Milwaukee Brewers: Top Five Second Basemen in Franchise History

1. Jim Gantner

Years as a Brewer: 1976-1992

While he maybe wasn’t a superior hitter to Weeks, Gantner had an excellent career in his own right. He’s a career .274 hitter and played a more passable second base than Weeks (115 errors still isn’t good, but it’s certainly better than the number Weeks put up). He’s also the leading Milwaukee Brewers second baseman in WAR with 22.5.

Gantner never provided much power. The most home runs he ever had in a season was 11 back in 1983. His career .351 slugging percentage is a pretty good indicator that there wasn’t much pop in his bat. But Gantner had a pretty good .274 career average. He was good at getting singles and wasn’t much for extra base hits.

One of the more important things that really pushed him over the edge in my book was the fact that he was a Brewer for his entire career AND grew up in Wisconsin. His performance on the field was very commendable, but the fact that he was able to maintain that production consistently over the course of 17 years, all for one team, is impressive. Add on the fact that the Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, native played out his career in his home state just adds a cherry on top.

Do you agree with the picks? Disagree? Either way, let me know! This is meant to start debates, not end them. Regardless, the Brewers had some solid second basemen come through the system even if it seems like it’s consistently a position of weakness right now.