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18. Paul Molitor - "The Ignitor" would go on to have a 21-year MLB career, 7-time All Star, Hall of Fame inductee, and the 1993 World Series MVP. But do you know what he was in 1984? A utility player with 46 at bats, 10 hits, 3 runs, and the lowest OBP of anyone on the team - making him the absolute least relevant player on the the team.
17. Randy Ready - Speaking of mediocre, Randy couldn't break the Mendoza line in his 123 at bats, finishing the season with a .187 BA. At least he'd go on to have a decent later career though.
16. Willie Lozado - Debuted in July 1984 and played his last game in September 1984. Not a long career, but at least he got one whole dinger as a Major Leaguer.
15. Doug Loman - You probably haven't heard this name, and that's because this rookie LF would only last one more season in MLB after his September 1984 debut as a backup before being shipped off to the Yokohama Taiyō Whales. He has a decent .274 BA and technically had the highest OBP on the entire team, but those stats are a little misleading, as he only played in 23 games.
14. Roy Howell - Howell had been a vet of MLB for a decade before winding up as an injury-prone backup 3B on the Brewers towards the end of his career, only getting 164 ABs and hitting .232. He had 4 HR, wish isn't terrible for his minimal plate appearances.
13. Charlie Moore - Moore played for the Brewers for 14 years, but by '84 he was a backup RF who would make very little of the 70 games he played in.
12. Mark Brouhard - This LF never did much with his 1984 season, nor his 6 year career, but did manage to get more hits than Charlie Moore while playing in less games.
11. Bobby Clark - Backup CF Clark had a decent .260 BA in his 189 plate appearances. Nothing to write home about though.
10. Bill Schroeder - Second-year player Schroeder was coming off a rookie season where he was the fastest Brewer rookie to reach 15 HR. He wouldn't be able to repeat that feat in 1984, only reaching 14 for the whole season and serving most the season as a bench warmer. It was still the second most HRs on the team!
9. Ted Simmons - This switch-hitter had a solid career and was considered as one of the best hitting Catchers of his era. Only in 1984 he wasn't a Catcher - he was a DH. Okay, one strike against him already because DHes are typically declining, aging players who have lost their fielding skills but still can contribute something at the plate. Did Ted contribute? No. He had a .221 BA, .269 OBP, and a .569 OPS - all of which were the worst stats for starting players. He was second worst in SLG, and only knocked in 4 dingers with 532 plate appearances (Roy Howell had the same number of dingers with a mere 176 PAs). Why the hell was this guy even a DH? Isn't the "H" in "DH" supposed to stand for "hitter?"
8. Ed Romero - I hate to hate on a guy named "Ed," but starting 3B Romero put up some pretty weak stats and was the only starter to have a worse SLG than Simmons. His other stats are pretty middling too.
7. Rick Manning - Rick's .688 OPS sabermetrics may make him look good in hindsight, but don't be tricked. He was not good. I mean nobody on the 1984 Milwaukee Brewers was really good.
6. Jim Gantner - Lefty 2B Gantner hit a solid .282, which is basically good enough for sixth place. No more, no less.
5. Jim Sundberg - Starting Catcher Sundberg didn't have as many ABs as his fellow starters, as he often had Bill Schroeder platoon in for him. However, his pretty average .261 BA may be deceiving his actual value, as the number of doubles (19), triples (4) and HRs (7) he hit gives him statistically the second best OPS after Yount. That's pretty good, although the lower number of PAs and ABs gotta knock him down the list a little.
4. 3. Ben Oglivie - This Panamanian LF was close to the end of his career in 1984, although in the previous two seasons he had made the AL All Star Team. While he didn't make the cut in 1984, he still threw up some decent statistics, such as .711 OPS.
3. Cecil Cooper - While this 1B's .307 OBP might seem a bit sucky, he made up for it by hitting big, with 11 HRs and a team-leading 28 doubles. You might also remember him as the Astros Manager about a decade ago. No? Okay, never mind.
2. Dion James - With 431 PAs, 21-year-old OF James had a great .295 BA, 19 doubles, 5 triples, and 10 SBs. Not too shabby. He was the team's (not the league's) rookie of the year. You might also remember James as the OTHER GUY who isn't Randy Johnson to successfully murder a bird in the middle of a game.
1. Robin Yount - SS Robin Yount was a first ballot Hall of Famer in 1999, and he was already showing that mid-career in 1984 by being the team leader in Games, PAs, ABs, Runs, Hits, Triples, Dingers, RBIs, Stolen Bases, Walks, IBBs, BA, OBP, SLG, OPS, and TBs. And this wasn't even one of his best seasons, as this wasn't even one of the three seasons in which he made the All Star Team, nor one of the two seasons where he was AL MVP.
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