ALCS Preview

ALCS Game 5 Preview

October 10

Pete Vuckovich — Vuke is the man on the hill for the Crew today.

MILWAUKEE — Heading into Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, it would be appropriate to roll out the cliches about ultimate games.

“This one’s for all the marbles.”

“There is no tomorrow.”

“It’s do or die.”

“It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”

Those cliches would apply as the Milwaukee Brewers host the California Angels, their series almost improbably tied at two games apiece. But this series has been anything but typical, the Brewers anything but conventional this season. For the past two games, they have kept the elimination wolves at bay with guts, guile and Mark Brouhard. Like the final game in Baltimore, both teams could be down to their final nine innings.

It wouldn’t be too far-flung to suggest the pressure is on the Angels today. They’ve had two opportunities to advance to the World Series and they have missed them both. The game is at County Stadium and they won’t get a chance to have the last laugh. That belongs to the Crew, who have laughed in the face of baseball death since that final week in Baltimore. Somehow, someway the Crew lives and breathes.

The Brewers faithful, however, haven’t been breathing easily for some time now. Every game has been fraught with peril, every pitch filled with tension. Yesterday was different for Crew fans, though. Harvey Kuenn went with Brouhard in left for Ben Oglivie, who not only was in a 1-for-11 slump but who also had sore ribs, and it paid off. The Crew was up 6-0 before the Angels knew what hit them, and it was Brouhard.

Today, hits may be tough to come by. It’s going to be cool, cloudy and windy, more football weather than baseball. But with the NFL on strike, there is no football today. The Brewers have the eyes of the state and the country on them.

As for the offenses, they will face two pitchers who were on their games in Game 2. For the Angels, it’s Bruce Kison, who completely baffled the Brewers. It’s no wonder. Kison could rightfully borrow the “Mr. October” mantel from teammate Reggie Jackson. Kison is a brilliant 31-7 in September and October and he’s going on three days rest. His numbers are stellar there too, going 10-1 with 2.47 ERA. The only bump in the road for Kison is the blister under the fingernail of his middle finger on his throwing hand.

Milwaukee’s ace, Pete Vuckovich, will hope to give his middle finger to the Angels’ potent lineup. Vuke gave up four runs on six hits in Game 2 and will need to be a bit better today. The way things have gone in this series and with these pitchers, four runs may be enough to win the American League pennant. First pitch is at 3:20 p.m. CT.

Here are the lineups. Oglivie is back and so is Gorman Thomas, who has a bum knee. We’ll see how long he lasts today. Go Crew.

#	Brewers	POS
1	Molitor	3B
2	Yount	SS
3	Cooper	1B
4	Simmons	C
5	Oglivie	LF
6	Thomas	CF
7	Money	DH
8	Moore	RF
9	Gantner	2B
	Vuckovich	SP

#	Angels	POS
1	Downing	LF
2	Carew	1B
3	Jackson	RF
4	Lynn	CF
5	Baylor	DH
6	DeCinces	3B
7	Grich	2B
8	Foli	SS
9	Boone	C
	Kison	SP

ALCS Game 4 Preview

October 9

MILWAUKEE — Phew. And what the hell?

For Brewers fans, winning Game 3 5-3 was a huge relief and made possible a Game 4.

The what the hell was for the Brewers “fan” who reached over the railing in the eighth inning to give Bob Boone of all people a home run. Word to the wise, or in this case, not-so-wise: keep your f#cking hands to yourself. Don’t you know what’s at stake?

Good lord, if you see Ben Oglivie with a beat on the ball, let him catch it. Either get to the yard early to get a batting practice ball or buy a souvenir at a stand. Don’t steal it from the field of play.

Now that’s out of the way, the Crew has another chance to extend the series against nemesis Tommy John, who completely befuddled them in Game 1. Still, it’s news that John is pitching in Game 4 at all. Angels manager Gene Mauch, who piloted the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies to an epic collapse, has opened the door to another by shelving the man who would have normally started, Ken Forsch.

“He didn’t have to give me an explanation,” Forsch said of Mauch, The New York Times reported. “I didn’t need one. …I’m not mad, or angry, or anything. I’m just disappointed.”

The Brewers must be disappointed to see John again, who baffled the Brewers in Game 1. Or maybe they’re relieved that John’s going on three days rest and they won’t need to face Forsch. Either way, it shouldn’t matter. The Crew needs to win to force a winner-takes-all Game 5.

While the Angels have messed with their rotation, the Crew has altered its rotation as well as Moose — MOOSE! – Haas takes the hill. Normally, it would be Mike Caldwell, but Kuenn must be saving the lefty. Either that or he has guts. Or he’s a fool.

Haas made way for Don Sutton in the rotation and hasn’t started since Labor Day. Instead of preventing coronaries, he’s induced them. Kuenn is making the right move by giving the pill to Moose, who last pitched on Oct. 2 in Baltimore, where he pitched four innings and gave up a run in relief. It was a good outing considering the rest of the staff surrendered 10 runs in that debacle.

As Brewers fans know, the Crew can ill afford another debacle. They need to make it to tomorrow. Game time is 12:00 p.m. CT.

Then, anything can happen.

[Editor’s note: Whoa, whoa, whoa! Mark Brouhard? Yep. Ben Oglivie bruised his ribs crashing into the wall on a Fred Lynn double yesterday, so Harvey Kuenn is going with the rarely used outfielder. Brouhard last played on September 11.]

#	Brewers	POS	#	Angels	POS
1	Molitor	3B	1	Downing	LF
2	Yount	SS	2	Carew	1B
3	Cooper	1B	3	Jackson	RF
4	Simmons	C	4	Lynn	CF
5	Thomas	CF	5	Baylor	DH
6	Money	DH	6	DeCinces	3B
7	Brouhard	LF	7	Grich	2B
8	Moore	RF	8	Foli	SS
9	Gantner	2B	9	Boone	C
	Haas	SP		John	SP

ALCS Game 3 Preview

October 8

MILWAUKEE — He saved the Brewers when the season was on the line in Baltimore. He’ll need to do the same against the Angels today in Milwaukee.

When Harry Dalton acquired Don Sutton on Aug. 31, he envisioned Sutton helping the Crew to make the postseason. On Friday, Sutton will need to prevent the Crew from being swept out of it. The wily vet and his magic perm takes the hill at 2:15 p.m. CT against Geoff Zahn to save the season once again.

Sutton may need to be close to perfect, though, with the way the Brewers have been swinging the bats: feebly, meekly, weakly. In the first two games in Anaheim, the Crew hit .182 or about 100 points lower than their team batting average over the ’82 season.

In his afternoon press conference on Thursday, Brewers manager Harvey Kuenn was at a loss as how to kick start the Crew offense.

“Maybe I should have Cooper lead off,” Kuenn said, according to The New York Times, “Gorman hitting second, and then Yount and Molitor hitting third and fourth. What good would it do? There wouldn’t be anybody on base for Yount and Molitor, anyway.”

Whoa, that’s pretty cynical even for a guy with a wooden leg. But can you blame him? His Brewers have been bums in six of their last seven games.

Think about that. The Brewers have lost six of their last seven games. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that they can reel off three in a row. The wonderful thing though is that they’re not playing a tripleheader. They just need to win one. Without that, there isn’t the question of winning the other two. Win today. That’s the key.

Having Harpo Sutton on the mound helps. Sutton has been nothing short of awesome for the Crew since coming from Houston. He pitched a gem to help the Brewers clinch the AL East on the last day of the season.

He’ll be an asset today as well as the Angels have never seen him. So, not only do the Angels need to deal with Sutton’s veteran savvy and nasty stuff, but they’ve got to try to figure him out for the very first time.

When Game 3 is put into those terms, there may be a flicker of hope for the Crew.

Let’s just hope he can stop that bastard Fred Lynn, who went 2-for-4 in Game 2 and his average dropped to .625. May be time for a little chin music.

Facing the Crew will be Geoff Zahn, who won 18 games but got his brains beat in by the Crew in his two starts. Zahn, a tall, lanky lefty who doesn’t throw hard enough to break an egg, gave up five runs to the Crew in each of his two starts this season.

Let’s hope the Crew follows that precedent in Game 3 because it’s a better one than what the Crew has set in the past week.

#	Brewers	POS
1	Molitor	3B
2	Yount	SS
3	Cooper	1B
4	Simmons	C
5	Thomas	CF
6	Oglive	LF
7	Money	DH
8	Moore	RF
9	Gantner	2B
	Sutton	SP

#	Angels	POS
1	Downing	LF
2	Carew	1B
3	Jackson	LF
4	Lynn	CF
5	Baylor	DH
6	DeCinces	3B
7	Grich	2B
8	Foli	SS
9	Boone	C
	Zahn	SP

ALCS Game 2 Preview

October 6

ANAHEIM, Calif. — You would think there wasn’t enough room for any more entertainment in a city that is home to Disneyland. But it appears the Brewers are trying to bring their three-ring circus to town.

After barely winning the AL East (no, really, the roller coaster ride was fun, it was …) by losing three of four games to the Baltimore Orioles, the Brewers put themselves in a 1-0 hole in their American League Championship Series with an ugly 8-3 loss to the California Angels.

You can read all the gruesome details in our recap, but it wasn’t pretty as the Crew looked overwhelmed in Game 1. And while we’re asking you if you think Game 2 is must win, let me put it this way, no team in either league has rebounded from a 2-0 deficit in a league championship series. None. No one. Not one. Never.

Then again, these are the Brewers, causers of cardiac arrest, messers of minds, archdukes of anxiety. They seem to take a certain glee in making the faithful sweat. But history shows the sweating will become profuse with another loss even with the final three games at County Stadium.

The Crew will send Cy Young candidate Pete Vuckovich (18-6) against Bruce Kison (10-5), who started the season as a starter, but was moved to the bullpen. He hasn’t started a game since June 22.

The Brewers’ results against Kison have been mixed. He pitched eight shutout innings in a 7-2 Angels win in Milwaukee on May 19. Just 11 days later, the Crew rocked him for five runs on May 30.

This is a prime opportunity for the Crew to avoid an 0-2 hole. Let’s hope they take it.

Here are today’s lineups. Go Crew!

#	Brewers	POS
1	Molitor	3B
2	Yount	SS
3	Cooper	1B
4	Simmons	C
5	Oglivie	LF
6	Thomas	CF
7	Howell	DH
8	Moore	RF
9	Gantner	2B
	Vuckovich	SP

#	Angels	POS
1	Downing	LF
2	Carew	1B
3	Jackson	LF
4	Lynn	CF
5	Baylor	DH
6	DeCinces	3B
7	Grich	2B
8	Foli	SS
9	Boone	C
	Kison	SP

ALCS Game 1 Preview

October 5

ANAHEIM — We’re in Anaheim and properly jet-lagged. The only cure for jet lag is a few brews. Logically, we have been looking for a place to tailgate, but finding nothing. We’re not in Milwaukee anymore, people. Luckily we’ve found some other Brewers fans in a nearby watering hole. Tip another!

Sure, we’re still celebrating that big win against the Orioles. While we may have felt a sense of accomplishment after the Brewers finally clinched the AL East, those feelings will soon be replaced with jitters. How will the Brewers fare on the big stage? It’ll be a nationally televised game, the only game on tonight. The NLCS doesn’t start until tomorrow.

We’ve got Mike Caldwell up against the Angels’ version of Don Sutton, Tommy John. You may recall that John was among the pitchers available in August, and the Brewers struck instead with Sutton. John has been excellent since being acquired from the Yankees, going 4-2 with a 3.86 ERA.

Mike Caldwell has been the Brewers’ iron man this season, throwing 12 complete games and three shutouts. Don Sutton and Pete Vuckovich may get all of the attention, but Caldwell has been nearly as good, going 17-13 with a 3.91 ERA. Caldwell had a rough time in his last start against the Orioles (seven earned runs on 13 hits in seven innings), but he’s also pitched seven innings or more in 14 consecutive starts. Rest comfortably with Caldwell on the hill, Brewers fans.

Caldwell has a tough assignment in the Angels. California finished the regular season strong, winning their final three games against the Rangers and taking 11 of their last 15. This is a strong team, both offensively and defensively. The Angels ranked second in both runs scored and runs allowed, so Harvey’s Wallbangers will have their work cut out for them.

Lynn, Baylor, Jackson and Carew will give Brewers pitching all that they can handle

If you think you can stop the Angels by stopping a single player, think again. Their lineup is loaded, and in many ways an equal to the Brewers’ record-setting bunch. Doug DeCinces (.301, 30 HR, 97 RBI) and Reggie Jackson (.275, 39 HR, 101 RBI) have been the team’s offensive stars, and both will be mentioned in MVP talk. But you can’t overlook other cogs in the lineup, including Fred Lynn (.299, 21 HR, 86 RBI), Rod Carew (.319, 3 HR, 44 RBI), Bobby Grich (.261, 19 HR, 65 RBI), Brian Downing (.281, 28 HR, 84 RBI) and Don Baylor (.263, 24 HR, 93 RBI).

Eesh. That’s a lot to worry about.

Quite frankly, the Angels are just as good as the Brewers. Both teams will score runs. Both teams have solid pitching, thanks largely to late-season additions. Any disparities are minimal.

Big game, Brewers fans. Our team needs this one. The final win of the regular season should provide some momentum. Win this game on the road against the Angels’ best pitcher, and it’ll be smooth sailing.

Here are today’s lineups. Start time is 7:25 PM CT. Go Crew!

#	Brewers	POS
1	Molitor	3B
2	Yount	SS
3	Cooper	1B
4	Simmons	C
5	Thomas	CF
6	Oglivie	LF
7	Money	DH
8	Moore	RF
9	Gantner	2B
	Caldwell	SP

#	Angels	POS
1	Downing	LF
2	DeCinces	3B
3	Grich	2B
4	Baylor	DH
5	Jackson	RF
6	Lynn	CF
7	Carew	1B
8	Foli	SS
9	Boone	C
	John	SP