Brewers 1982

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

Ken Singleton

Vuke Loses Game 1, Cy Young?

Orioles 8, Brewers 3
Brewers now 94-65 (1st by 2.0 games)
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1982 Topps Brewers Future Stars
For some reason, Chuck Porter made an appearance in a pennant race today.

BALTIMORE — This is it, Brewers fans. We can smell the playoffs. Four games on the slate with the Orioles to close out the season, and all we need is one game. Just one.

With a double header today, how about we take care of business right off the bat? Win that first one, chill out for the final three. It’s not that hard, right?

Eesh.

With Cy Young candidate Pete Vuckovich on the mound, this should have been a golden opportunity to close out the regular season. There were a couple of problems along the way: 1) Vuke was freaking awful, and 2) the Brewers were up against 15-game winner Dennis Martinez.

It all started out smelling like roses. With two down in the second inning of a scoreless game, Charlie Moore smacked a double that scored Ben Oglivie from first.

THAT’S IT! THE BREWERS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS!

Ehhhhh, nope!

In the bottom of the second, Vuckovich granted four consecutive batters residency to the bases, three on singles and one on a walk. Suddenly, the Brewers were in a 3-1 hole.

Vuke then surrendered single runs in both the third and fourth innings on a solo shot to Ken Singleton and double to Rich Dauer. When he was finally relieved of his duties during the fifth inning by Chuck Porter, Vuke’s final line was far from Cy Young-like: 4 1/3 innings pitched, five runs, four earned runs, nine hits and two walks.

But wait a minute. Did you notice a couple of words that did not belong in the above paragraph? I’ll give you a hint: It starts with “Chuck” and ends with “Porter.” What in the world was Chuck Porter doing in this game? It was his second appearance of the season and fifth of his career. In a pennant race? Really? Is it because Topps labeled him as a “Future Star?”

Maybe Chuck Porter is the new Jamie Easterly: the Grim Reaper of wins. When we see him on the mound, we know that the team has thrown in the towel. I don’t have any other explanation for it. Granted, the rest of the bullpen hasn’t been particularly reliable, but why now? Against the Orioles?

I give the Brewers’ offense some credit, however. Harvey Kuenn may have given up, but the bats weren’t ready to quit. Ted Simmons and Ben Oglivie led off the top of the sixth inning with back-to-back homers to make it a 5-3 game. Seemed like anything could happen.

But of course, the Brewers had Chuck Freaking Porter on the mound, the guy who relieved the leading Cy Young candidate. I don’t care how bad Vuke was, I’d rather have him out there on a bad day than Chuck Porter. Hell, I’d rather see Jamie Easterly or Jerry Aug… I’m sorry, I couldn’t get through that sentence without laughing. No, I wouldn’t rather see those guys. I guess Porter was fine.

Of course, Porter gave those two runs right back in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 7-3 game.

And that was about it. No more runs from the Brewers, and the Orioles managed another run when “all-time great” Lenn Sakata doubled in John Shelby to make it an eventual 8-3 final.

It was one of those games. A game, on paper, you’d expect the Brewers to win. Thankfully, the Brewers didn’t need this one. Now, they just need one of three. And with 17-game winner Mike Caldwell on the mound against the Orioles and Storm Davis in game 2 of today’s double header, you still have to like the Brewers’ odds.

Cy Young Race: One has to wonder if Vuke did some serious damage to his Cy Young hopes today. He may lead the AL in wins with 18, but pitchers such as Baltimore’s Jim Palmer, Toronto’s Dave Stieb, and Kansas City’s Dan Quisenberry all warrant mention. And let’s face it: with a 3.34 ERA and nearly as many walks (102) as strikeouts (105), it hasn’t been a runaway, dominating season for Vuke.

Typically, we may write off Quisenberry since he’s a reliever. But after Rollie Fingers won both the Cy Young and MVP awards last year, we know that he needs to be taken just as seriously as the starters.

So what do you think? Is Pete Vuckovich still the leading Cy Young candidate? Or did he throw away his chances along with today’s game?

Dan Ford Slams Brewers

Orioles 9, Brewers 4
Brewers now 30-29 (4th)
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Jamie Easterly
The ineffectiveness of relievers like Jamie Easterly is why Harry Dalton needs to make a move at the deadline tonight.

BALTIMORE — Well, that sucked.

The Brewers had just tied the Orioles at four in the top of the seventh on two-out clutch singles by Charlie Moore and Jim Gantner. Everyone was feeling good about themselves. Then…

Lenn Sakata led off the bottom of the seventh with a ground ball to third that Paul Molitor mishandled. Al Bumbry attempted to sacrifice himself to the benefit of scoring position, but mistakenly reached first safely for a hit. After a Rich Dauer groundout, the Orioles had runners at second and third with one out and Ken Singleton at the plate.

Instead of facing the .256-hitting Singleton, Harvey Kuenn decided it made more sense to put him on and face Eddie Murray with the bases loaded. I guess the logic there is Murray is a double-play threat. But at .296 with seven homers, he’s also a big play threat.

All it really did was put Moose Haas in the uncomfortable position of needing to throw strikes to a player he didn’t really want to throw strikes to. Haas walked Murray to force in the go-ahead run. Harm may have been minimal, though, since Murray inflicted just one run of damage and the struggling Dan Ford was coming to the plate.

Kuenn shuffled to the mound and replaced Haas with Jamie Easterly. The Orioles faithful, who have little patience with the .237-hitting new Oriole, booed as Ford came to the plate. Moments later, Ford hit a grand slam and accepted a curtain call.

Oh, fans.

Up until that point, the Brewers were neither bad nor spectacular. But it was a game we can expect several times over this season. It was winnable. But you need dependable pitching to win it.

WIth the trading deadline hours away, the results of today’s game is a prime example of why more pitching is needed. Whether it’s an addition to the starting rotation, the bullpen or both, close games that are being lost could be won going forward.

Pull the trigger, Harry. You’re our only hope.

Game Notes: Cecil Cooper missed his fifth consecutive game with a sore hamstring (or buttock). He had told Harvey Kuenn that he was ready. Expect Cooper in the lineup tomorrow.

Brewers Salvage Final Game with Orioles

Brewers 9, Orioles 7
Brewers now 28-27 (3rd)
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Ben Oglivie
Ben Oglivie's two-out, two-run double in the eighth would win today's game with the Orioles.

MILWAUKEE — Upon catching the final out in today’s Brewers’ win over the Orioles to salvage the final game in a four-game series, Gorman Thomas lifted his hands to the sky in jubilation. You’d think his catch had clinched an AL pennant.

But that’s how good it feels when you go seven straight games without winning at home. It’s a relief to score nine runs after three straight games in which your opponent doesn’t have to phone the bullpen.

And this was a game, like the season, that first seemed in their grasp before seemingly slipping away.

With the bases loaded and one out in the third, Roy Howell lifted a pop fly into foul territory on the third base side. Cal Ripken gave chase and slid in front of the tarp. He dropped the ball. On the very next pitch, Howell launched a two-run double to left to give the Brewers the lead. Fortunes appeared to be in the Crew’s favor.

The Brewers would take a 7-3 lead into the sixth inning. But Ken Singleton lifted a missile into orbit that finally landed ten rows deep into the bleachers in right center to trim the lead to two. Rollie Fingers came on in the seventh and allowed three hits that erased the Brewers’ lead.

The fans booed.

The fans may be a bit on the overreactive side, but they’ve seen this show before. They’re tired of it.

But this show had a different ending. With two down in the eighth and runners at first and second, Ben Oglivie lined a shot down the right field line out of the reach of Jim Dwyer for a two-run double. Staked to another two-run lead, Fingers wouldn’t falter this time. He pitched a perfect ninth for the win.

This win may not have clinched the American League pennant or even the division, but after three games of doubts and second guessing it was nice to see fortunes change.

Game Notes: 22,013 fans were in attendance, 6,319 of which were fan club admissions … Prior to today’s three-inning appearance, Rollie Fingers had pitched only 2 1/3 innings since June 1 … The Brewers face the AL East-leading Tigers next.