Brewers 1982

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

Rance Mulliniks

The Doctor is Out, Brewers Lose

Blue Jays 3, Brewers 2
Brewers now 68-48 (1st by 4.5 games)
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1982 Donruss Doc Medich
Doc Medich made his unimpressive Brewers debut.

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers couldn’t wait to get rid of Randy Lerch. He was removed from the rotation after a start on July 30. He made his last relief appearance on August 2nd. After a pretty decent spot start as part of a double header on August 12th, Lerch was sold to the Montreal Expos. Today, Doc Medich made his debut as Lerch’s replacement.

The verdict? Not impressive. He allowed only two runs through 5 1/3 innings, but the Blue Jays had six hits and walked six times. As a veteran arm, Medich is supposed to stabilize the bullpen. So far, not so good.

The play of the game was in the Brewers’ half of the sixth inning. After Ned Yost led off with a single, Paul Molitor came to the plate. He squared to bunt, pulled the bat back and slapped it down the third base line. Rance Mulliniks made a nice play to stab the ball and throw to second for the force. Damaso Garcia turned and fired to first. First base umpire Larry Barnett called him out. Manager Harvey Kuenn busted out of the dugout to argue the clear mistake, but to no avail. There were two outs and no one on.

Robin Yount then launched his 20th home run of the season over the left field wall. It was a solo shot to tie the game at two instead of giving the Brewers a 3-2 lead.

Jim Slaton, who relieved Medich in the top of the sixth, was terrific. For the first 2 2/3 innings of relief, Slaton didn’t allow a baserunner. Then, with Rollie Fingers unavailable with a sore pitching elbow, Slaton walked Alfredo Griffin to lead off the ninth. After a sacrifice bunt and a flyout, Ernie Whitt hit an RBI single with two outs for the eventual game winning run.

After winning the first three games of a five game series with the Blue Jays, the Brewers blew the final two. Suddenly, there are questions. Is Doc Medich the answer? Though Fingers’ injury is not thought to be serious, can this team win without him?

“At this point, we’ll stay with what we have,” Kuenn said in regards to the starting rotation. “You never can tell. Maybe we’ll make another deal.”

Only players with the team before August 31st are eligible for the postseason, so if a deal is going to be made it needs to be made soon. After seeing Medich today, one needs to be made soon.

The good news is that Fingers received a cortisone shot and is expected to be back for the Oakland series, which starts on August 17 following a day off.

Game Notes: The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles to pull back to within 4 1/2 games of the Brewers in the AL East. … Damaso Garcia was picked off for the third time in the series. … In the sixth inning, Cecil Cooper recorded a single, his 1,000th hit as a member of the Brewers. … Prior to the game, Jerry Miodzik of Port Edwards was named the winner of the Rollie Fingers Look-Alike Handlebar Mustache Contest. Fingers picked the winner from 11 finalists, and there were more than 600 entries from across the state. … Gorman Thomas hit his 32nd home run of the season.

Vuke Gets Wild Win

Brewers 3, Blue Jays 1
Brewers now 68-46 (1st by 5.5 games)
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Pete Vuckovich
Vuke was wild, but it was all part of his master plan.

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.