Top 5 Brewers seasons

[TheRealMattKain]

With 2011 looking to go down as one of the top seasons in Brewers history, what do fans rank as the top 5 greatest Brewers seasons? Obviously 1982 has to be number one, but what about after that? Without including 2011 (since it's not over yet) I'm thinking maybe '82, '81, '08, '79, '92. What do others think?

Here are some highlights from some of the more memorable seasons:

1978
Brewers win 93 games in first winning season
Mike Caldwell wins team record 22 games and sets team records for complete games and shutouts

1979
Brewers set team record for Wins and Winning Percentage, finish in second place
Gorman Thomas leads league in Homeruns

1981
Brewers make playoffs - lose in Division Series
Rollie Fingers wins MVP and Cy Young awards

1982
Brewers make their only appearance in the World Series
Brewers tie team record for wins
Robin Yount wins MVP and leads league in WAR, Slugging, Total Bases, Runs Created, and OPS
Pete Vuckovich wins Cy Young award
Yount, Cooper, Molitor finish 1-2-3 in league standings for hits
Gorman Thomas leads league in Homeruns

1987
Brewers tie MLB record with 13-0 start.
Juan Nieves throws only no-hitter in Brewer history
Paul Molitor has 39 game hitting streak
Paul Molitor sets team records for batting average and on base percentage

1989
Robin Yount wins MVP

1992
Brewers finish 92-70 - miss playoffs by 4 games
Yount gets 3000th hit
Pat Listach wins Rookie of the Year

2007
Brewers finish over .500 and break streak of non-winning seasons
Ryan Braun wins Rookie of the Year and breaks MLB rookie record and Brewer record for slugging percentage
Prince Fielder becomes first Brewer to hit 50 homeruns, leads league in Homeruns
Francisco Cordero sets Brewer save record

2008
Brewers win Wildcard - first playoff appearance in over 25 years
CC Sabathia has dominant second half for Brewers setting team record for ERA

2011
Brewers have 3 All-start game starters
Prince Fielder wins All-Star game MVP
Ryan Braun has 30-30 season
Brewers win division(?)
Ryan Braun wins batting title(?)
Ryan Braun wins MVP(?)
John Axford sets Brewer save record(?)

[DocLuna7]

I think that no matter what happens 2011 will be a memorable year. However, I don't think that there is any way to really make the comparison until we know just where we finish things this season. If the team does happen to win the WS it would have to be more memorable than '82 inmho.

[RockCoCougars]

I'd go with:

 

'82, '08, '78, '87 and '81 in that order. Personally, I think the first playoff appearance in 1981 was tempered by the strike somewhat, and in 1979 they technically had the best season, but never really were a threat to Baltimore.

[dlk9s]

2011

Brewers win division(?)

 

Fixed.

[JohnBriggs12]

My ranking:

 

1. 1982 It's not my personal favorite Brewer team, but it was the best season.

 

2. 1979 This was my favorite team. They were a Larry Hisle shoulder injury away from having a 100 win season. 2nd best record in entire AL. Many memorable games.

 

3. 1978 A close 2nd to the 79 team.

 

4. 2011 Great record but compiled against much weaker competition than the top 3. Also not nearly as entertaining.

 

5. 2007 Yeah I know they won in 2008, but the 2007 season was more fun as they spent a lot more time in 1st place, Fielder hit 50 and Braun debuted with a bang.

 

Honorable mention:

 

2008,1992, 1987, 1989, 1973, 1996

 

I left 1981 off completely. That season was a contrived, make up the rules as you go, abomination thanks to a midseason strike that robbed us of baseball in the heart of the season.. Brewers had best overall record in division but still had to play a phony round of playoffs that was added after the strike ended. Yankees had best record when strike hit, and had zero incentive in 2nd half. What kind of mess is that?

[CheezWizHed]

Well, personally, I can't really rank anything pre-1985. Obviously 1982 will have to stand as 1st on the merit of the sole WS appearance alone.

 

Post 1985, I'd actually take the 1987 season over the 2008 season. They made the playoffs in 2008, but that wasn't really a great memory... Getting there was pretty exciting.

 

Back in 1987, if they had 3 divisions and the WC, the Brewers would have been in the playoffs. Plus they had the better record (by 1 win). And 1987 was the most entertaining season that I can remember for all the unique records and one time events that happened. Everything TheRealMattKain listed, plus Higuera's 32 consecutive scoreless innings (and 240 Ks).

 

Granted, I'm still bitter about the Twins winning the WS and the Brewers not even in the playoffs. Especially since the Twins had a worse regular season record than the Brewers by 6 games (91w vs 85w).

 

1987

2008

1992

 

The rest? Who cares... they all were pretty bad.

[dlk9s]

2004 - it got us the 5th pick in the 2005 draft.