Dan Meyer

Henderson Steals Record, Brewers Win

August 27

Brewers 5, A’s 4
Brewers now 75-51 (1st by 6.5 games)
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1982 Topps Rickey Henderson — Rickey Henderson stole four bases en route to the single season record.

MILWAUKEE — Members of the media from far and wide descended onto Milwaukee County Stadium to witness history. In the process of watching the great Brewers win again, Rickey Henderson broke a record.

Okay, okay. They came to see Rickey Henderson break Lou Brock‘s single season stolen base record. And he didn’t only break it. He shattered it, stealing four bases in the game to give him 122 on the season with 33 games remaining.

But the A’s, at 57-72, are little more than the great Rickey Henderson. The Milwaukee Brewers, as proven again tonight, are a great team.

Henderson walked in the third, stole second, hoisted second base over his head, blah, blah, blah… The A’s didn’t score that inning, but the Brewers struck for two thanks to a Dan Meyer error and a Ted Simmons sacrifice fly.

The A’s took the lead with three runs in the sixth, though the Brewers quickly tied it at three on a costly two out error in the bottom of the inning. Henderson’s speed then resulted in another run in the eighth when he led off with a walk, stole second and third, and scored on a sacrifice fly. But the Brewers weren’t done.

Ben Oglivie singled and Gorman Thomas walked to lead off the bottom of the eighth, chasing starter Preston Hanna. After a perfect Don Money sacrifice bunt, Charlie Moore was intentionally walked to load the bases, bringing up Jim Gantner. Gantner singled home two, giving the Brewers the lead for good.

Ho hum, really. Doc Medich, the scrap heap fifth starter, had tossed 12 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings before allowing two runs in the sixth. Rollie Fingers, who had been nursing a sore pitching elbow, pitched for the first time in six days and set down the side in order in the ninth, striking out two for his 301st career save.

But the focus of this game was on the fearless Rickey Henderson. He may end up with 130 or even 140 stolen bases this season. But while he’s stealing bases, the Milwaukee Brewers are stealing hearts. This team is winning games that will lead them to the postseason.

The second place Boston Red Sox lost to the California Angels 7-6, and are now 6 1/2 games behind the Brewers in the AL East.

Game Notes: At 34 home runs, Gorman Thomas is on pace to surpass his 1979 total of 45, which led the league. … The Brewers have won seven of their last eight games.

Brewers Benefit from A’s Errors

August 19

Brewers 10, A’s 6
Brewers now 69-50 (1st by 4.0 games)
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1982 Topps Paul Molitor — Paul Molitor went 4-for-5 to lead the Brewers.

OAKLAND — Both the Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics had 10 hits in this game. It just so happened that the A’s committed two errors that led to five unearned runs.

And that, my friends, is the difference in this game. One could feel bad for A’s starter Matt Keough, who was the target of all five of those unearned runs. He actually outpitched Brewers starter Pete Vuckovich, who allowed five runs on nine hits in six innings, compared to Keough’s three earned runs on seven hits in the same amount of time. But we’re Brewers fans. We don’t feel bad for him one bit.

That said, a Keough miscue did lead to one of the runs. Paul Molitor, who would go 4-for-5, led off the game with a bunt single. Keough balked him to second, putting him in scoring position. With one down, Cecil Cooper then hit a routine grounder to first baseman Dan Meyer promptly booted it, allowing Molitor to score the first run.

Molitor doubled in two with two outs in the second to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead until Fred Stanley hit a rare home run in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1. It was his first long ball since 1979 and only the ninth of his career.

“I’m definitely going to have to work on my trot,” Stanley told the Milwaukee Sentinel.

Dan Meyer then made up for his error with a two-out RBI triple in the fourth to make it a 3-2 game. Then, with two down and a man on first in the top of the fifth, Cecil Cooper hit yet another routine grounder. This time it went to second baseman Dave McKay. Instead of ending the inning, he fumbled the ball, putting runners at first and second.

That error led to four Brewers runs as Ted Simmons singled up the middle and Ben Oglivie, who had three hard hit outs as well, hit a booming home run to dead centerfield.

“It seems like I have to hit it out to get a hit today,” Oglivie said after the game. “Though I’d rather have one hit like that than go 4-for-4 and lose.”

The home run would give the Brewers a 7-2 lead. While the A’s would make it interesting when they pulled to within two at 8-6, Ted Simmons then cashed in on another big two-out hit when he drove in Molitor and Yount in the ninth to make it 10-6.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak, a span when the Brewers scored only two runs three times.

“We lost four in a row because we couldn’t come up with the key base hit,” manager Harvey Kuenn told the Milwaukee Sentinel. “This time they make a couple of errors and we take advantage of it. It’s a good team that does that.”

The other good piece of news is that Rollie Fingers, nursing a sore pitching elbow, will throw prior to tomorrow’s game with the Mariners to determine if he’s ready to return.

“If it’s okay, then I’ll be ready to pitch,” Fingers said. “There’s no sense in sitting around when you may not get the chance to pitch for four or five days in a row.”

The Boston Red Sox fell to the California Angels 8-5, so the Brewers’ lead in the AL East widened to four games.

Brewers Fall to .500

May 25

Athletics 10, Brewers 5
Brewers now 20-20 (4th)
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Mark Brouhard couldn't do anything right today.

MILWAUKEE — For the first time since April 23 when they were 6-6, the Brewers have lost as many games as they’ve won. There is now no way around it.

The Brewers are incredibly average.

And really, that may be putting it nicely. As has been the case lately with this team, everything possible went wrong.

The A’s came into Milwaukee with a six-game losing streak. The Brewers were all they needed to cure their ills.

In the first inning, right fielder Mark Brouhard bobbled Dan Meyer‘s run scoring double, Meyer went to third and then scored as a result of the error.

In the second, first baseman Cecil Cooper fielded a Tony Phillips bunt with a runner on third and made a wild throw home allowing a run to score.

In the fourth, Brouhard made a throw to second instead of third, allowing speedster Rickey Henderson to score from first on a single.

In the sixth, Paul Molitor dropped a perfect throw from catcher Charlie Moore that should have nailed Phillips at third on the front end of a double steal. As a result of Molitor’s drop, Phillips was safe and later scored.

In the eighth, Charlie Moore ran through third base coach Harry Warner’s stop sign when Henderson bobbled the ball in center. Henderson recovered and threw out Moore at home.

You get the point. It was a sad, sad display. And the fans responded accordingly with boos. Boos upon boos upon boos.

It was the Brewers’ 10th loss in 14 games. They have tumbled to fourth place, a half game ahead of the fifth place Orioles and remained seven games back of the first place Red Sox.

This should have been a bounce-back series for the Brewers. The A’s, it appeared, were in worse shape than the Brewers. Instead, Oakland snapped a six-game losing streak, ended a streak of 17 games committing at least one error and tied a team record with six doubles.

On the bright side, world frisbee champion dog Ashley Whippet will put on a show before tomorrow’s game.

Game Notes: Brewers starter Moose Haas was removed after three innings due to tendinitis in his right elbow … Pitching coach Cal McLish, bothered by dizziness and blurred vision, left before the game and will not make the next trip … The Brewers will make up their opening season two-game series with the Indians in a September 2 double header.