During Spring Training of 1970 a used car salesman from Milwaukee, Wisconsin decided to purchase the failing Seattle Pilots baseball team and move them to a city that spent the last 4 seasons without major league baseball. During Spring Training the team actually dressed in Pilot uniforms and were kind of in limbo. Nobody knew where the moving trucks were going to go as camp broke. A tailor was hired in the middle of the night to un-stitch Seattle off the jerseys and stitch Milwaukee on the front. The franchise kept the Blue and gold color scheme and was ready to play in County Stadium, which was built less than 20 years earlier for the Braves, who passed through town for 13 glorious years.
The 1970 Brewers were just as awful as the 1969 Seattle Pilots, but less funny. The franchise still had to answer questions regarding Jim Bouton's epic Ball 4 book, which he wrote on index cards and scrap paper while sitting in the Pilots bullpen passing the time. The Brewers spent the better part of the decade suffering though the pains that most expansion clubs suffer. Poor field, non-existent pitching and suspect hitting were the trademark of this perennial cellar dweller. While the major league offering suffered through 7 consecutive losing seasons, the Brewers were stocking their farm system with players who would make the team a contender in the latter part of the decade and into the early 80's.
Future stars like Darrell Porter, Gorman Thomas, Robin Yount, Paul Molitor and Jim Gantner came from the farm system. Key trades for Don Money (PHI), Cecil Cooper (Boston), Ben Oglivie (Detroit) and Sixto Lezcano gave Milwaukee some incredible offensive firepower. Reclamation projects like Mike "Yankee Killer" Caldwell helped solidify the staff. Free agent signings like Sal Bando (from Oakland) gave the team veteran leadership from someone used to winning.
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