Brewers 1982

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

Rollie Fingers

Molitor Homer Caps Dramatic Win

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Brewers 7, Indians 6
Brewers now 63-45 (1st by 2.5 games)
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Paul Molitor
Paul Molitor was the hero with a two out, two-run home run in the ninth.

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.

Brewers Overcome Whitson, Chaos to Win in 10

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Brewers 5, Indians 2 (10)
Brewers now 62-44 (1st by 2.5 games)
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1982 Topps Cecil Cooper
Cecil Cooper tied the game in the eighth and won it in the 10th.

CLEVELAND — For seven innings, Cleveland starter Ed Whitson dominated the Milwaukee Brewers. Then the real game started.

The Brewers didn’t collect their first hit until Paul Molitor singled to lead off the sixth. They didn’t get their second until Molitor singled in the eighth. And then…

Cecil Cooper had seen three pitches in three fruitless at bats until that point. But then Whitson made a mistake.

“It was a fastball down the middle,” Whitson explained. “His eyes lit up like silver dollars and I knew it was gone the minute I threw it.”

Cooper unloaded Whitson’s meatball over the right centerfield fence for his 23rd home run of the season. Suddenly, after struggling to even get a hit for seven innings, the Brewers and Indians were tied at two.

Moose Haas kept the Brewers in the game throughout, allowing only two runs on 10 hits and two walks through nine innings. He may have come out for the tenth except that Mike Hargrove lined a shot off of Haas’ hand to end the ninth.

Both teams passed up opportunities to win the game, but the Brewers would finally capitalize in the 10th (though it would come after poor execution). Molitor again singled to lead off the inning and moved to second on an error by Miguel Dilone. Robin Yount then dropped a hard bunt back to the mound and Molitor was caught in between second and third. Luckily, he stayed in a run-down long enough to get Yount to second.

Then the drama…

Cecil Cooper again came through, this time with a one hop single to right. Yount flew around third and appeared to beat a strong throw from outfielder Von Hayes. The throw was to the left shoulder of catcher Ron Hassey, who made a swipe tag of Yount as he slid across the plate.

Umpire Drew Coble pointed down, and Yount assumed he was being called out. Robin jumped to his feet and appeared to grab Coble by the shoulders. Ted Simmons, who had raced over from the on deck circle, then began screaming at Coble. Manager Harvey Kuenn rushed out of the dugout and third base coach Harry Werner rumbled toward the plate.

Coble then waved both arms and made the call he was attempting the entire time: SAFE. He had simply pointed to where Yount had touched the plate.

“I don’t know what I did but there was no way in the world I was out,” Yount explained. “I snapped a bit. When I realized he had called me safe, I said ‘ok’ and walked away as fast as I could because I thought I was in trouble.”

Kuenn had a similar account. “To tell the truth I have no idea what I was saying to Coble out there. [Gorman] Thomas grabbed me by the shoulders, shook me and yelled, ‘He called him SAFE!’ in my face, and I said, ‘See ya later.'”

Moments later, Ted Simmons hit his 18th home run of the season to give the Brewers a 5-2 lead that they would not give up. Rollie Fingers pitched the 10th for his 25th save.

The Brewers’ lead in the AL East increased to a season-high 2.5 games after the Boston Red Sox fell to the Chicago White Sox 6-3.

Harvey’s Wallbangers Return in 7-4 Win

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Brewers 7, Blue Jays 4
Brewers now 60-44 (1st by 1 game)
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Rollie Fingers
Rollie Fingers shut the door with three nearly perfect innings.

TORONTO — The Brewers have scuffled of late, winning only six of their last 15 games coming into today. They needed an old fashioned “Harvey’s Wallbangers” revival. They got it.

Milwaukee got off to a quick start in the first inning as Robin Yount singled home Paul Molitor and Cecil Cooper homered off the right field foul pole for his 21st of the season to make it 3-0.

“I finally hit a ball hard,” Cooper, who had the top part of his right shoe cut off to relieve pressure on his ailing big right toe, said after the game. Coop isn’t the only one who has struggled with the bat of late.

This is a team, not too long ago, that was ahead of the record-setting pace of the 1961 New York Yankees for most home runs in a season. Entering today’s game, though, the Brewers had smacked only two long balls during the previous seven games. That changed today.

Following a 61-minute rain delay in the bottom of the first inning, Pete Vuckovich kept the Blue Jays scoreless for the first three innings. In the bottom of the third, catcher Ted Simmons launched his 16th home run of the season to make it 4-0 Brewers. Then Jim Gantner and Paul Molitor hit back to back RBI singles in the fourth to knock Jim Clancy from the game and make it a 6-0 Brewers lead.

Things got a little sticky for Vuke in the bottom of the fourth when the Blue Jays reached on five consecutive singles to make it a 6-3 game. Vuke survived, though, and was solid the rest of the way.

Paul Molitor capped the Brewers’ scoring in the top of the 7th with a solo home run to make it 7-3, and Blue Jay Ernie Whitt added one more Toronto run with a solo homer of his own in the bottom of the inning.

If it seems like Whitt has given Vuckovich trouble this season, you’re right. In 138 1/3 innings this season, Vuke has allowed only four home runs, but two of them were to Whitt. “He’s like Babe Ruth against me,” Vuckovich laughed.

Vuke was able to laugh because the Brewers held on for a full-team win. Closer Rollie Fingers took the mound in the 7th and pitched three scoreless innings, allowing only a bunt single, to collect his 24th save of the season, requiring only 29 pitches to do it.

Now that the Brewers are once again combining home run power with solid pitching, are Harvey’s Wallbangers back? “I hope it stays this way for the next month,” Kuenn said. “It kind of reminded me of June and July [when everything went right].”

The Red Sox split a double header with the Orioles, giving the Brewers a one game lead in the AL East.

Game Notes: Vuckovich had to be removed after the sixth inning because he was fatigued due to an 11-inning start against the Indians last time out.

Indians Throw Away Game to Brewers

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Brewers 4, Indians 2
Brewers now 58-42 (1st by .5 game over Boston)
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Mike Caldwell
Mike Caldwell recovered from a rough first inning to dominate the Indians.

MILWAUKEE — This was one of those games that the Brewers didn’t deserve to win. But if you want to get technical, the Cleveland Indians deserved to win it even less.

It was both American Legion Day and Wisconsin Tavern League Day, and in the bottom of the first inning the Indians would play defense like a bunch of drunk teenagers. But we’ll get to that.

With one down in the top of the first, Toby Harrah and Mike Hargrove hit back-to-back home runs off of Brewers starter Mike Caldwell to give the Indians an early 2-0 lead. The Indians had already hit six home runs off of the Brewers in two-plus games while “Harvey’s Wallbangers” had yet to hit one. It didn’t look good.

But then one of the most ridiculous half innings in recent memory happened. After Gorman Thomas singled in Paul Molitor to make it a 2-1 game, Ben Oglivie hit a liner right at second baseman Larry Milbourne with Robin Yount at third and Thomas at first. Thomas ventured a little too far off of first, and Milbourne fired over in an attempt to turn the inning ending double play. Instead…

What happened next could easily be written in the longest run-on sentence in the history of the English language. But instead, I’ll break it down as succinctly as possible:

1) Milbourne’s throw sailed wide and off of Hargrove’s glove at first.
2) Hargrove and Thomas collided and fell to the ground.
3) Yount took off for home plate.
4) Hargrove de-tangled himself from Gorman Thomas, picked up the ball and fired it home. That ball sailed over a divin Robin Yount and catcher Chris Bando‘s glove.
5) Thomas took off for second, and when the Indians were slow to track down the errant throw, he headed for third.
6) Bando found the ball, fired towards third base and into left field.
7) Gorman Thomas scored.

Three errors on one play that led to two runs. It was a play you’ll typically only see in youth league baseball.

While it was a lead the Brewers would not relinquish, the win could ultimately be attributed to their pitching. The only additional run scored in this game was on a Gorman Thomas double play ball in the third. After a shaky first inning in which he allowed two runs on three hits, Mike Caldwell settled down to dominate the Indians through the eighth. He’d shut out Cleveland for the next seven innings, allowing only two hits. Then Rollie Fingers took the mound to throw a perfect ninth for his 23rd save.

The win moved the Brewers back into first place, a half game ahead of the Boston Red Sox, who fell 7-5 to the White Sox.