Ricky Henderson and Jim Rice were elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame Sunday.  This got me to thinking, who are my Brewers Hall of Famers?  The players I’ve watched and cheered for, that are the tops in the organization.  At first I thought of having a list of 25, but in all actuality, I grew up during the times of twelve straight losing seasons, and fourteen straight without a winning one.  Needless to say, the players weren’t baseball’s all-time greats during that stretch, but I was able to come up with 15 players I feel are the best I’ve seen put on a Milwaukee uniform.

(Years in parentheses are years when I was alive they played in Milwaukee)

15.  Paul Moiltor (1986-1992):  I very faintly remember Molly playing for the Brewers.  Most of my memories of him are on the Twins and Blue Jays, but I do remember him wearing his true jersey, that blue and yellow.  His final two seasons in Brew City he batted .325 and .320, and made the All-Star Game both seasons.  If I were older, he’d be higher.

14.  John Jaha (1992-1998):  Here is one of the players I grew up with.  I was 6 when he first played in Milwaukee, and 12 when he was finished.  Sporting one of the best names for a ballplayer, Jaha was one of the first Brewers’ power hitters I can remember.  In 1996, he smacked 34 home runs, while batting .300 and driving in 118.  He will forever be one of my childhood favorites.

13.  BJ Surhoff (1987-1995):  I remember him as the first utility player the Brewers had.  For being a catcher, he had a decent amount of speed, stealing 102 bases while in a Brewer uniform.  He did have his best seasons while he was in Baltimore, but he was a solid player for the Brewers in some lean years.

12.  Dave Nilsson (1992-1999):  The best catcher the Brewers have had in my lifetime.  He made it to an All-Star Game in his final season in the bigs, before heading back to his native Australia.  His career average of .284 is one of the best the Brewers will ever see from behind the dish.

11.  Mark Loretta (1995-2002):  The first player on this list to break into the 2000s, Loretta teamed with another player on this list to form potent duo.  He was the perfect utility infielder, similar to what Craig Counsell is for the Brewers now.  He’s traveled around the league quite a bit since leaving Milwaukee, but to me, he’ll always be remembered as a Brewer.

10.  Carlos Lee (2005-2006):  He only played a season and a half in Milwaukee, but boy did he put up some gaudy numbers.  He was an All-Star both seasons in Milwaukee, he won a Silver Slugger award in 2005, and finished 17th in MVP voting that season.  He even had a knack for stealing bases, he was 25/31 in his two seasons, despite his size.

9.  Richie Sexson (2000-2003):  Lee was brought in basically to be a replacement to the power the Brewers lost when they got rid of Sexson.  Sexson was a back-to-back All-Star, along with finishing 12th in MVP voting in 2003.  In his three and a half years in Milwaukee, he cranked out 133 home runs (12th all-time), including two seasons of 45 a piece.  He is also responsible for what is probably the longest double in Brewers’ history, hitting close to a 500-ft double off the flag pole in Houston.

8.  Greg Vaughn (1989-1996):  My absolute favorite player growing up.  He was the first big Brewers’ power hitter that I knew.  He stands 6th all-time in home runs for the Crew with 169, and made it to two All-Star Games.  I watched him as a kid hit many a home runs to the gap between the grandstands and bleachers at County Stadium.

7.  Robin Yount (1986-1993):  I can remember watching him get his 3,000th hit on TV in September of 1992.  The greatest player to ever wear a Brewers uniform, he would easily sit at #1 if I wasn’t so young.  He is tops for the Brewers in games played, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI’s, total bases, and walks.  He is Mr. Brewer.

6.  Jeff Cirillo (1994-1999, 2005-2006):  One of the biggest fan favorites, Cirillo is the Brewers all-time leader in batting average at .307.  He twice just missed out on 200 hit season with the Crew, hitting 194 and 198 in ’98-’99.  He also finished his Brewers career with exactly 1,000 hits.  The best contact hitter I’ve seen.

5.  Ben Sheets (2001-2008):  He would be the top pitcher I’ve known in Brewers history if not for the next guy.  He was a four-time All-Star and finished 8th in Cy Young voting in 2004.  Last year, he finally got his chance to be on a contender, but battled injuries the entire year.  Despite him starting his career on some pretty awful Brewers teams, he has a career record over .500 of 86-83.  There is still a chance his playing days in Milwaukee aren’t done, but only time will tell.

4.  CC Sabathia (2008):  And the one year he was in Milwaukee wasn’t even a full season.  But what Sabathia did in the second half of 2008 will forever cement him in my Brewers Hall of Fame.  He went old school on folks, pitching 7 complete games in 17 starts.  He was on the Brewers for only half a season, yet led the NL in complete games and shut outs.  He finished with an 11-2 record and a 1.65 ERA, and finished 5th in Cy Young voting and 6th in MVP voting.  The absolute mania that took over Milwaukee when he came may never be duplicated.

3.  Prince Fielder (2005-2009):  One of two main reasons the Brewers made the playoffs a year ago and turned around their franchise.  He’s already a two-time All-Star, Silver Slugger, and finished 3rd in MVP voting in 2007, the year he set the Brewers single-season record for home runs with 50.  So far this season, he has a .306 batting average and is second in the NL in RBI’s with 87.  He may very well be the Brewers all-time home run king one day (albeit for who knows how long) as he is already 9th on the list with 138.

2.  Ryan Braun (2007-2009):  Give him a couple more years and he’ll be #1 on the list without a doubt.  He’s already won the Rookie of the Year award in 2007, a Silver Slugger in 2008, and was a back-to-back All-Star starter in 2008 and 2009.  He finished 24th in MVP voting his rookie year, and 3rd a season ago.  When all is said and done, he will be a legit threat to Robin Yount as the Brewers greatest player of all-time.

1.  Geoff Jenkins (1998-2007):  For now, Jenks holds the top spot on my list.  He was there through everything, a 106 loss season, the remarkable run to 81-81, and the first winning season in 14 years in 2007.  He was not brought back a year ago, and thus signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, which allowed him to play in his first postseason and win his first World Series.  He is second all-time to Robin Yount for home runs with 212, and will forever be loved in Milwaukee for his loyalty and 100% effort he played with.

So there it is.  Please feel free to debate, tell me how bad my list is, or just make your own and share.  We all love different players for different reasons, and that is just one thing that makes baseball great.