2002 Milwaukee Brewers: The 'Wurst' of Times Before The Brewer Renaissance

As the Brewers began their second season in Miller Park, the Opening Day lineup included players like Alex Sanchez, Tyler Houston, and Raúl Casanova. Alex Ochoa and Paul Bako also played key roles. But I am willing to bet that only the most hardcore Brewers fan recognizes any of these names. The team stumbled to a franchise-worst 56-106 record, finishing 41 games behind the National League Central-winning St. Louis Cardinals. And the fans stayed away in droves, as the final turnstile totals showed an attendance of 1,969,153. It was only one of three times the Brewers have drawn less than two million fans to Miller Park/Am Fam Field in a season.

The season started brightly as the Brewers beat the Houston Astros 9-3 to win the road opener and dispatched the reigning World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2 in the home opener at Miller Park before a crowd of 43,005. Little else went right in early April, and as the Brewers stumbled to a 3-12 record after two weeks, manager Davey Lopes was canned, and his former Los Angeles Dodgers teammate (and good friend) Jerry Royster was brought on board to right the sinking ship. General Manager Dean Taylor said, “We feel that with some different direction and different leadership in the clubhouse and on the field, this club will play better.”

Seemingly buoyed by the change, the Brewers won the first four games of the Royster regime. Then the good ship sprung some leaks and foundered over the next fortnight, with the team losing 13 of 15 games.

The Brewers were mimicking the ‘Team Streak’ season of 1987, but unfortunately, they had many more losing streaks than winning streaks. Milwaukee had one five-game winning streak, three four-game streaks, and one three-game winning streak. That’s it! On the negative side of the ledger, Milwaukee had a nine-game losing skein, a pair of seven-game streaks, a six-game streak, and one five-game losing streak.

The Brewers never had a winning month during the season. Their best month was June when they went 11-16, a winning percentage of .407. Home cooking was a little better than playing on the road, as Milwaukee won 31 games at Miller Park and only 25 in the ‘unfriendly confines’ of visiting parks. The Brewers had winning records against a pair of teams: 5-1 against the San Diego Padres and 10-7 while playing the NL Central rival Chicago Cubs.

The aforementioned Alex Sanchez was ninth in the NL ROY balloting but would only play 185 games for the Brewers between 2001-2003. First baseman Richie Sexson led the team with 29 home runs and made the All-Star team, as did shortstop Jose Hernandez, who cracked 24 homers while striking out an NL-leading 188 times. Ben Sheets (11) and Glendon Rusch (10) were the only pitchers to earn double-digit victory totals. Closer Mike DeJean saved 27 games, which ranked 13th in the NL.

Under Royster, the Brewers went 53-94 the rest of the year. He was fired three days after the season ended. Also dismissed in the end-of-year shakeup was team president Wendy Selig-Prieb and GM Dean Taylor. New GM Doug Melvin chose former Brewer Ned Yost to fill the manager position at the end of October.

Yost would go on to lead the Brewers for six years, including most of the 2008 season, before he was sacked in late September, as Dale Sveum took over the reins with less than 10 games to go. That team was the first to make the playoffs since the 1982 Brewers.  

The last few years have been the best of times for Milwaukee baseball. That 2002 was the worst of times, but the hiring of Doug Melvin put the team on the right path. Since 2018, the Brewers have been one of MLB’s best teams. Sometimes, you must hit rock bottom before rising to the top.  

Are you interested in Brewers history? Then check out the Milwaukee Brewers Players Project, a community-driven project to discover and collect great information on every player to wear a Brewers uniform!