Building the Brewers: Bud Selig and the Return of Major League Baseball to Milwaukee was published by McFarland & Company on October 31, 2019. Readers of the book will discover: The owners, teams, and ballparks behind decades of minor league baseball in Milwaukee and Seattle The rise and fall of the Milwaukee Braves, leading to…
It took nearly seven full seasons until the Milwaukee Brewers had a player hit for the cycle, and it came from an unexpected member of the team on September 3, 1976. Light hitting first baseman/outfielder Mike Hegan had 10 seasons behind him in the majors with just a .244 batting average. He made a career…
Here’s a little story about Archie, Bob, and Ken Reynolds… Three pitchers with the same surname but not related. They made appearances with Milwaukee in three consecutive years (1971-73), but not on the roster together at any point. Each had a brief stay with the Brewers. None of them made more than five appearances or…
The 1977 Kansas City Royals were a powerhouse outfit who looked great in their powder blue uniforms. The Milwaukee Brewers, on the other hand, spent the season spinning out of control, leading to the team’s glorious ball and glove logo and pinstripe uniforms debuting in 1978. For one day – June 12 – both teams…
The 1972 Milwaukee Brewers offense had a rough go of it all season, which was a big reason why the team finished in 6th place at 65-91 in the AL East. Catcher Ellie Rodriguez led the team in batting average with .288, but he wasn’t even quite an everyday player, as he had 355 at…
The last couple weeks have been crazy for me – quite surreal, to put it mildly. First, Clayton Trutor from Down the Drive on SB Nation contacted me about the Brewers book. We had a great conversation over topics ranging from the one thing I’d like readers to take away from the book to my…
The 1988 Baltimore Orioles are remembered as being one of the worst teams in franchise history, as they staggered to a 54-107 record (only eclipsed by the 2018 team with a 47-115 mark). They had the worst start to a season in MLB history with an 0-21 record. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers were enjoying a…
When I submitted my book proposal to McFarland, one of the items was an Abstract. It’s a fancy way to say outline/descriptive table of contents. My original Abstract had around 14 chapters and a larger scope for the book. I wrapped up the book in 2004 when Bud Selig’s family sold the team to Mark…
Maverick Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley experimented with baseball rule changes in 1971, namely going to a three-ball walk to cut down on length of games and promote more offense. Milwaukee Brewers General Manager Frank Lane agreed with Finley, and in fact, had proposed the idea several years earlier. “I suggested it a dozen years…
I recently finished reading Phinally and must say, it is most certainly a winner, and a book that will be worth revisiting again and again. Written by J. Daniel and published by McFarland & Company, it covers exactly what the title says – the 1980 baseball season with a bit more focus on the Phillies…
Chris Zantow 