# 1983 Milwaukee Brewers season

The 1983 Milwaukee Brewers season was the 15th in franchise history and 14th in Milwaukee. As defending American League champions, they sought to return to the World Series. This season involved the Brewers finishing fifth in the American League East with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses, missing the playoffs for the first time since 1980.

## Offseason

* December 19, 1982: Ernie Camacho was signed as a free agent by the Brewers.
* January 11, 1983: 1983 Major League Baseball draft
** Bobby Thigpen was drafted by the Brewers in the 7th round, but did not sign.
** Jim Morris was drafted by the Brewers in the 1st round (4th pick) of the Secondary Phase.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 50‍–‍31 | 48‍–‍33 |
| Detroit Tigers | 92 | 70 | .568 | 6 | 48‍–‍33 | 44‍–‍37 |
| New York Yankees | 91 | 71 | .562 | 7 | 51‍–‍30 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 89 | 73 | .549 | 9 | 48‍–‍33 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 87 | 75 | .537 | 11 | 52‍–‍29 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Boston Red Sox | 78 | 84 | .481 | 20 | 38‍–‍43 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Cleveland Indians | 70 | 92 | .432 | 28 | 36‍–‍45 | 34‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1983 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 11–2 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 7–6 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 |
| California | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 3–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| Chicago | 5–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | — | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 12–1 | 8–5 | 5–7 |
| Cleveland | 7–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 8–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 6–7 |
| Kansas City | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–5–1 | 6–6 |
| Milwaukee | 2–11 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 8–4 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 4–9 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| New York | 7–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 2–11 | 6–6 |
| Seattle | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 1–12 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 5–8–1 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 4–8 |
| Toronto | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 1, 1983: Steve Lake was traded by the Brewers to the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later and cash. The Cubs completed the trade by sending Rich Buonantony (minors) to the Brewers on October 24.
* June 6, 1983: 1983 Major League Baseball draft
** Dan Plesac was drafted by the Brewers in the 1st round (26th pick). Player signed June 8, 1983.
** Joey Meyer was drafted by the Brewers in the 5th round.
* June 6, 1983: Gorman Thomas, Ernie Camacho and Jamie Easterly were traded by the Brewers to the Cleveland Indians for Rick Manning and Rick Waits.
* July 15, 1983: Danny Boone was signed as a free agent by the Brewers.
* August 31, 1983: Sixto Lezcano was traded by the San Diego Padres with a player to be named later to the Philadelphia Phillies for players to be named later.

### Roster
## 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 | Ted Simmons | 153 | 600 | 185 | .308 | 13 | 108 |
| 1B | Cecil Cooper | 160 | 661 | 203 | .307 | 30 | 126 |
| 2B | Jim Gantner | 161 | 603 | 170 | .282 | 11 | 74 |
| SS | Robin Yount | 149 | 578 | 178 | .308 | 17 | 80 |
| 3B | Paul Molitor | 152 | 613 | 167 | .272 | 15 | 47 |
| LF | Ben Oglivie | 125 | 411 | 115 | .280 | 13 | 66 |
| CF | Rick Manning | 108 | 375 | 86 | .229 | 3 | 33 |
| RF | Charlie Moore | 151 | 529 | 150 | .284 | 2 | 49 |
| DH | Roy Howell | 69 | 194 | 54 | .278 | 4 | 25 |

#### 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 |
| Ned Yost | 61 | 196 | 44 | .224 | 6 | 28 |
| Mark Brouhard | 56 | 185 | 51 | .276 | 7 | 23 |
| Gorman Thomas | 46 | 164 | 30 | .183 | 5 | 18 |
| Ed Romero | 59 | 145 | 46 | .317 | 1 | 18 |
| Don Money | 43 | 114 | 17 | .149 | 1 | 8 |
| Marshall Edwards | 51 | 74 | 22 | .297 | 0 | 5 |
| Bill Schroeder | 23 | 73 | 13 | .178 | 3 | 7 |
| Randy Ready | 12 | 37 | 15 | .405 | 1 | 6 |
| Rob Picciolo | 14 | 27 | 6 | .222 | 0 | 1 |
| Bob Skube | 12 | 25 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 9 |
| Dion James | 11 | 20 | 2 | .100 | 0 | 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 |
| Mike Caldwell | 32 | 228.1 | 12 | 11 | 4.53 | 58 |
| Don Sutton | 31 | 220.0 | 8 | 13 | 4.08 | 134 |
| Moose Haas | 25 | 179.0 | 13 | 3 | 3.27 | 75 |
| Bob McClure | 24 | 142.0 | 9 | 9 | 4.50 | 68 |
| Chuck Porter | 25 | 134.0 | 7 | 9 | 4.50 | 76 |
| Tom Candiotti | 10 | 55.2 | 4 | 4 | 3.23 | 21 |
| Pete Vuckovich | 3 | 14.2 | 0 | 2 | 4.91 | 10 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Gibson | 27 | 80.2 | 3 | 4 | 3.90 | 46 |
| Jerry Augustine | 34 | 64.1 | 3 | 3 | 5.74 | 40 |
| Rick Waits | 10 | 30.0 | 0 | 2 | 5.10 | 20 |
| Jaime Cocanower | 5 | 30.0 | 2 | 0 | 1.80 | 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 |
| Pete Ladd | 44 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 2.55 | 41 |
| Jim Slaton | 46 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 4.33 | 38 |
| Tom Tellmann | 44 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 2.80 | 48 |
| Jamie Easterly | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.86 | 6 |
| Andy Beene | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Cecil Cooper, Roberto Clemente Award

## Farm system

The Brewers' farm system consisted of five minor league affiliates in 1983. The Paintsville Brewers won the Appalachian League championship.
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| Triple-A | Vancouver Canadians | Pacific Coast League | Dick Phillips and Tony Muser |
| Double-A | El Paso Diablos | Texas League | Tony Muser and Lee Sigman |
| Class A | Stockton Ports | California League | Terry Bevington |
| Class A | Beloit Brewers | Midwest League | Tim Nordbrook |
| Rookie | Paintsville Brewers | Appalachian League | Tom Gamboa |