# 1999 Milwaukee Brewers season

The 1999 Milwaukee Brewers season was the 30th season for the Brewers in Milwaukee, their 2nd in the National League, and their 31st overall. The Brewers finished fifth in the National League Central with a record of 74 wins and 87 losses, failing to improve by one game from the season prior and were eliminated from postseason contention for the 17th consecutive season.

## Offseason

* November 11, 1998: Bob Hamelin was released by the Brewers.
* November 20, 1998: Héctor Ramírez was signed as a free agent by the Brewers.
* December 1, 1999: Norberto Martin was signed as a free agent by the Brewers.
* December 2, 1999: Dave Weathers was signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Brewers.
* December 14, 1998: The Brewers traded a player to be named later to the Minnesota Twins for Alex Ochoa. The Brewers completed the deal by sending Darrell Nicholas (minors) to the Twins on December 15.
* December 18, 1998: Marc Newfield was released by the Brewers.
* January 27, 1999: Jim Abbott was signed as a free agent by the Brewers.

## Regular season

* July 14, 1999: "Big Blue", a massive crane that was used to put the roof panels on soon to be completed Miller Park, collapsed while attempting to place one of the panels. Ultimately, this accident delayed the opening of Miller Park a full season and it wasn't opened until April 2001.
* (1999) Paul Molitor 3B: 1978–92

### Opening day starters

* Sean Berry
* Jeromy Burnitz
* Jeff Cirillo
* Marquis Grissom
* Geoff Jenkins
* Mark Loretta
* Dave Nilsson
* Bill Pulsipher
* Fernando Viña

### Season standings

vteNL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Houston Astros | 97 | 65 | .599 | — | 50‍–‍32 | 47‍–‍33 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 96 | 67 | .589 | 1½ | 45‍–‍37 | 51‍–‍30 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 78 | 83 | .484 | 18½ | 45‍–‍36 | 33‍–‍47 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 75 | 86 | .466 | 21½ | 38‍–‍42 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 74 | 87 | .460 | 22½ | 32‍–‍48 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Chicago Cubs | 67 | 95 | .414 | 30 | 34‍–‍47 | 33‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1999 National League recordvte Source: NL Standings Head-to-Head :
| Team | AZ | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LA | MIL | MTL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | AL |
| Arizona | — | 4–5 | 7–2 | 1–8 | 6–7 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 7–6 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 7–2 | 8–1 | 5–2 | 11–2 | 9–3 | 4–4 | 7–8 |
| Atlanta | 5–4 | — | 2–5 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 9–4 | 6–1 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 9–4 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 8–1 | 9–9 |
| Chicago | 2–7 | 5–2 | — | 5–8 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 3–9 | 2–7 | 6–6 | 2–5 | 3–6 | 2–7 | 7–6 | 6–3 | 1–7 | 7–5 | 6–9 |
| Cincinnati | 8–1 | 1–8 | 8–5 | — | 7–2 | 6–1 | 9–4 | 4–3 | 6–6 | 4–3 | 5–5 | 6–3 | 7–6 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 8–4 | 7–8 |
| Colorado | 7–6 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 2–7 | — | 5–4 | 2–6 | 8–5 | 6–3 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 2–7 | 4–9 | 4–9 | 4–5 | 4–8 |
| Florida | 1–8 | 4–9 | 3–6 | 1–6 | 4–5 | — | 2–7 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 8–4 | 3–10 | 2–11 | 3–4 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 3–4 | 11–7 |
| Houston | 4–5 | 1–6 | 9–3 | 4–9 | 6–2 | 7–2 | — | 6–3 | 8–5 | 7–2 | 4–5 | 6–1 | 5–7 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 12–3 |
| Los Angeles | 6–7 | 4–5 | 7–2 | 3–4 | 5–8 | 2–7 | 3–6 | — | 7–2 | 5–4 | 4–4 | 6–3 | 3–6 | 3–9 | 8–5 | 3–6 | 8–7 |
| Milwaukee | 4–5 | 2–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 5–8 | 2–7 | — | 5–4 | 2–5 | 5–4 | 8–4 | 3–5 | 4–5 | 7–6 | 8–6 |
| Montreal | 3–6 | 4–9 | 5–2 | 3–4 | 3–6 | 4–8 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 4–5 | — | 5–8 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 5–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 8–10 |
| New York | 2–7 | 3–9 | 6–3 | 5–5 | 5–4 | 10–3 | 5–4 | 4–4 | 5–2 | 8–5 | — | 6–6 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 5–2 | 12–6 |
| Philadelphia | 1–8 | 5–8 | 7–2 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 11–2 | 1–6 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 3–4 | 6–3 | 2–6 | 4–5 | 11–7 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–5 | 3–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 7–2 | 4–3 | 7–5 | 6–3 | 4–8 | 6–3 | 2–7 | 4–3 | — | 3–6 | 4–5 | 7–5 | 7–8 |
| San Diego | 2–11 | 4–5 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 9–4 | 6–3 | 1–8 | 9–3 | 5–3 | 3–5 | 2–7 | 3–6 | 6–3 | — | 5–7 | 2–7 | 11–4 |
| San Francisco | 3–9 | 5–4 | 7–1 | 5–4 | 9–4 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 5–8 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 2–7 | 6–2 | 5–4 | 7–5 | — | 6–3 | 7–8 |
| St. Louis | 4–4 | 1–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–4 | 4–3 | 7–5 | 6–3 | 6–7 | 4–5 | 2–5 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 7–2 | 3–6 | — | 7–8 |

### Notable transactions

* April 12, 1999: Aaron Small was signed as a free agent by the Brewers.
* May 23, 1999: Aaron Small was released by the Brewers.
* June 2, 1999: Ben Sheets was drafted by the Brewers in the 1st round (10th pick) of the 1999 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed July 30, 1999.
* August 12, 1999: Jason Bere was signed as a free agent by the Brewers.
* August 18, 1999: Rich Becker was traded by the Brewers to the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later. The Athletics completed the deal by sending Carl Dale to the Brewers on August 20.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | Avg. | SB |
| C | Dave Nilsson | 115 | 343 | 56 | 106 | 21 | 62 | .309 | 1 |
| 1B | Mark Loretta | 153 | 587 | 93 | 170 | 5 | 67 | .290 | 4 |
| 2B | Ron Belliard | 124 | 457 | 60 | 135 | 8 | 58 | .295 | 4 |
| 3B | Jeff Cirillo | 157 | 607 | 98 | 198 | 15 | 88 | .326 | 7 |
| SS | José Valentín | 89 | 256 | 45 | 58 | 10 | 38 | .227 | 3 |
| CF | Marquis Grissom | 154 | 603 | 92 | 161 | 20 | 83 | .267 | 24 |
| RF | Jeromy Burnitz | 130 | 467 | 87 | 126 | 33 | 103 | .270 | 7 |
| LF | Geoff Jenkins | 135 | 447 | 70 | 140 | 21 | 82 | .313 | 5 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | Avg. | SB |
| Alex Ochoa | 119 | 277 | 47 | 83 | 8 | 40 | .300 | 6 |
| Sean Berry | 106 | 259 | 26 | 59 | 2 | 23 | .228 | 0 |
| Brian Banks | 105 | 219 | 34 | 53 | 5 | 22 | .242 | 6 |
| Fernando Viña | 37 | 154 | 17 | 41 | 1 | 16 | .266 | 5 |
| Rich Becker | 89 | 139 | 15 | 35 | 5 | 16 | .252 | 5 |
| Lou Collier | 74 | 135 | 18 | 35 | 2 | 21 | .259 | 3 |
| Kevin Barker | 38 | 117 | 13 | 33 | 3 | 23 | .282 | 1 |
| Bobby Hughes | 48 | 101 | 10 | 26 | 3 | 8 | .257 | 0 |
| Robinson Cancel | 15 | 44 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 5 | .182 | 0 |
| Charlie Greene | 32 | 42 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 1 | .190 | 0 |
| Lyle Mouton | 14 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | .176 | 0 |
| Eddie Zosky | 8 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .143 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts; BB = Walks allowed
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | BB |
| Scott Karl | 33 | 197.2 | 11 | 11 | 4.78 | 74 | 69 |
| Steve Woodard | 31 | 185.0 | 11 | 8 | 4.52 | 119 | 36 |
| Hideo Nomo | 28 | 176.1 | 12 | 8 | 4.54 | 161 | 78 |
| Bill Pulsipher | 19 | 87.1 | 5 | 6 | 5.98 | 42 | 36 |
| Cal Eldred | 20 | 82.0 | 2 | 8 | 7.79 | 60 | 46 |
| Jim Abbott | 20 | 82.0 | 2 | 8 | 6.91 | 37 | 42 |
| Jason Bere | 5 | 23.1 | 2 | 0 | 4.63 | 19 | 10 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Inning pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Rafael Roque | 43 | 84.1 | 1 | 6 | 5.34 | 66 |
| Kyle Peterson | 17 | 77.0 | 4 | 7 | 4.56 | 34 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Wickman | 71 | 3 | 8 | 37 | 3.39 | 60 |
| Mike Myers | 71 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5.23 | 35 |
| Eric Plunk | 68 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5.02 | 63 |
| David Weathers | 63 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 4.65 | 74 |
| Rocky Coppinger | 29 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3.68 | 39 |
| Al Reyes | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4.25 | 39 |
| Héctor Ramírez | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.43 | 9 |
| Jim Pittsley | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.82 | 13 |
| Steve Falteisek | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.50 | 5 |
| Reggie Harris | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 11 |
| Valerio De Los Santos | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.48 | 5 |
| Chad Fox | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.80 | 12 |
| Horacio Estrada | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.36 | 5 |
| Carl Dale | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20.25 | 4 |
| Jeff D'Amico | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

The Brewers' farm system consisted of eight minor league affiliates in 1999. The Brewers operated a Venezuelan Summer League team as a co-op with the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants.
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| Triple-A | Louisville RiverBats | International League | Gary Allenson |
| Double-A | Huntsville Stars | Southern League | Darrell Evans |
| Class A-Advanced | Stockton Ports | California League | Bernie Moncallo and Carlos Ponce |
| Class A | Beloit Snappers | Midwest League | Don Money |
| Rookie | Helena Brewers | Pioneer League | Carlos Lezcano |
| Rookie | Ogden Raptors | Pioneer League | Jon Pont and Ed Sedar |
| Rookie | DSL Brewers | Dominican Summer League | — |
| Rookie | VSL La Victoria | Venezuelan Summer League | — |