1970 Milwaukee Brewers season

1970 Milwaukee Brewers
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkMilwaukee County Stadium
CityMilwaukee, Wisconsin
OwnersBud Selig
General managersMarvin Milkes
ManagersDave Bristol
TelevisionWTMJ-TV
RadioWEMP
(Merle Harmon, Tom Collins)
StatsESPN.com
Baseball Reference
← 1969 Seasons 1971 →

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 as the Pilots.

Offseason

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Relocation to Milwaukee

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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 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 C. 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. MLB returned to Seattle in 1977, when the Mariners began play at the Kingdome.

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.

Notable transactions

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Regular season

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Opening Day starters

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Season standings

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AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 98 64 .605 51‍–‍30 47‍–‍34
Oakland Athletics 89 73 .549 9 49‍–‍32 40‍–‍41
California Angels 86 76 .531 12 43‍–‍38 43‍–‍38
Kansas City Royals 65 97 .401 33 35‍–‍44 30‍–‍53
Milwaukee Brewers 65 97 .401 33 38‍–‍42 27‍–‍55
Chicago White Sox 56 106 .346 42 31‍–‍53 25‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
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

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Roster

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1970 Milwaukee Brewers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Phil Roof 110 321 73 .227 13 37
1B Mike Hegan 148 476 116 .244 11 52
2B Ted Kubiak 158 540 136 .252 4 41
3B Tommy Harper 154 604 179 .296 31 82
SS Roberto Peña 121 416 99 .238 3 42
LF Danny Walton 117 397 102 .257 17 66
CF Dave May 100 342 82 .240 7 31
RF Bob Burda 78 222 55 .248 4 20

[12]

Other batters

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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
Jerry McNertney 111 296 72 .243 6 22
Ted Savage 114 276 77 .279 12 50
Russ Snyder 124 276 64 .232 4 31
Steve Hovley 40 135 38 .281 0 16
Gus Gil 64 119 22 .185 1 12
Max Alvis 62 115 21 .183 3 12
Mike Hershberger 49 98 23 .235 1 6
Bernie Smith 44 76 21 .276 1 6
Tito Francona 52 65 15 .231 0 4
Hank Allen 28 61 14 .230 0 4
John Kennedy 25 55 14 .255 2 6
Greg Goossen 21 47 12 .255 1 3
Floyd Wicker 15 41 8 .195 1 3
Rich Rollins 14 25 5 .200 0 5
Wayne Comer 13 17 1 .059 0 1
Sandy Valdespino 8 9 0 .000 0 0
Pete Koegel 7 8 2 .250 1 1
Fred Stanley 6 0 0 ---- 0 0

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Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Marty Pattin 37 233.1 14 12 3.39 161
Lew Krausse Jr. 37 216.1 13 18 4.75 130
Skip Lockwood 27 173.2 5 12 4.30 93
Gene Brabender 29 128.2 6 15 6.02 76
Al Downing 17 94.1 2 10 3.34 53
Ray Peters 2 2.0 0 2 31.50 1

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Bobby Bolin 32 132.0 5 11 4.91 81
John Morris 20 73.1 4 3 3.93 40
George Lauzerique 11 35.0 1 2 6.94 24

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Ken Sanders 50 5 2 13 1.75 64
John Gelnar 53 4 3 4 4.19 48
Dave Baldwin 28 2 1 1 2.55 26
Bob Locker 28 0 1 3 3.41 19
John O'Donoghue 25 2 0 0 5.01 13
Bob Humphreys 23 2 4 3 3.15 32
Dick Ellsworth 14 0 0 1 1.72 9
Bob Meyer 10 0 1 0 6.38 20
Wayne Twitchell 2 0 0 0 10.80 5
Bruce Brubaker 1 0 0 0 9.00 0

Farm system

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The Brewers' farm system consisted of four minor league affiliates in 1970.[13][14] The Double-A Jacksonville Suns were shared with the Montreal Expos.[14]

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

Notes

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  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. ^ a b 1970 Milwaukee Brewers Statistics and Roster Baseball-Reference.com
  13. ^ "1970 Milwaukee Brewers Minor League Affiliates". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  14. ^ a b "Niarhos to Manage Jacksonville Club". The Racine Journal-Times Sunday Bulletin. Racine, Wisconsin. January 18, 1970. p. 4C – via Newspapers.com.

References

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