Bruce Sutter

Carlton Wins NL Cy Young

October 26

Carlton ran away with the NL Cy Young award.

In what falls in the “yeah, duh” category, Steve Carlton has been named the National League’s Cy Young award winner. Voted on by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, the award goes to the best pitcher in each league.

It was a formality, really. Carlton led the majors in wins with 23 and was the only pitcher in either league who won 20. His 286 strikeouts, 19 complete games and six shutouts also led both leagues, so it is not surprising that Carlton, who received 20 of a possible 24 first place votes, won the award.

Player – Tm	Pts	1st	W	L	SO	SV	IP	ERA
Steve Carlton, PHI	112	20	23	11	286	0	295.2	3.10
Steve Rogers, MON	29	1	19	8	179	0	277.0	2.40
Bruce Sutter, STL	25	2	9	8	61	36	102.1	2.90
F Valenzuela, LAD	25	1	19	13	199	0	285.0	2.87
Phil Niekro, ATL	18	0	17	4	144	0	234.1	3.61
Greg Minton, SFG	4	0	10	4	58	30	123.0	1.83
J Andujar, STL	1	0	15	10	137	0	265.2	2.47
Gene Garber, ATL	1	0	8	10	68	30	119.1	2.34
Mario Soto, CIN	0	0	14	13	274	0	257.2	2.79

Brewers Win, Lead 3-2

October 17

Brewers 6, Cardinals 4
Brewers now lead World Series 3-2
Box Score | Season Schedule

Mike Caldwell was good enough to win Game 5.

MILWAUKEE — After winning Game 5 of a best of seven World Series to take a 3-2 lead, Brewers fans are getting confident. They may even be getting a bit cocky.

Following Robin Yount‘s solo home run to give the Brewers a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh, fans responded by chanting MVP! MVP! MVP!

When Ozzie Smith stepped to the plate in a fruitless at bat with two outs in the top of the eighth, fans screamed Ozzie who? Ozzie who?

When All-Star closer Bruce Sutter stepped on the field moments later in an effort to keep the Cardinals close, fans repeated their chant for Sutter’s benefit: Sutter who? Sutter who?

The Brewers then took a 6-2 lead on a RBI singles by Charlie Moore and Jim Gantner. Even as the Cardinals mounted a rally in the top of the ninth, Brewers faithful started loading the bottom of the stands in preparation for a victorious eruption.

As soon as Gene Tenace‘s fly ball landed in Ben Oglivie‘s glove for the final out of the game to complete the final Brewers home game of the World Series, fans rushed the field to celebrate. Knowing that they wouldn’t have a chance to swarm the field in St. Louis when the Brewers eventually win the World Series, they stormed the County Stadium turf. They took chunks of grass as souvenirs along the way.

Moments after the victory, fans then stormed the streets of downtown Milwaukee, breaking beer bottles and branches along Wisconsin Avenue. As many as a dozen fistfights broke out, most related to intoxication.

“I’m sick of this stuff,” said an unnamed officer. “Do you know how much it costs tax payers to clean up this mess night after night?”

No, we don’t, sir. But I don’t think we care.

Lost in the mayhem, Robin Yount collected four hits for the second time of this World Series, setting yet another record in his likely MVP season. He’s on pace to wrap up the year with even more hardware: A World Series MVP.

“I wasn’t aware of it,” Yount said about the record. “I guess I feel the same about it as getting the four hits. It’s not a big deal. I don’t care about World Series records. Winning the World Series is what’s on my mind right now.”

Damn right, Brewers fans. Damn right.

After a day off tomorrow, the series will pick back up on October 19. The Brewers will then try to make the celebration in Milwaukee official.

Brewers Lose, Down 2-1

October 15

Cardinals 6, Brewers 2
Cardinals now lead World Series 2-1
Box Score | Season Schedule

MILWAUKEE — I should have felt good about the fact that the Brewers were leaving St. Louis tied at a game apiece. After all, they say that all you need is one in that situation. But there was something about losing a game that should have been won that bothered me. I had a bad feeling that, even though the Brewers had stolen home field advantage, losing that second game would haunt them.

Exhibit A is tonight’s game. Back in Milwaukee, in front of the home crowd, you’d expect the Brewers to go up two games to one. Particularly with the leading American League Cy Young candidate, Pete Vuckovich, on the mound.

But things didn’t go as planned in this 6-2 loss to the Cardinals. Vuke only allowed six hits in 8 2/3 innings. He didn’t allow a single hit to the first three batters in the Cardinals’ lineup, and the top five went a combined 1-for-19. You’d expect that this would be the reflection of a win, in a typical game. But this game was not typical.

First and foremost, Joaquin Andujar owned Brewers batters. While Harvey’s Wallbangers haven’t been owned consistently of late, they certainly haven’t been banging walls with regularity either. But Andujar kept the bats silent all night long.

It wasn’t until a Ted Simmons liner knocked Andujar out of the game in the seventh that the Brewers’ offense started to see life. His rocket struck Andujar in the right knee, and the pitcher writhed in pain on the ground until he was finally replaced.

“I was just glad it didn’t get Andujar in the head or some place where it would hurt him real bad,” said Simmons. “You don’t say, ‘Wow, I knocked him out of the game. Oh goody for us.’ It’s not like that at all. You hope the guy isn’t hurt.”

It certainly wasn’t “goody for us.” The Brewers squandered a major opportunity that inning, loading the bases on four Cardinals pitchers before closer Bruce Sutter ended the inning on a Charlie Moore pop-out caught on the top dugout step.

The Brewers would finally break through on a two-out, two-run homer by Cecil Cooper in the eighth. But other than that, nothing.

That doesn’t mean we let Vuke off the hook. He’s supposed to be our Cy Young candidate, after all. And when you are supposedly one of the best pitchers in the American League, you should be up to any challenge. Well, he lost his last big game of the regular season to the Orioles. He lost one game to the Angels in the ALCS and got no decision in the other. And today, he lost again.

But it wasn’t the top of the order that got to Vuke. It was the bottom. And most specifically, it was rookie Willie McGee. In a scoreless game in the fifth, McGee hit a three run homer. McGee, if you did not know, had four regular season home runs. But because of his bomb, the Brewers were down 3-0.

McGee then came to bat again in the seventh. The result? Another homer to give the Cardinals a 5-0 lead. It’s tough to explain.

“A guy hits four home runs all year,” Vuke would say, “you won’t expect him to hit two in a game. But he did.”

McGee wasn’t done torturing the Brewers. With Oglivie on first after an error by Keith Hernandez, Gorman Thomas launched what appeared to be a home run to center field. But McGee raced back, leaped at the wall, and pulled it back in.

Ridiculous.

The Cardinals scored their last run when Vuke pitched around light-hitting Ozzie Smith with the bases loaded and walked in a run in the ninth.

“I tried to get him to fish inside. He didn’t fish,” explained Vuke.

Unacceptable. Why in the world do you need to get a guy with no bat like Smith to fish? Just throw him a strike, Vuke. He can’t hurt you. It’s painful.

Honestly, I don’t know who needs to pay for this loss. Pete Vuckovich is certainly at the top of the list. I’m tired of defending him as a Cy Young caliber pitcher when he can’t pitch close to that caliber in the postseason. That said, we’ve been drooling over this offense all season long, and they are giving us little to be excited about of late.

Paul Molitor, who had five hits in Game 1, went 0-for-4 in Game 3. Robin Yount, the likely regular season MVP, went 0-for-3. Ben Oglivie went 0-for-4 to lower his postseason average to .111. Gorman Thomas went 1-for-4 and actually raised his postseason average to .115.

Oh, and the defense committed three more errors leading to two unearned runs.

It’s frustrating. It’s frustrating to know how fortunate this team is to be in the World Series right now considering how poorly they’ve played overall. And it’s frustrating to sense that if they’d play even average baseball, they’d be up three games to none. But instead, they’re down two to one.

But I’m just a passionate, overreacting fan. Sure, it’s just one game. And they may win the next three. But it’s painful to watch the Brewers under perform, and they did so in every facet of the game on this night.

What do you think? Is it too early to panic?

Missing Fingers

October 14

ST. LOUIS — It’s as painful as the headline sounds, Brewers fans. For the first time this postseason, Rollie Fingers’ absence hurt the Brewers.

Fingers, who has been out since Sept. 3 with a strained right forearm, was sorely missed as the bullpen collapsed late in Game 2. The Crew could have used their ace closer as Bob McClure and phenom Pete Ladd couldn’t keep the Cardinals off the board in a disastrous eighth inning.

Instead of flailing at Fingers’ forkball, the Cards waited patiently as McClure and Ladd gagged on the mound. McClure could only retire one of the three batters he faced that inning, while Ladd, who was lights out in the ALCS against the Angels, walked the first man he faced and then the next, which brought home George Hendrick with the eventual winning run.

Three walks and a single, and two of the walks were complete free passes with not one strike thrown. The most galling may have been Ladd’s four-pitch walk of Steve Braun.

Steve Braun? Who the f#ck is this guy?

This guy is a 34-year-old utility stiff who hit .274 in 62 at bats this season. Granted, he also walked 11 times to bring his OBP to .384, but make the guy put the ball in play. He hadn’t faced live pitching since Game 2 of the NLCS and he grounded out to Phil Niekro in his only postseason at bat.

But you also know what he is? A voyeur. The man makes his bones by watching. And he’s proud of it.

“I’m a hitter,” Braun told The New York Times. “I’m a professional hitter. You always want to swing the bat if you get the opportunity. [But] If I swung at pitches like he threw, I’d have been out of the big leagues years ago.”

Instead, he got a cheap RBI. It’s imperative Ladd makes Braun put it in play. Ladd has an exceptional fastball and the guy has never seen the rookie before. Braun hadn’t played in a week. Ladd has to make him do something with it other than watch it go high and wide for four straight pitches, damn it!

Apologies for the rage, but it was frustrating to watch the Crew let slip an opportunity to put the Cards in a two-game hole with the next three games at County Stadium. But a tip of the cap to Cards manager Whitey Herzog for recognizing the situation and putting a professional hitter such as Braun in the game in that situation. Then again, if the Brewers have Fingers, they’re probably not in that situation.

Porter’s two-out, two-run double in the sixth was a crushing blow.

Crew skipper Harvey Kuenn said Fingers could have pitched, but not in that situation.

“Yes, Rollie was well enough to pitch,” Kuenn said. “And no, I didn’t consider using him. I’ve used Rollie Fingers when we’re ahead, not in tie situations.”

While it’s admirable to save Fingers to lock down a W, the ace said he probably couldn’t have gone even if Kuenn had called on him.

“I couldn’t have pitched,” Fingers told The New York Times. “I’m a little stiff from not pitching for a month, not the injury. It’s like the fifth or sixth day of spring training.”

Only it’s not. It’s baseball’s biggest stage and the Brewers fell off of it in Game 2. Don Sutton doesn’t escape retribution either. Twice the offense gave him leads (3-0 and 4-2) and twice he gave up two runs with two outs. You would expect that from a rookie pitcher, not a vet of Sutton’s stature.

Then there was the botched hit-and-run in the ninth where Robin Yount, in one of the only times this season he hasn’t come through, swung through a Bruce Sutter pitch and former Brewer Darrell Porter, who killed the Crew with a two-out double in the third, gunned down Paul Molitor, snuffing any Brewers hopes.

Game 3 is tomorrow at County Stadium. Let’s hope the Crew, who has responded well to adversity all season, responds positively once again.

How disappointed are you in the Crew’s Game 2 flop? Let us know. You can also follow our tweets at @tweetsfrom1982