Ted Simmons

NED YOST! No, really. NED YOST!

September 29

Brewers 6, Red Sox 3
Brewers now 94-63 (1st by 4.0 games)
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1982 Topps Ned Yost — It was one at bat, but Ned Yost had the game of his life.

BOSTON — With two down in the top of the ninth in a 3-3 game and Paul Molitor on second, Cecil Cooper at the plate, and Ned Yost on deck, Red Sox manager Ralph Houk made the reasonable move: He had Mark Clear intentionally walk Cooper to face Yost.

Sigh. Like many Brewers fans, Uecker’s announcement of the intentional walk for the far-from-fearsome Yost nearly drove me back to the kitchen to grab another drink. The inning was over.

You see, typically Ted Simmons would be up in this spot. In that case, Houk would have been less willing to put a second runner on base in a tie game and an extra-base threat at the plate. But Marshall Edwards pinch ran for Simmons when Coach Kuenn went for the win in the eighth, so Yost was then needed to finish the game behind the plate.

Yost hadn’t seen action at the dish since September 11, more than two weeks ago. The back-up catcher, known for his defensive abilities, had nine extra base hits and five RBI on the season. Sure, it’s been Yost’s best offensive season yet in his three-year career, but without a home run he was not seen as a threat to bring home the go-ahead run.

Yost lofted a fly ball to left field that, in any other park, may have been a fly out to end the threat.

“GET UP!”

Could it be high enough?

“Get outta here!”

Could it be deep enough?

“GONE FOR YOST!”

Ned Yost! Oh my GOD, NED YOST! Though it came in a tie game, this may have been the least probable ending of a game all season.

NED YOST!

“(Sal) Bando had told me to be ready when Robin was up, that I was going to win the game for us,” Yost explained. “I was running around like a crazy man because I didn’t bring any bats. I figured we were in a pennant race and that Teddy would do all the catching. I was in my full catcher gear when I ran down to the clubhouse to find a bat. I didn’t find any there so I came running back to the dugout. After a while, I just pulled anything that I could find on the rack.”

That “anything” hit the game winning home run. That “anything” was Charlie Moore‘s bat.

“Hell, he can have it,” Moore said. “At least someone got some use out of it.”

“I can’t explain how it felt out there,” Yost said to a crowd of reporters. “I can’t even say that it happened. It’s like a fairy tale, the kind of moment you spend your whole life dreaming about. I was so overjoyed I wanted to jump up and down, but I figured that wouldn’t be right.”

Oh, we did the jumping up and down for you, Ned. And it felt just fine.

Boston has given the Brewers and their fans their swagger back. With the lead in the AL East trickling away, nothing seemed to go right. Then the 6-3 win with Doc Medich on the mound in Game 1. Then Ned Yost.

Don Sutton on the mound, this was a game the Brewers expected to win. Sutton, though, wasn’t sharp early and put the Brewers in a 2-0 hole in the first inning when Jim Rice hit a two-run homer.

Like they so often do, however, the Brewers battled right back. Don Money smacked a solo shot in the top of the second, and Sutton got himself out of a second inning jam before settling down in the third. From then on, he was untouchable, allowing only one hit until Gary Allenson‘s lead-off homer in the seventh.

But after seven innings and Bob McClure on the mound, the game was all tied up at three. Sutton out of the game, advantage swung to the home team.

It seemed that the Brewers gaffed on failing to cash in on a golden opportunity in the eighth. With one down, Simmons singled to left and the speedy Marshall Edwards trotted in to replace him. After a Gorman Thomas walk and Ben Oglivie strikeout, Don Money walked to load the bases. Charlie Moore, however, popped to first to end the inning.

Bob McClure kept the Brewers in the game, retiring the side in order in the eighth. Thus, the stage was set for Yost and the Brewers in the ninth.

Two down and two on, Ned Yost at the plate. Such an improbable ending. But Yost’s homer adds yet another chapter to this storybook season of a team destined for the playoffs.

And considering what happened in Detroit, that is looking even more possible. The Tigers beat the Orioles 3-2, extending the Brewers’ lead to four games with five to play. The magic number is now two.

Oglivie’s Clutch Homer Gives Brewers Life

September 20

Brewers 4, Red Sox 3 (11)
Brewers now 90-60 (1st by 2.0 games)
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1982 Fleer Ben Oglivie — Ben Oglivie's last gasp home run in the ninth gave the Brewers life.

MILWAUKEE — For 8 2/3 innings and 83 pitches, Dennis Eckersley dominated the Milwaukee Brewers. But then, with a 3-2 lead and an 0-2 count…

“With two strikes I had to swing at anything close,” Ben Oglivie said of his ninth inning at bat. “I was looking for hard stuff. He got me out the other three times up that way.”

Oglivie guessed right. Eckersley dealt him a high fastball that Benji smacked into the right field bleachers to tie the game at three.

“This would have to be one of my biggest moments as far as the team… It has to be one of the greatest moments for me.”

Of course, had the Brewers lost in extra innings, Oglivie’s heroics would have been simply a footnote.

Robin Yount started the 11th by beating out an infield single. Cecil Cooper then singled to right to put runners at first and second with no outs. Third base coach Harry Warner then gave Ted Simmons the bunt sign. It would be Simmons’ first sacrifice bunt of the season.

“It was a hell of a bunt,” Warner said. “Boggs was playing behind Coop at first. The whole team thought he was going to hit.”

After Simmons’ surprise sacrifice bunt, the Red Sox intentionally walked Ben Oglivie to load the bases and set up a double play opportunity with Gorman Thomas at the plate.

“He’s got the best sinker in the league,” Thomas said of Red Sox reliever Bob Stanley. “Last thing I wanted to do was hit it on the ground.”

Thomas was able to hit a fly ball to left to score Yount with the winning run.

It was a classic Pete Vuckovich game. He regularly got himself into and out of trouble. The Red Sox stranded nine runners, but were 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position and grounded into an astounding five double plays. Vuckovich pitched all 11 innings for his 18th win in 22 decisions.

“Anytime you win one it’s a big one,” Thomas said. “But because there are only so many left (12 games), they seem so much bigger.”

Every win does seem big right now, particularly with Baltimore winning seemingly every night. They won yet again, taking the Tigers 3-1 to remain two games back of the Crew.

Game Notes: Charlie Moore extended his hitting streak to 12 games and Cecil Cooper to 14 games. … Paul Molitor, who hit .429 with three homers, two triples, nine RBI, 25 total bases and 11 runs scored, was named AL Player of the Week.

Brewers Complete Impressive Sweep of Yanks

September 19

Brewers 14, Yankees 1
Brewers now 89-60 (1st by 2.0 games)
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Gorman Thomas led the offensive assault with two doubles and his league leading 37th homer.

MILWAUKEE — Remember those four games in New York last week where the Brewers sustained three of their toughest losses of the season? Yeah, that’s kinda history.

Thanks to a nine-run eighth, the Brewers roasted the Yankees again to complete a three-game sweep in which they outscored humbled New Yorkers 34-5.

“This just shows we aren’t nervous,” said Gorman Thomas, who connected on two doubles and his league-leading 37th homer to lead the Brewers’ attack. “I know certain people have been saying that we’re feelin’ the pressure, that the noose is around our neck. This just shows we’re not feelin’ it. We know that pressure is put on yourself. There is no pressure at the top.”

It was merely a 5-1 Brewers lead until the eighth inning. The Brewers connected on seven consecutive hits (including four doubles and a home run) and eight consecutive baserunners before the first out was recorded by the third Yankees pitcher of the inning. Then, just as it seemed the Brewers would finally put the Yankees out of their misery, Gorman hit his two run homer.

The offense this season has been bordering on historic. The Brewers have a shot at becoming the first team since the 1936 Yankees to have five players drive in at least 100 runs. Cecil Cooper (114), Gorman Thomas (107) and Robin Yount (101) are already there, while Ben Oglivie (95) is certain to join them. Ted Simmons (86) is the only question mark.

Just as amazing, the top three in hits in the American League are all Brewers: Yount (194), Cooper (188) and Paul Molitor (183).

“It’s like trying to fight an octopus,” said Brewers starter Don Sutton, who missed the offensive barrage while he was icing his arm after coming out of the game. “You may be able to stop two, three or even four of the guys, but you know they’re never going to be able to stop them all. They just wrap those arms around you and you can’t shake loose from those tentacles.”

The Brewers may see the second place Orioles with the same level of frustration. Baltimore won again to remain two games back. The Brewers just can’t shake loose.

But now, of course, it gets interesting. Both teams have 13 games remaining, with seven games against each other. The Brewers next host Boston for three games before the Orioles come to town for three. Then it’s a brutal stretch to finish the season in which the Brewers play three in Boston and four in Baltimore.

This thing is far from over. It’s times like these that the Brewers need their closer, Rollie Fingers. He threw on the side again today, but without success.

“It was the same old thing,” Fingers said. “I stopped after 20 throws when the stiffness came. And the only good thing was I threw a little harder this time than [on September 17]. I had a little more velocity.”

Fingers will throw again in a couple of days. Doctors have said he’ll miss a minimum of six more games.

“It feels a little better every day but it’s slow,” Fingers said. “I am hoping to be ready by [September 24 or 25] for Baltimore. That gives me another six days.”

The team is 10-7 without Fingers in the bullpen, but the biggest test is yet to come.

Sutton Shines in Shutout

September 7

Brewers 4, Tigers 0
Brewers now 82-56 (1st by 3.0 games)
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1982 Topps Don Sutton — Don Sutton was awesome!

MILWAUKEE — This is why the Brewers gave up three prospects for Don Sutton.

Sutton was absolutely brilliant. Locked in a pitcher’s duel with Dan Petry, Sutton didn’t blink. Petry finally did.

The Brewers were held scoreless by Petry through seven innings on only three hits. Meanwhile, Sutton had blanked the Tigers as well on six hits. In two starts with his new team, the Brewers had provided two runs of support.

“I had been reading the box scores all summer,” said Sutton. “I knew what these guys could do. They just wanted to break me in, not have me take it for granted.”

In the eighth inning, the Brewers offense figured the initiation of Sutton was complete. Ed Romero, Paul Molitor and Robin Yount hit consecutive one-out singles, with Yount’s hit scoring Romero. Then Cecil Cooper hit a three-run blast to right to cap it off.

Sutton’s final line was exactly what the Brewers had paid for, and then some: Nine innings, no runs, seven hits, no walks, nine strikeouts. And, most importantly, the win.

The shutout was Sutton’s 56th of his career, tying him with Bob Gibson for ninth all-time. Brewers catcher Ted Simmons caught a few of those from Gibson as well.

“I just followed Simmons all night long,” Sutton said. “I think I changed two pitches from curveballs to sliders. But I followed him all night long.”

Sutton had the Tigers pounding grounders all night long. The outfielders had to be bored, accounting for only five of the 27 outs. Only three Tigers reached as far as second base, and only once were there two runners on base at a time.

“I’d say he was worth the investment,” manager Harvey Kuenn confirmed.

There is no doubt after this game. Brewers fans aren’t even phased by the fact that Frank DiPino, among the prospects dealt to Houston, made his sparkling debut tonight, striking out 10 and walking none in five innings.

If Brewers fans have anything to worry about, it’s closer Rollie Fingers, who has been forbidden from even picking up a ball. The slight tear in his forearm will be examined tomorrow.

Teammates Pick Vuke Up in Win

September 4

Brewers 8, Angels 2
Brewers now 80-55 (1st by 4.0 games)
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MILWAUKEE — It appeared that Pete Vuckovich didn’t have it today. It appeared he’d be taking a quick shower. Then his teammates picked him up.

In the first, Vuke needed all the help he could get. Bobby Grich led off with a drive to deep left. Marshall Edwards raced it down and made a brilliant catch, crashing into the wall.

Rod Carew then singled to left. Brian Downing hit a liner into center, but Gorman Thomas made a nice running catch. Vuke walked Reggie Jackson. He walked Doug DeCinces. Then he uncorked a wild pitch that allowed the first run of the game to score.

But with two down and runners at second and third, Gorman Thomas was going to help his buddy get out of it. Don Baylor laced a sinking liner to center. Gorman charged and laid out at full extension, making the catch.

Vuckovich allowed one run that inning, but without the help from his friends it could have been much, much worse. It’s likely he wouldn’t have gotten out of that inning at all.

He wasn’t sharp on this day, but Vuke would get himself out of jams from that point forward. Runners were stranded at second and third in the fourth, and first and second in the sixth and seventh. He’d bend, but he would not break.

Meanwhile, his teammates put runs on the board. Jim Gantner, Ted Simmons, Gorman Thomas, Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, and even Rob Picciolo came through with RBI hits. Vuke held on and his teammates tacked on.

After Brian Downing flied to left for the final out of the game and Vuke picked up his career best 16th win, it was congratulatory handshakes and hugs all around. Vuke and Gorman embraced as they walked off the field.

“He said a few things to me,” Vuke joked. “I’m the worst, the usual.”

He eventually revealed that he simply told Gorman thanks for the defense.

“These guys have been bailing me out all year, especially Thomas. Our defense is underrated.”

The defense has gotten a bad rap all season, and some of it deserved. But as a team, no one is playing better right now.

They’re playing so well that the team received permission from the Commissioner’s Office to sell playoff and World Series tickets. Beginning September 8, fans can start mailing in their orders.

The Brewers would have home field advantage for the ALCS but not the World Series (if they get to either series, of course — don’t want to jinx it). The ALCS would begin on October 5 and 6 with games 3, 4 and (if necessary) 5 in Milwaukee on October 8, 9 and 10.

The World Series, if you want to think that far ahead, will start in a National League park on October 12 and 13. If we are so lucky, World Series baseball will come to Milwaukee on October 15, 16 and (if necessary) 17.

Want tickets? They’ll cost ya.

A box seat for the ALCS is $17 and $24 for the World Series. A strip of six tickets for each possible game is $123. Grandstand tickets are $12/$18/$90 and bleachers are $5/$8/$39.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to a witch doctor about reversing the possible curse I just created.

Sixth Inning of Hell Leads to Loss

September 3

Angels 5, Brewers 2
Brewers now 79-55 (1st by 3.5 games)
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Jim Gantner's miscue in the sixth helped the Angels score four runs.

MILWAUKEE — For the third consecutive game, the mighty Brewers offense managed to score only two runs. Yet the discussion following tonight’s loss focused elsewhere.

The talk was about the shaky and controversial sixth inning with the Angels batting and the Brewers leading 2-1. With Rod Carew on first and no outs, Doug DeCinces hit a grounder right at Jim Gantner for a sure double play. Or so it seemed.

“It should have been a double play,” Gantner admitted after the game. “I just got my hand in the way. It wasn’t a bad hop or anything, I just got my hand in too far and it hit the thumb on my bare hand.”

Gantner was able to get Carew at second, but DeCinces was safe at first.

Then, with the count full and the dangerous Reggie Jackson at the plate, Bob McClure threw a fastball that appeared to paint the outside corner for strike three. Instead, home plate umpire Rich Garcia called it ball four. McClure hopped up and down on the mound while catcher Ted Simmons looked back at Garcia in disbelief.

“Five or six guys came up to me after the game and said they were watching on TV and that it was right there,” McClure complained. “It was a crucial situation and he can’t miss those. I’m not blaming anybody but myself for getting into that situation, but he needs to be better than that.”

The call apparently affected McClure on the mound as Don Baylor then hit another sure double play ball, this time to the pitcher. McClure gloved it and threw to second, but the throw was high and Gantner was only able to get the force out.

With two down (and having had chances for five outs), Juan Beniquez tripled to left to score Carew and Baylor. Bobby Grich then launched a two-run homer for good measure, giving the Angels a 5-2 lead.

“Why is it when you make one stupid mistake, everything seems to fall apart?” Gantnter asked.

While all four of the runs were technically earned, the inning should have ended without a run scored. And had that been the case, the Brewers would have won.

But you can’t focus entirely on bad luck when the typically vaunted offense can’t score more than two runs. They score six or seven and this doesn’t matter.

What does matter is that the Brewers lost and both the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles won. Milwaukee’s lead in the AL East is now down to a much less comfortable 3 1/2 games.

Injury Notes: Rollie Fingers, who left the first game of yesterday’s double header with an injury, has a slight tear in his right forearm. He is expected to be out for at least a week. … Pitcher Moose Haas may miss a start after spraining his right wrist during warmups before the seventh inning yesterday. … Ben Oglivie will be out for at least 48 hours after taking a cortisone shot for bone bruises between his thumb and second fingers on both hands. The injury is caused by the pressure he puts on his hands when swinging.