Brewers 1982

Covering the Milwaukee Brewers throughout the 1982 season, in real-time, as it would have happpened.

Harry Dalton

Letters to the Sports Desk (6/10/82 Milwaukee Journal)

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The following is extracted from the “Letters to the Sports Desk” in the Milwaukee Journal from June 10, 1982. Enjoy!

Dear Harvey: no chew, please

Harvey Kuenn
Park it, Harvey!

Dear Harvey [Kuenn],

Congratulations on becoming the new manager of the Brewers. I wish you all the luck in the world, but I’m sure you know how to handle it. You’ve faced greater adversity before.

I have one suggestion for you. On future TV interviews would you kindly not chew tobacco? It’s revolting to look at a black mass in your mouth, and a little dripping down the side. In living color. I was eating. Need I say more?

Please take your wad and park it when speaking.

I have often wondered why baseball players consider this vile habit part of “their thing.” In no other sport do I see it so blatantly used. I hope Audrey doesn’t use it, too.

Also, Mike Caldwell lighting a cigaret in the dugout is a no-no for all the youth of America.

MRS. ELMER WEISER (Whitewater)

Rollie: shave, then keep quiet

I wish Rollie Fingers would shave off that goofy mustache, concentrate on his pitching, keep his big mouth shut and stop criticizing [former] Manager Buck Rodgers for trying to do a good, honest job.

I’m sorry the Brewers hired Rollie Fingers. He’s a troublemaker and will never be an asset to the team. He should have been fired, not Buck Rodgers.

STEVE STEWART (Milwaukee)

Well, Harry Dalton really took the easy way out by firing Buck Rodgers. The Brewers lose a few games, so Dalton feels he has to appease the fans.

And we all know who the Brewers’ biggest fan is — Bud Selig. Pressure was coming from the top on Dalton for a change, a spark, something to get the Brewers winning, and firing Buck was the easiest thing to do.

Rodgers is the same manager who managed the Brewers to the playoffs in 1981. He is also the same manager who managed Rollie Fingers to his Cy Young and MVP awards. The main difference in the team this year is the players are all a year older.

I’d like to commend Buck Rodgers for all he’s done for the Brewers and the City of Milwaukee. He brought us to the playoffs, something no other manager has done. And when he left us, he left with class, just like the class man he is. Buck, you’ll be missed in Milwaukee.

CAROL WESTON (Milwaukee)

When Buck Rodgers was fired, he mentioned that two “cancers” were members of the Milwaukee Brewers. And, like many times before, The Milwaukee Journal and Sentinel took it upon them to identify these “cancers.”

Well, readers of the Journal and Sentinel, as few as they may be, the two Milwaukee papers blew it again. These two “cancers” happen to be The Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Sentinel.

The Journal and Sentinel, continuing to do their “backseat” managing for the last three or four weeks, did more damage than any of the 25 players put together.

Even though the Brewers started to come out of it this last week, the Journal and Sentinel continued to bring up that “14 of the last 18” or “15 of the last 21” phrase. Why can’t you say the Brewers have won “two of the last three?” Is it too hard to be optimistic?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a big Buck Rodgers fan. But I believe the guy should have been given a little bit more time. Seven games out is not that big a deficit. Only George Steinbrenner has shown less patience.

DAN LAVINIO (Greenfield)

I wonder how Steve Aschburner would like it if one day he picked up The Journal and there in big headlines was, “Who wants Steve Aschburner? Not The Journal Readers!”

I am not necessarily a Brewer fan, but I can’t remember when I have been so outraged and offended as I was on Sunday, May 30, when I read the headline, “Who wants Roy Howell? Not the Brewers.”

What gives The Journal the right to totally devastate a family and a young man in the prime of his life by writing such a mean and hateful headline?

Sure, the Brewers are down on their luck, but why pick on one player? If he did indeed lack confidence in his playing ability, can you imagine what the headline and article must have done for his confidence?

In my opinion, those six words could crush a young man’s spirit for the rest of his life. The headline and article brought me close to tears for the dreadful hurt this must have caused Roy and his family.

VIRGINIA ULRICH (Mequon)

BREAKING: Buck Rodgers Fired

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SEATTLE — Yesterday, Harry Dalton told us that the job of a general manager is to remain patient. Apparently, his patience has run out.

For the past couple of weeks, it became increasingly clear that Buck Rodgers‘ days as the Milwaukee Brewers’ manager were numbered. Today, the announcement made it official: Buck Rodgers has been relieved of his duties.

Buck Rodgers
Buck Rodgers has filled out his last lineup card as manager of the Brewers

“I think Buck’s a good baseball man,” Dalton said today. “The chemistry went sour. We hadn’t been getting what we had the right to expect with the talent we have available. I recognize everything that happened wasn’t Buck’s fault. I wanted to give Buck every opportunity to right the ship.”

And that opportunity ran out. Brewers fans would argue that Rodgers was given far too much time to “right the ship.” You can’t right a ship that’s sinking, and water’s been flooding a gaping hole in the SS BrewCrew for quite some time.

It’s interesting this announcement was made today, given the Brewers beat the Mariners 2-1 yesterday. But the rumor is that the decision to make the move had already been made prior to yesterday’s game, which would make sense considering the collapse that led to three blown leads in that game. Dalton knew that change was coming when he spoke of patience. Rodgers was a dead man walking and he was made aware of the change this morning.

In something of a surprising move, the Brewers have replaced Rodgers with longtime coach Harvey Kuenn… at least for now. “We have appointed Harvey Kuenn as interim manager,” said Dalton. “That can mean anytime from two to three weeks to the end of the 1982 season. We have been looking for someone to take over on a permanent basis.”

So who will be that permanent solution? Good question. It won’t be former team captain Sal Bando, long rumored to be waiting for the opening. He isn’t interested in committing to managing.

The interesting twist in all of this is that the man the Brewers really want, former manager George Bamberger, is no longer available. Bambi stepped down due to health concerns and Rodgers took over. Had the Brewers not made the playoffs last season, they were primed to invite Bamberger back. Instead. they did take that next step and felt obligated to bring Rodgers back. Meanwhile, Bamberger took a job to manage the Mets.

A couple of possibilities are on Bambi’s staff. Jim Frey, the former manager of the Royals and current coach on the Mets, could be an option. Frank Howard, a former Brewers coach who was fired after managing the Padres last season, is also a coach on the Mets’ staff who could be on the Brewers’ radar.