Cecil Cooper

Victory Sacrificed

Indians 4, Brewers 3 (11)
Brewers now 62-45 (1st by 2.5 games)
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Bob McClure pitched well enough to win, but he didn't get support.

CLEVELAND — For the second game in a row and the fourth time this season, the Milwaukee Brewers and Cleveland Indians played to extra innings. Following the Indians’ 11th inning win today, each team has one such a contest twice.

Not only did the Brewers have opportunities, but they had the lead. They took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI single by Don Money. They then extended that lead to two when Ben Oglivie singled home Cecil Cooper in the sixth.

The most damaging pitch of the game, however, occurred in the bottom of the sixth. Bob McClure, who had been pitching shutout ball for 5 2/3 innings, served up a two-out pitch that Andre Thornton sent over the wall for a two-run home run to tie the game.

The Brewers retook the lead on an RBI single by Jim Gantner in the top of the seventh, but back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the eighth would be too much to overcome. Mike Hargrove‘s double play ball resulted in a run, tying the game and eventually sending it to extra innings.

Dan Spillner walked both Ted Simmons and Ben Oglivie to open the 11th inning. Instead of letting home run hitter Gorman Thomas swing away — or at least force a wild Spillner to throw strikes — manager Harvey Kuenn called for the bunt. Thomas obliged, moving Simmons and Oglivie up a base.

Unfortunately, the Brewers may have sacrificed their best chance to win. Don Money was intentionally walked to load the bases and then Ed Glynn was summoned from the bullpen. That put the game on the shoulders of Charlie Moore and Jim Gantner. Moore popped to first and Gantner flied to center. Opportunity missed.

The question should be asked: Would you rather have Gorman Thomas and his AL-leading 26 home runs swinging away with runners at first and second and no outs or Charlie Moore with the bases loaded and one out? Do you trust Moore and Gantner enough to bring in a run that you’re willing to sacrifice Thomas?

Moore is hitting .242 and isn’t close to the extra base threat that is Thomas. I’ll answer the hypothetical for you: I’d much rather have Gorman swinging away.

But Kuenn chose to sacrifice, which may have been the expected strategy. But I can’t help but think things would have ended much differently had Gorman been given the green light.

Then, of course, came the bottom of the 11th. Andre Thornton flied out and speedster Miguel Dilone singled. He promptly stole second, and appeared to have stolen third. Instead, home plate umpire Larry McCoy said the pitch hit batter Ron Hassey on the foot, and Dilone was sent back to second. After Rick Manning flied to center, it appeared the Brewers dodged a bullet. Instead, Von Hayes hit a weak grounder to the right side, just out of the reach of the outstretched glove of Cecil Cooper.

“After Manning flew out,” Kuenn said after the game, “I thought we had escaped, but that ball Hayes hit just found a hole.”

It did. It’s easy to blame a bad bounce or bad luck. But the Brewers controlled their own destiny in this game, and they let it get away.

Luckily, the Boston Red Sox also lost, so the Brewers maintain a 2.5 game lead in the AL East.

Brewers Overcome Whitson, Chaos to Win in 10

August 6 Leave a Comment

Brewers 5, Indians 2 (10)
Brewers now 62-44 (1st by 2.5 games)
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1982 Topps Cecil Cooper — Cecil Cooper tied the game in the eighth and won it in the 10th.

CLEVELAND — For seven innings, Cleveland starter Ed Whitson dominated the Milwaukee Brewers. Then the real game started.

The Brewers didn’t collect their first hit until Paul Molitor singled to lead off the sixth. They didn’t get their second until Molitor singled in the eighth. And then…

Cecil Cooper had seen three pitches in three fruitless at bats until that point. But then Whitson made a mistake.

“It was a fastball down the middle,” Whitson explained. “His eyes lit up like silver dollars and I knew it was gone the minute I threw it.”

Cooper unloaded Whitson’s meatball over the right centerfield fence for his 23rd home run of the season. Suddenly, after struggling to even get a hit for seven innings, the Brewers and Indians were tied at two.

Moose Haas kept the Brewers in the game throughout, allowing only two runs on 10 hits and two walks through nine innings. He may have come out for the tenth except that Mike Hargrove lined a shot off of Haas’ hand to end the ninth.

Both teams passed up opportunities to win the game, but the Brewers would finally capitalize in the 10th (though it would come after poor execution). Molitor again singled to lead off the inning and moved to second on an error by Miguel Dilone. Robin Yount then dropped a hard bunt back to the mound and Molitor was caught in between second and third. Luckily, he stayed in a run-down long enough to get Yount to second.

Then the drama…

Cecil Cooper again came through, this time with a one hop single to right. Yount flew around third and appeared to beat a strong throw from outfielder Von Hayes. The throw was to the left shoulder of catcher Ron Hassey, who made a swipe tag of Yount as he slid across the plate.

Umpire Drew Coble pointed down, and Yount assumed he was being called out. Robin jumped to his feet and appeared to grab Coble by the shoulders. Ted Simmons, who had raced over from the on deck circle, then began screaming at Coble. Manager Harvey Kuenn rushed out of the dugout and third base coach Harry Werner rumbled toward the plate.

Coble then waved both arms and made the call he was attempting the entire time: SAFE. He had simply pointed to where Yount had touched the plate.

“I don’t know what I did but there was no way in the world I was out,” Yount explained. “I snapped a bit. When I realized he had called me safe, I said ‘ok’ and walked away as fast as I could because I thought I was in trouble.”

Kuenn had a similar account. “To tell the truth I have no idea what I was saying to Coble out there. [Gorman] Thomas grabbed me by the shoulders, shook me and yelled, ‘He called him SAFE!’ in my face, and I said, ‘See ya later.'”

Moments later, Ted Simmons hit his 18th home run of the season to give the Brewers a 5-2 lead that they would not give up. Rollie Fingers pitched the 10th for his 25th save.

The Brewers’ lead in the AL East increased to a season-high 2.5 games after the Boston Red Sox fell to the Chicago White Sox 6-3.

Cooper, Caldwell Star in Shutout

August 4 Leave a Comment

Brewers 8, Blue Jays 0
Brewers now 61-44 (1st by 1.5 games)
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Cecil Cooper was the offensive star of the game.

TORONTO — Today’s game left little doubt which was the better team. It was dominated by superstar performances, all from the visitors’ dugout.

For the second consecutive time, Mike Caldwell shutout the Toronto Blue Jays. It was as dominating as a one strikeout, seven-hit shutout could ever be. He didn’t walk a batter, and in only one inning (the fourth) did he allow two baserunners. In that inning, though, one of those runners was wiped out by a double play. Not once did Toronto even get a player to second base. Complete dominance.

Cecil Cooper would drive in the first two runs of the game with a two-out, two-run double, hitting just below the 400 foot sign in centerfield. In the fifth, he hit an absolute laser beam into right center that barely cleared the wall and was out of the park in the blink of an eye. It was his 22nd home run of the season. Cooper would also collect two singles, finishing the game with four hits, two runs scored and three RBI.

Those were the two standout performances. But Ted Simmons also went 2-for-5, including a three-run home run in the ninth to put the game well out of reach. Gorman Thomas had two hits, including his AL-leading 26th home run of the season.

After hitting only two home runs in seven games, the high powered Brewers are back to their old ways, hitting seven in the past two games in Toronto. This is the team we fell in love with during most of June and July. This is the complete team, with overwhelming power and just enough pitching, that should run away with the AL East.

The Boston Red Sox fell to the Baltimore Orioles 4-2, giving the Brewers a 1 1/2 game lead in the division. The Brewers get a much deserved day off tomorrow.

Harvey’s Wallbangers Return in 7-4 Win

August 3 Leave a Comment

Brewers 7, Blue Jays 4
Brewers now 60-44 (1st by 1 game)
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Rollie Fingers shut the door with three nearly perfect innings.

TORONTO — The Brewers have scuffled of late, winning only six of their last 15 games coming into today. They needed an old fashioned “Harvey’s Wallbangers” revival. They got it.

Milwaukee got off to a quick start in the first inning as Robin Yount singled home Paul Molitor and Cecil Cooper homered off the right field foul pole for his 21st of the season to make it 3-0.

“I finally hit a ball hard,” Cooper, who had the top part of his right shoe cut off to relieve pressure on his ailing big right toe, said after the game. Coop isn’t the only one who has struggled with the bat of late.

This is a team, not too long ago, that was ahead of the record-setting pace of the 1961 New York Yankees for most home runs in a season. Entering today’s game, though, the Brewers had smacked only two long balls during the previous seven games. That changed today.

Following a 61-minute rain delay in the bottom of the first inning, Pete Vuckovich kept the Blue Jays scoreless for the first three innings. In the bottom of the third, catcher Ted Simmons launched his 16th home run of the season to make it 4-0 Brewers. Then Jim Gantner and Paul Molitor hit back to back RBI singles in the fourth to knock Jim Clancy from the game and make it a 6-0 Brewers lead.

Things got a little sticky for Vuke in the bottom of the fourth when the Blue Jays reached on five consecutive singles to make it a 6-3 game. Vuke survived, though, and was solid the rest of the way.

Paul Molitor capped the Brewers’ scoring in the top of the 7th with a solo home run to make it 7-3, and Blue Jay Ernie Whitt added one more Toronto run with a solo homer of his own in the bottom of the inning.

If it seems like Whitt has given Vuckovich trouble this season, you’re right. In 138 1/3 innings this season, Vuke has allowed only four home runs, but two of them were to Whitt. “He’s like Babe Ruth against me,” Vuckovich laughed.

Vuke was able to laugh because the Brewers held on for a full-team win. Closer Rollie Fingers took the mound in the 7th and pitched three scoreless innings, allowing only a bunt single, to collect his 24th save of the season, requiring only 29 pitches to do it.

Now that the Brewers are once again combining home run power with solid pitching, are Harvey’s Wallbangers back? “I hope it stays this way for the next month,” Kuenn said. “It kind of reminded me of June and July [when everything went right].”

The Red Sox split a double header with the Orioles, giving the Brewers a one game lead in the AL East.

Game Notes: Vuckovich had to be removed after the sixth inning because he was fatigued due to an 11-inning start against the Indians last time out.

Blue Jays Bully Brewers

August 2 Leave a Comment

Blue Jays 9, Brewers 4
Brewers now 59-44 (1st-Tied)
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TORONTO — The Blue Jays entered today’s game in last place and 10 1/2 games back in the AL East. But they sure didn’t play like it.

And to be fair, they haven’t played like it at all lately. They are 12-6 since the All-Star break. After a first inning unearned run, Dave Stieb toyed with Brewers batters until Don Money hit a solo homer in the eighth and two desperation runs were scored with two outs in the ninth.

Bob McClure was not nearly as good for the Brewers. He allowed three runs on a double, triple, two singles and a walk in the first inning. The next two batters reached in the second, and McClure’s day was quickly over.

“Bobby just didn’t have it today,” manager Harvey Kuenn told the Milwaukee Sentinel after the game. “He had no location and was high with all his pitches.”

Jerry Augustine and Randy Lerch, making his first relief appearance since being removed from the rotation, weren’t much better. They combined to allow five more runs in six innings to put the Brewers in a 8-1 fifth inning hole.

Former Brewer Buck Martinez was also a thorn in his old team’s side. He went 2-for-3 with a home run, driving in two for the Blue Jays.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t fun to beat these guys,” Martinez said about his last place team beating the first place team.

The Red Sox beat the Orioles 5-2 to to pull back into a first place tie with the Brewers in the AL East.

Game Notes: Cecil Cooper left the game in the fourth with a sore big right toe after being stepped on by Garth Iorg. … Robin Yount had a routine day off. Rob Picciolo got the start at shortstop and went 1-for-4.

Offense Reappears, Brewers and Indians Split

August 1 Leave a Comment

Indians 4, Brewers 1 (Game 1)
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Brewers 7, Indians 2 (Game 2)
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Brewers now 59-43 (1 game up)
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Don Money led the offensive attack in the second game to help the Brewers get a split.

MILWAUKEE — After the first game of today’s double header with the Cleveland Indians, Brewers fans were starting to wonder if the second game would be worth watching. Luckily, it was.

The first game was an example of something we’ve seen far too often lately. It was either poor hitting or dominant pitching, but given the consistency in that department lately, you’ve got to point the finger at the offense. This is a team that was routinely scoring seven runs or more a couple of weeks ago. Through today’s first game, the Brewers had scored four runs or fewer in 10 of the last 13 games.

And Game 1 today was painful. The immortal Ed Whitson held the Brewers to one run on three hits through six innings. He retired the Brewers in order three times. Then future first ballot Hall of Famer Dan Spillner took the hill and retired nine of the 10 batters he faced.

That’s sarcasm. Whitson and Spillner are capable pitchers, sure. But this is ridiculous.

In between games, manager Harvey Kuenn remarked about his Wallbangers: “Looks like our bats are on vacation.” No kidding.

The Brewers put down their margaritas for Game 2 and the bats came alive, pounding out seven runs on 12 hits. Gorman Thomas led the way with three hits and two RBI while Don Money had two big hits and drove in three.

Early, however, it looked like this game would be a painful continuation of the first. Rookie Bud Anderson cruised through the first three innings, allowing only one hit to the Brewers. But then the Crew reached on four straight singles (where are the home runs?) to score four runs and knock Anderson from the game. They then tacked on three more in the fifth on RBI hits by Cecil Cooper and Money.

Of course, as tends to be the case, it wasn’t just hitting that won this game. Jim Slaton allowed only two runs through seven innings before giving way to Dwight Bernard, who pitched two perfect frames.

“Everybody contributed just like we used to,” Kuenn said after the second game. “Hopefully this shows we are back on track.”

If so, the AL East is in trouble. Despite the Brewers’ recent struggles, they are now one game up on the Red Sox, who fell to Chicago today.

Game Notes: Robin Yount‘s hitting streak came to an end at 13 games in the first game when he went 0-for-3 with a walk.