It just might come as a shock to anyone reading this, but the Brew Crew was actually in 1st place in the AL East on June 19th. By this point in the season the 5th year expansion club was usually firmly in the dungeon. By that point the true contenders began to surge as the Brewers began to fade. On August 2nd they were still within striking distance (6.5 GB), but by the end of the month they were down by double digits and playing for next year. A 4-15 finish down the stretch deprived them of a chance to at least finish above .500 for the first time in franchise history. Offensively the team ws paced by newly acquired 1st baseman George "the Boomer" Scott who hit .306 with 24 "taters" and 107 RBI's. The team had 7 starters hitting double digit homers. The pitching staff was led by 27 year old Jim Colburn who finished 20-12, 3.18 while throwing and incredible 22 complete games over 314 innings. Jim Slaton ate innings (276), but had a sub par record (13-15, 3.71). Frank Linzy closed out 33 games with 13 saves and Skip Lockwood (5-12, 3.90) bridged the gap to Linzy with 154 innings.
Things did not start well for Milwaukee as their home opener was snowed out and delayed 3 days. You can read the full story here. You can see a great list of season highlights at this Brewer fan site.
Prior to the season this was Sports Illustrated's preview of Milwaukee's chances in 1973:
There are financial problems in Milwaukee and a new player named Money. The latter is not likely to solve the former. The Brewers barely reached 600,000 in home attendance last season. They had to scrape to put nine men on the field; now they must find a 10th. "We ain't got no hitters," says First Baseman George Scott. "How we gonna have designated hitters?" Good question. Milwaukee scored one run or none in nearly a third of its 1972 games. Don Money moves into County Stadium from Philadelphia and he is an excellent defensive player, but one who has yet to hit up to his potential. At least he has potential.
21 new cards were created to complete the set.
After completing parts of 4 seasons with the Phillies Champion arrived in Milwaukee as part of the Don Money deal that was consummated at the end of the '72 season. In 30 games (11 starts) the 25 year old Champion was 5-8, 3.70 with 2 complete games and a save. The following season Champion improved to 11-4, but it was all downhill after that. After being released by the Brewers and picked up by the Braves he was assigned to Richmond (AAA) where he pitched poorly. The following season he found his way back to where it all started for him, the Phillies system. In 29 games he was battered around (2-5, 7.20) in OKC before being shown the door.
Coluccio was drafted in the 17th round of the 1969 Major League Draft by his hometown Seattle Pilots, played five seasons for three teams. The Centralia, Wash. native debuted with the Milwaukee Brewers and also played with the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. In addition, he had a minor league stint with the Houston Astros organization and was traded to the New York Mets organization before instead electing to retire at age 28 after 370 big league games that included 1,095 at-bats, 241 hits (a .220 lifetime average), 26 home runs and 114 runs batted in. His best season was his 1973 rookie campaign in which he hit .224 in 438 at-bats with 15 homers, 58 RBIs, 44 extra-base hits and 13 stolen bases. Coluccio said he was anything but awed by having made "The Show" at age 21. "I never dreamed of playing in the major leagues," he said. "I didn't see a major league game until I played in one. I really didn't understand what it was like until I got there. I really didn't see it as being any different than where I came from."
After hitting pretty well in Triple A (.290 w/9 HR's) he returned to Milwaukee in early July and then split time between outfield and DH. Bobby wasn’t the best fielder and he tended to have trouble with inside fastballs, which helped contribute to pretty high strikeout totals. But he was fast and the Brewers weren’t exactly rife with outfield All-Stars. He’d get increasing at bats the next couple years and then a lot more after he did his big move overseas to Japan where he led the Japanese league in HR's one season (36) and had well over 100 HR's in 4 years there.
Born in Loiza, Puerto Rico, Velázquez joined the Milwaukee Brewers of the American League during the 1973 midseason. He posted a 2–2 record and saved two games in his brief majors stint. He also pitched eight Minor league seasons from 1969 through 1976, going 46–48 with a 2.69 earned run average in 301 appearances.
Charlie Moore spent 14 of his 15 major league seasons in Milwaukee. He was a hard nosed gritty player who split time between catcher and right field. Never a power threat Moore did hit for average and had a rocket for an arm. In 1980 he hit for the cycle and swiped two bases in the same game. The only man in MLB history to do that. As a 20 year old he saw action in just 8 games for the Brew Crew in '73 hitting just .185.
After being released by the Phillies at the end of the '72 season 35 year old Chris Short signed a one year deal with the Brewers. Short pitched in 42 games (7 starts) for Milwaukee and went 3-5, 5.13 in 72 innings worth of work He had some fine years in Philly going 132-127, 3.38 over 14 seasons with a 20 win season in 1966 and a 19 win season in 1968. At the conclusion of the '73 season he hung up his spikes. In 1979 he was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame. Tragically he died of a brain aneurysm just 9 years later at the age of 53.
In 8 of Crandall's 11 seasons with the Milwaukee Braves he was an All-Star catcher who won 4 gold gloves. When he completed his major league career in 1966 he eventually turned to managing, and piloted two American League clubs, the Milwaukee Brewers (1972–75) and the Seattle Mariners (1983–84).[24] In each case he was hired to try to right a losing team in mid-season, but he never enjoyed a winning campaign with either team and finished with a managing record of 364-469 (.437). In between those American League stints, he was a highly successful manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers' top farm club, the Albuquerque Dukes of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, and also managed the Class A San Bernardino Stampede from 1995 to 1997.[25] He remained in the Dodger organization as a special catching instructor well into his 60s. He also worked as a sports announcer with the Chicago White Sox radio team from 1985 through 1988 and with the Brewers from 1992-94
After 4 seasons with the lowly Phillies Money needed a change of pace and the Phils needed to make room for some rookie named Schmidt. The move benefited both parties. "Easy" Money hit a solid .284 in 145 games for the Brew crew in '73. He would remain with the club as either a starter or platoon player for the next 10 seasons. He retired after the '83 season having played in the World Series the previous season hitting .231 in 13 AB's. In 11 seasons in Milwaukee he hit .270 with 134 home runs and 4 All-Star appearances.
Milwaukee was Sprague's 3rd stop during the '73 season. After moving from Cincy to St. Louis he found his way to the Brewers and was 0-1, 9.31 in 7 games. He rebounded nicely in '74 and finised 7-2, 2.38. It went downhill quite quickly after that and he was out of baseball at the age of 30.
21 year old Rodriguez acquitted himself quite well in his rookie campaign going 9-7, 3.30 in 30 games spread over 76+ innings. His walk to strikeout ratio was almost 1 to 1, but he seemed to get out of trouble when he had to. After 5 more seasons as a middle reliever / spot starter he moved over to KC (1979) and was released by the Royals after the season ended.
After 3 seasons as the Brewers starting catcher Rodriguez was traded at the end of the '73 season to the Angels to make way for Darrell Porter and Charlie Moor. In his final season in Milwaukee he hit .269, but had zero homers. After 2 seasons in Anaheim and one final season in LA Ellie's major league career was over. He was an AL All-Star in 1969 and 1972. After a poor '77 season in AAA Columbus (PIT) he played 4 seasons in the Mexican League.
Ryerson was drafted in the thirteenth round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft by the San Francisco Giants. In 1971, Ryerson was traded along with minor league player Wes Scott to the Milwaukee Brewers for John Morris. During his time with the Brewers, Ryerson played parts of two seasons at the Major League level. In 1973, he was traded along with Ollie Brown, Joe Lahoud, Skip Lockwood, and Ellie Rodríguez to the California Angels for Steve Barber, Ken Berry, Art Kusnyer, Clyde Wright, and cash. Later that year, Ryerson was selected by the Giants in the Rule 5 draft, but never played at the Major League level with the organization. After going 3-8, 3.62 in 1972 he was only 0-1, 7.83 in '73.
The "Boomer" led the AL in Total Bases (294) in 1973 where he hit .306 with 24 homers and 107 RBI's. After arriving from the Red Sox the previous year he became the Brewers first true offensive star. Th 8 time gold glover played 5 of his 14 seasons in Milwaukee then wound up back in Boston. He hit 271 lifetime homers and batted .268.
"Stormin' Gorman" didn't exactly take the AL by storm as a 22 year old rookie in 1973. Thomas hit just .187 with 2 homers in 155 AB's. It would take 5 seasons for him to solidify a spot in the Brewers lineup. Never a big average guy, and definitely a high strikeout guy Thomas could certainly hit the longball. He led the league twice in homers (1979 & 1982) as well as in strikeouts. Surprisingly for a big man he was an above average centerfielder. In 17 post season games he hit a miserable .102 with 2 homers.
Vuk was one of the most beloved players in Phillies history even though he only hit over .200 twice in a 10 year career. Fans loved his blue collar attitude and glove work at third base. In 1971 he hit just .166 in 217 AB's for the Phils. When he got to Milwaukee he hit just .125 in 128 AB's in '73 and .188 in '74 before bouncing to Cincy and then back to Philly where he became Mike Schmidt's "caddie". After his playing career was over he became a beloved coach until his untimely passing in 2007.
Reynolds had a good minor-league career, but failed to translate his success into the Major Leagues. He appeared in 103 games played, 51 as a starting pitcher and 52 in relief. In 375 2⁄3 innings pitched, he surrendered 370 hits and 196 bases on balls, with 197 strikeouts. He lost 12 straight decisions from the start of 1972, tying a National League record. In his only season with the Brewers (1973) Reynolds was 0-1, 7.36 in just 7+ innings of work after going 14-13, 3.75 in 216 innings at AAA Evansville. He would get 2 more chances at the bigs (1975-STL & 1976-SDP) before spending his final 3 professional seasons in AAA for the Indians (1977) and the Blue Jays (1978-79) in Syracuse.
I took the photo from his original '73 card and colored the hat a bit more blue and airbrushed in the Brewer "M" logo.
Having made his major league debut with the Milwaukee Brewers a month shy of his twentieth birthday on September 8, 1973, he holds the distinction of being the only pitcher in franchise history to make his major league debut as a teenager. Kobel joined the Brewers as a September call-up in 1973. He began his major league career with a perfect inning of work in which he struck out the first two New York Yankees batters he faced and inducted a weak ground ball to first base from the third. In his second inning, however, he surrendered a grand slam to light hitting shortstop Fred Stanley. Kobel finished the '73 season with a 0-1, 8.64 record in 2 games worth of work. After going 6-14, 3.99 the following season he developed arm trouble and spent all but 3 games in the next 3 seasons in the minors. A trade to the Mets after the '77 season saw him get a chance to show that he was a major leaguer. Playing for the offensively challenged Amazin's Kobel put together two fine seasons in 1978 and 1979, but once again developed arm issues in 1980 (1-4, 7.03) and would up back in the minors for 2 more seasons before being forced to retire.
With the departure of Ron Theobald, Garcia was named the Brewers' starting second baseman for the 1973 season, and made his Major League debut on April 6, going hitless in three at-bats against Dave McNally in a 10-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Garcia earned his first career hit the next day, a home run against the Orioles' Mike Cuellar in an extra inning 8-7 loss. As a rookie, Garcia hit .245 with 15 HR and 54 RBI in 160 games, as well as leading the American League with 32 doubles, as he finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting to Al Bumbry of the Baltimore Orioles. Garcia also led all AL second basemen with 27 errors. In 1974, Garcia batted .199 with 12 HR and 54 RBI in 147 games. In 1975, Garcia lost playing time to Kurt Bevacqua and Bob Sheldon, appearing in only 98 games, hitting .225 with 6 HR and 38 RBI. Garcia also led the American League with a .985 fielding percentage at second base. Garcia began the 1976 season with the Brewers, where in 41 games, he hit .217 with one home run and 9 RBI. On June 10, the Brewers traded Garcia to the Detroit Tigers for Gary Sutherland.
Gardner appeared in three games for the A's in 1973 when his contract was purchased by the Milwaukee Brewers. He appeared in ten games for the Brewers, the last of which (July 13, 1973), he lasted just a third of an inning and gave up four runs to the A's. Following the game, he was returned to the A's. He spent 1974 in the Detroit Tigers' organization, and 1975 back in the Yankees' farm system before retiring. Garder was 1-1, 9.95 in 12 innings of work with the Brewers in '73.
Johnson was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for Rick Auerbach prior to the 1973 season while still a minor leaguer. Johnson played everyday for the 1973 Brewers at shortstop, but lost his starting job next season to some guy named Yount, thus forcing him to settle in as a utility infielder. He was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays during the 1978 season where he retired a year later with a lifetime .223 batting average in 516 career games. Johnson spent parts of 7 seasons in the majors and played in 516 games and never hit a home run. His best season in the pros was 1976 where he got into 105 games and .275 for the Brewers. Johnson played for the Blue Jays for the the final 2 years of his career (1978-79). He parlayed that into a shot at managing the team 20 years later. Johnson did well at first narrowly missing a Wild Card playoff spot. When he admitted to lying about being a Vietnam War hero his credibility was shot and it was only a matter of time before he was fired.
Howard was selected in the 19th round of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft by the Seattle Pilots, who would move to Milwaukee and become the Brewers after the season. Howard played in the Brewers organization for the next four seasons, getting a September call-up in 1973, when he batted .205 in 39 at bats. The following spring, he was traded to the Houston Astros in exchange for Robin's brother Larry Yount and another minor leaguer. In 5 seasons in Houston as the team's 4th outfielder he hit a respectable .252. In his one season in Milwaukee (1973) he hit .205 in just 16 games after hitting an even .270 in 130 games in AAA Evansville. After being relegated to AAA by the Astros in 1979 Howrd hit .241 with no homers and was released. He spent the next 4 seasons playing for Yucatan of the Mexican League before retiring at the age of 34 after the '83 season.
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