1988 Milwaukee Brewers season

The 1988 Milwaukee Brewers season was the 19th season for the Brewers in Milwaukee, and their 20th overall. The Brewers finished third in the American League East with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses. During the franchise's 25-year playoff draught from 1983–2007, 1988 tied with 2007 with 2 games back as the closest the team came to making the playoffs.

1988 Milwaukee Brewers
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Milwaukee County Stadium
City	Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Record	87–75 (.537)
Divisional place	3rd
Owners	Bud Selig
General managers	Harry Dalton
Managers	Tom Trebelhorn
Television	WVTV (Jim Paschke, Mike Hegan)
Radio	WTMJ (AM) (Bob Uecker, Pat Hughes)
← 1987 Seasons 1989 →

Offseason

• November 11, 1987: Bryan Clutterbuck was signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Brewers. ^[1]
• November 11, 1987: Bill Mooneyham was signed as a free agent by the Brewers.^[2]
• January 19, 1988: Ronn Reynolds was signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Brewers.^[3]

Regular season

• April 4, 1988: The largest margin of victory in a shutout win on Opening Day was the Brewers' 12-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles in 1988.^[4]
• April 19, 1988: The Orioles tied the 1904 Washington Senators and the 1920 Detroit Tigers for most losses to start the season with 13 losses after being beaten by the Brewers, 9–5, in Milwaukee.^[5]
• April 20, 1988: On a cold, wet night, 7,284 witnessed baseball history at Milwaukee's County Stadium. Baltimore became the first team in the 120-odd years of major league baseball to start the season 0–14 as the Brewers won, 8–6.^[5]
• June 12, 1988: Robin Yount had 6 RBIs in a game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	89	73	.549	—	53‍–‍28	36‍–‍45
Detroit Tigers	88	74	.543	1	50‍–‍31	38‍–‍43
Milwaukee Brewers	87	75	.537	2	47‍–‍34	40‍–‍41
Toronto Blue Jays	87	75	.537	2	45‍–‍36	42‍–‍39
New York Yankees	85	76	.528	3½	46‍–‍34	39‍–‍42
Cleveland Indians	78	84	.481	11	44‍–‍37	34‍–‍47
Baltimore Orioles	54	107	.335	34½	34‍–‍46	20‍–‍61

Record vs. opponents

1988 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	4–9	5–7	4–7	4–9	5–8	0–12	4–9	3–9	3–10	4–8	7–5	6–6	5–8
Boston	9–4	—	8–4	7–5	8–5	6–7	6–6	10–3	7–5	9–4	3–9	6–6	8–4	2–11
California	7–5	4–8	—	9–4	8–4	5–7	5–8	3–9	4–9	6–6	4–9	6–7	8–5	6–6
Chicago	7–4	5–7	4–9	—	3–9	3–9	7–6	6–6	4–9	3–9	5–8	9–4	8–5	7–5
Cleveland	9–4	5–8	4–8	9–3	—	4–9	6–6	9–4	5–7	6–7	4–8	5–7	6–6	6–7
Detroit	8–5	7–6	7–5	9–3	9–4	—	8–4	5–8	1–11	8–5	4–8	9–3	8–4	5–8
Kansas City	12–0	6–6	8–5	6–7	6–6	4–8	—	3–9	7–6	6–6	8–5	7–5	7–6	4–8
Milwaukee	9–4	3–10	9–3	6–6	4–9	8–5	9–3	—	7–5	6–7	3–9	8–4	8–4	7–6
Minnesota	9–3	5–7	9–4	9–4	7–5	11–1	6–7	5–7	—	3–9	5–8	8–5	7–6	7–5
New York	10–3	4–9	6–6	9–3	7–6	5–8	6–6	7–6	9–3	—	6–6	5–7	5–6	6–7
Oakland	8–4	9–3	9–4	8–5	8–4	8–4	5–8	9–3	8–5	6–6	—	9–4	8–5	9–3
Seattle	5–7	6–6	7–6	4–9	7–5	3–9	5–7	4–8	5–8	7–5	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	6–6	4–8	5–8	5–8	6–6	4–8	6–7	4–8	6–7	6–5	5–8	7–6	—	6–6
Toronto	8–5	11–2	6–6	5–7	7–6	8–5	8–4	6–7	5–7	7–6	3–9	7–5	6–6	—

Notable transactions

• June 1, 1988: 1988 Major League Baseball draft
  • Pat Listach was drafted by the Brewers in the 5th round. Player signed June 28, 1988.^[6]
  • Mike Ignasiak was drafted by the Brewers in the 8th round.^[7]
• June 8, 1988: Ernest Riles was traded by the Brewers to the San Francisco Giants for Jeffrey Leonard.^[8]

Roster

1988 Milwaukee Brewers
Roster
Pitchers 38 Don August 40 Mike Birkbeck 29 Chris Bosio 25 Mark Clear 32 Chuck Crim 39 Tom Filer 49 Teddy Higuera 28 Odell Jones 41 Mark Knudson 27 Paul Mirabella 20 Juan Nieves 37 Dan Plesac 43 Dave Stapleton 46 Bill Wegman		Catchers 22 Charlie O'Brien 21 Bill Schroeder  5 B. J. Surhoff Infielders  9 Greg Brock  3 Juan Castillo 17 Jim Gantner 30 Steve Kiefer 23 Joey Meyer  4 Paul Molitor  1 Ernest Riles 13 Billy Jo Robidoux  1 Gary Sheffield  7 Dale Sveum		Outfielders 14 Jim Adduci 26 Glenn Braggs 45 Rob Deer 16 Mike Felder 18 Darryl Hamilton 00 Jeffrey Leonard  2 Mike Young 19 Robin Yount		Manager 42 Tom Trebelhorn Coaches  8 Andy Etchebarren 12 Larry Haney 24 Chuck Hartenstein 10 Dave Hilton 35 Tony Muser

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	B. J. Surhoff	139	493	121	.245	5	38
1B	Greg Brock	115	364	77	.212	6	50
2B	Jim Gantner	155	539	149	.276	0	47
SS	Dale Sveum	129	467	113	.242	9	51
3B	Paul Molitor	154	609	190	.312	13	60
LF	Jeffrey Leonard	94	374	88	.235	8	44
CF	Robin Yount	162	621	190	.306	13	91
RF	Rob Deer	135	492	124	.252	23	85
DH	Joey Meyer	103	327	86	.263	11	45

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
Glenn Braggs	72	272	71	.261	10	42
Ernest Riles	41	127	32	.252	1	9
Bill Schroeder	41	122	19	.156	5	10
Charlie O'Brien	40	118	26	.220	2	9
Darryl Hamilton	44	103	19	.184	1	11
Jim Adduci	44	94	25	.266	1	15
Billy Jo Robidoux	33	91	23	.253	0	5
Juan Castillo	54	90	20	.222	0	2
Mike Felder	50	81	14	.173	0	5
Gary Sheffield	24	80	19	.238	4	12
Mike Young	8	14	0	.000	0	0
Steve Kiefer	7	10	3	.300	1	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
Teddy Higuera	31	227.1	16	9	2.45	192
Bill Wegman	32	199.0	13	13	4.12	84
Don August	24	148.1	13	7	3.09	66
Mike Birkbeck	23	124.0	10	8	4.72	64
Tom Filer	19	101.2	5	8	4.43	39

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
Chris Bosio	38	182.0	7	15	3.36	84
Juan Nieves	25	110.1	7	5	4.08	73

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
Dan Plesac	50	1	2	30	2.41	52
Chuck Crim	70	7	6	9	2.91	58
Paul Mirabella	38	2	2	4	1.65	33
Odell Jones	28	5	0	1	4.35	48
Mark Clear	25	1	0	0	2.79	26
Dave Stapleton	6	0	0	0	5.93	6
Mark Knudson	5	0	0	0	1.13	7

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

The Brewers' farm system consisted of six minor league affiliates in 1988.^[9] The AZL Brewers won the Arizona League championship.^[10]

Level	Team	League	Manager
Triple-A	Denver Zephyrs	American Association	Duffy Dyer
Double-A	El Paso Diablos	Texas League	Dave Machemer
Class A	Stockton Ports	California League	Dave Huppert
Class A	Beloit Brewers	Midwest League	Gomer Hodge
Rookie	AZL Brewers	Arizona League	Alex Taveras
Rookie	Helena Brewers	Pioneer League	Dusty Rhodes