Milwaukee Brewers: The Top 5 First Basemen in Franchise History

4. Richie Sexson

Years as a Brewer: 2000-2003

Perhaps I’m biased since Sexson was my favorite player for the early part of my life (AKA the pre-Nyjer Morgan days). However, Sexson was arguably the best player on a number of Brewers teams.

He began his career with the Cleveland Indians and even logged a 30-homer season with them. The Indians traded him to Milwaukee at the trade deadline during the 2000 season though, setting up a dominant stretch of playing.

Sexson produced a .957 OPS during the second half of the 2000 season, which was just a preview of the years to come. In 2001, he tallied 45 home runs and 125 RBI, both of which would be the highest marks of his career. He also reached the 100-RBI plateau the next two seasons while cracking the National League All-Star team in both of those years (don’t ask me why his 2001 season wasn’t good enough to warrant an All-Star bid, but I digress).

The lanky first baseman finished his Brewers tenure following the 2003 season, when he was traded to the Diamondbacks for a massive return including current manager Craig Counsell and fellow first baseman Lyle Overbay (who just missed this list, for what it’s worth).

In three and a half seasons with Milwaukee, Sexson compiled a .276/.366/.536 slash line to go with 133 home runs and 398 RBI. The brief nature of his stay with the team is largely the reason he’s not higher on this list. That said, he certainly left a mark on the franchise and on the city.