Nineteen seventy eight. The year rookie Paul Molitor, slugger Larry Hisle, slick-hitting Ben Oglivie and manager George Bamberger arrived in Milwaukee along with one of sport's coolest logos. And the year the Milwaukee Brewers announced themselves as contenders. The Brewers finished 93-69 in 1978, a 26-game improvement from the year before. County Stadium was a fun place to catch a ballgame. " That was really the year we started to become a contender-type team," said longtime Brewers bullpen coach Bill Castro, who pitched for the Brewers from 1974-1980. "We brought in a lot of good guys and had George Bamberger take over."  Castro posted a career-best 1.81 ERA in 42 relief appearances in 1978. Castro, then 24, went 5-4 with eight saves for a staff that found success with a "bullpen by committee" approach; only left-hander Bob McClure had more saves with nine. "I know I had a good year that season because I got the ball a lot," Castro said. "I was the kind of pitcher who needed the ball a lot to stay sharp, and I got it often that year."  Castro & Co. in the bullpen saw few save opportunities partly because of the Brewers' outstanding starting staff, who worked a Major League-best 19 complete games. Lefty Mike Caldwell led the starters with a 22-9 record and 2.36 ERA in his first full season with the Brewers.  22-year-old Lary Sorenson, one of three Brewers All-Stars that season, finished 18-12 with a 3.21 ERA and Jerry Augustine and Bill Travers also finished with double-digits in wins. But as good as the pitching was, "Bambi's Bombers" were known for offense. They led the Major Leagues with a .276 team batting average, 173 home runs and 804 runs scored. Seven players finished the year with double-digit home run totals including All-Star Larry Hisle, a current member of the Brewers community relations department who belted a team-best 34 homers, tied for fourth-best in the Majors, to go with 115 RBIs. Gorman Thomas slugged 32 homers, making Milwaukee the only team in the Majors with two 30-plus home run men. But it was not an all-or-nothing club. Cecil Cooper batted .312 and Ben Oglivie hit .303 to lead the game's best offensive club. Don Money hit .293 and became the first Brewer ever voted to the starting lineup of the midseason All-Star team. Robin Yount hit a then-career-best .293 with nine homers and 71 RBIs and Molitor, a 21-year-old rookie, hit .273 in 125 games and was named American League rookie of the year. "Nobody acted like a superstar," Castro said. "Guys like Robin Yount and Paul Molitor would hit a ball right back to the pitcher and still run hard to first base." The Brewers finished in third place in the AL East, 6 1/2 games behind the eventual World Champion Yankees and 5 1/2 behind the second-place Red Sox but better than any team in the AL West division. Bamberger was named manager of the year, Bud Selig was named executive of the year and Harry Dalton was named general manager of the year. "It was fun playing the game," said Castro, who would play two more seasons in Milwaukee before moving on to the Yankees and Royals. "We had a lot of fun with it both on and off the field and we really pulled for each other." Pre-Season - One of the most recognizable logos in sports, the Brewers yellow and blue mitt logo was introduced in Winter 1977 and adorned Brewers caps for the 16 greatest seasons in club history. The logo was selected among more than 2,000 entries from both professional and amateur designers in an open contest in October and November 1977. Tom Meindel, an Art History student at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, designed the logo and earned the $2,000 first prize. The logo combines the lower case letters "m" and "b", the club's initials, to form a baseball glove. January 20 - George Bamberger, pitching coach for the Baltimore Orioles, is appointed field manager. April 9 - The Brewers complete a stunning season-opening, 3-game sweep of the Orioles by scores of 11-3, 16-3, and 13-5. Sixto Lezcano, Gorman Thomas, and Cecil Cooper provided the Brewers with a grand slam in each game to set a ML mark. April 12 - Moose Haas fans 14 Yankees in a single game, including Reggie Jackson four times, at County Stadium. July 7 - The Brewers Mike Caldwell beats the Yankees Ron Guidry 6-0. For Guidry (13-1), it is his first loss of the season. Caldwell shut out the Yankees nine days earlier, and will shut them out again on September 19th July 19 - The Red Sox beat the Brewers 8-2 to increase their lead in the AL Eastern Division to nine games over Milwaukee, 12 1/2 over Baltimore, and 14 games over the fourth-place Yankees October - "Bambi's Bombers", a power-packed wrecking crew, leads the American League in homers with 173 and tops the loop in six other offensive categories. Mike Caldwell wins 22 games and becomes the first pitcher since Dean Chance in 1964 to blank the Yankees three times in one season. 

PRE-SEASON TRANSACTIONS

January 10 - Rob Ellis released. 

January 16 - Randy Stein signed as a free agent

February 8 - Purchased Gorman Thomas from Texas

February 10 - Gary Nolan signed as a free agent

February 22 - Traded Art Kusnyer to Kansas City for Lynn McKinney

March 1 - Gary Nolan released

March 21 - Ed Kirkpatrick released

March 30 - Steve Brye, Larry Haney and Von Joshua released

April 1 - Ed Farmer and Bob Galasso signed as a free agents

April 4 - Tony Muser signed as a free agent. Claimed Andy Replogle from Baltimore on waivers

REGULAR SEASON TRANSACTIONS

April 28 - Traded Tim Johnson to Toronto for Tim Nordbrook

May 17 - Purchased Dave May from Texas Rangers

June 7 - Jaime Cocanower signed as a free agent

August 3 - Traded Jamie Quirk to Kansas City for Gerry Ako and cash

September 1 - Larry Haney signed as a free agent

September 13 - Sold Dave May to Pittsburgh Pirates

September 24 - David Green signed as free agent

POST-SEASON TRANSACTIONS

November 2 - Larry Haney released

November 28 - Jim Slaton signed as a free agent

December 3 - Willie Lozado signed as a free agent

December 15 - Traded Ed Farmer, Gary Holle and cash to Texas for Reggie Cleveland

December 21 - Purchased Steve Lake from Baltimore

TEAM                         W   L .PCT    GB   POS MANAGER                         LEADING BATTER - AVERAGE   LEADING BATTER - RBIS      HOME RUN LEADER             LEADING PITCHER - WINS  LEADING PITCHER - ERA

AAA PCL Spokane Indians     64  75 .400 -17.0   4/5 John Felske                     Billy Stevens         .327 Ron Diggle              84 Jamie Quirk              12 Bob Galasso          10 Mark Bomback     3.55

AA  EL  Holyoke Millers     61  76 .445 -20.0   5/6 George Farson                   Mike Henderson        .325 Jeff Yurak              89 Jeff Yurak               21 Ronald Driver        10 Mike Dempsey     4.29

A   MWL Burlington Bees     69  69 .500 + 1.5   1/4 Lee Sigman                      Bobby Smith           .336 Bill Foley              93 Bill Foley               34 Dave LaPoint         12 Weldon Swift     2.91

A   NYP Newark Co-Pilots    26  46 .361 -25.5   5/5 Ken Richardson                  Tim Jordan            .296 Stanley Davis           44 Stanley Davis            11 John Roesch           5 Steven Gibson    2.59

NOTE: Batting Average based on a minimum of 300 at-bats (200 for short season). ERA based on a minimum of 100 IP (50 - short season)

MINOR LEAGUE ALLSTARS

Holyoke - SS Mike Henderson, OF Jeff Yurak Burlington - C Bill Foley (MVP), OF Kevin Bass, OF Bobby G. Smith Newark - UTIL Thomas Soto

PLAYOFFS

BURLINGTON - Defeated Quad City in Southern Division playoff, 2 games to 0; Lost to Appleton in championship, 2 games to 1

INFIELD                  G Ag B T   HT  WT ML YR 1977 Team                                    Acquired

Sal Bando (3B)         152 34 R R 6- 0 195  2 13 MILWAUKEE                                    Free Agent - Oakland (10-31-76)

Cecil Cooper (1B)      107 28 L L 6- 2 190  2  8 MILWAUKEE                                    Trade - Boston (12-6-76)

Jim Gantner (2B-3B)     43 24 L R 5-11 175  3  3 MILWAUKEE - Spokane (AAA)                    1974 June Draft - 12th (268th)

*-Tim Johnson (SS-2B)    3 28 L R 6- 3 185  6  6 MILWAUKEE                                    Trade – Los Angeles (4-24-73)

Paul Molitor (3B-2B)   125 21 R R 6- 0 195  1  1 Burlington (A)                               1977 June Draft - 1st (3rd)

Don Money (3B)         137 31 R R 6- 1 190  6 11 MILWAUKEE                                    Trade – Philadelphia (10-31-72)

Tony Muser (1B)         15 30 L L 6- 2 190  1  9 BALTIMORE                                    Waivers - Baltimore (4-4-78)

Tim Nordbrook (SS)       2 28 R R 6- 1 180  1  5 CHICAGO-AL - TORONTO                         Trade - Toronto (4-28-78)

Lenn Sakata (2B-SS)     30 24 R R 5- 9 160  2  2 MILWAUKEE - Spokane (AAA)                    1975 January Draft - 1st (10th)

Robin Yount (SS)       127 22 R R 6- 0 180  5  5 MILWAUKEE                                    1973 June Draft - 1st (3rd)

OUTFIELD

Dick Davis              69 24 R R 6- 3 195  2  2 MILWAUKEE - Spokane (AAA)                    Free Agent (7-10-72)

Larry Hisle            142 31 R R 6- 2 195  1 10 MINNESOTA                                    Free Agent - Minnesota (11-17-1977)

Sixto Lezcano          132 24 R R 5-11 175  4  4 MILWAUKEE                                    Free Agent (10-1-70)

*-Dave May              39 34 L R 5-10 186  6 12 TEXAS                                        Purchase - Texas (5-17-78)

Ben Oglivie            128 29 L L 6- 2 170  1  8 DETROIT                                      Trade - Detroit (12-9-77)

Gorman Thomas          137 27 R R 6- 2 210  5  5 Spokane (AAA)                                Purchase - Texas (2-8-78)

Jim Wohlford            46 27 R R 5-11 175  2  7 MILWAUKEE                                    Trade - Kan City (12-6-76)

Jeff Yurak               5 24 B R 6- 3 195  1  1 Holyoke (AA)                                 1976 Minor League Draft - San Fran (12-7-76)

CATCHERS

Andy Etchebarren         4 35 R R 6- 1 197  1 15 CALIFORNIA                                   Purchase - California (12-15-77)

Larry Haney              4 35 R R 6- 2 195  3 12 MILWAUKEE                                    Purchase - Oakland (12-6-76)

Buck Martinez           89 29 R R 5-11 200  1  9 KANSAS CITY                                  Trade - St. Louis (12-8-77)

Charlie Moore (OF)      96 25 R R 5-11 180  6  6 MILWAUKEE                                    1971 June Draft – 5th (97th)

STARTING PITCHERS    GS  G Ag B T   HT  WT ML YR 1977 Team                                    Acquired

Jerry Augustine      30 35 25 L L 6- 0 185  4  4 MILWAUKEE                                    1974 June Draft - 15th (340th)

Mike Caldwell        34 37 29 R L 6- 0 185  2  8 SAN FRANCISCO                                Trade - Cincinnati (6-15-77)

Moose Haas            6  7 22 R R 6- 0 180  3  3 MILWAUKEE                                    1974 June Draft - 2nd (30th)

Andy Replogle        18 32 24 R R 6- 5 205  1  1 Arkansas (AA)                                Waivers - Baltimore (4-4-78)

Lary Sorensen        36 37 22 R R 6- 2 210  2  2 MILWAUKEE - Spokane (AAA)                    1976 June Draft - 8th (172nd)

Bill Travers         28 28 25 L L 6- 6 200  5  5 MILWAUKEE                                    1970 June Draft - 6th (124th)

RELIEF PITCHERS

Mark Bomback          1  2 25 R R 5-11 170  1  1 Holyoke (AA)                                 Waivers - Boston (5-7-77)

Bill Castro           0 42 26 R R 5-11 170  4  4 MILWAUKEE                                    Free Agent (10-24-70)

Ed Farmer             0  3 28 R R 6- 5 210  1  6 BALTIMORE - Rochester (AAA)                  Waivers - Baltimore (4-1-78)

Bob McClure           0 44 25 B L 5-11 170  2  4 MILWAUKEE                                    Trade - Kansas City (3-15-77)

Willie Mueller        0  5 21 R R 6- 4 220  1  1 Burlington (A)                               Free Agent (6-13-74)

Eduardo Rodriguez     8 32 26 R R 6- 0 185  6  6 MILWAUKEE                                    Free Agent (11-26-71)

Randy Stein           1 31 25 R R 6- 4 210  1  1 Syracuse (AAA) - Miami (A)                   Free Agent - California (12-16-78)

​AGE - Players age as of June 30th * - Traded or released during the season

1978 MILWAUKEE BREWERS (93-69)

3rd, 6 1/2 Games Back (AL East)

 Manager : George Bamberger