Milwaukee’s Best, Part 4: The 50 Best To Play For Braves, Brewers: 20-11
By Phil Watson
Don Money, shown on an undated poster.
11. Don Money, 3B-2B
Brewers 1973-83
The Milwaukee Brewers picked up Don Money along with right-hander Bill Champion and infielder John Vukovich from the Philadelphia Phillies in October 1972 in exchange for right-handers Jim Lonborg and Ken Sanders and left-hander Ken Brett and Earl Stephenson.
Money wound up being … well … money for the Brewers for the next decade-plus. Playing third base and second base primarily, Money was a four-time All-Star for Milwaukee, hitting .293/.361/.440 in 1978 and clubbing 25 homers in 1977.
He was third in the AL in hits and sixth in doubles in 1974 and was 10th in stolen bases in 1973.
The Brewers released Money in January 1984 and he briefly played for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes in the Japan Pacific League before retiring.
Originally signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent out of La Plata (Md.) High School in June 1965, Money was traded to the Phillies in December 1967 and made his big league debut in April 1968.
Money went on to manage in the Brewers organization for 14 seasons, 1998-2011, including seven years at Class-A Beloit, four years at Double-A Huntsville and three years with Triple-A Nashville.
Here are Money’s statistics from his 11 seasons with the Brewers:
| Year | Age | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 26 | 145 | 627 | 556 | 75 | 158 | 28 | 2 | 11 | 61 | 22 | 5 | 53 | 53 | .284 | .347 | .401 | .748 | 114 |
| 1974 ★ | 27 | 159 | 709 | 629 | 85 | 178 | 32 | 3 | 15 | 65 | 19 | 6 | 62 | 80 | .283 | .346 | .415 | .761 | 120 |
| 1975 | 28 | 109 | 445 | 405 | 58 | 112 | 16 | 1 | 15 | 43 | 7 | 9 | 31 | 51 | .277 | .331 | .432 | .763 | 115 |
| 1976 ★ | 29 | 117 | 498 | 439 | 51 | 117 | 18 | 4 | 12 | 62 | 6 | 5 | 47 | 50 | .267 | .333 | .408 | .741 | 119 |
| 1977 ★ | 30 | 152 | 644 | 570 | 86 | 159 | 28 | 3 | 25 | 83 | 8 | 5 | 57 | 70 | .279 | .348 | .470 | .819 | 122 |
| 1978 ★ | 31 | 137 | 588 | 518 | 88 | 152 | 30 | 2 | 14 | 54 | 3 | 0 | 48 | 70 | .293 | .361 | .440 | .801 | 125 |
| 1979 | 32 | 92 | 402 | 350 | 52 | 83 | 20 | 1 | 6 | 38 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 47 | .237 | .316 | .351 | .667 | 80 |
| 1980 | 33 | 86 | 336 | 289 | 39 | 74 | 17 | 1 | 17 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 36 | .256 | .348 | .498 | .847 | 133 |
| 1981 | 34 | 60 | 211 | 185 | 17 | 40 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 27 | .216 | .288 | .286 | .575 | 70 |
| 1982 | 35 | 96 | 313 | 275 | 40 | 78 | 14 | 3 | 16 | 55 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 38 | .284 | .360 | .531 | .891 | 148 |
| 1983 | 36 | 43 | 128 | 114 | 5 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 17 | .149 | .220 | .219 | .440 | 26 |
| TOTALS | 1196 | 4901 | 4330 | 596 | 1168 | 215 | 20 | 134 | 529 | 66 | 32 | 440 | 539 | .270 | .338 | .421 | .760 | 114 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/20/2015.
Coming Saturday: The top 10.