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Brewers 1982

Brewers 1982

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

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Jerry Augustine

Grading the Brewers: Pitchers

November 26 5 Comments

Don Sutton
Don Sutton gets the only straight A among Brewers pitchers.

Now that we’ve had a month to absorb the finality of the 1982 season and dust off the painful ending, it’s time to take a balanced look at what went right and what went wrong. We’ve gotten our pencils out and are going to grade three main categories: Offense, Starting Pitching and Relief Pitching. Under each section, we will grade players individually. Today we’ll start with pitchers. An average result will be a C, so such a grade should be the typical expectation. We will not grade more loosely or harshly based on expectations.

Additionally, note that we will not grade players who are no longer with the team (like Randy Lerch). Minimal number of plate appearances to receive a grade is 100 and pitchers must log at least 25 innings pitched. Anyone else will be given an Incomplete grade.

Starting Pitching
Despite the big names of Pete Vuckovich, Don Sutton and Mike Caldwell, the Milwaukee Brewers starting rotation was very average until Don Sutton arrived. In fact, one could argue that the Brewers were not a playoff caliber team without Don Sutton on it. The Brewers’ starting pitchers were at or a bit above the league average in several key categories: complete games (fifth with 34), shutouts (seventh with six) and quality starts (fourth with 84). They also led the American League in wins (76) and innings pitched per games started (6.7). While the Brewers had difficulty finding consistency at the back end of the rotation, the Sutton-Vuckovich-Caldwell trio was one of the best in the game, and the starting five finished as one of the better groups in the AL.
Overall Grade: B

Relief Pitching
While the starting rotation got a boost near the end of the regular season, the bullpen took a major hit when Rollie Fingers went down. The Brewers could not replace the 1981 AL Cy Young and MVP winner. In fact, not close to adequately, as the bullpen threw several key games down the stretch to make the regular season conclusion much more interesting than it should have been. While the relievers were a surprising bright spot in th ALCS, it’s quite possible the Brewers are World Champs with a healthy Rollie Fingers in the World Series. Jim Slaton was a rock in the bullpen, but otherwise a Fingers-less relief corps was far below average. And while Fingers would make this group a B- by himself, it’s all about how the team finished.
Overall Grade: D+

Don Sutton, SP
Sutton was everything Harry Dalton could have asked for when he pulled the trigger on a late season trade with the Astros. In seven regular season starts with the Brewers, Stutton went at least seven innings in all but one, when he went 6 2/3. The Brewers won five of his seven starts, including all of his final four. It was Sutton who stopped the bleeding in Baltimore on the final day of the season, where Vuckovich and Caldwell could not. Sutton’s regular season ERA was a shiny 3.29. If that trade was not made, the Brewers would not have made it to the postseason.
Grade: A

Pete Vuckovich, SP
Vuke just wins games. In 30 starts, he won 18 and lost only six. His 3.34 ERA was lowest of any regular starter on the team, he led the Brewers with 105 strikeouts and was second in complete games (9) and innings pitched (223 2/3). While he never made it easy on himself by walking an excessive number of batters, Vuke will also be remembered for his big 11-inning complete game win over the Red Sox in a crucial game in the final month in Boston. Then again, he’ll also be remembered for not winning another game from that point forward through the end of the postseason.
Grade: A-

Rollie Fingers, RP
This evaluation is nearly incomplete since Fingers missed the final month and change due to an injured forearm. It’s difficult imagining what the Brewers could have done with a healthy Rollie Fingers. Rollie was on his way to another fantastic season, posting a 2.60 ERA and 29 saves before being lost for the season. Fingers was leading the league in saves at the time of his initial injury, and is still the premier closer in the game when healthy. Fingers only gets a minus here because of factors outside of his control, as we wonder what could have been.
Grade: A-

Mike Caldwell, SP
The unsung hero on this staff. Pete Vuckovich gets the attention as the Cy Young winner and Don Sutton as the savior, but Mike Caldwell was the team’s iron man. He led the Brewers in starts (34), complete games (12), shutouts (3) and innings pitched (258), and was second with 17 wins.
Grade: B+

Jim Slaton, SP/RP
Slaton was used as an all-purpose pitcher for the Brewers in 1982, used in high leverage situations out of the bullpen as well as an occasional spot start. His 3.29 ERA was the best of any reliever not named Fingers, and other than a blip in his final regular season appearance in Boston, Slaton was solid from August on while his bullpen-mates were coughing up games regularly.
Grade: B

Moose Haas, SP/RP
Haas was solid overall, but imploded in June (6.96 ERA) and August (5.49 ERA). Still, Moose finished strong with a 2.22 ERA in September and October, and was also solid in the postseason. Haas was third on the team in innings pitched (193 1/3) and second in strikeouts (104). Yet, his lack of consistency kept him from being a dependable pitcher for the Brewers.
Grade: C+

Dwight Bernard, RP
Bernard’s final 3.76 ERA isn’t bad, but he was worst when the Brewers needed him most. He actually had an ERA of 2.92 on September 2, but then fell apart. Bernard allowed 10 earned runs in his final eight regular season appearances, which covered most of the final month. Harvey lost confidence in Bernard and used him sparingly from that point forward.
Grade: C

Doc Medich, SP
A late season addition for the Brewers from Texas, Medich was not what the doctor ordered. Hoping he’d be a stabilizing force as a veteran starter in the rotation, the Brewers signed Medich and let go of Randy Lerch. Medich (5.00 ERA in 10 starts) wasn’t any better than Lerch (4.97 ERA).
Grade: D+

Jerry Augustine, SP/RP
He’s been a Brewer since 1975, but Jerry Augustine was not a fan favorite in 1982. While injuries may have contributed to and shortened his season, Augustine was ineffective and did not play a major role on this staff. A May 11 start against the Royals resulted in 12 earned runs on 15 hits in five innings, and was used primarily out of the bullpen from then on. Augustine was a non-factor after the All-Star break, partly due to injuries and partly due to ineffectiveness. In his final 12 innings pitched, Augie allowed 14 earned runs.
Grade: D

Jamie Easterly, RP
Like Augustine, injuries and ineffectiveness limited Easterly’s role on the Brewers in 1982. He started well, posting a 3.27 ERA through June. But as seems to be the case with many of the Brewers’ relievers, Easterly fell apart when the injury to Fingers required production. Easterly allowed six earned runs in two appearances against the Yankees in September and his ERA ballooned to 5.27. He was a mop-up man from then on.
Grade: D

Pete Ladd, RP
While Ladd wasn’t spectacular in his 16 regular season appearances (4.00 ERA) in 1982, he did show glimpses of what may be to come, particularly in the ALCS when he retired 10 batters in a row.
Grade: Inc.

Chuck Porter, RP
Porter spent most of his 1982 season in Vancouver, but is expected to have a much larger role on the Brewers in 1983.
Grade: Inc.

Doug Jones, RP
The 25-year-old rookie allowed five hits and three runs in his only 2 2/3 innings pitched with the Brewers this season. It’s unlikely that he has a long term future with the club.
Grade: Inc.

Filed Under: Commentary Tagged With: Chuck Porter, Doc Medich, Don Sutton, Doug Jones, Dwight Bernard, Jamie Easerly, Jerry Augustine, Jim Slaton, Mike Caldwell, Moose Haas, Pete Ladd, Pete Vuckovich, Rollie Fingers

Brewers Bang on Fenway Walls

September 28 Leave a Comment

Brewers 9, Red Sox 3
Brewers now 93-63 (1st by 3.0 games)
Box Score | Season Schedule

Robin Yount
Robin Yount does it again!

BOSTON — As Rob Peterson noted yesterday in his series preview, this week may be the most important of any for the Milwaukee Brewers franchise. Coming off of two straight losses to the pesky Baltimore Orioles, the division lead has been cut to two games with seven left to play.

Of course, holding on for those seven games will be no picnic. Unless the Orioles are the ants looking to carry away our basket of playoff goodies. The first three will come versus the third place Red Sox and final four against those same Orioles. All on the road.

So it’s clear we’re getting into must-win mode here. At the very least, it’s hold-on-tight-and-close-your-eyes mode. Though Boton’s dead, the Brewers’ bats still needed to come alive to reverse recent misfortunes and build upon their dwindling AL East lead. A 9-3 win tonight at Fenway Park helped some of us open our eyes and watch more comfortably.

No one thought it would be easy. Sending mid-season addition and least accomplished starting pitcher Doc Medich to the mound at Fenway Park didn’t inspire confidence. The top priority coming into this game was to score and score often. Harvey’s boys needed to acquaint themselves regularly with the Fenway walls.

Thankfully, that is exactly what happened. Paul Molitor singled to lead off the game and stepped on the plate moments later after Robin Yount hit a 1-1 pitch from Chuck Rainey onto the light standard overlooking the big screen above the Green Monster.

“Hell, he’s been doing this all year,” Gorman Thomas said of Yount’s performance, “why would he stop now?

“He’s having a great hear. More power to him. I hope he stays as hot as he is the rest of the year. It’s just another feather in his war bonnet. He only has about 150,000 as it is.”

Indeed, Yount is having an MVP-type season. But with two down and two on, Roy Howell — a name rarely mentioned when speaking of this record-breaking offense — came through with a clutch RBI single to give Medich a 3-0 lead before he stepped on the mound.

Given the lead, all Brewers fans asked of Medich was to keep the offense in the game. Pitch six innings and hand the ball over with a chance to earn a victory. It wasn’t pretty (three earned runs on five hits and five walks in six innings), but Doc did what was asked of him.

“I didn’t have good stuff,” Medich told the Boston Globe. “I had to struggle for six innings, but when you get those runs…”

Of course, when fans complain about the inconsistent and often unreliable Brewers pitching, in most cases they are referring to the gaping hole left by the ailing Rollie Fingers. Once considered a seven inning game if the Brewers handed the ball and lead to Fingers, relievers have provided little, well, relief since his absence. A bullpen consisting of Moose Haas, Jim Slaton, Dwight Bernard, Jamie Easterly, Jerry Augustine and Pete Ladd has failed far more often than is acceptable.

The painful realization is that with Fingers, first place in the AL East would be long sewn up by now. Thankfully for the Brewers and their loyal fans, the offense handed Moose Haas a 9-3 lead in the seventh inning.

The Brewers bats were too much for Boston’s pitching on this night. It was an offensive onslaught focused on three innings: Three runs in the first, two in the fourth and four in the sixth. But it was the way they scored that was most impressive.

Sure, they hit their home runs, scoring two on Yount’s first inning homer and three when Simmons hit one out in the sixth. But they also scored two in the fourth when they popped four singles, forcing manager Ralph Houk to remove Rainey and go to his bullpen far earlier than he preferred.

In all, the Brewers offense smacked 17 hits, and the pitching was plenty good enough to win. Haas pitched three scoreless innings in relief, allowing only two hits to the suddenly punchless Red Sox and Fingers was not missed on this night. It was his first save of the season and the second of his career.

Just as important for Brewers fans was the news out of Detroit. A paltry crowd of 7,755 watched their fourth place Tigers come from behind to score the final four runs and beat the Orioles 9-6.

Now the worst case scenario is going into the final four games in Baltimore with a one game lead. Should we still be worried?

“We can’t look at going into Baltimore with a one game lead,” Yount responded, “or things like that. We really have to play them one at a time. They’re all big games. We have to win tomorrow as much as we did tonight.

“But I’ll take a win when Baltimore loses every day of the week.”

With six games to go, the Brewers’ lead in the division is now three games. We can breathe a little more easily. But would it be asking too much to have a five game lead before the Crew gets to Baltimore?

Maybe. Probably.

Player of the Game: Time and time again this season, whenever the Brewers need a win, Robin Yount has stepped forward. Tonight, “The Kid” hit a first inning, two-run home run that set the tone for a team losing confidence. Yount had three hits in all, driving in three and scoring two.

Now with 27 home runs, a .331 batting average, 111 RBI and a league leading 202 hits, 45 doubles and .573 slugging percentage, the question must be asked: does Robin Yount have any reasonable competition for the league’s MVP award?

Don’t worry, we’ll answer the question, too. No. Robin should, and will, be M-V-P.

Filed Under: Game Recap Tagged With: Chuck Rainey, Doc Medich, Dwight Bernard, Gorman Thomas, Jamie Easterly, Jerry Augustine, Jim Slaton, Moose Haas, Paul Molitor, Pete Ladd, Ralph Houk, Red Sox, Robin Yount, Rollie Fingers, Roy Howell

Lead, Season Slipping Away

September 13 Leave a Comment

Tigers 4, Brewers 3 (11)
Brewers now 84-60 (1st by 2.0 games)
Box Score | Season Schedule

Gorman Thomas
Gorman Thomas hit a home run to temporarily give the Brewers the lead in the 11th inning.

DETROIT — The news coming in from Tiger Stadium kept getting worse and worse.

After Gorman Thomas hit his 35th home run to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead in the top of the 11th inning, Pete Ladd took the mound for the bottom half of the inning.

You know Pete Ladd. He’s the rookie filling in for Rollie Fingers who allowed a home run to Jerry Mumphrey in the 10th inning in New York three days ago to lose to the Yankees.

Well… It happened again. But worse.

This time, Ladd had a lead. This time, he walked Larry Herndon to lead off the inning to bring the winning run to the plate. And then he allowed the home run, this time a two-run shot by Lance Parrish.

The Brewers miss Rollie Fingers. It’s painfully obvious. Three of the team’s last four losses could have been prevented with Fingers on the mound.

A diplomatic Harvey Kuenn understands the impact of Fingers: “He could have made a difference. Anytime you have Rollie in the pen and you’re ahead by one run, you certainly have the edge.”

Then Harvey dropped a bomb: “At this point, we really don’t know if we’ll have him or not. We’ll have to move things around if he doesn’t pitch anymore. He have to have someone pick up the slack.”

WHAT??!! First, Fingers was out for a few days. Then a week. Then another week. Now for possibly the season? What have we seen that tells us the Brewers have anyone who can step up and come even close to picking up the slack?

Jim Slaton? He’s a long reliever. Jamie Easterly? Jerry Augustine? Dwight Bernard? Please, please, PLEASE! Not even close.

Then, the trifecta of bad news. The Baltimore Orioles came from behind to beat the Yankees 8-7 and pull to within two games of the Brewers.

Kuenn tried to stay calm: “All I can say is we have to come back and beat them tomorrow. We still have a two game lead.”

Sure. Now. But without Fingers, does anyone think this team can hold off the Orioles for 19 more games?

I don’t.

Filed Under: Game Recap Tagged With: Dwight Bernard, Gorman Thomas, Harvey Kuenn, Jamie Easterly, Jerry Augustine, Jerry Mumphrey, Jim Slaton, Lance Parrish, Larry Herndon, Pete Ladd, Rollie Fingers, Tigers

Brewers Blown Out in The Bronx

September 11 Leave a Comment

Yankees 14, Brewers 2
Brewers now 84-58 (1st by 3.0 games)
Box Score | Season Schedule

Jerry Augustine
Jerry Augustine and the rest of the Brewers pitchers were awful today.

BRONX, NY — This is one of those games you don’t want to spend too much time on, so I won’t. Or I’ll at least focus on the negatives. Well, there are no positives.

The Brewers played like garbage from start to finish. Doc Medich, who has surprised many by pitching like an acceptable big leaguer, showed his true colors tonight. He couldn’t get an out in the second, allowing seven runs on five hits and two walks.

Sad.

Jerry Augustine, who was DFA’d and brought back but hasn’t pitched for the Brewers since August 17, reminded us why he was let go in the first place. He allowed three runs on four hits in three innings.

Sad.

Jamie Easterly, making his first appearance since July 7, highlighted what we didn’t miss: two runs on five hits in two innings.

Sad.

Dave Righetti pitched a complete game for the Yankees, allowing only five hits. His lone slip-up was a two-run homer by Mark Brouhard in the sixth after the regulars were pulled from the game.

It was a sad, sad display.

“This is a tough loss to swallow,” manager Harvey Kuenn said after the game, “but it happens to everybody. You have to swallow it and move on.”

Maybe, but while this is merely a blip on the radar for the offense, this Rollie Fingers-less bullpen is what is of grave concern to Brewers fans. Fingers was seen lobbing the ball in the bullpen before the game, but he still hasn’t thrown since September 2.

The longer Fingers is out, the more likely a repeat of this pitching disaster is to repeat itself.

And oh, by the way, the Baltimore Orioles won today to pull to within three games of the Brewers in the AL East. Move on? Maybe. But Brewers fans are approaching panic mode.

Filed Under: Game Recap Tagged With: Dave Righetti, Doc Medich, Harvey Kuenn, Jamie Easterly, Jerry Augustine, Mark Brouhard, Rollie Fingers, Yankees

Caldwell Cruises Again

August 31 Leave a Comment

Brewers 8, Mariners 2
Brewers now 77-53 (1st by 4.5 games)
Box Score | Season Schedule

Mike Caldwell
Mike Caldwell did it again!

MILWAUKEE — The Brewers lost yesterday’s game because of poor defense and an inability to get the big hit. Today, they won because of both.

Locked in a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the third with two outs, Ted Simmons singled home Robin Yount to make it a 2-1 game. Mariners pitcher Bryan Clark then walked Gorman Thomas, bringing Ben Oglivie to the plate with runners at first and second. Oglivie hit a tapper in front of the mound, a routine play, but first baseman Gary Gray couldn’t handle Clark’s throw.

Gray’s error loaded the bases. Don Money then hit a ground ball to shortstop that Todd Cruz bobbled after Gorman Thomas ran by and possibly distracted him. One run scored.

Twice the inning should have been over. Then Charlie Moore knocked a single to right, plating two more runs. Three unearned runs that inning in all.

And that is all the Brewers would need. They scored eight in all, led by Ted Simmons’ 3-for-5, two runs scored and two RBI. But the real story was once again Mike Caldwell.

Caldwell was sharp again, allowing only two runs on eight hits in seven innings for his third straight win and sixth in his last seven starts. Now 13-11, he was the “much maligned Mike Caldwell” prior to the managerial change in June.

“When you are left in a situation where you have to go get ’em and you get out of them,” Caldwell explained, “it builds confidence.”

Rollie Fingers and Dwight Bernard pitched a perfect inning apiece to close it out.

Now that Don Sutton is on the staff (YES! WE GOT DON SUTTON!), the Brewers suddenly look very impressive with a 1-2-3 of Pete Vuckovich, Sutton and Caldwell. And Bob McClure has looked awfully good lately as well.

Speaking of Sutton, the Brewers were forced to make a move today to make room for him on the roster. They chose to designate Jerry Augustine for assignment. Augustine was 1-3 with a 4.88 ERA this season in 19 appearances, two of them starts and one complete game.

“Looking at the overall make-up of our pitching staff,” GM Harry Dalton explained, “it just seemed the most sensible move to make.”

It’s tough to argue. Since spring, Augustine has been hanging on to his spot by the skin of his teeth. It’s surprising he’s lasted this long.

Augustine’s best season with the Brewers was in 1979 when he went 9-6 with a 3.45 ERA.

Filed Under: Game Recap Tagged With: Ben Oglivie, Bob McClure, Bryan Clark, Charlie Moore, Don Money, Don Sutton, Dwight Bernard, Gary Gray, Gorman Thomas, Jerry Augustine, Mariners, Mike Caldwell, Pete Vuckovich, Robin Yount, Rollie Fingers, Ted Simmons, Todd Cruz

Card of the Day: 1982 Fleer Jerry Augustine

August 25 Leave a Comment

The long-time Brewer calls Hales Corners, Wisconsin his home.

[VIEW THE FULL 1982 BREWERS FLEER SET]

Filed Under: Card of the Day Tagged With: Jerry Augustine

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