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All-Century Roster: Brewers
By Gary Brooks
SportsLine Baseball Editor
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From 1978 through 1983, the small-town Milwaukee Brewers shook off the
seven previous 90-plus loss seasons beginning in 1969 as the expansion
Seattle Pilots and became a contender in the American League.
 | | | Robin Yount won the MVP at two different positions.(Allsport) | |
Milwaukee made impact trades to complement its growing young stars in Robin
Yount and Paul Molitor and won at least 86 games in each full season and 62
for a playoff spot in the strike-shortened 1981. The Brewers had a core of
sluggers and outstanding hitters as good as any in the league over the
six-year period. Cecil Cooper, Ben Oglivie and Gorman Thomas joined Yount,
Molitor and Don Money to create a formidable lineup that was backed up by
Cy Young pitching from Pete Vuckovich and reliever Rollie Fingers.
The Brewers were an attractive group that won 93 games in 1978, 95 in 1979
and 95 in 1982 when they finally broke through to reach the World Series.
It was the best of times. But after losing the Series in 1982 in seven
games to St. Louis, Milwaukee's offense began to fade and the pitching
struggled to duplicate the performance of Vuckovich and Fingers over the
short period of time.
In 1987 and '88 with Teddy Higuera providing a credible ace, the Brewers
were again in contention for division crowns but fell short. Since then,
the team has had all sorts of trouble and very little pitching. Ninety-two
wins in 1992 were promising but set up expectations that were never
reached as the team won 80 games just once in the final seven seasons of
the century.
Lineup
| B.J. Surhoff, C, 1987-95 |
| Surhoff began his Brewers career as a solid-hitting, good defensive catcher
with some speed before becoming a much better hitter who played six different
positions in the 1995 season when he was named the team's MVP after leading
the Brewers in hitting (.320) and RBI (73). He's on the Brewers' career top
10 lists for hits, RBI, runs, doubles and steals. |
| Cecil Cooper, 1B, 1977-87 |
| After being acquired from the Red Sox for slugger George Scott, Cooper hit
over .300 seven consecutive seasons in Milwaukee. His 126 RBI in 1983 and 219
hits in 1980 are the Brewers' records. His .352 average in 1980 is second
best. On the team's career lists, Cooper is generally found right behind
Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. He was a five-time All-Star and won two Gold
Gloves. |
| Paul Molitor, 2B, 1978-92 |
| Molitor was a significant contributor to the Brewers' greatest teams and
became a fan favorite in Milwaukee for his hustling style. He was selected
the team's player of the year in 1991 and '92. He is the career leader in
steals (412) and batting average (.303) and is second to Yount in hits
(2,281), runs (1,275) and doubles (405). Molitor, a five-time All-Star in
Milwaukee, didn't earn much national recognition though until 1987 when his
.353 batting average was highlighted by a 39-game hitting streak. In
1982, he scored a club record 136 runs. If not for his fragility, especially
troublesome hamstrings, Molitor might have made an even greater impact. |
| Robin Yount, SS, 1974-93 |
| Yount became the first Hall of Famer identified as a Brewer when he
was inducted in the summer of 1999. He was a 20-year Brewer who won the 1982
AL MVP as a shortstop and the '89 MVP as a center fielder, just the third
player to win at different positions. He debuted as an 18-year-old motocross-
loving Californian and became one of the most steady performers of his era.
He had 3,142 hits and in 17 postseason games, including the Brewers 1982
World Series run, Yount hit .344. Only Ty Cobb and Henry Aaron reached 3,000
hits at a younger age (36). For all his success, it's
surprising that he was only selected to three All-Star teams. |
| Don Money, 3B, 1973-83 |
| Money was a three-time All-Star and two-time Brewers player of the year who
had an excellent glove but never really settled into one position for too
long. In 1973 and '74 he led the AL in fielding percentage at third base. His
1,168 hits are fifth most in team history. He added 134 home runs and 529
RBI, both in the team's top 10. |
| Ben Oglivie, OF, 1978-86 |
| After seven seasons of trying to earn a regular spot in Boston and Detroit,
Oglivie developed into a power hitter in Milwaukee. He joins Gorman Thomas as
the only Brewers to hit 40 homers in a season (41 in 1980 when he drove in a
career-high 118). He was an All-Star in 1980, '82 and '83. His 685 RBI are
fourth best in Milwaukee history, his 1,144 hits sixth best. |
| Gorman Thomas, OF, 1973-76, '78-83, '86 |
| Thomas, with full beard and 210-pound frame, didn't look the part of a center
fielder able to run down balls in the gaps but for the first ten years of his
career he did. Before a shoulder injury effected his throwing and made him
more of a DH, Thomas was a fine outfielder who had terrific power and struck
out a lot. He led the AL in homers with a Brewers record 45 in 1979 and with
39 in 1982. Three times he drove in more than 100 runs and four times as a
Brewer he struck out more than 130 times. His 208 homers are second in
franchise history. |
| Jeromy Burnitz, OF, 1996-99 |
| In an injury-shortened season of just 131 games, Burnitz became just the
third Brewer to drive in 100 runs in back-to-back seasons in 1999 with 103.
In 1998 he had one of the best power seasons in Brewers history, driving in
125 and hitting 38 home runs. He hit 98 home runs with 313 RBI from 1996-99.
Only Thomas has had a more productive three-year stretch in team
history with 314 RBI and 105 homers. |
Pitchers
| Teddy Higuera, SP, 1985-94 |
| The Mexican lefty is the only Brewer to win 16 or more games three times
and holds the top three strikeout seasons in team history. He went 15-8 as
a rookie and won 20 games the next season, 1986. No Brewer pitcher since
has won 20. Higuera was an All-Star in 1986, the last Brewers starter to
appear in the game. He finished his career 94-64, the second-best winning
percentage (.595) in team history. |
| Mike Caldwell, SP, 1977-84 |
| After bouncing through the Padres, Giants, and Reds organizations, Caldwell
made a big impact in his first full season in Milwaukee in 1978. He went 22-9
with a 2.37 ERA that benefited from shutting out the defending and would-be
World Series winning Yankees three times. His 22 wins remain the team record,
as do his 23 complete games and six shutouts of 1978. He went 16-6 in 1979
leading the AL in winning percentage and had 17 wins in 1982. In the 1982
World Series, Caldwell won two games. His 102 career wins are second most in
Brewers history. |
| Pete Vuckovich, SP, 1981-86 |
| Before he starred in Major League with Charlie Sheen, Vuckovich was
a bit of an intimidating pitcher on the true major-league scale. He won 18 games in
1982, tied for second in the AL, and was awarded the Cy Young over Jim
Palmer. Vuckovich went 14-4 in 1988 and his .606 winning percentage (60-26)
is the best in team history. |
| Chris Bosio, SP, 1986-92 |
| Bosio ascended to ace of the Brewers in 1989 when he went 15-10 with a 2.95
ERA which was sixth in the AL. He slumped to 4-9 in 1990 amid injuries but
rebounded to go 30-16 over 1991-92. His 67 wins are sixth most in team
history, as are his eight shutouts. |
| Moose Haas, SP, 1976-85 |
| Haas didn't have a spectacular career and had as many rough spots along with
the good ones but in the end he was a winner, going 91-79 for the fourth-most
wins and seventh-best winning percentage in club history. He won 16 games
with a 3.11 ERA in 1980 and his 13-3 season in 1983 was his best. In 1978, he
struck out 14 Yankees to set the team record. |
| Rollie Fingers, RP, 1981-85 |
| Fingers spent the final four seasons of his 17-year Hall of Fame career in
Milwaukee. In his first season, the strike-shortened 1981, Fingers went 6-3
with a league-best 28 saves and a masterful 1.04 ERA. He figured in 55
percent of the team's wins as they reached the postseason for the first
time. He was an All-Star a second time in 1982 when he saved 29 games and
in 1984, after skipping 1983 with arm problems, he saved 23
games with a 1.96 ERA. |
| Bench |
| George Scott, Sixto Lexcano, Dave Nilsson, Kevin Seitzer, Darrell
Porter, Jim Gantner, Tommy Harper, Ted Simmons, Dave Parker, Gary Sheffield,
Sal Bando, Rob Deer, Larry Hisle, Jeff Cirillo, Fernando Vina, Mark Loretta |
| Best season |
| The 1982 season didn't go as expected over the first two
months as the team favored to win the AL East was just 23-24. Manager Buck
Rodgers was replaced by Harvey Kuenn and "Harvey's Wallbangers" went on to
dominate the division the rest of the way going 72-43 to win the division
by a game. Don Sutton, having been acquired in August, won the season
finale against Baltimore to win the division title. In the ALCS,
Milwaukee fell behind the California Angels 0-2 but became the first team
ever to erase the deficit and win the series. The Brewers lost the "Suds
Series" when St. Louis won Game 7, 6-3. With Pete Vuckovich and Robin Yount
winning the Cy and MVP, as Rollie Fingers had done the season before, the
Brewers became the only team to sweep the awards in consecutive seasons. |
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| Worst season |
| The expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969 were doomed to failure
almost from the start. Their stadium wasn't finished when the season
started and the collection of players wasn't going make much of an impact.
As it was, the Pilots' major-league tenure was the shortest ever. After
going 64-98 and struggling financially, Bud Selig bought the team and moved
it to Milwaukee. |
| Best individual season, player |
| Robin Yount hit his prime in the Brewers'
greatest year, leading the team to the AL pennant in 1982 and winning the
first MVP award by a Brewer. He hit .331 with 29 homers and 114 RBI. He led
the American League with 46 doubles, 367 total bases, 210 hits and a .578
slugging percentage. He hit .414 in the World Series. |
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| Best individual season, pitcher |
| Rollie Fingers had been acquired from the
Padres in 1981, having already had a strong career, gaining fame as a key
figure in the Oakland Athletics' run of championships from 1972-74. The
Brewers figured a 34-year-old durable closer was what they needed to be a
playoff team and Fingers didn't disappoint. The Brewers made the playoffs
in the messed-up, strike-shortened season and Fingers won the Cy Young and
MVP awards, one of just nine to win both in the same season. |
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