Damaso Garcia

Cooper, Yount are Silver Sluggers

The votes are in from the American League managers and coaches, and the Brewers’ Robin Yount and Cecil Cooper were named the best offensive players at their respective positions.

Yount is being recognized seemingly every day for another award following his historic 1982 season. It is the second time he has been a Silver Slugger, winning it first in 1980.

Cecil Cooper is a three time Silver Slugger winner, taking the honors in each of the last three seasons. Often overshadowed by Yount this year, Cooper was spectacular. Second only to his amazing 1980 season, Cooper hit .313 with 32 homers and 121 RBI.

It’s not surprising that multiple Brewers would make the list. And not to get greedy, but you could make an argument for Paul Molitor, Gorman Thomas, Ben Oglivie and Ted Simmons as well. Though to be fair, all winners were deserving, and are probably more deserving than the Brewers just mentioned.

What do you think? Were any Brewers snubbed?

Pos: Player, Tm	AVG	HR	RBI	H	2B	3B	SB
C: Lance Parrish, DET	.284	32	87	138	19	2	3
1B: Cecil Cooper, MIL	.313	32	121	205	38	3	2
2B: Damaso Garcia, TOR	.310	5	42	185	32	3	54
3B: Doug DeCinces, CAL	.301	30	97	173	42	5	7
SS: Robin Yount, MIL	.331	29	114	210	46	12	14
OF: Reggie Jackson, CAL	.275	39	101	146	17	1	4
OF: Willie Wilson, KCR	.332	3	46	194	19	15	37
OF: Dave Winfield, NYY	.280	37	106	151	24	8	5
DH: Hal McRae, KCR	.308	27	133	189	46	8	4

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)

The Doctor is Out, Brewers Lose

August 15 Leave a Comment

Blue Jays 3, Brewers 2
Brewers now 68-48 (1st by 4.5 games)
Box Score | Season Schedule

1982 Donruss Doc Medich — Doc Medich made his unimpressive Brewers debut.

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers couldn’t wait to get rid of Randy Lerch. He was removed from the rotation after a start on July 30. He made his last relief appearance on August 2nd. After a pretty decent spot start as part of a double header on August 12th, Lerch was sold to the Montreal Expos. Today, Doc Medich made his debut as Lerch’s replacement.

The verdict? Not impressive. He allowed only two runs through 5 1/3 innings, but the Blue Jays had six hits and walked six times. As a veteran arm, Medich is supposed to stabilize the bullpen. So far, not so good.

The play of the game was in the Brewers’ half of the sixth inning. After Ned Yost led off with a single, Paul Molitor came to the plate. He squared to bunt, pulled the bat back and slapped it down the third base line. Rance Mulliniks made a nice play to stab the ball and throw to second for the force. Damaso Garcia turned and fired to first. First base umpire Larry Barnett called him out. Manager Harvey Kuenn busted out of the dugout to argue the clear mistake, but to no avail. There were two outs and no one on.

Robin Yount then launched his 20th home run of the season over the left field wall. It was a solo shot to tie the game at two instead of giving the Brewers a 3-2 lead.

Jim Slaton, who relieved Medich in the top of the sixth, was terrific. For the first 2 2/3 innings of relief, Slaton didn’t allow a baserunner. Then, with Rollie Fingers unavailable with a sore pitching elbow, Slaton walked Alfredo Griffin to lead off the ninth. After a sacrifice bunt and a flyout, Ernie Whitt hit an RBI single with two outs for the eventual game winning run.

After winning the first three games of a five game series with the Blue Jays, the Brewers blew the final two. Suddenly, there are questions. Is Doc Medich the answer? Though Fingers’ injury is not thought to be serious, can this team win without him?

“At this point, we’ll stay with what we have,” Kuenn said in regards to the starting rotation. “You never can tell. Maybe we’ll make another deal.”

Only players with the team before August 31st are eligible for the postseason, so if a deal is going to be made it needs to be made soon. After seeing Medich today, one needs to be made soon.

The good news is that Fingers received a cortisone shot and is expected to be back for the Oakland series, which starts on August 17 following a day off.

Game Notes: The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles to pull back to within 4 1/2 games of the Brewers in the AL East. … Damaso Garcia was picked off for the third time in the series. … In the sixth inning, Cecil Cooper recorded a single, his 1,000th hit as a member of the Brewers. … Prior to the game, Jerry Miodzik of Port Edwards was named the winner of the Rollie Fingers Look-Alike Handlebar Mustache Contest. Fingers picked the winner from 11 finalists, and there were more than 600 entries from across the state. … Gorman Thomas hit his 32nd home run of the season.

Fingers Missing, Caldwell Loses Game

August 14 Leave a Comment

Blue Jays 4, Brewers 2
Brewers now 68-47 (1st by 5.5 games)
Box Score | Season Schedule

Without Rollie Fingers, the Brewers lost grip of the lead late.

MILWAUKEE — Holding a 2-0 lead over the Toronto Blue Jays in the top of the eighth inning, the Milwaukee Brewers were on cruise control. Mike Caldwell had allowed two hits and was untouchable. A two run lead seemed insurmountable. And then…

With two down, Barry Bonnell hit a double to left center field to score Damaso Garcia to make it a 2-1 game. Caldwell would get out of the inning when Leon Roberts grounded out, but the fact that he allowed as many hits that inning as he had in the first seven should have been a warning sign.

Caldwell was out of gas.

Jesse Barfield led off the top of the ninth with a sharp single to left. Willie Upshaw bunted, hoping to sacrifice Barfield to second. Instead, Caldwell fumbled the ball and the Blue Jays had two runners on with no outs. Tony Johnson hit a triple off of the wall in right center to score Barfield and Upshaw. And then former Brewer Buck Martinez brought home Johnson on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2 Blue Jays.

Dave Stieb nearly matched Caldwell pitch-for-pitch. But while Caldwell ran out of gas late, Stieb shut the door when it mattered. He retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced, and the Brewers’ offense never had a chance.

So, how could this happen? How could manager Harvey Kuenn leave Caldwell in a close game when he was clearly losing it? It’s simple. All-world closer Rollie Fingers wasn’t on the premises. He is back in San Diego getting treatment for a sore elbow. With Fingers, this would have been a win.

The Boston Red Sox fell to the Baltimore Orioles 5-2 in 10 innings, so the Brewers maintained their 5 1/2 game lead. But today is a preview of what can happen if Rollie Fingers is not available to anchor the bullpen. Get well, Rollie. We can’t afford to blow many more of these.

Game Notes: Randy Lerch has been sold to the Montreal Expos. Lerch had been recently demoted to the bullpen, and veteran hurler Doc Medich was acquired to take his place in the rotation. No corresponding transaction has been made. … Gorman Thomas went 3-for-4 and hit his MLB-leading 31st home run of the season.

Vuke Gets Wild Win

August 13 Leave a Comment

Brewers 3, Blue Jays 1
Brewers now 68-46 (1st by 5.5 games)
Box Score | Season Schedule

Pete Vuckovich — Vuke was wild, but it was all part of his master plan.

MILWAUKEE — It was Seat Cushion Night at County Stadium, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The fans did a lot of sitting through long innings while Pete Vuckovich was on the mound.

Vuckovich walked a Milwaukee Brewers record eight batters today. The Blue Jays loaded the bases twice. Knowing that, you’d assume the Brewers either lost or it was a high scoring affair.

Either way, you’d assume incorrectly. Vuckovich threw 146 pitches in a complete game, allowing only a single run. In fact, none of his eight walks scored.

“They weren’t biting,” Vuke said to explain his wildness. “I threw a lot of balls down around the knees. They were balls. They just weren’t going after them.”

Especially not in the first inning. In fact, in that inning it appeared Vuke would have a short outing. With one out and a run in, Hosken Powell swung at a 2-0 pitch out of the zone to ground out and end the inning. Prior to that, Vuke had thrown 14 of 16 pitches for balls.

But that’s the way Vuckovich prefers to pitch. He’ll pitch around the strike zone, but he’s not going to split it. And he is not afraid to walk anyone.

“It’s better that way than getting it up where they can see the whole sphere coming at them when they’re attempting to reach out with the wood tool with the purpose of reversing the sphere to certain areas between the white lines where men aren’t standing with gloves on,” Vuke continued.

Oooooohhhh…. kay.

While the Blue Jays failed to score with the bases loaded, the Brewers took advantage of their one opportunity in the fourth. With the bases juiced and one out, Marshall Edwards hit a possible double play ball to first baseman Willie Upshaw. Upshaw spun and fired to second, but the return throw wasn’t in time to retire the speedy Edwards. Ted Simmons scored, and Jim Gantner followed with an RBI single to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead.

Possibly the biggest play happened in the fifth inning. Damaso Garcia led off the inning with a single to right and Rance Mulliniks followed with a walk. Vuckovich then spun and fired to Robin Yount, covering second, in an attempt to pick off Garcia. The throw was just late. But they tried again, and this time Garcia was out. It changed the inning, and the Blue Jays were unable to score.

“That was the big play of the ball game,” said manager Harvey Kuenn. “It was a case of perfect execution. Robin saw daylight, made his move to second, Vuke made a perfect throw.”

While the win was a big one and made it three in a row against the Blue Jays, the Brewers also received bad news about their star closer. Rollie Fingers flew home to San Diego to have his right elbow examined and isn’t expected back this series. Fingers, stuck on 299 career saves, is having trouble with his pitching elbow.

“He felt some stiffness in his elbow last night after the game,” said Kuenn. “It had been a little tender but he said he could pitch last night. He said he wanted to see his doctor out there. He’ll be back tomorrow. He said he’ll be all right after a few days’ rest.”

Let’s hope it’s nothing serious. This team can’t afford to lose a player of Fingers’ caliber.

The Red Sox beat the Orioles 5-2, so the Brewers maintain a 5 1/2 game lead in the AL East.

Fingers Slips, Brewers Lose in 10th

April 10 Leave a Comment

Blue Jays 3, Brewers 2 (10)
Brewers now 1-1 (2nd)
Box Score | Season Schedule

Barry Bonnell — This is the powerful force who went 5-for-5 and drove in the winning run off of Rollie Fingers.

After the Brewers’ demolition of the Blue Jays in Toronto on Opening Day, it was easy to get a bit cocky. The Brewers, after all, proved to be the superior team last season. And after one game, we were pretty certain nothing had changed.

One important detail did change, however. Rollie Fingers was beatable.

From June 2 on last year, Fingers allowed a grand total of three earned runs in 43 1/3 innings pitched for a ridiculous 0.65 ERA. If Rollie came into a game with the lead, that game was over. If he came in with a tie, he’d hold on until the Brewers scored, which rarely took long.