Owner(s) Bud Selig Manager(s) Dave Bristol Stats ESPN.com
BB-reference | General manager(s) Marvin Milkes Local television WTMJ-TV | |
Local radio WEMP
(Merle Harmon, Tom Collins) | ||
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.
Contents
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
Opening Day starters
Notable transactions
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Farm system
Jacksonville affiliation shared with Montreal Expos