Worst to First - The Sequel

[NYY #23]

A 12-13 month leaves us in fifth place and with a struggling offense, and pitching staff. Half was expected, but half was not. I'm hoping Matlock and Caldwell start picking things up soon.

This is a transition year in my mind, so I don't expect to make it to the playoffs, but I would like to improve on the 64 wins that we had last year.

[NYY #23]

After a 10-20 month there is no other way to describe our season but terrible. We've got 8 hitters and 2 pitchers that have a negative WAR. Unfortunately we don't have very many readily available replacement players.

So we'll make due with some minor promotions and demotions, take our lumps, and hopefully see some improvements in the second half.

We've got a lot of people available as the trading deadline approaches, it's just that it's likely nobody wants any of our players.

[NYY #23]

At this point I'm just counting down the days until the season is over, and hoping nobody has a career ending injury. An 11-17 month has us in bad shape.

Last place in the AL East, and the fifth worst record in baseball.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to complete any deals in July. I decided to hold our manager accountable though, and fired both him and our bench coach. We seem to be heading the wrong way.

Pitching coach Al Brazle was named the interim manager, and we'll start our search for replacements.

[NYY #23]

Changes at the top led to our most successful month of the season, as the Brew Crew went 17-11 for the month. With the success of interim manager Al Brazle we removed t he interim tag, and he'll finish out his contract as manager. This may be a coincidence, but we were able to convince legendary pitching coach Lou McClenaghan to join us in Milwaukee, along with bench coach Pee Wee Reese.

Under his new pitching coach Jon Matlock won the AL Pitcher of the Month after going 5-1 with a 1.06 ERA. The staff overall seems much more comfortable under their new pitching coach, so hopefully we'll be able to continue to build on our success.

[NYY #23]

The Brewers finished the year going 14-17 in the last month plus, giving us a 71-91 record for the year, improving by 7 games.

It wasn't pretty at times, and we still have a long way to go, but I feel we've got a good shot at being a .500 team next year.

Al Bumbry hit .375 with 2 home runs, 17 RBI, and 15 runs scored to win the Rookie of the Month in September. After hitting .336 for the year he's one of the favorites to win Rookie of the Year after winning the batting title as a rookie.

Milwaukee Brewers - 51-111 (.315) 48 GB
1971 - Milwaukee Brewers 64-98 (.395) 23 GB (Season Score - 3)
1972 - Milwaukee Brewers 71-91 (.438) 36 GB (Season Score - 1)

[NYY #23]

The Brewers selected 5th in the amateur draft, and were going into the draft without a scouting director. I wasn't aware that Ed Bradley's contract was expiring, and even though we wanted him back we weren't able to agree to a deal until after the draft.

So I was on my own for the draft. Our first round pick was third baseman George Brett. He'll be costly to sign, but I think he'll be worth the money. In the second round we selected right fielder Greg Gross. We rounded out the draft selecting:

CF - Dave Augustine
C - Bob Davis
MR - Jim Kremmel
C - Otis Thornton

This draft probably wasn't enough to put us over the edge, but we should be a winning team next year.

[NYY #23]

It was a frustrating start to 1973, as we lost Jerry Reuss for 5-6 months. We'll have to make due the entire season without one of our best pitchers.

Al Bumbry and George Brett are forming a nice middle of the line-up, but we still have some holes to fill on offense, and our rotation needs help as well. It's a long road to respectability for the Brewers.

[NYY #23]

Al Bumbry sets the all-time hit streak record after hitting safely in 42 games, raising his batting average to .397 for the year. I have to say I was hoping he'd help our offense, but I never dreamed he would be playing this well.

Combined with George Brett in our lineup, I'm starting to get some hope. We went 15-13 for the month to move about .500 for the year. We are still sitting in fifth place, but there are some positive signs in Milwaukee.

[NYY #23]

After a solid first couple of months the Brewers fell to 11-18 for June.

In the Brewers dugout a feud is developing between Al Bumbry, and reliever Marcelino Lopez. Lopez is sporting a 1.49 ERA, while Bumbry is hitting .383, which leads me to wonder why they have to keep attacking each other in the dugout.

Steve Luebber is really having a rough season with a 6.65 ERA and his record dropping to 0-11.

[NYY #23]

Another month in Milwaukee, another losing record. This time we went 13-16. It seems like I can't catch a break in Milwaukee.

Our negative budget is still causing problems, as we are still operating with a deficit of about $500,000. That makes trading difficult, and we're building the team the slow way, through the draft.

Greg Gross captured the Rookie of the Month after hitting .324 for the month with 23 runs scored.

[NYY #23]

Another losing month for the Brewers. We've got our work cut out for us if we expect to have a better record than last season. Once again we're on pace for a top 5 draft pick in the amateur draft.

We'll call up some reinforcements for roster expansion, but we don't have much down at the farm that will help us much. It's safe to say I'm not having too much fun in Milwaukee.

[NYY #23]

The good news was Al Bumbry's second consecutive batting title. The bad news was just about everything else as we took a small step back this year. Injuries definitely played a big part, but that shouldn't be an excuse.

I'm looking forward to the draft once again, hoping we'll be able to pick up an impact player. I'm also going to try and shake up the team in the offseason. I think at this point the only players sure to return next year are Greg Gross, George Brett, Al Bumbry, and Jon Matlock. Everyone else is going to be available in order to get under budget and improve the team.

Milwaukee Brewers - 51-111 (.315) 48 GB
1971 - Milwaukee Brewers 64-98 (.395) 23 GB (Season Score - 3)
1972 - Milwaukee Brewers 71-91 (.438) 36 GB (Season Score - 1)
1973 - Milwaukee Brewers 70-92 (.432) 24 GB (Season Score - 6)

[captaincarl]

Finally came back after a very long layoff and caught up with one of my favs. You are still doing a great job with this. At least you have steadied the Brew Crew with only a 1-game difference between '73 & '72. It can only go up from here.

Awfully tough to be working with a deficit budget. Hope you won't have to raise ticket prices. It might be tough to keep some of the loyal fans that way.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by captaincarl

Finally came back after a very long layoff and caught up with one of my favs. You are still doing a great job with this. At least you have steadied the Brew Crew with only a 1-game difference between '73 & '72. It can only go up from here.

Awfully tough to be working with a deficit budget. Hope you won't have to raise ticket prices. It might be tough to keep some of the loyal fans that way.

Welcome back, and thanks! Luckily I'm still having fun with this, although it's been busy lately so I'm going slower than normal lately.

I do think that the Brew Crew is at least heading in the right direction. We've at least got some pieces now. One thing that I've never done is raise ticket prices. It's hard enough getting fans in seats in the early years with a losing team.

[NYY #23]

We got things started on the offseason before the draft even rolled around. I know that just a few days ago I said Greg Gross was safe, but I guess that wasn't entirely true.

After working hard to get under budget our owner decided to take $300,000 and line his pockets and then cut my budget. He also gave me about $200,000 less to work with in the draft. So I'm not too happy right about now, and the first domino of the offseason took place.

In a move that saves us $62,000 right fielder Greg Gross and 34 year old pitcher Von McDaniel were shipped to Pittsburgh in exchange for 3B Steve Garvey, SP Mike Thompson, and relievers Rudy Arroyo and Leon Everitt. While we have George Brett at third base, I do think that Garvey can handle first base for us, as he did in real life.

Next up was shopping around right fielder Jerry Morales, and again Pittsburgh was interested in making a deal. They shipped us catcher Dave Rader in a budget neutral move, but we needed a good defensive catcher more than a right fielder.

In our second to last move before the draft we shipped off SP Joe Decker, MR Gene Garber, and LF Jeff Burroughs to the Dodgers, and got back 31 year old Sam McDowell, and a pair of middle relievers - Jerry Cram and Pedro Borbon. That move saved $194,000 for the Brewers.

As we approached the draft I grew hesitant on having both Garvey and Brett on the team. We shipped off Steve Garvey, infielder Dave Roberts, and reliever Dick LeMay to the Phillies in exchange for SP Dick Tidrow and now reliever Tommy John.

After the deals we're now just $293,000 over budget. I'd like to get under budget before next year, so our deals may not be done, but we headed into the draft picking third overall.

With just over $400,000 in available money we had to be careful in the draft, although that didn't work too well, as we selected CF Fred Lynn, who is rumored to be demanding $400,000.

In the second round we selected starting pitcher Ed Figueroa. Second baseman Duane Kuiper was our third round pick, with reliever Tippy Martinez our fourth pick. Another reliever, Aurelio Lopez was our fifth pick, with shortstop Mario Mendoza our final pick.

[ShagVT]

Do you have any predictions on Mendoza's batting average?

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by ShagVT

Do you have any predictions on Mendoza's batting average?

I predict if he gets any at-bats I'm going to be in trouble. So I think he'll be a career minor leaguer.

[NYY #23]

With a 14-5 record the Brewers hold a slim 1/2 game lead over the Tigers and are sitting in first place in the American League East.

We're continuing to see good things from Al Bumbry and George Brett, and the addition of Fred Lynn and Duane Kuiper has me feeling pretty good about our lineup.

I'm hoping that our rotation starts turning things around, because I was expecting more from them.

[NYY #23]

The Brewers had a hot 19-9 month in May, and we now hold a 7 1/2 game lead over the Tigers.

Our biggest weakness, our offense, has turned into a strength as we lead the league in runs scored. It doesn't hurt that George Brett is hitting .400 on the year, or Al Bumbry is just behind him at .372 with Fred Lynn hitting .359.

Our starting pitching has been good as well, led by Pitcher of the Month Dick Tidrow, who went 4-1 with a 1.29 ERA.

Jon Matlock pitched a no-hitter this month against the Orioles, while Duane Kuiper hit safely in 25 consecutive games.

Our bullpen has really struggled. With ERA's of 16.88, 9.64, and 7.72 we need to do something about our middle relief.

[NYY #23]

Our lead over Detroit has slipped to 6 1/2 games, but with a 17-12 month we are still in good shape. We're hitting well, pitching well, stealing bases, and scoring lots of runs.

Fred Lynn hit .429 with 7 home runs, 33 RBI, and 24 runs scored to not only win the Rookie of the Month, but the Hitter of the Month.

We still have some holes that would be nice to fill over the next month, but I'm pretty pleased with where things stand.