The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots, the team moved to Milwaukee in 1970 and adopted the Brewers moniker. In the decades since, the club has produced many notable players who have been feature don baseball cards over the years.
One of the earliest star players to appear on Brewers cards was outfielder/first baseman George Scott. Scott played for the Brewers from 1970-1973 after stints with the Red Sox and A’s, and was one of the first team stars after the move to Milwaukee. Scott hits cards appear in the early 1970s issues of Topps, Leaf, and Kellogg’s. Another early hitter was outfielder/DH Jim Lonborg, who played 71 games for the 1972 Brewers after pitching successes in Boston.
In the late 1970s, outfielder Ben Oglivie emerged as the new face of the Brewers franchise. A feared power hitter, Oglivie appeared on many rookie and regular cards in the late 70s produced by Topps, Donruss, and Fleer. He would go on to make the 1980 All-Star team and finish third in MVP voting that season while cementing his status as a Brewers icon.
The 1982 season saw the Brewers win the American League pennant behind stellar pitching. Stars like Rollie Fingers, Pete Ladd, Moose Haas, and Don Sutton all received significant card coverage that year and beyond from the major baseball card companies. Topps in particular focused on the ’82 team with special league championship subsets. Relief ace Fingers continued bringing the heat on cards into the mid-1980s as the Brewers relied on their bullpen.
New stars emerged in the late 1980s like slugging first baseman\DH Geoff Jenkins, who made his card debut in 1999 Topps and went on to appear in many sets during his Brewers tenure. Pitchers Teddy Higuera and Cal Eldred also occupied card space in the late 80s-90s period as the Brewers rebuilt. Paul Molitor also delivered hits and became a fan favorite, appearing prolifically in cards from 1993-2000 as a middle infielder and batter.
In the 2000s, outfielders Carlos Lee, Ben Grieve, and Jeff Cirillo patrolled the pasture and received regular card issues. But perhaps no modern Brewer made a bigger card splash than catcher/first baseman Prince Fielder. Debuting on cards in 2006, Fielder became a superstar slugger who wielded a heavy bat immortalized on many premium parallel and autograph cards until his departure after the 2011 season.
Most recently, stars like Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo, Jonathan Lucroy, and others have carried the Brewers torch on cards in the 2010s. New stars like Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain, acquired prior to the 2018 season, have emerged as today’s key Milwaukee players getting significant card coverage as the Brewers aim to return to prominence. Though the franchise has endured peaks and valleys, Milwaukee Brewers cards have continued to commemorate the players who have worn the uniform over 50 years.
