Dwight Evans

Yount’s Glove Golden

November 15

The Rawlings Gold Glove winners were announced today, as voted on by managers and coaches. Robin Yount adds yet another award to his trophy case with his first Gold Glove.

Yount committed 24 errors as the Brewers’ shortstop for a .969 fielding percentage, and he was part of 94 double plays. It was Robin’s first career Gold Glove, but his eighth major award in recognition of an historic 1982 season.

It was also the first Gold Glove for pitcher Ron Guidry and first baseman Eddie Murray. Second baseman Frank White won for the sixth time, while outfielder Dwight Evans (five), third baseman Buddy Bell (four) and the trio of catcher Bob Boone and outfielders Dwayne Murphy and Dave Winfield each won for the third time.

Pitcher: Ron Guidry, NYY
Catcher: Bob Boone, CAL
1st Base: Eddie Murray, BAL
2nd Base: Frank White, KCR
3rd Base: Buddy Bell, TEX
Shortstop: Robin Yount, MIL
Outfield: Dwayne Murphy, OAK
Outfield: Dwight Evans, BOS
Outfield: Dave Winfield, NYY

Yount Named TSN AL Player of the Year

November 1

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)

Breaking Down the MVP Field

October 4

Since the Brewers have a day off before Game 1 of the American League Championship Series tomorrow (it never gets old saying it!), I thought I’d break down Robin Yount‘s competition for the AL MVP award. Let’s be honest: As Brewers fans, it’s obvious to us who has earned the award this year. But I wanted to step back and take as unbiased a look as I can at which players he’ll be up against when the voters cast their ballots.

The Players
When the votes come in, you’ll see as many as 30 or so names in all that get listed on the ballots. But of course, not all of those names are legitimate contenders. I want to start this exercise by whittling down my list to the players we may find in the top three to five when all is said and done.

As I look through our top performers in the American League, I immediately decided to eliminate all pitchers. Though our own Rollie Fingers may have won the award last season, there simply does not appear to be a serious contender this season. The only pitchers to consider are Pete Vuckovich, Dan Quisenberry and Jim Palmer. Vuke won’t get it ahead of Yount, and neither Quisenberry nor Palmer made the playoffs. So hitters only.

While I could limit it only to players on playoff teams, I think that’s a mistake. The players who make the post season will have an advantage, but we can’t ignore great performances from those players who didn’t make it to the next round.

So here’s my list, in alphabetical order to avoid any perceived bias:

Cecil Cooper, MIL
Doug DeCinces, CAL
Dwight Evans, BOS
Rickey Henderson, OAK
Reggie Jackson, CAL
Hal McRae, KC
Eddie Murray, BAL
Willie Wilson, KC
Dave Winfield, NYY
Robin Yount, MIL

I could have legitimately listed Gorman Thomas and Paul Molitor, but let’s be honest: If there’s an MVP award coming from Milwaukee again this year, it’s going to be Robin Yount. I considered not listing Cooper for that reason, but his stats are just as good as most of these guys, so he has to be in the mix.

The Stats
Let’s stack them up and make a list. I have placed the numbers in bold if they lead this group (they don’t necessarily lead the league). Also, players marked with an “x” are those who are on teams that won their division.

Player	HR	RBI	BA
Cooper, MIL -x	32	121	.313
DeCinces, CAL -x	30	97	.301
Evans, BOS	32	98	.292
Henderson, OAK	10	51	.267
Jackson, CAL -x	39	101	.275
McRae, KC	27	133	.308
Murray, BAL	32	110	.316
Wilson, KC	3	46	.332
Winfield, NYY	37	106	.280
Yount, MIL -x	29	114	.331

Player	R	H	SB
Cooper, MIL -x	104	205	2
DeCinces, CAL -x	94	173	7
Evans, BOS	122	178	3
Henderson, OAK	119	143	130
Jackson, CAL -x	92	146	4
McRae, KC	91	189	4
Murray, BAL	87	174	7
Wilson, KC	87	194	37
Winfield, NYY	84	151	5
Yount, MIL -x	129	210	14

As you can see, there are six different players who lead this group in at least one category: Dwight Evans in OBP, Rickey Henderson in stolen bases, Reggie Jackson in home runs, Hal McRae in RBI, Willie Wilson in batting average and Robin Yount in three categories. So five players led in one category apiece while Yount leads in runs, hits and slugging.

Of course, leading isn’t everything because a well-rounded player who is second in everything may be the MVP. But let’s use Robin Yount as the statistical measuring stick since he appears to be our front-runner.

Cooper is well-rounded, but Yount leads him in everything but home runs and RBI, and both by slim margins. Let’s toss away Cooper. Sorry, Coop.

Yount leads DeCinces in everything but homers, but again that difference is only one. Nope, not happening.

Yount leads Evans in everything but homers and OBP. He’s at about Cooper’s level, but the Red Sox didn’t make the playoffs. Nope, not Evans.

Rickey Henderson was amazing this season, blowing away Lou Brock‘s stolen base record. He led Yount in stolen bases (by a ton) and OBP, but that’s it. Henderson hit only .269 with 10 homers and the A’s didn’t make the post season. So, no. Not Rickey Henderson, though I think his special season should warrant consideration.

Reggie Jackson hit more home runs than Yount and he led his Angels to the playoffs, but that’s really it. Considering Jackson is known for his power, it’s telling that Yount has a higher slugging percentage (.578 to .532). Good year for Reggie, but Yount was better.

Hal McRae led the majors in RBI, but the Royals collapsed and missed the playoffs. Nope, not McRae.

Eddie Murray led Yount in homers and OBP, but nothing else. Had the Orioles knocked off the Brewers on the final day of the season, he’d get a much more serious look. But they didn’t, and Yount’s season was clearly better. Not Murray.

I added Willie Wilson to the list just to make myself angry. As you know, Wilson held a small lead in batting average over Yount heading into the final day of the season. Yount had three hits, including two homers and a triple. To preserve his average, Wilson didn’t play. Pathetic. The Royals don’t deserve the playoffs and Wilson doesn’t deserve either the batting crown (which he won) or the MVP award (which he’ll lose).

Dave Winfield is yet another example of a player who hit more homers (37) but nothing else to distinguish himself from Yount. And the Yankees were never a serious player in the pennant race.

The Verdict
Alright, so it’s obvious. Robin Yount will be this season’s American League Most Valuable Player. The majority of players who are close statistically to Yount aren’t even in the playoffs. Add to the mix that Yount hit two crucial home runs in the final, division-clinching game of the season, and any dispute should be laughed at. If Yount does not win the award — and by a lot — there should be an investigation.

Ladies and gentlemen, not only have our Brewers made the playoffs, but rest comfortably knowing that we will have secured the MVP award for the second consecutive season.

Extra Innings Again, but Boston Prevails

September 21

Red Sox 4, Brewers 3 (10)
Brewers now 90-61 (1st by 2.0 games)
Box Score | Season Schedule

Paul Molitor's eighth inning home run forced extra innings.

MILWAUKEE — For the second consecutive day, the Brewers mounted a late rally to push the Red Sox to extra innings. Unlike yesterday, however, the Brewers couldn’t pull out the win for the home crowd.

With two outs and a runner on third in the 10th inning, reliever Dwight Bernard walked Dwight Evans on four pitches. His first two pitches to Jim Rice were also out of the strike zone.

“With the count 2-0, you have to figure he’s looking for a pitch to jerk,” Bernard said of his approach.

Rice hit a bouncing ball up the middle for a hit to score Glenn Hoffman for the eventual winning run.

“I am a ground ball pitcher,” continued Bernard. “I got a ground ball out of Remy. I got a ground ball out of Rice. He just hit it in the wrong place, no one was there to catch it.”

After Paul Molitor hit a home run to tie it in the eighth, the second dramatic late-inning home run to tie a game in as many days, it seemed the Brewers would pull out another big win. But they stranded two runners in the ninth and couldn’t get a runner past first in the 10th.

The good news is that the second place Baltimore Orioles also lost to remain two games out. Of course, the bad news is also that the Baltimore Orioles lost. The Brewers missed an opportunity to finally gain a game.

The other bad news is that embattled reliever Rollie Fingers still isn’t progressing from his forearm injury. He participated in his third throwing session in five days today, and was able to throw 30 pitches before his arm stiffened instead of 20. But there’s still no timetable for his return.

“It’s the same as the other day,” said manager Harvey Kuenn, “so we will wait and see what develops. If he can come back and pitch it’s a bonus. At this point, you have to figure that you won’t be able to use him for the rest of the year.”

Not what we were wanting to hear, Harvey. Hopefully there’s a miracle left in that arm.