Not sure if you have every Topps Brewers card? That’s what the checklist is for. This is a solid two-for-one with photos of both Cecil Cooper and Pete Vuckovich.
Pete Vuckovich
Rickey Ties Record, Gorman Steals the Show
Brewers 10, A’s 3
Brewers now 74-51 (1st by 5.5 games)
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MILWAUKEE — Rickey Henderson got all of the attention, but Gorman Thomas stole the show.
Henderson led off the game with a single to center and promptly stole second base to tie him with Lou Brock for the single season record at 118. Considering the A’s have 34 games remaining, it’s safe to say that record will be broken. Shortly.
Will the Brewers try to prevent Henderson from breaking the record? Tigers manager Sparky Anderson walked batters in front of Henderson to clog the bases, an interesting strategy.
“If he’s gonna steal,” manager Harvey Kuenn told the Milwaukee Sentinel, “he’s gonna have to go out and earn it. Our goal is to keep him off base four times. The same goal we have for all the hitters.”
Other than the one at bat in the first, the Brewers were successful at keeping Henderson off the bases and the A’s off the scoreboard. Oakland, meanwhile, was not so successful holding down the Brewers offense. In particular, Gorman Thomas.
Gorman hit a three-run homer in the third inning and a two-run shot with two outs in the seventh to give him a major league leading 34 on the season. Thomas also singled and drove in six, putting him one RBI shy of the club record set by Ted Kubiak.
Unlike the A’s and Henderson, of course, the Brewers aren’t a one trick pony. All-Star shortstop Robin Yount went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a triple while starting pitcher Mike Caldwell tossed yet another gem.
Caldwell allowed three runs on seven hits in his team-high ninth complete game of the season to improve to 12-11. He’s won five of his last seven decisions and seven of his last 11. During his last 52 innings, Caldwell has allowed only 13 runs for a 2.25 ERA.
Is this the same Mike Caldwell who pitched under former manager Buck Rodgers? Caldwell was nearly shipped out of town for later acquisition Doc Medich, who has been far from dependable for the Brewers. Rodgers hinted at naming Caldwell a cancer on the team, and his days as a Brewer seemed to be numbered.
But now? Now he’s pitching like an All-Star.
“He’s pitched great the last two months,” Kuenn said. “If we would have scored some runs in a couple of his losses, he could be 16-7.”
Often overlooked as a factor in the ascension of Harvey’s Wallbangers is the performance of Caldwell. The offense has been great, but other than ace Pete Vuckovich the Brewers needed another reliable arm in the rotation. Caldwell has been it, and then some.
The second place Boston Red Sox split a double header with the Angels, so they fell to 5 1/2 games back of the Brewers.
Game Notes: Ted Simmons had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. … The Brewers will likely call up an outfielder from Vancouver, either Kevin Bass or Mark Brouhard, in the next two days.
Stars Come Out in California
Brewers 7, Angels 3
Brewers now 73-51 (1st by 5.0 games)
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ANAHEIM — Tonight’s game with the California Angels was won by the Milwaukee Brewers because of three players: Ted Simmons, Robin Yount and Pete Vuckovich.
It was the slow-footed Simmons who dropped a surprise bunt in the first with two outs and Yount on third that would score a run.
“That surprised everyone,” manager Harvey Kuenn told the Milwaukee Sentinel. “Including myself. He did it strictly on his own. I know he caught the Angels by surprise and us too. A pleasant surprise.”
In the bottom of the first, Simmons stepped up again to keep the Brewers in the lead. With two outs, Rod Carew took off from first on a pitch to Fred Lynn. Lynn laced a base hit into the gap in right center, and Carew raced around third towards the plate. Outfielder Charlie Moore fired a one hop bullet to Simmons, who blocked the plate and tagged Carew before he could score.
Simmons, of course, was not done. In the fifth inning and the score still 1-0, the Brewers catcher again made his presence known with two outs. Simmons drove a Steve Renko fastball over the right field wall for a two-run homer to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead.
That would be a critical hit as the Angels would strike right back in the bottom of the fifth with two runs of their own. The Angels would then pull to within one on a Reggie Jackson solo homer in the bottom of the sixth.
At that point, it was shortstop Robin Yount who took center stage. Robin doubled home Paul Molitor in the top of the seventh to give the Brewers a two-run lead and knock out Renko. Then, in the top of the ninth and Molitor on again, Yount knocked a two run homer to put the game out of reach. Yount finished with four hits, two runs scored and three runs batted in.
The contributions of Simmons and Yount were nice, but it was the mound work of Pete Vuckovich that kept the Brewers in control all game. Vuke allowed only three earned runs on seven hits in a complete game to improve to 15-4. Vuke shares the league lead in wins with Kansas City’s Larry Gura, and he stands alone with a .790 winning percentage. Vuckovich is now 29-8 in his two seasons with the Brewers and is gaining a reputation for winning big games.
“He’s got to be the best,” Kuenn said of Vuckovich. “He rises to the occasion each and every time.”
The second place Red Sox beat the Mariners 5-4 in 12 innings to keep pace five games back of the Brewers. Milwaukee has a day off tomorrow before starting a four-game series with the A’s in Milwaukee.
Game Notes: Reggie Jackson hit his 31st home run of the season, pulling to within one of Gorman Thomas for the AL lead. … Rickey Henderson of the A’s stole two more bases and now has 116, two shy of Lou Brock‘s single season record. Henderson and the A’s now head to Milwaukee for four games, where the Brewers will be challenged to prevent Henderson from breaking the record.
Brewers Benefit from A’s Errors
Brewers 10, A’s 6
Brewers now 69-50 (1st by 4.0 games)
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OAKLAND — Both the Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics had 10 hits in this game. It just so happened that the A’s committed two errors that led to five unearned runs.
And that, my friends, is the difference in this game. One could feel bad for A’s starter Matt Keough, who was the target of all five of those unearned runs. He actually outpitched Brewers starter Pete Vuckovich, who allowed five runs on nine hits in six innings, compared to Keough’s three earned runs on seven hits in the same amount of time. But we’re Brewers fans. We don’t feel bad for him one bit.
That said, a Keough miscue did lead to one of the runs. Paul Molitor, who would go 4-for-5, led off the game with a bunt single. Keough balked him to second, putting him in scoring position. With one down, Cecil Cooper then hit a routine grounder to first baseman Dan Meyer promptly booted it, allowing Molitor to score the first run.
Molitor doubled in two with two outs in the second to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead until Fred Stanley hit a rare home run in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1. It was his first long ball since 1979 and only the ninth of his career.
“I’m definitely going to have to work on my trot,” Stanley told the Milwaukee Sentinel.
Dan Meyer then made up for his error with a two-out RBI triple in the fourth to make it a 3-2 game. Then, with two down and a man on first in the top of the fifth, Cecil Cooper hit yet another routine grounder. This time it went to second baseman Dave McKay. Instead of ending the inning, he fumbled the ball, putting runners at first and second.
That error led to four Brewers runs as Ted Simmons singled up the middle and Ben Oglivie, who had three hard hit outs as well, hit a booming home run to dead centerfield.
“It seems like I have to hit it out to get a hit today,” Oglivie said after the game. “Though I’d rather have one hit like that than go 4-for-4 and lose.”
The home run would give the Brewers a 7-2 lead. While the A’s would make it interesting when they pulled to within two at 8-6, Ted Simmons then cashed in on another big two-out hit when he drove in Molitor and Yount in the ninth to make it 10-6.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak, a span when the Brewers scored only two runs three times.
“We lost four in a row because we couldn’t come up with the key base hit,” manager Harvey Kuenn told the Milwaukee Sentinel. “This time they make a couple of errors and we take advantage of it. It’s a good team that does that.”
The other good piece of news is that Rollie Fingers, nursing a sore pitching elbow, will throw prior to tomorrow’s game with the Mariners to determine if he’s ready to return.
“If it’s okay, then I’ll be ready to pitch,” Fingers said. “There’s no sense in sitting around when you may not get the chance to pitch for four or five days in a row.”
The Boston Red Sox fell to the California Angels 8-5, so the Brewers’ lead in the AL East widened to four games.
Vuke Gets Wild Win
Brewers 3, Blue Jays 1
Brewers now 68-46 (1st by 5.5 games)
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MILWAUKEE — It was Seat Cushion Night at County Stadium, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The fans did a lot of sitting through long innings while Pete Vuckovich was on the mound.
Vuckovich walked a Milwaukee Brewers record eight batters today. The Blue Jays loaded the bases twice. Knowing that, you’d assume the Brewers either lost or it was a high scoring affair.
Either way, you’d assume incorrectly. Vuckovich threw 146 pitches in a complete game, allowing only a single run. In fact, none of his eight walks scored.
“They weren’t biting,” Vuke said to explain his wildness. “I threw a lot of balls down around the knees. They were balls. They just weren’t going after them.”
Especially not in the first inning. In fact, in that inning it appeared Vuke would have a short outing. With one out and a run in, Hosken Powell swung at a 2-0 pitch out of the zone to ground out and end the inning. Prior to that, Vuke had thrown 14 of 16 pitches for balls.
But that’s the way Vuckovich prefers to pitch. He’ll pitch around the strike zone, but he’s not going to split it. And he is not afraid to walk anyone.
“It’s better that way than getting it up where they can see the whole sphere coming at them when they’re attempting to reach out with the wood tool with the purpose of reversing the sphere to certain areas between the white lines where men aren’t standing with gloves on,” Vuke continued.
Oooooohhhh…. kay.
While the Blue Jays failed to score with the bases loaded, the Brewers took advantage of their one opportunity in the fourth. With the bases juiced and one out, Marshall Edwards hit a possible double play ball to first baseman Willie Upshaw. Upshaw spun and fired to second, but the return throw wasn’t in time to retire the speedy Edwards. Ted Simmons scored, and Jim Gantner followed with an RBI single to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead.
Possibly the biggest play happened in the fifth inning. Damaso Garcia led off the inning with a single to right and Rance Mulliniks followed with a walk. Vuckovich then spun and fired to Robin Yount, covering second, in an attempt to pick off Garcia. The throw was just late. But they tried again, and this time Garcia was out. It changed the inning, and the Blue Jays were unable to score.
“That was the big play of the ball game,” said manager Harvey Kuenn. “It was a case of perfect execution. Robin saw daylight, made his move to second, Vuke made a perfect throw.”
While the win was a big one and made it three in a row against the Blue Jays, the Brewers also received bad news about their star closer. Rollie Fingers flew home to San Diego to have his right elbow examined and isn’t expected back this series. Fingers, stuck on 299 career saves, is having trouble with his pitching elbow.
“He felt some stiffness in his elbow last night after the game,” said Kuenn. “It had been a little tender but he said he could pitch last night. He said he wanted to see his doctor out there. He’ll be back tomorrow. He said he’ll be all right after a few days’ rest.”
Let’s hope it’s nothing serious. This team can’t afford to lose a player of Fingers’ caliber.
The Red Sox beat the Orioles 5-2, so the Brewers maintain a 5 1/2 game lead in the AL East.
Molitor Homer Caps Dramatic Win
Brewers 7, Indians 6
Brewers now 63-45 (1st by 2.5 games)
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CLEVELAND — That. Was. AWESOME!
Heading into the ninth inning, the scoreboard in Cleveland updated to show the Boston Red Sox leading the Chicago White Sox. With the Brewers trailing 6-5 and holding a 2 1/2 game lead over Boston in the AL East, the lead seemed to be trickling away.
With two down and the bases empty, there appeared to be little hope. But then Jim Gantner hit a ground ball through the right side for a hit. And then Paul Molitor came to the plate.
Len Barker, Cleveland’s starter, tossed in a 3-1 fastball. Molitor launched a high fly ball to left center field. Outfielder Rick Manning raced to the track and leapt for the ball, but it barely escaped his grasp for a two-run home run to give the Brewers the lead.
“He looked like he had lost some velocity,” Molitor explained, regarding Barker’s ninth inning performance. “I know I was tired and I didn’t throw 140 pitches.
Everyone was tired, you see, because of the extreme humidity on this hot Cleveland afternoon. As Molitor rounded the bases, Gorman Thomas then led the charge out of the dugout to mob Molitor at the plate.
“It’s all part of the thrill,” Thomas said after the game, sipping a mug of beer. “I was as happy as a pig in a brand new, well watered sty.”
Of course, that celebration, combined with likely dehydration, resulted in back spasms for Gorman, and Marshall Edwards replaced him in centerfield for the bottom of the ninth.
Rollie Fingers pitched a perfect ninth and the Brewers held on for the stunning victory.
It’s one of those games that separates champions from good teams. Pete Vuckovich didn’t have his best stuff, but the offense did enough to stay in the game.
Gorman Thomas, before injuring his back, was more than just a cheerleader. He hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Brewers a 3-1 lead. Then, with the game tied at three with one out in the sixth and the bases loaded, Roy Howell hit a possible double play ball to shortstop Mike Fischlin, who attempted to step on the bag and turn two. Instead, Gorman Thomas bared down on him from first and upended the shortstop while the ball went flying. Two runs scored as a result.
Had that play not happened, the double play may have been turned and no runs scored. No runs, no dramatic victory in the ninth.
“It just proves what I’ve been saying all along,” manager Harvey Kuenn said later. “This team never quits, even with two outs in the ninth they are battling.”
They don’t quit. They just win.
Game Notes: Outfielder Ben Oglivie has struggled mightily since the All-Star break, hitting .178 (16-for-90) and with only seven hits in his last 56 at bats.