1987 Milwaukee Brewers season

The 1987 Milwaukee Brewers season featured the team finish in third place in the American League East, with a record of 91 wins and 71 losses. The team began the season at a red-hot pace, winning their first 13 games under first-year manager Tom Trebelhorn before losing 12 games in a row in May. Other highlights included Paul Molitor capturing the imaginations of Milwaukee fans with a 39-game hitting streak and Juan Nieves tossing the first no-hitter in Brewers history on April 15 with a 7-0 blanking of the Baltimore Orioles.^[1]

1987 Milwaukee Brewers
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Milwaukee County Stadium
City	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Owners	Bud Selig
General managers	Harry Dalton
Managers	Tom Trebelhorn
Television	WVTV (Jim Paschke, Mike Hegan)
Radio	WTMJ (AM) (Bob Uecker, Pat Hughes)
← 1986 Seasons 1988 →

Offseason

• December 10, 1986: Tim Leary and Tim Crews were traded by the Brewers to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Greg Brock.^[2]

Regular season

Season standings

v t e AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Detroit Tigers	98	64	0.605	—	54–27	44–37
Toronto Blue Jays	96	66	0.593	2	52–29	44–37
Milwaukee Brewers	91	71	0.562	7	48–33	43–38
New York Yankees	89	73	0.549	9	51–30	38–43
Boston Red Sox	78	84	0.481	20	50–30	28–54
Baltimore Orioles	67	95	0.414	31	31–51	36–44
Cleveland Indians	61	101	0.377	37	35–46	26–55

Record vs. opponents

1987 American League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	1–12	9–3	8–4	7–6	4–9	9–3	2–11	5–7	3–10	7–5	4–8	7–5	1–12
Boston	12–1	—	4–8	3–9	7–6	2–11	6–6	6–7	7–5	7–6	4–8	7–5	7–5	6–7
California	3–9	8–4	—	8–5	7–5	3–9	5–8	7–5	8–5	3–9	6–7	7–6	5–8	5–7
Chicago	4–8	9–3	5–8	—	7–5	3–9	6–7	6–6	6–7	5–7	9–4	6–7	7–6	4–8
Cleveland	6–7	6–7	5–7	5–7	—	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	6–7	4–8	5–7	2–10	5–8
Detroit	9–4	11–2	9–3	9–3	9–4	—	5–7	6–7	8–4	5–8	5–7	7–5	8–4	7–6
Kansas City	3–9	6–6	8–5	7–6	6–6	7–5	—	4–8	8–5	5–7	5–8	9–4	7–6	8–4
Milwaukee	11–2	7–6	5–7	6–6	9–4	7–6	8–4	—	3–9	7–6	6–6	4–8	9–3	9–4
Minnesota	7–5	5–7	5–8	7–6	9–3	4–8	5–8	9–3	—	6–6	10–3	9–4	6–7	3–9
New York	10–3	6–7	9–3	7–5	7–6	8–5	7–5	6–7	6–6	—	5–7	7–5	5–7	6–7
Oakland	5–7	8–4	7–6	4–9	8–4	7–5	8–5	6–6	3–10	7–5	—	5–8	6–7	7–5
Seattle	8–4	5–7	6–7	7–6	7–5	5–7	4–9	8–4	4–9	5–7	8–5	—	9–4	2–10
Texas	5–7	5–7	8–5	6–7	10–2	4–8	6–7	3–9	7–6	7–5	7–6	4–9	—	3–9
Toronto	12–1	7–6	7–5	8–4	8–5	6–7	4–8	4–9	9–3	7–6	5–7	10–2	9–3	—

Notable transactions

• June 2, 1987: 1987 Major League Baseball draft
  • Brian Turang was drafted by the Brewers in the 20th round, but did not sign.^[3]
  • Mark Kiefer was drafted by the Brewers in the 21st round.^[4]
• June 15, 1987: Jim Morris was released by the Brewers.^[5]
• June 29, 1987: Russ McGinnis was traded by the Brewers to the Oakland Athletics for Bill Mooneyham.^[6]
• July 16, 1987: Skeeter Barnes was purchased by the Brewers from the St. Louis Cardinals.^[7]
• July 30, 1987: Ray Burris was signed as a free agent by the Brewers.^[8]

Roster

1987 Milwaukee Brewers
Roster
Pitchers 33 Jay Aldrich 39 Len Barker 40 Mike Birkbeck 29 Chris Bosio 48 Ray Burris 34 Mark Ciardi 25 Mark Clear 32 Chuck Crim 49 Teddy Higuera 38 John Henry Johnson 41 Mark Knudson 31 Alex Madrid 27 Paul Mirabella 20 Juan Nieves 37 Dan Plesac 43 Dave Stapleton 46 Bill Wegman		Catchers 11 Charlie O'Brien 21 Bill Schroeder  5 B. J. Surhoff Infielders  9 Greg Brock  3 Juan Castillo 17 Jim Gantner 30 Steve Kiefer  4 Paul Molitor 14 Jim Paciorek  1 Ernest Riles 13 Billy Jo Robidoux  7 Dale Sveum		Outfielders 26 Glenn Braggs 45 Rob Deer 16 Mike Felder 36 Brad Komminsk 28 Rick Manning 19 Robin Yount Other batters 15 Cecil Cooper 22 Steve Stanicek		Manager 42 Tom Trebelhorn Coaches  8 Andy Etchebarren (Bench) 12 Larry Haney (Bullpen) 24 Chuck Hartenstein (Pitching) 10 Dave Hilton (First base) 35 Tony Muser (Third base/hitting)

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	115	395	118	.299	7	68
1B	Greg Brock	141	532	159	.299	13	85
2B	Juan Castillo	116	321	72	.224	3	28
3B	Ernest Riles	83	276	72	.261	4	38
SS	Dale Sveum	153	535	135	.252	25	95
LF	Rob Deer	134	474	113	.238	28	80
CF	Robin Yount	158	635	218	.312	21	103
RF	Glenn Braggs	132	505	136	.269	13	77
DH	Cecil Cooper	63	250	62	.248	6	36

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
Paul Molitor	118	465	164	.353	16	75
Mike Felder	108	289	77	.266	2	31
Jim Gantner	81	265	72	.272	4	30
Bill Schroeder	75	250	83	.332	14	42
Rick Manning	97	114	26	.228	0	13
Jim Paciorek	48	101	23	.228	2	10
Steve Kiefer	28	99	20	.202	5	17
Billy Jo Robidoux	23	62	12	.194	0	4
Charlie O'Brien	10	35	7	.200	0	0
Brad Komminsk	7	15	1	.067	0	0
Steve Stanicek	4	7	2	.286	0	0

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	35	261.2	18	10	3.85	240
Bill Wegman	34	225.0	12	11	4.24	102
Juan Nieves	34	195.2	14	8	4.88	163
Mike Birkbeck	10	45.0	1	4	6.20	25
Len Barker	11	43.2	2	1	5.36	22
Mark Ciardi	4	16.1	1	1	9.37	8

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	46	170.0	11	8	5.24	150
Mark Knudson	15	62.0	4	4	5.37	26
John Henry Johnson	10	26.1	0	1	9.57	18
Ray Burris	10	23.0	2	2	5.87	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
Dan Plesac	57	5	6	23	2.61	89
Chuck Crim	53	6	8	12	3.67	56
Mark Clear	58	8	5	6	4.48	81
Paul Mirabella	29	2	1	2	4.91	14
Jay Aldrich	31	3	1	0	4.94	22
Dave Stapleton	4	2	0	0	1.84	14
Alex Madrid	3	0	0	0	15.19	1

Awards and honors

• Paul Molitor, Hutch Award^[9]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

The Brewers' farm system consisted of five minor league affiliates in 1987.^[10]

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

Notes

1. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.143, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
2. Tim Leary at Baseball-Reference
3. Brian Turang at Baseball-Reference
4. Mark Kiefer at Baseball-Reference
5. Jim Morris at Baseball-Reference
6. Bill Mooneyham at Baseball-Reference
7. Skeeter Barnes at Baseball-Reference
8. Ray Burris at Baseball-Reference
9. "Hutch Award | Baseball Almanac".
10. "1987 Milwaukee Brewers Minor League Affiliates". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2020.

References

• 1987 Milwaukee Brewers team at Baseball-Reference
• 1987 Milwaukee Brewers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com