Dale Murphy

Murphy Wins NL MVP

The votes are in from the Baseball Writers Association of America, and Dale Murphy of the Atlanta Braves has been named the National League’s Most Valuable Player for the 1982 season.

The announcement isn’t particularly surprising, given that Murphy received 14 of 24 possible first place votes. Murphy, 26, had the best season in his young career, batting .281 with 36 homers and 109 RBI. Murphy becomes the first Braves player to win MVP since Hank Aaron in 1957 when the Braves played in Milwaukee.

“I think it was more a tribute to how our team did,” said a humble Murphy, “our team doing that well is really the reason I was being considered.”

Cardinal outfielder Lonnie Smith finished a bit closer than many speculated, getting 218 votes to Murphy’s 283. The results may have been even closer had two first place votes not gone to closer Bruce Sutter, Lonnie Smith’s teammate.

What do you think? Did the award go to the right player?

Player – Tm	Pts	1st	AVG	HR	RBI	W	ERA	SV
Dale Murphy, ATL	283	14	.281	36	109
Lonnie Smith, STL	218	8	.307	8	69
P. Guerrero, LAD	175	0	.304	32	100
Al Oliver, MON	175	0	.331	22	109
Bruce Sutter, STL	134	2	.125	0	1	9	2.90	36
Mike Schmidt, PHI	54	0	.280	35	87
Jack Clark, SFG	53	0	.274	27	103
Greg Minton, SFG	44	0	.176	0	1	10	1.83	30
Steve Carlton, PHI	41	0	.218	2	8	23	3.10	0
Bill Buckner, CHC	38	0	.306	15	105
Bill Madlock, PIT	37	0	.319	19	95
Gary Carter, MON	35	0	.293	29	97
Ozzie Smith, STL	25	0	.248	2	43
G. Hendrick, STL	20	0	.282	19	104
T. Kennedy, SDP	20	0	.295	21	97
Joe Morgan, SFG	17	0	.289	14	61
K. Hernandez, STL	12	0	.299	7	94
J. Thompson, PIT	12	0	.284	31	101
J. Andujar, STL	6	0	.158	0	4	15	2.47	0
Gene Garber, ATL	6	0	.133	0	0	8	2.34	30
A. Dawson, MON	3	0	.301	23	83
F. Valenzuela, LAD	3	0	.168	1	9	19	2.87	0
C. Chambliss, ATL	2	0	.270	20	86
Gary Matthews, PHI	2	0	.281	19	83
Ray Knight, HOU	1	0	.294	6	70

NL Gold Gloves Announced

November 15 2 Comments

The Brewers discovered first hand that Ozzie Smith is a Wizard in the field.

AL Gold Glove Winners

The Rawlings Gold Glove winners were announced today, as voted on by managers and coaches. Note that managers and coaches cannot vote for a player on their own team. Keith Hernandez of the Cardinals was the only player from either league to be voted in unanimously.

I’m not going to claim that anyone on this list isn’t deserving. Defense is difficult to measure, outside of counting errors. But it’s always the case that those who put up big offensive numbers generally have a better shot at the Gold Glove, even if they two should be judged separately. It was the eighth Gold Glove won by Garry Maddox and seventh for Mike Schmidt. Of this year’s winners, only Dale Murphy had not previously won the award.

Pitcher: Phil Niekro, ATL
Catcher: Gary Carter, MON
1st Base: Keith Hernandez, STL
2nd Base: Manny Trillo, PHI
3rd Base: Mike Schmidt, PHI
Shortstop: Ozzie Smith, STL
Outfield: Dale Murphy, ATL
Outfield: Andre Dawson, MON
Outfield: Garry Maddox, PHI

NL Silver Sluggers Announced

November 8 Leave a Comment

Mike Schmidt — Schmidt won his third consecutive Silver Slugger.

AL Award Winners

The National League managers and coaches have spoken, and the annual Silver Slugger Awards have been announced to recognize the most prolific hitters in the league at each position.

Anyone get left off here? What about Lonnie Smith of the St. Louis Cardinals in the outfield? He hit .307 with 68 stolen bases. Or Jack Clark, who hit 27 homers and drove in 103 for the San Francisco Giants? Bill Buckner of the Chicago Cubs hit .306 and drove in 105, but it’s tough to argue with Al Oliver. It’s tough to argue with any of the winners, for that matter.

Pos: Player, Tm	AVG	HR	RBI	H	2B	3B	SB
P: Don Robinson, PIT	.282	2	16	24	5	0	0
C: Gary Carter, MON	.293	29	97	163	32	1	2
1B: Al Oliver, MON	.331	22	109	204	43	2	5
2B: Joe Morgan, SFG	.289	14	61	134	19	4	24
3B: Mike Schmidt, PHI	.280	35	87	144	26	3	14
SS: Dave Concepcion, CIN	.287	5	53	164	25	4	13
OF: Dale Murphy, ATL	.281	36	109	168	23	2	23
OF: Leon Durham, CHC	.312	22	90	168	33	7	28
OF: Pedro Guerrero, LAD	.304	32	100	175	27	5	22

Yount Named TSN AL Player of the Year

November 1 Leave a Comment

1982 Donruss Robin Yount — Robin is recognized again!

The Sporting News announced their AL and NL teams today and named Robin Yount of the Milwaukee Brewers as their pick for the 1982 TSN American League Player of the Year Award.

Dale Murphy of the Atlanta Braves won the award in the National League while TSN named Steve Carlton of the Phillies and Dave Stieb of the Blue Jays their pitchers of the year.

Yount was joined by teammates Cecil Cooper at first base and Gorman Thomas in the outfield. So… how in the world is Dave Stieb the AL Pitcher of the Year? And how is Geoff Zahn on the team but not Pete Vuckovich? Vuke was named the best right-handed pitcher — not only in the American League, but in all of baseball — by the Associated Press. Vuke was also named to the UPI AL All-Star Team along with Baltimore’s Jim Palmer.

So while it’s certainly exciting (if not unexpected) that Yount won the Player of the Year Award, the fact that Vuke wasn’t recognized — not only as the best pitcher in the AL, but one of the two best pitchers — is a bit of a head-scratcher. And it also raises concerns that he may not win the AL Cy Young award.

Following are the entire AL and NL rosters, as named by The Sporting News:

American League

Catcher: Lance Parrish (DET)
1st Base: Cecil Cooper (MIL)
2nd Base: Damaso Garcia (TOR)
Shortstop: Robin Yount (MIL)
3rd Base: Doug DeCinces (CAL)
Outfield: Dave Winfield (NYY), Gorman Thomas (MIL) and Dwight Evans (BOS)
Designated Hitter: Hal McRae (KC)
Pitchers: Dave Stieb (TOR) and Geoff Zahn (CAL)

National League

Catcher: Gary Carter (MON)
1st Base: Al Oliver (MON)
2nd Base: Manny Trillo (PHI)
Shortstop: Ozzie Smith (STL)
3rd Base: Mike Schmidt (PHI)
Outfield: Dale Murphy (ATL), Pedro Guerrero (LA) and Lonnie Smith (STL)
Pitchers: Steve Carlton (PHI) and Steve Rogers (MON)

Jays Roll Over, Give Brewers Two

August 12 Leave a Comment

Brewers 7, Blue Jays 1 (Game 1)
Box Score
Brewers 4, Blue Jays 3 (Game 2)
Box Score
Brewers now 67-46 (1st by 5.5 games)
Season Schedule

Gorman Thomas hit a home run in each game to take the MLB lead.

MILWAUKEE — Earlier in the week, the Toronto Blue Jays did the Milwaukee Brewers a big favor by sweeping the second place Boston Red Sox in a three game series. It was only natural that they’d roll over in a double header with the first place Brewers today.

Maybe they didn’t roll over. Maybe it wasn’t intentional. But Brewers fans appreciate their effort, or lack thereof.

In the first game of today’s double header, Brewers starter Bob McClure took on the Blue Jays for the second time in 10 days. Last time, he lasted only an inning and took the loss. Today, he pitched a complete game, allowing only a run on five hits and four strikeouts.

McClure looked like a completely different pitcher. He retired the last 15 batters he faced and didn’t walk anyone, the first time he accomplished that in 25 career starts.

“I felt in a lot more control than the last time,” McClure assured us. “It’s always easier when you score a lot of runs early.”

Well, maybe not “a lot” or “early.” The Brewers scored two runs in the second inning on a two-run home run by Gorman Thomas, his 29th of the season. The Blue Jays pulled to within a run in the fourth inning and then the Brewers pulled away in the fifth with four runs to make it a 6-1 game. Jim Gantner, Paul Molitor and Robin Yount all had RBI hits in the inning.

But McClure was the story of the game. His approach was completely different this time around.

“He mixed up his pitches good,” manager Harvey Kuenn explained. “He threw more fastballs than previously, which makes his curveball and change-up more effective.”

The Blue Jays made the second game interesting when they tied the game at three in the sixth inning. But with two down and runners on the corners in the bottom of the inning, Robin Yount lifted a lazy liner into left field. Outfielder Barry Bonnell jogged in… and dropped the ball. Charlie Moore trotted across the plate for what would be the winning run. A gift.

Gorman Thomas hit another two-run home run in the third inning to give him 30 on the season, taking the MLB lead over Atlanta’s Dale Murphy. Randy Lerch, making his first spot start since being demoted to the bullpen, pitched a solid six innings in return to a temporary spotlight.

But in the end, this game was a gift. And since neither the Red Sox nor the Orioles played today, the Brewers gained a game on both. Tomorrow, the Brewers hope the Blue Jays will continue to be in a giving mood.

Game Notes: Outfielder Mark Brouhard was sent to Triple-A Vancouver to make room for recent acquisition Doc Medich. Brouhard is expected to be recalled when rosters are expanded on September 1. The Brewers were rumored to be trying to trade a pitcher, presumably Lerch or Jerry Augustine, but instead decided to go with four outfielders and 11 pitchers. … Jamie Easterly, out since July 12 following knee surgery, is eligible to return but is not expected to be activated until rosters expand on September 1.