1983 Milwaukee Brewers season

1983  Milwaukee Brewers
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Milwaukee County Stadium
City	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Owners	Bud Selig
General managers	Harry Dalton
Managers	Harvey Kuenn
Television	WVTV (Steve Shannon, Mike Hegan)
Radio	WTMJ (AM) (Bob Uecker, Dwayne Mosley)
←  1982 Seasons 1984  →

The 1983 Milwaukee Brewers season was the 15th in franchise history and 14th in Milwaukee. As defending American League champions, they sought to return to the World Series. This season involved the Brewers finishing fifth in the American League East with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses, missing the playoffs for the first time since 1980.

Offseason

• December 19, 1982: Ernie Camacho was signed as a free agent by the Brewers. ^[1]
• January 11, 1983: 1983 Major League Baseball draft
  • Bobby Thigpen was drafted by the Brewers in the 7th round, but did not sign. ^[2]
  • Jim Morris was drafted by the Brewers in the 1st round (4th pick) of the Secondary Phase. ^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

v t e AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	98	64	0.605	—	50–31	48–33
Detroit Tigers	92	70	0.568	6	48–33	44–37
New York Yankees	91	71	0.562	7	51–30	40–41
Toronto Blue Jays	89	73	0.549	9	48–33	41–40
Milwaukee Brewers	87	75	0.537	11	52–29	35–46
Boston Red Sox	78	84	0.481	20	38–43	40–41
Cleveland Indians	70	92	0.432	28	36–45	34–47

Record vs. opponents

1983 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	7–5	7–5	6–7	5–8	8–4	11–2	8–4	6–7	8–4	8–4	9–3	7–6
Boston	5–8	—	6–6	6–6	7–6	4–9	5–7	4–9	5–7	7–6	8–4	7–5	7–5	7–6
California	5–7	6–6	—	3–10	8–4	4–8	6–7	6–6	6–7	5–7	5–8	6–7	6–7	4–8
Chicago	5–7	6–6	10–3	—	8–4	8–4	9–4	4–8	8–5	8–4	8–5	12–1	8–5	5–7
Cleveland	7–6	6–7	4–8	4–8	—	5–8	7–5	3–10	6–6	6–7	7–5	8–4	3–9	4–9
Detroit	8–5	9–4	8–4	4–8	8–5	—	7–5	6–7	9–3	5–8	6–6	8–4	8–4	6–7
Kansas City	4–8	7–5	7–6	4–9	5–7	5–7	—	6–6	6–7	6–6	7–6	8–5	8–5–1	6–6
Milwaukee	2–11	9–4	6–6	8–4	10–3	7–6	6–6	—	8–4	4–9	6–6	5–7	8–4	8–5
Minnesota	4–8	7–5	7–6	5–8	6–6	3–9	7–6	4–8	—	4–8	4–9	9–4	5–8	5–7
New York	7–6	6–7	7–5	4–8	7–6	8–5	6–6	9–4	8–4	—	8–4	7–5	7–5	7–6
Oakland	4–8	4–8	8–5	5–8	5–7	6–6	6–7	6–6	9–4	4–8	—	9–4	2–11	6–6
Seattle	4–8	5–7	7–6	1–12	4–8	4–8	5–8	7–5	4–9	5–7	4–9	—	6–7	4–8
Texas	3–9	5–7	7–6	5–8	9–3	4–8	5–8–1	4–8	8–5	5–7	11–2	7–6	—	4–8
Toronto	6–7	6–7	8–4	7–5	9–4	7–6	6–6	5–8	7–5	6–7	6–6	8–4	8–4	—

Notable transactions

• April 1, 1983: Steve Lake was traded by the Brewers to the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later and cash. The Cubs completed the trade by sending Rich Buonantony (minors) to the Brewers on October 24. ^[4]
• June 6, 1983: 1983 Major League Baseball draft
  • Dan Plesac was drafted by the Brewers in the 1st round (26th pick). Player signed June 8, 1983. ^[5]
  • Joey Meyer was drafted by the Brewers in the 5th round. ^[6]
• June 6, 1983: Gorman Thomas, Ernie Camacho and Jamie Easterly were traded by the Brewers to the Cleveland Indians for Rick Manning and Rick Waits. ^[7]
• July 15, 1983: Danny Boone was signed as a free agent by the Brewers. ^[8]
• August 31, 1983: Sixto Lezcano was traded by the San Diego Padres with a player to be named later to the Philadelphia Phillies for players to be named later. ^[9]

Roster

1983 Milwaukee Brewers
Roster
Pitchers 46 Jerry Augustine 26 Andy Beene 48 Mike Caldwell 49 Tom Candiotti 28 Jamie Easterly 40 Bob Gibson 30 Moose Haas 27 Pete Ladd 10 Bob McClure 43 Chuck Porter 41 Jim Slaton 20,21 Don Sutton 42 Tom Tellmann 50 Pete Vuckovich 36 Rick Waits		Catchers 21 Bill Schroeder 23 Ted Simmons  5 Ned Yost Infielders 15 Cecil Cooper 17 Jim Gantner  4 Paul Molitor  8 Rob Picciolo  2 Randy Ready 11 Ed Romero 19 Robin Yount		Outfielders 29 Mark Brouhard 16 Marshall Edwards 14 Dion James 28 Rick Manning 22 Charlie Moore 24 Ben Oglivie 26 Bob Skube 20 Gorman Thomas Other batters 13 Roy Howell  7 Don Money		Manager 32 Harvey Kuenn Coaches 45 Pat Dobson  1 Dave Garcia 12 Larry Haney 18 Ron Hansen

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	Ted Simmons	153	600	185	.308	13	108
1B	Cecil Cooper	160	661	203	.307	30	126
2B	Jim Gantner	161	603	170	.282	11	74
SS	Robin Yount	149	578	178	.308	17	80
3B	Paul Molitor	152	613	167	.272	15	47
LF	Ben Oglivie	125	411	115	.280	13	66
CF	Rick Manning	108	375	86	.229	3	33
RF	Charlie Moore	151	529	150	.284	2	49
DH	Roy Howell	69	194	54	.278	4	25

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
Ned Yost	61	196	44	.224	6	28
Mark Brouhard	56	185	51	.276	7	23
Gorman Thomas	46	164	30	.183	5	18
Ed Romero	59	145	46	.317	1	18
Don Money	43	114	17	.149	1	8
Marshall Edwards	51	74	22	.297	0	5
Bill Schroeder	23	73	13	.178	3	7
Randy Ready	12	37	15	.405	1	6
Rob Picciolo	14	27	6	.222	0	1
Bob Skube	12	25	5	.200	0	9
Dion James	11	20	2	.100	0	1

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
Mike Caldwell	32	228.1	12	11	4.53	58
Don Sutton	31	220.0	8	13	4.08	134
Moose Haas	25	179.0	13	3	3.27	75
Bob McClure	24	142.0	9	9	4.50	68
Chuck Porter	25	134.0	7	9	4.50	76
Tom Candiotti	10	55.2	4	4	3.23	21
Pete Vuckovich	3	14.2	0	2	4.91	10

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
Bob Gibson	27	80.2	3	4	3.90	46
Jerry Augustine	34	64.1	3	3	5.74	40
Rick Waits	10	30.0	0	2	5.10	20
Jaime Cocanower	5	30.0	2	0	1.80	8

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
Pete Ladd	44	3	4	25	2.55	41
Jim Slaton	46	14	6	5	4.33	38
Tom Tellmann	44	9	4	8	2.80	48
Jamie Easterly	12	0	1	1	3.86	6
Andy Beene	1	0	0	0	4.50	0

Awards and honors

• Cecil Cooper, Roberto Clemente Award

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

The Brewers' farm system consisted of five minor league affiliates in 1983. ^[10] The Paintsville Brewers won the Appalachian League championship. ^[11]

Level	Team	League	Manager
Triple-A	Vancouver Canadians	Pacific Coast League	Dick Phillips and Tony Muser
Double-A	El Paso Diablos	Texas League	Tony Muser and Lee Sigman
Class A	Stockton Ports	California League	Terry Bevington
Class A	Beloit Brewers	Midwest League	Tim Nordbrook
Rookie	Paintsville Brewers	Appalachian League	Tom Gamboa

Notes

1. Ernie Camacho at Baseball-Reference
2. Bobby Thigpen at Baseball-Reference
3. Jim Morris at Baseball-Reference
4. Steve Lake at Baseball-Reference
5. Dan Plesac at Baseball-Reference
6. Joey Meyer at Baseball-Reference
7. Gorman Thomas dealt to Tribe
8. Danny Boone at Baseball-Reference
9. "Sixto Lezacano: Career Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
10. "1983 Milwaukee Brewers Minor League Affiliates". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
11. "Appalachian League Champions". Appalachian League. Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.

References

• 1983 Milwaukee Brewers team at Baseball-Reference
• 1983 Milwaukee Brewers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com