Match-ups
April 13 at 11:00 am
Randy Lerch (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Lary Sorensen (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
April 14 at 1:05 pm
Pete Vuckovich (1-0, 6.00 ERA) vs. John Denny (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
April 15 at 4:00 pm
Mike Caldwell (0-0, 2.57 ERA) vs. Bert Blyleven (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
1982 Records
Milwaukee Brewers: 2-1 (1st in AL East)
Cleveland Indians: 1-1 (2nd in AL East)
After one series against possibly the worst team in all of baseball, it’s hard to say that we know much about the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers. They beat the Toronto Blue Jays easily in two of the three games and lost in extra innings in the third.
And quite frankly, what we saw in those three games was much like what we saw last season: Impressive offense and iffy pitching.
The Blue Jays scored 329 runs last season, or 3.1 runs per game. The Brewers, meanwhile, averaged a shade over 4.5 runs per game. So, you’d assume that they’d have no trouble with the Blue Jays offense.
Unfortunately, each game presented a different challenge. In the first, ace Pete Vuckovich allowed four runs and 10 baserunners in six innings. Not awful, but you’d expect better against the Blue Jays. In the second, Rollie Fingers took the loss in an extra inning game. In the third, Moose Haas was spotted an eight run lead, but couldn’t survive the fifth inning.
So if the first series (and 1981 season) are any indication, the Brewers will again need to outscore their opponent — not by a combination of pitching and hitting, but by scoring a ridiculous amount of runs.
Or maybe… this is an overreaction and we should wait and see.
The Cleveland Indians, who finished in sixth in the AL East but with a 52-51 record in 1981, will be a slightly bigger challenge. Toby Harrah, who hit .291 last season, is considered the team’s biggest offensive threat, but the Brewers’ biggest challenge may be the Indians’ pitching. They’ll get John Denny, who was 10-6 with a 3.15 ERA last season, in Game 2 and ace Bert Blyleven, who went 11-7 with a 2.88 ERA, in the finale.
Can the Brewers beat these guys? Sure they can. Bring it!