Milwaukee Brewers' Best Offense Came in 1996...Sort of
The 1996 season is memorable and special to many Wisconsin sports fans thanks to the Green Bay Packers finally bringing the Lombardi Trophy back home. The one thing you may not have known or recalled (until now) is that the Milwaukee Brewers featured the best offense in the club's history.
No, I'm serious.
The 1996 Brewers' campaign is probably most remembered for being the year Chuckie Carr proclaimed, "Chuckie hacks on 2-0!" He was unceremoniously released a short time later. But forget about the dynamic lineups led by Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder during the eras bookending this '96 group. When it came to offensive production and scoring runs, 1996 was - and is - the benchmark for the Brewers.
Sort of...I'll explain.
The 1996 hitters racked up a franchise-best 894 runs (5.52 runs/game) and they also hold the club record with a team OBP (on-base percentage) of .353 and a .794 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) as well. How did this happen?
First baseman John Jaha, who broke out in a big way the year before, stayed healthy in 1996 (for once). The behemoth blased 34 HR, had 118 RBIs, and posted a slash line of .300/.398/.543/.941 (Avg/OBP/Slg/OPS).
Greg Vaughn, with his unbuttoned jersey, gold chains dangling, and pigeon-toed stance, hit 31 HR for the Brewers...in only 102 games! Despite being dealt to San Diego at the trade deadline, he was 2nd on the club in RBI (95) and led Milwaukee in SLG (.571) and OPS (.948).
Those were your two big mashers, but they had plenty of help as the club banged out the 2nd-most hits in franchise history (1,578) behind only the 1982 team, and boast the 2nd-best batting average (.279).
Fan favorite Jeff Cirillo hit 46 doubles to go with his .325 average, .391 OBP and .894 OPS. He scored 101 times and knocked in 83 runs for good measure.
Shortstop Jose Valentin shared the 2nd-most RBI with Vaughn (95), thanks in part to his 24 HR. Only 3 Hall-of-Fame talents hit more long balls at that position in 1996: Alex Rodriguez, Barry Larkin and Cal Ripken, Jr.
The leader in batting average and OBP that season, another guy who just needed to avoid injury, was the Australian catcher turned utility man, Dave Nilsson.
Playing in more than 110 games for the first time in his career, the big lefty stick hit .331 with a .407 OBP. He was the third regular in the lineup with a .900+ OPS (.932), the first time Brewers' teammates had ever done that with a minimum of 400 plate appearances each.
Throw in veteran Kevin Seitzer's .316 average and .406 OBP, as well as speed guys like Fernando Vina (94 runs, 16 SB) and Pat Listach (25 SB) who could steal runs with their legs, and that lineup looks tough to get around on a daily basis.
Despite scoring the most runs in Brewers' history, this team hit a mere 178 HR, good for only 13th on the franchise's leaderboard. They made up for that by drawing 624 walks (2nd in team history) and 304 doubles (4th in team history).
So why does this squad never come up when we reminisce about the past, especially since Brewers fans have had so little to celebrate in their 46 years of existence?
Three factors keep this group from positive memories: Pitching, wins and the "Steroid Era."
Let's start with the hurlers on this club. They gave up the most runs ever by a Milwaukee staff - 899 runs! Naturally, they also hold the record for worst ERA at 5.14, though it wasn't the highest ERA in the league in 1996.
Other than Ben MacDonald (3.90 ERA), the rest of the group was tough to watch. Scott Karl (4.86), Ricky Bones (5.83), Steve Sparks (6.60), Jeff D'Amico (5.44) and Cal Eldred (4.46) rounded out the starters who contributed their ugly ERAs. No matter what time period you play in, that's going to stifle your ability to win games, which is the second reason fans don't think of the '96 lineup.
The Brewers finished with an 80-82 record, third place in the American League Central division, a full 19.5 games behind the first-place Cleveland Indians.
The most games over .500 they ever reached that year was just 4, way back on April 21st. There was very little juice at any point in the season believing the club was going anywhere, particularly with the awful pitching staff.
But again, they weren't the worst in the AL, and that's because of the era they were playing in. Call it what you will, and argue as to why it was happening, but offense was booming in 1996.
Though Milwaukee had its best offensive season ever in terms of runs and OPS, they were nothing but average among the American League clubs.
Their 5.52 runs per game was good for only 7th in the AL, as the Seattle Mariners led the way with 6.17 runs each contest. The Mariners scored 99 more runs than the Brewers.
In OPS, where the '96 club owns the highest mark in franchise history, they sat 9th out of 14 clubs. The Brewers' .794 OPS was technically below average and was 56 poinst below the leaders, again Seattle at .850 for the year.
If these numbers don't speak volumes to the offensive era that MLB went through, it illustrates the distinct difference in how the '96 team compared to its Brewers' peers that played at different times.
For example, the 1982 Brewers led the AL in runs per game by nearly half a run over the 2nd-highest scoring club at 5.47 to 5.02. They also led the league in OPS that season.
The 1978 and 2012 Milwaukee versions led their leagues in runs scored, while the 1978 and 1980 clubs led the AL in OPS.
So it's probably fair to somewhat ignore what the 1996 offense did, in large part because it was just 'eh' when it came to that season in MLB. Ultimately, winning will determine a team's popularity, and they didn't do enough of that either.
I'd still encourage you to check out the numbers for the Brewers' teams during that time period, because after all, the 1996 Brewers were the best offensive club in franchise history...sort of.