(For the circa-1900 major league baseball team once known as the Milwaukee Brewers, see Baltimore Orioles.) There was also a 20th-century minor league team named the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Milwaukee Brewers are a Major League Baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They are in the Central Division of the National League. The Brewers were part of the American League through the 1997 season, after which they switched to the National League.

Founded: 1969 (American League expansion)

Formerly known as: Seattle Pilots (Sick's Stadium) (1969). The franchise relocated to Milwaukee and changed its name prior to the 1970 season.

Home ballpark: Miller Park, Milwaukee (2001 ~ current; capacity 42,500), Milwaukee County Stadium (1970~2000)

Uniform colors: Midnight Blue, White, and Gold

Logo design: The word "Brewers" in script superimposed over a baseball which itself is inside a circle with the word "MILWAUKEE" above and a pair of crossed hops ears below

Official Team Mascot: Bernie Brewer

Wild Card titles won (0): none

Division titles won (2): 1981, 1982

American League pennants won (1): 1982

National League pennants won (0): none

World Series championships won (0): none

Franchise history

Much of the story of the Seattle Pilots' only year in existence is told in Jim Bouton's classic baseball book, Ball Four.

The team was purchased on April 1, 1970 by an ownership group headed by Milwaukee auto dealer Bud Selig. The team was still in spring training as the Seattle Pilots. The trucks carrying the team's equipment were sent to Salt Lake City, Utah from Arizona, where they were to receive instruction whether to continue to Seattle or Milwaukee. The team was renamed the Brewers to honor Milwaukee's beer-brewing traditions. (The city had also had a major-league team by that name around 1900, plus a minor-league team with the same name in the first half of the 20th century.) The team had six days to remove the Pilots logos from team uniforms and replace them with Brewers logos.

The team was moved from the American League to the National League in 1998 during baseball's realignment in order to make sure that each league had an even number of teams. Major League Baseball wished to keep interleague play in designated blocks during the season. Making both leagues equal in size would have meant that each league would have 15 teams, an odd number. In turn, this would have required that single interleague games be scattered throughout the season. Therefore, it was decided to have a 16-team National League and a 14-team American League.

The Selig family's ownership of the Brewers is the longest continuing ownership in the majors now. Wendy Selig-Prieb, Bud's daughter, is now CEO. However, on January 16, 2004, Selig announced that he was putting the team up for sale, and had retained a New York firm to handle the deal. In September of 2004, it was announced that the Brewers had reached an oral agreement with Los Angeles investment banker Mark Attanasio to purchase the team for US$180 million.

One of the most memorable events of the 2003 season occurred at Miller Park on July 9th. During the Brewers' "Sausage Race," in which four contestants wearing sausage costumes have a footrace on the field, Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Randall Simon leaned over the dugout railing and hit college student Mandy Block with a bat. Block suffered only a scraped knee. Simon was arrested, charged, and fined for disorderly conduct. He was also suspended by Major League Baseball, and would issue an apology to Block.

The Brewers are featured prominently in the 2004 film Mr. 3000.

Players of note

Baseball Hall of Famers

• Henry Aaron
• Hugh Duffy
• Rollie Fingers
• Paul Molitor
• Don Sutton
• Robin Yount

Current stars

• Mike Adams (RP)
• Gary Bennett (C)
• Jeff Bennet (RP)
• Russell Branyan (3B)
• Dave Burba (RP)
• Chris Capuano (SP)
• Brady Clark (RF)
• Doug Davis (SP)
• Bill Hall (2B)
• Wes Helms (3B)
• Geoff Jenkins (LF)
• Brooks Kieschnick (RP-PH)
• Dan Kolb (RP)
• Carlos Lee (LF)
• Chris Magruder (OF)
• Damian Miller (C)
• Chad Moeller (C)
• Lyle Overbay (1B)
• Victor Santos (SP)
• Ben Sheets (SP)
• Junior Spivey (2B)
• Matt Wise (SP)

Not to be forgotten

Brewers

• Mike Caldwell
• Jeff Cirillo
• Cecil Cooper
• Craig Counsell
• Mike Fetters
• Darryl Hamilton
• Ted Higuera
• John Jaha
• Lew Krausse
• Pat Listach
• Dave May
• Dave Nilsson
• Ben Oglivie
• Scott Podsednik
• Richie Sexson
• Ted Simmons
• Gorman Thomas
• José Valentín

Pilots

• Steve Barber
• Jim Bouton
• Gene Brabender (*)
• George Brunet
• Tommy Davis
• Gus Gil (*)
• Tommy Harper (*)
• Mike Hegan (*)
• Bob Locker (*)
• Skip Lockwood (*)
• Don Mincher
• Marty Pattin (*)
• Diego Segui
• Fred Talbot

(*) Both clubs

Retired numbers

• 4 Paul Molitor
• 19 Robin Yount
• 34 Rollie Fingers
• 42 Jackie Robinson (retired throughout baseball)
• 44 Henry Aaron

Minor league affiliates

• Nashville Sounds (AAA, Pacific Coast League)
• Huntsville Stars (AA, Southern League)
• Brevard County Manatees (High-A, Florida State League)
• West Virginia Power (A, South Atlantic League)
• Arizona Brewers (Rookie, Arizona League)
• Helena Brewers (Rookie, Pioneer League)

External links

• Milwaukee Brewers official web site (http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mil/homepage/mil_homepage.jsp)
• Detailed story of the Pilots and their move to Milwaukee (http://www.brandx.net/pilots/histindx.html)
• Milwaukee Brewers News (http://www.sportznow.com/teams/mil.htm)