2004–present: Attanasio era History of professional baseball in Milwaukee

1 2004–present: attanasio era

1.1 2004–2006: building winner

1.1.1 2004
1.1.2 2005
1.1.3 2006


1.2 2007: return respectability
1.3 2008: return postseason

1.3.1 2008 nlds


1.4 2009: missing playoffs
1.5 2010
1.6 2011 season: nl central champs
1.7 2011 postseason
1.8 2012
1.9 2013
1.10 2014
1.11 2015
1.12 2016: rebuilding
1.13 2017

2004–present: attanasio era
2004–2006: building winner

on january 16, 2004, selig announced ownership group putting team sale, great relief of many fans unhappy team s lackluster performance , poor management daughter, wendy selig-prieb, on previous decade. in september 2004, brewers announced had reached verbal agreement los angeles investment banker mark attanasio purchase team reported us$223 million. sale attanasio completed on january 13, 2005, @ major league baseball s quarterly owners meeting. other members of attanasio s ownership group include private equity investor john canning, jr., david uihlein, harris turer , stephen marcus, of whom involved previous ownership group led major league baseball commissioner bud selig. since taking on franchise, attanasio has worked hard build bridges milwaukee baseball fans, including giving away every seat final home game of 2005 free of charge , bringing classic ball , glove logo of club s glory days on retro friday home games, during wear versions of team s old pinstriped uniforms.

2004

the brewers caused stir in first half of 2004 season, when team had winning record in first half of season, briefly being in 1st place in nl central. however, lack of productive offense doomed brewers , club sunk last place, finishing season 67–94. brewers did have bright moments during season pitcher ben sheets striking out 18 atlanta braves in 1 game , brewers coming 9-run deficit beat cincinnati reds.

after 2004 season, mark attanasio in control of franchise, brewers able spend money on free agents. brewers first significant free-agent signing in many years veteran catcher damian miller, wisconsin native, , address need better run production, brewers traded speedy outfielder scott podsednik , relief pitcher luis vizcaíno chicago white sox in exchange slugging outfielder carlos lee. arrival of lee gave brewer fans higher hopes better seasons on way brewers.

rickie weeks , prince fielder @ spring training, 2005


2005

in 2005, under attanasio s ownership, team finished 81–81 secure first non-losing record since 1992. true form, carlos lee provided brewers needed run support, hitting 32 home runs , driving in 112. starting pitcher chris capuano had stellar season, going 18–12 3.99 era, wins brewer pitcher since pete vuckovich won 18 games in 1982.

with solid base of young talent assembled on past 5 years, including prince fielder, rickie weeks, j. j. hardy , corey hart, brewers showed renewed competitiveness. further encouraging sentiment, brewers had hired former stars yount (bench coach; resigned in november 2006) , dale sveum (third base coach), both popular players brewers in 80s.

2006

in 2006, brewers play disappointed fans, players, , management. began season 5–1 , had 14–11 record @ end of april. on mother s day bill hall hit walk off home run mother in stands, play shown on espn throughout summer. however, starters jj hardy, rickie weeks, , corey koskie lost injuries, , brewers forced trade veteran infielders david bell , tony graffanino. suffered setbacks when losing starting pitchers ben sheets , tomo ohka substantial amount of time, forcing triple starters ben hendrickson, dana eveland, carlos villanueva, , zach jackson starting roles @ different points in year. shortly before star break brewers climbed 1 game above .500, lost next 3 chicago cubs , never return .500. after star break closer derrick turnbow blew 4 straight save opportunities. led brewers being far enough down in standings management decided trade free agent-to-be carlos lee texas rangers closer francisco cordero, outfielder kevin mench, , 2 minor league prospects. cordero replaced turnbow brewers closer , had immediate success, converting first 13 save opportunities. on august 24 brewers completed sweep of colorado rockies climb less 5 games out in both nl central division , nl wild card races, milwaukee went on 10-game losing streak ended postseason hope. brewers did rebound , play in september including four-game sweep of san francisco, little late. brewers ended season 75–87 record.

at end of season, attanasio stated , general manager doug melvin have make decisions returning players 2007 season. young players waiting in minor leagues, during off-season key additions starting pitcher , 2006 nlcs mvp jeff suppan, starter claudio vargas, reliever greg aquino, catcher johnny estrada, , returning brewer craig counsell. brewers parted ways 2006 starters doug davis , tomo ohka, fan favorite jeff cirillo, wanted more playing time team.

2007: return respectability


prince fielder



ben sheets

before 2007 season, buzz surrounding brewers increased. dubbed sleeper team , contenders in nl numerous sports analysts , magazines. espn s peter gammons , dan patrick both picked brewers beat out defending champion cardinals , re-vamped chicago cubs win nl central. celebrate successful 1982 milwaukee brewers team, franchise decided have 2007 season named 25th anniversary of 82 , more fan giveaways other major league baseball team except pittsburgh pirates, , more discounts , deals other time in brewers history.

espn.com s lead story on august 29 stated: .... there brewers. strange, impossible-to-figure-out brewers. once had best record in majors, 14 games on .500 twice, , led division many 8½ games on june 23. since then, , there s no nice way of saying it; ve reeked. . brewers cast negativity side, , rebounded in september. despite poor performances steady chris capuano , more nagging injuries ben sheets, brewers found in heated pennant race chicago s north siders. team s playoff drive took hit late in year, however, losing 3 of 4 games in crucial series in atlanta, dropping brewers season-high 3.5 games out of first. brewers won first 2 games of final homestand of season pull within 2 games of cubs, faced near impossible task club s elimination number down 3 , wild card leading padres coming town. club played well, cubs clinched on final friday of season. on september 29 brewers beat padres 4–3 in innings secure winning season. game tied in ninth inning triple tony gwynn, jr. in highlight reel play repeated during 2007 post season. win, , win next day, brewers kept padres advancing playoffs. irony, of course, being gwynn s father arguably popular padre of all-time, , tony gwynn, jr. later traded padres in 2009. milwaukee finished @ respectable 83–79, 2 games behind chicago, club s best finish since 1992. first baseman prince fielder made history in 2007, becoming first brewer , youngest player ever reach 50 home run mark in single season. effort, finished third in 2007 national league valuable player voting, garnering 284 total points including 5 first place votes. fielder awarded hank aaron award reaching amazing single year record. third baseman ryan braun rewarded historic season being named 2007 nl rookie of year.

2008: return postseason


ryan braun, 2008

the brewers came 2008 hopes of ending team s 26-year playoff drought, adding several veterans team in outfielder mike cameron , catcher jason kendall, relief pitchers Éric gagné , salomón torres. brewers started april on solid winning note, suffered 2 big blows in pitching rotation when dave bush demoted aaa nashville, , yovani gallardo suffered potential season ending knee injury. team dropped below .500 middle of may, capped off sweep boston red sox.

the brewers rebounded in june salomón torres took on closer, becoming big success, , climbed contention. june came close, brewers made biggest move playoff contention traded 4 prospects, notably matt laporta, cleveland indians cc sabathia. general manager doug melvin summed trade saying, going it. brewers came all-star break 52–43 record, still third behind cubs , cardinals. ben sheets named starting pitcher national league in all-star game, , ryan braun started @ left field. corey hart named team in final vote.

the brewers came out of all-star break bang won first 7 games back, of them on road, sweeping first giants , cardinals, taking on first place in wild card standings. brewers came end of july still in hunt division, front running cubs swept brewers in four-game set @ miller park. while brewers still holding on wild card lead, division never challenged remainder of year.

the brewers came off sweep cubs amazing august, winning 20 of 28 games in month. sabathia made history becoming first pitcher in on 90 years win first 9 games after being traded mid-season. steady 5 game lead wild card, hope of playoff spot seemed secured, brewers struggled in september, first getting swept new york mets, , on week later, getting swept in 4 games philadelphia phillies, losing lead in wild card. feeling change needed, brewers fired manager ned yost 12 games left in season, replacing him brewers third base coach dale sveum. sveum named garth iorg replacement third base coach, , made robin yount new bench coach, replacing ted simmons. final 6x games @ home, brewers still in hunt wild card behind new york mets. first swept pittsburgh pirates, walk-off home runs prince fielder , ryan braun, tying new york mets wild card lead 3 games go against nl central division champion chicago cubs.

the brewers took first game pinch-hit home run rickie weeks , stellar relief pitching seth mcclung. cubs took second game, wild card race still in dead tie. cc sabathia called pitch third game in week, , stellar, pitching complete game, while ryan braun hit possibly biggest home run in club history 2-run shot in 8th inning break 1–1 tie. brewers won 3–1 while new york mets lost florida marlins 4–2, sealing brewers wild card spot.

2008 nlds

the brewers finished 2008 season 1 game ahead of new york mets in wild card race final record of 90–72, , faced philadelphia phillies in nlds. first time brewers reached playoffs since 1982.

the brewers played first postseason game in 26 years on october 1. pitcher yovani gallardo made first postseason start , second start since coming off disabled list in late september. brewers lost first game of nlds 3–1 on dominant performance phillies pitcher cole hamels. hamels allowed 2 hits , struck out 9 brewers batters in 8 shutout innings. brewers mounted comeback in 9th inning closer brad lidge allowed 2 hits, walk, , run score. however, brewers right fielder corey hart struck out runners on second , third end game.

the brewers hosted game 3, first playoff game ever hosted @ miller park , first in milwaukee since game 5 of 1982 world series. brewers won, eliminated in game 4, ending brewers season while phillies went on win world series.

2009: missing playoffs

during off-season, brewers lost c.c. sabathia when filed free agency , signed lucrative deal new york yankees. despite loss of starting pitcher in sabathia, brewers able sign all-time save leader trevor hoffman. brewers not able build on success year prior falling below .500 witness prince fielder setting all-time franchise record rbi.

2010

the brewers attempted shore starting pitching signing of free agent doug davis, brewers still struggled. after 1 month, brewers released jeff suppan, doug davis got injured, , trevor hoffman struggled saves. bright spots of season brewers hitting. brewers team in baseball have 3 players 100+ rbis in ryan braun, casey mcgehee, , corey hart. brewers lost 9 games in row in may , never recovered, finishing season 77–85, 3rd place in national league central division, behind cincinnati reds , st. louis cardinals. other bright spots of season trevor hoffman getting 600th career save , emergence of new closer john axford. after season, brewers chose not renew contract of manager ken macha. in october, days after world series, brewers hired ron roenicke, bench coach of los angeles angels, brewers new manager.

2011 season: nl central champs


shaun marcum, 2011

with trades shaun marcum , zack greinke, brewers tabbed many experts favorites not win nl central division, contenders national league pennant. brewers did suffer losses in spring training, zack greinke lost rib injury keep him out month, , corey hart out first half of april hamstring injury, caused brewers make last-minute trade @ end of spring training washington nationals outfielder nyjer morgan.

the brewers struggled during first month of season, losing first 4 games of season , fell far down 5th place in nl central division, brewers rebounded starting @ end of may , throughout june , july. all-star break, brewers in 2nd place in division, behind pittsburgh , st. louis. address needed bullpen depth, brewers made shocking trade hours after all-star game, trading 2 class-a prospects new york mets ace reliever francisco rodriguez, became brewers set-up reliever closer john axford.

the brewers went on hot winning stretch through month of august , beginning of september 10 1/2 games ahead of st. louis nl central lead. though brewers scuffled in september, brewers clinched division on september 26, beating florida marlins 4-1. brewers finished season 96-66 record, best record in franchise history.

along team accomplishments, brewers had many individual achievements players. ryan braun finished season 33 homers , 33 steals while finishing second in national league in batting average, hitting .332 while prince fielder finished second in league in both home runs , rbis, hitting 38 home runs while driving in 120.

the brewers starting pitching drastically better 2010. each of brewers 5 regular starters had 10-plus wins during regular season. yovani gallardo won 17 games, brewer since 2005, zack greinke won 16 games despite missing 1 month, both shawn marcum , randy wolf won 13 games, , number 5 starter chris narveson won 11 games. first time since 1982 brewers had 5 pitchers 10 or more wins in season. brewers used fewer starting pitchers team in baseball, using 6 starting pitchers, marco estrada filling in 7 games when greinke , later narveson out injuries.

2011 postseason

the brewers faced nl west champion arizona diamondbacks in nlds , won first 2 games @ miller park, yovani gallardo pitching 8 stellar innings in 4-1 game 1 win. diamondbacks won games 3 , 4 in arizona, setting deciding game 5 in miller park. brewers had 2-1 lead going 9th inning when closer john axford blew first save since april, giving lead. brewers went on win game , series in 10th inning on base hit nyjer morgan driving in carlos gomez winning run. win, team in modern times win divisional series in both american , national leagues. brewers faced divisional foe , nl wild card winner, st. louis cardinals, had upset favored philadelphia phillies in nlds. many brewer fans welcomed facing cardinals national league pennant @ stake, brewers , cardinals having growing rivalry, , chance brewers avenge 1982 world series defeat, @ hands of cardinals. 2 teams split first 2 games @ miller park, cardinals took 2 out of 3 games @ busch stadium , won game 6 win national league pennant , world series against texas rangers. biggest reason brewers defeat downfall of starting pitching. in 11 postseason games, brewers starting pitchers had 3 quality starts, yovani gallardo accounting 2 of them, both of in nlds. other quality start randy wolf in game 4 of nlcs.

2012

in offseason, brewers lose many of spot players had helped them during season, such mark kotsay, jerry hairston, jr., , craig counsell notable loss of prince fielder, leave team via free agency after having been part of brewers organization decade. fielder end signing detroit tigers. brewers make 2 significant free agent signings during off-season, signing shortstop alex gonzalez , third baseman aramis ramierez improve left side of brewers infield. brewers sign japanese outfielder norichika aoki bring needed outfield depth.

the biggest news of during off-season, though, issue of reigning nl mvp ryan braun apparently testing positive ped s , facing possible 50-game suspension. braun appeal suspension , won on basis test not processed properly, making him first player win appeal against suspension regarding illegal substances.

despite offseason losses , controversies, brewers fans still looked forward 2012 season great optimism, brewers, end of february, had sold on 1.5 million tickets, before month of march. however, brewers started season poorly, 40-45 record all-star break. poor bullpen play put team further out of contention end of july, caused brewers trade ace pitcher zack greinke los angeles angels of anaheim in exchange top minor league shortstop jean segura , 2 minor league relief pitchers.

suddenly, in mid-august, brewers went on run put in postseason contention. bullpen started turn around , team able production several minor league call-ups, mike fiers, martin maldonado, jeff bianchi, , wily peralta. combined stellar hitting of ryan braun, aramis ramírez, corey hart, , jonathan lucroy, brewers, august 16 september 23, won 26 of 35 games. however, brewers eliminated postseason contention on september 30, 7-0 loss houston astros.

the brewers still finished winning record in 2012, going 83-79, finishing in 3rd place in nl central behind cincinnati , st. louis.

2013

the brewers hoped become contenders again in 2013, , tried shore starting pitching signing of free-agent kyle lohse, brewers, after starting off 14-11 record in april, fell flat 6-22 mark in may, , never regained momentum, finishing season 74-88.

further compounding brewers fall during season nagging injuries aramis ramírez, , ryan braun s supposed involvement biogensis scandal, resulted in braun being suspended final 60 games of regular season after admitted taking peds during 2011 playoffs. major league baseball didn t force braun surrender 2011 national league mvp award.

on field, brewers did have several individual performances gave fans hope coming seasons. shortstop jean segura finished second in national league 44 stolen bases, , carlos gomez had breakout season, batting .284 24 home runs, 40 stolen bases, , became first brewer since 1982 win gold glove award defensive play, , catcher jonathan lucroy had stellar offensive season, hitting 18 home runs , driving in 82 rbis.

2014

few experts considered brewers contenders in nl central 2014, after brewers signed free-agent starting pitcher in matt garza; expected brewers finish no better 4th in division. team improved bullpen resigning francisco rodriguez closer, trading outfielder nori aoki kansas city royals in exchange young pitcher in smith, , signing veteran slugging first baseman mark reynolds.

the brewers started season hot, going 20-7 in april, surprise of many. brewers have showed improved starting pitching, steady rotation in yovani gallardo, kyle lohse, matt garza, wily peralta, , marco estrada. in addition, francisco rodriguez regained old form, closing out first 17 saves of season, , smith became virtually untouchable, sporting 0.88 era in first 2 months of season.

though brewers showed struggles in months of may , july, team continued stay on top of standings 1 of better teams in national league, helped 18-10 record in june. mid september, however, had lost division lead st. louis cardinals , trailing behind pittsburgh pirates in national league wild card race.

the brewers in first place in division april 5 september 1, finished third in division after sub-.500 september, barely getting on .500 82-80 record.

a couple of standout performers brewers came jonathon lucroy, finished .301 batting average , led national league 53 doubles , set new major league record doubles catcher in season 48. second-year pitcher wily peralta had 17-11 record, while kyle lohse had 13-9 record 2 complete game shutouts.

2015

the offseason brewers relatively quiet, couple of trades made brewers parted 2 starting pitchers. marco estrada traded toronto blue jays first baseman adam lind, , yovani gallardo, after 8 seasons brewers , becoming franchise s all-time strikeout leader, traded texas rangers. during offseason, ryan braun, had worst season ever during 2014 (.266 avg., 19 hr, , 81 rbi s), had surgery on right thumb, had bothered him during season , thought reason behind dismal numbers. on field, brewers season went south immediately, going 5-17 in month of april. on may 4, manager ron roenicke fired , craig counsell named interim manager, staying manager brewers through rest of season, team finished 68-94.

2016: rebuilding

the brewers began mode of rebuilding team, doug melvin stepping down general manager , being replaced houston astros assistant gm, david stearns. stearns kept interim manager craig counsell, making him brewers full-time manager, , traded away on half of brewers 40-man roster 2015 before 2016 season came close. brewers finished 2016 season 73-89 record, had 41-40 record @ home, , had 2 players lead national league in major offensive categories, infielder jonathan villar leading nl, , of major league baseball, 62 stolen bases, , first baseman chris carter tied nl lead in home runs, 41. ryan braun had rebound season, .305 batting average, 30 home runs, 91 rbis, , 16 stolen bases. brewers traded away many franchise stars in exchange prospects, such jonathan lucroy , carlos gomez, , other starters, exception of ryan braun.

2017

the brewers came 2017 minimal expectations other continuing rebuilding of team. team surprised many finishing month of april @ .500, encouraging performances eric thames, chase anderson, jesus aguilar, , travis shaw. brewers continued stay around .500 next 2 months, , took advantage of struggles of cubs , cardinals, , started july hot 7-2 start, putting brewers @ 50-41 season, 5.5 games ahead of cubs in nl central @ all-star break.