When the Brewers were born as the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969, they were given a place in the American League West. They moved to the East in 1972, then the new AL Central in 1994. Having run out of new divisions to try, on this day in 1998 they moved to a new league and played their first game as a member of the NL.
Fittingly, the Brewers' first game in the senior circuit was against their ballpark's former occupants, the Atlanta Braves. Hank Aaron was in attendance at Turner Field in Atlanta as the Braves walked off with a 2-1 victory when Gerald Williams took home on a throwing error, spoiling a strong outing by Cal Eldred. The Brewers got revenge the next day, though, winning 8-6 in 11 innings, and eventually won 13 of their first 18 games as a member of the NL.
The Brewers were 43-38 and in second place in the Central on July 1 of that year, but went 31-50 the rest of the way to finish in fifth place and 28 games back.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- 1975-76 Brewer Tom Hausman, who turns 59.
- Menasha native and 1954-55 Milwaukee Brave Dave Koslo, who would have turned 92.