattle, Washington.

Offseason

Relocation to Milwaukee

During the offseason, Dewey Soriano, president of the financially strapped Seattle Pilots, crossed paths with Bud Selig, a Milwaukee car dealer who had been working to bring baseball back to Milwaukee since the Braves (of which he'd been a minority owner) left for Atlanta after the 1965 season. They met in secret for over a month after the end of the season, and during Game 1 of the World Series, Soriano agreed to sell the Pilots to Selig for $10 million to $13 million (depending on the source). Selig would then move the team to Milwaukee and rename it the Brewers. However, the owners turned it down in the face of pressure from Washington's two senators, Warren Magnuson and Henry (Scoop) Jackson, as well as state attorney general Slade Gorton. MLB asked Soriano and chairman William Daley to find a local buyer.

Local theater chain owner Fred Danz came forward in October 1969 with a $10 million deal, but it fizzled when the Bank of California called in a $4 million loan it had made to Soriano and Daley for startup costs. In January 1970, Westin Hotels owner Eddie Carlson put together a nonprofit group to buy the team. However, the owners rejected the idea almost out of hand since it would have devalued the other clubs' worth. A more traditional deal came one vote short of approval.

After a winter and spring full of court action, the Pilots reported for spring training under new manager Dave Bristol unsure of where they would play. The owners had given tentative approval to the Milwaukee group, but the state of Washington got an injunction on March 17 to stop the deal. Soriano immediately filed for bankruptcy — a move intended to forestall any post-sale legal action. At the bankruptcy hearing a week later, general manager Marvin Milkes testified there was not enough money to pay the coaches, players and office staff. Had Milkes been more than 10 days late in paying the players, they would have all become free agents and left Seattle without a team for the 1970 season. With this in mind, Federal Bankruptcy Referee Sidney Volinn declared the Pilots bankrupt on March 31 — seven days before Opening Day — clearing the way for them to move to Milwaukee. The team's equipment had been sitting in Provo, Utah, with the drivers awaiting word on whether to drive toward Seattle or Milwaukee.

Coincidentally, Milwaukee had gained its previous team under circumstances similar to some of those surrounding this move. The Braves had moved from Boston to Milwaukee only a few weeks before the 1953 season was to start.

Notable transactions

Regular season

Opening Day starters

Season standings

AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 98 64 0.605 — 51–30 47–34
Oakland Athletics 89 73 0.549 9 49–32 40–41
California Angels 86 76 0.531 12 43–38 43–38
Kansas City Royals 65 97 0.401 33 35–44 30–53
Milwaukee Brewers 65 97 0.401 33 38–42 27–55
Chicago White Sox 56 106 0.346 42 31–53 25–53

Record vs. opponents

1970 American League Records

Sources:

Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK WSH
Baltimore — 13–5 7–5 9–3 14–4 11–7 12–0 7–5 5–7 11–7 7–5 12–6
Boston 5–13 — 5–7 8–4 12–6 9–9 7–5 5–7 7–5 10–8 7–5 12–6
California 5–7 7–5 — 12–6 6–6 6–6 10–8 12–6 8–10 5–7 8–10 7–5
Chicago 3–9 4–8 6–12 — 6–6 6–6 7–11 7–11 6–12 5–7 2–16 4–8
Cleveland 4–14 6–12 6–6 6–6 — 7–11 8–4 7–5 6–6 8–10 7–5 11–7
Detroit 7–11 9–9 6–6 6–6 11–7 — 6–6 8–4 4–8 7–11 6–6 9–9
Kansas City 0–12 5–7 8–10 11–7 4–8 6–6 — 12–6 5–13 1–11 7–11 6–6
Milwaukee 5–7 7–5 6–12 11–7 5–7 4–8 6–12 — 5–13 3–9–1 8–10 5–7
Minnesota 7–5 5–7 10–8 12–6 6–6 8–4 13–5 13–5 — 5–7 13–5 6–6
New York 7–11 8–10 7–5 7–5 10–8 11–7 11–1 9–3–1 7–5 — 6–6 10–8
Oakland 5–7 5–7 10–8 16–2 5–7 6–6 11–7 10–8 5–13 6–6 — 10–2
Washington 6–12 6–12 5–7 8–4 7–11 9–9 6–6 7–5 6–6 8–10 2–10 —

Notable transactions

Roster

1970 Milwaukee Brewers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders 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 Roof, PhilPhil Roof 110 321 73 .227 13 37
1B Hegan, MikeMike Hegan 148 476 116 .244 11 52
2B Kubiak, TedTed Kubiak 158 540 136 .252 4 41
3B Harper, TommyTommy Harper 154 604 179 .296 31 82
SS Peña, RobertoRoberto Peña 121 416 99 .238 3 42
LF Walton, DannyDanny Walton 117 397 102 .257 17 66
CF May, DaveDave May 100 342 82 .240 7 31
RF Burda, BobBob Burda 78 222 55 .248 4 20

[12]

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
McNertney, JerryJerry McNertney 111 296 72 .243 6 22
Savage, TedTed Savage 114 276 77 .279 12 50
Snyder, RussRuss Snyder 124 276 64 .232 4 31
Hovley, SteveSteve Hovley 40 135 38 .281 0 16
Gil, GusGus Gil 64 119 22 .185 1 12
Alvis, MaxMax Alvis 62 115 21 .183 3 12
Hershberger, MikeMike Hershberger 49 98 23 .235 1 6
Smith, BernieBernie Smith 44 76 21 .276 1 6
Francona, TitoTito Francona 52 65 15 .231 0 4
Allen, HankHank Allen 28 61 14 .230 0 4
Kennedy, JohnJohn Kennedy 25 55 14 .255 2 6
Comer, WayneWayne Comer 13 17 1 .059 0 1
Stanley, FredFred Stanley 6 0 0 .--- 0 0

[12]

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
Krausse, LewLew Krausse 37 216 13 18 4.75 130
Brabender, GeneGene Brabender 29 128.2 6 15 6.02 76
Downing, AlAl Downing 17 94.1 2 10 3.34 53

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
Bolin, BobbyBobby Bolin 32 132 5 11 4.91 81
Lauzerique, GeorgeGeorge Lauzerique 11 35 1 2 6.94 24

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
Sanders, KenKen Sanders 50 5 2 13 1.75 64
Baldwin, DaveDave Baldwin 28 2 1 1 2.55 26
O'Donoghue, JohnJohn O'Donoghue 25 2 0 0 5.01 13
Ellsworth, DickDick Ellsworth 14 0 0 1 1.72 9
Brubaker, BruceBruce Brubaker 1 0 0 0 9.00 0

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Portland Beavers Pacific Coast League Al Federoff
AA Jacksonville Suns Southern League Gus Niarhos
A Clinton Pilots Midwest League Earl Torgeson
A-Short Season Newark Co-Pilots New York–Penn League Sandy Johnson

Jacksonville affiliation shared with Montreal Expos

Notes

  1. ↑ Mike Marshall at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ Diego Seguí at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Phil Roof at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ 1970 Milwaukee Brewers Roster by Baseball Almanac
  5. ↑ Steve Barber at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ Hank Allen at Baseball Reference
  7. ↑ John Donaldson at Baseball Reference
  8. ↑ John Tamargo at Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ Steve Hovley at Baseball Reference
  10. ↑ José Herrera at Baseball Reference
  11. ↑ Floyd Wicker at Baseball Reference
  12. 1 2 1970 Milwaukee Brewers Statistics and Roster Baseball-Reference.com

References

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