George Brett

Closers Fall, Brewers Lose in 9th

Royals 4, Brewers 3
Brewers now 54-38 (1st)
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KANSAS CITY — Through eight full innings, neither the high powered Brewers nor the Royals could score a run. Starters Bob McClure and Paul Splittorff did all they could do, but neither pitcher would earn a decision.

The game fell on the two preeminent closers in the game, Dan Quisenberry of the Royals and Rollie Fingers of the Brewers. Things changed in a hurry.

Quisenberry took the mound after Splittorff allowed a leadoff single to Ted Simmons in the ninth. Gorman Thomas deposited an 0-2 fastball into the left field bleachers to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead. On the very next pitch, Ben Oglivie made it 3-0 with a home run of his own.

You’d think that would be more than enough to win. Whether or not McClure would remain flawless, the Brewers have Rollie Fingers as back-up. Surely, he wouldn’t fail like Quisenberry, right?

Unfortunately, wrong. McClure allowed a leadoff single to UL Washington and George Brett connected on the first well-hit ball off of McCLure on the evening, a two run home run. Rollie Fingers took the mound and allowed three singles that tied the game before Frank White laid down a successful suicide squeeze to win the game.

Kuenn said it was the hardest defeat in his 45 games as the team’s manager. It may be Brewers’ fans hardest defeat of the season.

Oglivie Homers Again as Brewers Win

June 21 Leave a Comment

Brewers 6, Yankees 2
Brewers now 36-29 (3rd)
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MILWAUKEE — It was Hank Aaron Hall of Fame Night at County Stadium, and they were handing out Ben Oglivie home run balls. Or so it seemed…

Prior to the game, Hammerin’ Hank was presented with $1 for every special Hank Aaron general admission ticket sold. The money would go to the Hank Aaron Youth fund, which would also announce two scholarships for local high school students.

But Oglivie took the occasion to hit like the former Milwaukee Braves and Brewers icon, slugging his fourth home run in two days. That’s four home runs in seven plate appearances. And if you want to remove the walks, it was four home runs in five official at bats. Ridiculous.

Oglivie attributes the recent power surge to a change in his approach: “I had a loop in my swing, and I had a tendancy to drag my hands through,” said Oglivie, who now has 16 home runs on the season. “I wouldn’t have the power I normally do.” He’s getting his hand through just fine now, thank you.

Those who are paying attention also notice that Oglivie is holding the bat higher, staying back on the pitch and getting better extension. But you don’t care about that. All that matters are the results.

Havey’s Wallbangers keep hitting home runs. If it’s not Oglivie, it’s someone else (Paul Molitor also hit his seventh tonight). But it’s not just the chick-digging home run balls. For the sixth time in seven games, Milwaukee pitching has kept their opponents to three or fewer runs (well, five of six if you don’t count the 2-2 tie with the Orioles). No wonder they’ve won six straight.

And while the Red Sox may have won today to maintain a four-game lead over the Brewers, a very important series is on the horizon. Once this series ends with the Yankees, the Brewers have a day of rest before heading to Boston for a four-game series at Fenway.

Apply for your sick days now…

Game Notes: The Brewers are seven games over .500 for the first time this season … In addition to his homer, Molitor had two doubles and a single, going 4-for-4 … Pete Rose tied Hank Aaron with hit number 3,771 today … Carl Yastrzemski moved ahead of Nap Lajoie for ninth on the all-time hit list with number 3,253 … All-Star vote updates have been released and Ted Simmons is second to Chicago’s Carlton Fisk, Paul Molitor is fourth to Kansas City’s George Brett, Cecil Cooper is third to California’s Rod Carew, Jim Gantner is fifth to New York’s Willie Randolph, and Robin Yount is second to Yankee Bucky Dent.

Robin Yount Stars in Brewers Win

June 15 Leave a Comment

Brewers 6, Orioles 3
Brewers now 31-29 (4th)
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Robin Yount proved again why he is the best shortstop in the game, but he may not play in the All-Star Game in Montreal on July 13.

BALTIMORE — Today’s win was a full team effort.

Bob McClure started and held the potent Orioles offense to three runs (two earned) on six hits in seven innings. Jim Slaton went the rest of the way and did what Jim Slaton does, allowing only a hit in two scoreless innings.

The Brewers got off to a good start in the first when Paul Molitor led off with a walk and Robin Yount then launched a homer to stake his roommate McClure to a 2-0 lead.

The Orioles would take the lead in the third when Dan Ford struck again with a two-run single. It was Ford who hit a grand slam yesterday to put that game out of reach.

The pitchers took over from that point until the eighth when a surprising defensive miscue gave the Brewers an opportunity. With two down, Mark Brouhard hit a routine grounder to rookie vacuum Cal Ripken, Jr.. Brouhard would reach safely when Ripken threw high to first, committing his first error in 44 games. After Molitor singled, Yount came through again with a triple off of the wall in right to give the Brewers a 4-3 lead.

The Brewers got some nice insurance runs in the eighth when Gorman Thomas led off with a booming home run to left and Marshall Edwards brought home Ben Oglivie with a sacrifice fly. But with Jim Slaton on the mound, those runs were merely recreational.

As has been the case so many times this season, Robin Yount was the star of this show. He went 2-for-5 and drove in four of the Brewers’ six runs. He is now hitting .313 with eight home runs and 36 RBI.

“If Robin Yount is not the starting All-Star shortstop,” said manager Harvey Kuenn, “then there’s something wrong with the balloting.”

Well, there’s likely something wrong with the balloting. As it currently stands, Yankees part-timer (and owner of a .153 batting average) Bucky Dent is leading all shortstops in the voting. Robin Yount sits third. Helplessly.

It’s okay. The Yankees can play in the meaningless All-Star Game. The Brewers will just keep winning the games that count.

Game Notes: The Brewers are considering calling up reliever Pete Ladd or starter Frank DiPino from Vancouver. Ladd is 9-1 and has allowed 32 hits in 40 2/3 innings. DiPino is 7-4 with a 3.17 ERA … Ted Simmons is second among catchers in the All-Star voting behind Chicago’s Carlton Fisk. Cecil Cooper is fifth among first basemen behind California’s Rod Carew. Molitor is seventh among third basemen behind Kansas City’s George Brett. Ben Oglivie is sixteenth among outfielders … Reliever Rollie Fingers (back spasms) may be available for tomorrow’s game … Cecil Cooper, who had been out of the lineup for five games with a hamstring injury, returned and couldn’t get the ball out of the infield in four at bats.

Bad Bounce, Poor Execution Lead to Loss

May 5 Leave a Comment

Royals 3, Brewers 2 (10)
Brewers now 12-10 (3rd)
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MILWAUKEE — After two unlikely heroes led to a Brewers victory yesterday, Mark Brouhard was set up perfectly to take those honors today.

In the second inning, Brouhard hit a two-run homer to left to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead. Minutes later, Brouhard made two fantastic catches, crashing into the left field wall to retire George Brett and Hal McRae in the third, keeping the Royals from scoring at least one run.

Even after the Royals tied the game fourth on a two-out RBI single by Onix Concepcion, it was Brouhard’s game. He had been the offense. His defense kept the team from trailing. Just score a run for the guy and make him the hero.

But Brouhard was the only Brewers player who came to hit. Vida Blue, making his first start since recovering from a shoulder injury, held the Brewers to two runs on six hits in six innings. Dan Quisenberry relieved him and held the Crew to two hits for four more.

Brewers Hesitate, Royals Win

May 3 Leave a Comment

Royals 3, Brewers 2
Brewers now 11-9 (3rd)
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Jim Gantner — Gantner's hesitation at second proved costly.

MILWAUKEE — Not the best way to start this series.

The Royals are without Amos Otis (hamstring), Willie Wilson (hamstring), Willie Aikens (hand), UL Washington (back) and Lee May (groin). Other than George Brett, that’s pretty much the Royals’ lineup.

So the Brewers knew they were playing a team that was short-handed offensively. Quite the advantage. All they’d need to do is, I don’t know, score three or four runs. Right?

Right. Problem is, they only scored two. Brewers only had seven hits in nine innings, but they didn’t have many opportunities to score. The only true blown shot was in the first when Paul Molitor reached third in the first with one down. Ben Oglivie (strikeout) and Ted Simmons (pop-up) failed to bring him home. The only had a runner in scoring position one other time during the game.

May 3-5 Series Preview vs. Kansas City

May 3 Leave a Comment

Match-ups
May 3 at 7:30 pm
Mike Caldwell (1-1, 3.16 ERA) vs. Paul Splittorff (1-1, 3.38 ERA)

May 4 at 7:30 pm
Bob McClure (1-1, 5.94 ERA) vs. Larry Gura (2-1, 5.54 ERA)

May 5 at 12:30 pm
Moose Haas (1-1, 4.10 ERA) vs. Vida Blue (1-2, 4.15 ERA)

1982 Records
Milwaukee Brewers: 11-8 (3rd in AL East)
Kansas City Royals: 12-9 (2nd in AL West)

If the Royals are going to beat the Brewers, George Brett may have to do it on his own.

At 11-8, the Brewers are an above average team that has compiled its record against teams that have a combined 44-62 (.415) record. Of the five teams they’ve faced (Chicago, Cleveland, Minnesota, Texas and Toronto) only Chicago (.571) has a winning percentage over .410. But the Brewers only played the White Sox twice and split the series.

So what do we know about a team that has played 17 of their 19 games against bad teams? Not much. They can win more than they lose when they play them. That’s good.

But it’s easy to be disappointed in the start. The schedule was lined up for the Brewers to have a lead in first place in the AL East prior to taking on a wicked schedule against AL West teams during the month of May. The Brewers could have used some cushion.

The Royals are not the Minnesota Twins. They’re not the Chicago White Sox, for that matter. This is a new challenge. How they perform in this series will help us get a peek at whether the Brewers are a legit contender or a paper champion that has benefitted from a weak April schedule.