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1982 World Series: St. Louis Wins A Seven-Game Suds Series

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It was the “Suds Series”, as the 1982 World Series brought together two of the great brewing cities in America, with the St. Louis Cardinals meeting the Milwaukee Brewers. And the Suds Series produced seven games, complete with good back-and-forth battles, as each team trailed the Series by a game at one point before rallying to take the lead. It was St. Louis who traded their beer for champagne in the end.

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It was an ironic matchup for reasons behind a shared city heritage. The Brewers and Cardinals were just a year removed from a huge trade—prior to the 1981 season the teams completed a seven-player deal where the Brewers got a Hall of Fame closer Rollie Fingers and an All-Star catcher in Ted Simmons.

The Cardinals (who had Fingers only for a couple days in the offseason as a result of a trade with the San Diego Padres) didn’t fare quite as well, getting mostly well-regarded prospects that didn’t pan out, but that deal with the Padres had gotten them a defensive wizard at shortstop in Ozzie Smith.

You can read more about the regular season paths the Cardinals and Brewers took to the Fall Classic and about the years enjoyed by their key players, at the links below. This article focuses squarely on the games of the 1982 World Series.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1982 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1982 MILWAUKEE BREWERS

The National League held homefield advantage by virtue of the rotation system that existed prior to 2003, and the trade-off was that American League rules were used throughout the Series—there would be a DH in all games.

Two veterans, Mike Caldwell for Milwaukee and Bob Forsch for St. Louis got the call, and Milwaukee wasted no time getting after Forsch in the first inning. With one out, the Brewers’ MVP shortstop Robin Yount singled and Cecil Cooper followed with a walk.

With two outs, an error by normally sure handed Cardinal first baseman Keith Hernandez let in a run. Then Gorman Thomas, a big burly slugger had an RBI in an atypical high—he beat out in an infield hit. Caldwell took the mound with a 2-0 lead.

The Brewer lefty was razor-sharp and his team kept after Forsch. In the top of the fourth, Charlie Moore doubled down the left field line, was bunted to third and scored on a single by Paul Molitor. One inning later, Simmons homered. In the sixth, Milwaukee broke it open. With two outs, Jim Gantner singled to right. Then Molitor singled to left. Yount looped a double down the rightfield line, it was 6-0 and all but over.

Milwaukee still added four more runs in the ninth inning. Molitor finished with a World Series record of five hits and Yount, who followed him in the lineup had four hits. Caldwell threw a complete-game three-hitter and the 10-0 road win put St. Louis in a quick hole.

The Brewers looked in command for another reason—they were turning to Don Sutton for Game 2, who had been outstanding since his acquisition at the end of August and delivered great outings in must-win spots in the regular season finale and in the ALCS.

Milwaukee staked Sutton to an early lead, getting after untested John Stuper. In the second inning, Molitor continued his hot hitting, with two-out double that scored Thomas. In the third, Molitor singled, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a RBI groundout from Yount. With two outs, Simmons homered again. It was 3-0 and St. Louis was in serious trouble.

But in the bottom of that third inning, the Cardinals finally awoke. Dane Iorg, in the lineup as the DH singled to right. He was replaced on the bases by speedy Willie McGee after a groundball forceout, and McGee stole second. A double by Tom Herr scored St. Louis’ first run of the Series, and Ken Oberkfell then drove in Herr with a single to cut the lead to 3-2.

Yount chased Stuper with a leadoff double in the top of the fifth. Jim Kaat, a crafty veteran and former starter in his prime came on, but Cooper greeted Kaat with an RBI single.

Two months earlier the specter of Fingers might have started to loom in this game as it went to the sixth inning. Closers regularly came in as early as the eighth inning at this time and in a game like this, the seventh was a possibility. But Fingers had been sidelined with an elbow injury at the beginning of September, an injury that would ultimately end his career. The prospect of turning to him with a lead or in a tie game was not something Milwaukee manager Harvey Kuenn had at his disposal.

At a tie game was exactly what we had by the end of six. Oberkfell singled and George Hendrick drew a two-out walk. Darrell Porter doubled into the left field corner to score both runs and it was 4-4.

In the bottom of the eighth, Milwaukee had lefty Bob McClure on the mound. He could not get two left-handed hitters, as Hernandez worked a walk and Porter singled. Pete Ladd, the righthander and nominal closer came in and issued consecutive walks to Lonnie Smith and Steve Braun and St. Louis was ahead 5-4.

The inning might have been worse, but a line drive out off the bat of McGee was followed by Braun being called out after getting hit with a batted ball by Ozzie Smith, what would have been an RBI single. When Molitor started the top of the ninth with a bunt single, it looked like the lack of an insurance run might be big. But Porter completed his big night by throwing out Molitor on a stolen base attempt and closer Bruce Sutter slammed the door.

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Milwaukee was alive for the first World Series games the city had seen in 25 years, when the Braves played there. This writer was living in the west suburbs and was at old County Stadium on a crisp, but pleasant Friday night. But for Brewer fans that night was anything but pleasant.

Pete Vuckovich was on the mound for Milwaukee and facing Joaquin Andujar for St. Louis. Both pitchers put up zeroes through four innings. It was Vuckovich, the Cy Young Award winner, that cracked first. In the fifth, Lonnie Smith doubled with one out. An error by Cooper was followed by a three-run blast from McGee, a pure contact hitter not known for his power.

McGee wasn’t done. In the seventh inning, after Lonnie Smith had tripled and scored, McGee homered again. Milwaukee got two runs back in the eighth, when Cooper hit a two-run shot. But St. Louis added an insurance in the ninth against Vuckovich, still in the game. In the bottom of the ninth, McGee completed his dream night by robbing Thomas of a home run and the game ended 6-2.

Milwaukee had its turn getting a one-game lead in the World Series and then immediately taking the lead the next game. Now it was St. Louis’ turn to come within a hair of putting a chokehold on the Series, only to let it slip away in Game 4.

Moose Haas was an inconsistent righthander on the mound for the Brewers, and the Cardinals got after him immediately. Oberkfell doubled with one out in the first and Hendrick singled with two outs to pick up the run. In the second, McGee got rolling again with a one-out single and stolen base. A walk and wild pitch set up second and third. Herr then lifted a fly ball to deep center. It not only scored one run, and it scored both. Ozzie Smith, on second base, never stopped running and it was 3-0. Before the inning was over, Oberkfell had walked, stolen second and scored on a Gantner error.

The teams traded runs in the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth, finally chasing Haas with the score 5-1. Dave LaPoint, one of the pitchers Milwaukee had traded to St. Louis in the Fingers/Simmons deal was cruising along. He was into the seventh, got one out, and induced Ben Ogilvie to hit an easy ground ball to first base. And then, the roof fell on in the Cardinals.

LaPoint was covering first base on the grounder and simply dropped the ball. It was followed by a single from Don Money. With two outs, Gantner doubled to score one run. LaPoint came out and righty Doug Bair come in. He walked Molitor to load the bases, and Yount singled in two runs to cut the lead to 5-4. Runners were on first and third and Cardinal manager Whitey Herzog summoned Kaat to stop the bleeding. He couldn’t. Cooper singled to tie the game.

With runners on first and second, a wild pitch prompted Herzog to make another pitching change, this one in mid-batter. After an intentional walk to Simmons, Thomas—whose pop-out had started this inning—completed the rally with a two-run single to make it 7-5.

It was a stunning turn of events and the Brewer bullpen made it stand up. Jim Slaton worked two clean innings and McClure retired the last five batters to tie the World Series at two games apiece.

Caldwell and Forsch rematched their Game 1 meeting and this one was a much better game. The Brewers still got to Forsch quickly though. With one out in the first, consecutive singles from Yount and Cooper singled, an error on a pickoff throw moved both runners up. Simmons grounded out, but picked up the run and it was 1-0.

St. Louis finally solved Caldwell for a run in the third, when David Green—another player moved in the big trade between the teams—tripled and scored on a Hernandez double. Milwaukee immediately answered when Molitor walked, Yount doubled and Cooper picked up the run with a productive out.

Molitor was again in the middle of a rally in the bottom of the fifth. After Moore had doubled to start the inning, Molitor drove him in with a base hit. Caldwell wasn’t nearly as dominant as Game 1—he gave up 14 hits in this game—but the lefty was finding ways to work himself out of trouble and the game went to the seventh still 3-1.

The Smiths—Ozzie and Lonnie—started the top of the seventh with a walk and a single. With two outs, a Hendrick base hit cut the lead to 3-2. Yount promptly answered in the bottom of the frame with an opposite-field home run for a 4-2 lead. The Brewers added two more runs in the eighth. With runners on first and second, Moore and Gantner hit consecutive RBI singles and the cushion was 6-2.

Cushion was needed, because the Cardinals rallied in the ninth. Green and Hernandez hit successive one-out doubles, Hendrick singled and it was 6-4, chasing Caldwell and bringing in McClure. Porter singled. The lead run was at the plate in the person of McGee. McClure got him with a strikeout. Gene Tenace then hit the ball hard to left field, but it was an out and Milwaukee was now back in control of the World Series.

Sutton would get the chance to close out a title when the Series went back to St. Louis for the back end. But the future Hall of Famer just didn’t have it in Game 6. In the second inning, doubles by Iorg and Herr were sandwiched around a Yount error and the result was two St. Louis run. In the fourth, Hernandez singled, Porter homered, then Hernandez tripled and scored. It was 5-0 and the rout was on.

Stuper threw a four-hitter. Hernandez hit a two-run homer in the fifth and the Brewers fell completely apart in the sixth, as the Cardinals used five hits, two wild pitches and a walk to score six runs. Milwaukee avoided the shutout in the ninth, but that was their only bright spot in a 13-1 win for St. Louis.

Vuckovich and Andujar were on the mound, each with normal rest for Game 7. Once again, they both pitched well early and it was scoreless in the fourth when St. Louis picked up a run. McGee and Herr started the inning with singles, and then on an infield hit, McGee scored all the way from second.

After St. Louis manufactured a run, Milwaukee answered with one swing in the top of the fifth—Ogilvie homered to right. In the sixth, the Brewers took the lead. Gantner doubled, then Molitor laid down a bunt. Andujar came off the mound and fired an errant throw to first. It scored the lead run and put Molitor on second base, where he was able to score on a Yount infield hit and Cooper sac fly.

Trailing 3-1, the Cardinals came right back at Vuckovich in the bottom of the inning. With one out, the Smiths got it going. Ozzie singled and Lonnie doubled, setting up second and third. McClure was brought in for Vuckovich. A walk to Tenance loaded the bases, then successive singles from Hernandez and Hendrick made it 4-3.

Andujar gave way to Sutter in the eighth, and the Brewers couldn’t touch the St. Louis closer. The Cards still got two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, removing any drama from the ninth and Sutter closed out the 6-3 win and the World Series title for St. Louis.

Porter named Series MVP. The nicest thing I can say about this is that it’s one of the most poorly considered MVP votes in Series history. He had a notable night in Game 2, but for the Series he only hit .286 with an on-base percentage of .310. A far better choice would be Andujar, who beat the AL Cy Young Award winner twice, including in Game 7, and only gave up two runs in 13 innings of work.

The notable performers for Milwaukee were Molitor and Yount, who hit .355 and .414 respectively, along with Caldwell, who had the two wins and a 2.04 ERA and was only two outs short of a pair of complete games.

St. Louis and Milwaukee went in opposite directions in future years. The Cardinals returned to the World Series in 1985 and 1987, though they didn’t win it all again until 2006. The Brewers faded at the end of 1983 and collapsed in 1984. One organization produced perennial contenders and playoff teams, while the other only sporadically contended and didn’t even make postseason play again until 2008.

Their divergent paths ultimately re-united when Milwaukee was re-aligned into the National League for the 1998 season and the Brewers and Cardinals met in the 2011 NLCS.

1981 ALDS: The Yankees & Billy Martin Earn A Fight With Each Other

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The Division Series, the best-of-five round that takes place among the last four teams left in both leagues, came about by design in the realignment of the 1994 season. But more than a decade prior, the first Division Series came about by accident and it produced an ironic result–not only did the New York Yankees advance, but so did their old manager, who moved on with the Oakland A’s.

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A players’ strike from mid-June to mid-August called for some creativity. MLB decided to have teams leading at the strike play those that won the post-strike period after starting from scratch. Out of the blue, everyone was told an extra round was added to the playoffs. Here’s a look back at the 1981 ALDS, who got there, and how it unfolded day-by-day.

The Yankees and A’s led their divisions when the strike began on June 12—with no Central Division in existence yet, there was just an East & West. After play resumed in August, the Milwaukee Brewers won the AL East’s second-half and the Kansas City Royals took the other berth in the AL West.

You can read more about all four teams regular season paths, the key players and decisive moments in their push to October at the links below. This article will focus on going day-by-day through the Division Series.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 NEW YORK YANKEES
READ MORE THE 1981 OAKLAND A’S
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 MILWAUKEE BREWERS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 KANSAS CITY ROYALS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6

The 1981 ALDS began on a Tuesday afternoon in Kansas City, as the Royals hosted the A’s. Kansas City, who had won the AL West four times in the previous five years, and the pennant in 1980, sent their ace, Dennis Leonard to the mound. Oakland had been the superior team in 1981, with a workhorse starting rotation and Billy Martin as their manager. The A’s countered with young Mike Norris on the hill.

Kansas City got the first threat of Game 1, loading the bases with one out. Norris, pitching like a postseason veteran, got two Royal vets, Frank White and George Brett, to escape unscathed. Oakland quickly made KC play. Dwayne Murphy drew a one-out walk in the fourth, and then Brett committed a two-out error. Oakland third baseman Wayne Gross ripped a three-run blast and the A’s had a 3-0 lead.

Norris was only challenged one more time, when Kansas City loaded the bases with none out in the fifth. Norris got leadoff hitter Willie Wilson to pop up, and then a White line drive went right at Gross, who turned it into a double play. Murphy gave Oakland some insurance in the eighth with a solo home run.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7

Both series would be in action today and Oakland-KC, being two small market teams, again got stuck playing a weekday afternoon game. The A’s sent Steve McCatty to face KC righthander Mike Jones. The Royals had gotten decent work from Jones in 1981, but turning to him in this spot underscored that both Rich Gale and Paul Splittorff had struggled during the season and why Kansas City wasn’t quite as good as in previous years.

Murphy again got Oakland going, this time right away in the first, with a one-out single. He scored on a double by DH Cliff Johnson. The inning might have been bigger, but Johnson mysteriously only advanced one base on a subsequent double, and Kansas City was only behind 1-0.

It looked like Oakland’s failure to make the first inning bigger would hurt them. Both pitchers settled in, and with two outs in the fifth, the Royals tied it on successive singles from John Wathan, U.L. Washington and Wilson.

But Murphy once again came through, this time in the eighth inning for Oakland. He singled to lead off, was bunted up by Johnson and scored on a double by Tony Armas. McCatty delivered a complete-game six-hitter and Oakland had come into KC’s house and taken the first two games.

The focus of the American League stayed in the heartland, but went several hours north, as the Yankees and Brewers met in the old Milwaukee County Stadium in prime-time. New York had a former Cy Young winner, lefty Ron Guidry, while Milwaukee would rely on Moose Haas, a consistent, if unspectacular righthander.

Milwaukee could hit, and they got after Guidry in the second, with a two-out double from Sal Bando and an RBI base hit from Charlie Moore. In the third, Jim Gantner doubled off Guidry to start the inning. Paul Molitor laid down a sac bunt that was flubbed and the Brewers had runners on the corners.

It might have been a big inning, but Guidry settled down. Robin Yount picked up Gantner with a sac fly, but at 2-0, the Yankees had the bats to bet back into it. And that’s what they did immediately, starting in the top of the fourth.

After Haas walked Reggie Jackson, Oscar Gamble went deep and the game was quickly tied. Then Bob Watson singled and pesky Larry Milbourne beat out an infield hit. Rick Cerone doubled to clear the bases. Haas was gone and the Brewers were staring at a 4-2 hole.

Milwaukee’s offense got Guidry out of the game in the fifth, when the sequence of a Yount single, a walk of Cecil Cooper and a base hit by Ted Simmons made it 4-3. New York manager Bob Lemon called in his hard-throwing young reliever Ron Davis.
The move paid off—Davis got out of the inning with the one-run lead intact and he worked 2.2 innings of perfect baseball. Milwaukee never threatened again, and New York picked up an insurance run in the ninth to win it 5-3.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8

Oakland and Kansas City were traveling, and New York and Milwaukee got it going in an afternoon game. Both teams sent lefthanders to the hill, although that was about all Dave Righetti and Mike Caldwell had in common. New York’s Righetti was a hard-throwing young arm. Milwaukee’s Caldwell was a veteran finesse pitcher. Both were brilliant on this day.

The Yankees’ Lou Piniella got to Caldwell for a two-out home run in the fourth inning and into the seventh inning, the 1-0 game stood up, with nary a threat from either side. In the bottom of the seventh, Davis came on, but lacked the control of the previous night. Two walks and a single loaded the bases.

New York was stacked in the bullpen, and Lemon simply upgraded to closer Goose Gossage, a future Hall of Famer. With one out, Gossage got Yount to pop up and struck out Cooper. In the top of the ninth, the Yankees got a two-run blast from Jackson. The insurance runs weren’t technically needed, although they undoubtedly improved Lemon’s peace of mind when the Brewers got singles from Bando and Molitor with one out in the ninth. But Yount again popped out, Gossage slammed the door and with the 3-0 win, the Yankees joined the A’s in taking the first two games on the road.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9

There was no travel day for Brewers-Yanks, so this would be a doubleheader day in the ALDS. The Royals and A’s started with a 2:10 PM local start that was early evening on the East Coast, meaning it could swing into the Brewers-Yankees at 8:20 PM local time in the Bronx.

Kansas City turned to their veteran lefty Larry Gura to try and keep the season alive, with Oakland countering with Rick Langford, who’d pitched as well all year as Norris and McCatty. And Langford continued the trend of great A’s starting pitching.

The A’s gave Langford a quick run when Rickey Henderson drew a walk, stole second with two outs and scored on a single by Armas. In the third, Henderson singled and again took off for second—this time he was out…but for an error by Washington at short that kept Henderson on the basepaths. Then Wathan, the KC catcher, dropped a foul-ball out on Murphy. Then Murphy beat out in an infield hit, and Henderson kept on chugging all the way home.

It was 2-0 and Kansas City did not look like the experienced veteran team. Oakland loaded the bases with no outs, but consecutive strikeouts by the A’s weak bottom of the order forced Martin to try something improbable—Murphy took off on a steal of home, but it didn’t work. The Royals weren’t playing well, but they were breathing.

White led off the KC fourth with a single. Willie Aikens singled to right. White took third on the hit and scored on an RBI grounder by Amos Otis. But as quickly as Kansas City got on the board, Oakland had an answer, and once again Murphy was in the middle of it.

It began with a solo home run by Dave McKay. With two outs, Henderson again singled and Murphy slashed an RBI double and it was 4-1.

Kansas City didn’t go quietly—they got four singles in the top of the fifth, but the combination of Clint Hurdle being picked off, runners moving up just one base at a time and a couple infield popouts, meant no runs. In the top of the eighth, the Royals put two on with one out. Martin summoned Tom Underwood in relief of Langford, and he struck out the power-hitting Aikens who represented the tying run. Martin then turned to Dave Beard to get Otis.

That was the last shot for the Royals. Beard slammed the door in the ninth and for the first time since 1975, the Oakland A’s were AL West champs.

Could Friday be a day of a sweep on both coasts? The pitching matchup certainly suggested it. The Yankees had their terrific veteran lefty Tommy John, while the Brewers put their season into the hands of journeyman Randy Lerch.

But Lerch was terrific. New York got a run in the fourth when Bob Watson delivered a two-out RBI single, but even with John pitching great, the Yankee lead was only 1-0 into the seventh. And then the Brewer offense awoke.

It started small, with an infield hit by Cooper, but quickly went big, as Simmons homered for a 2-1 Milwaukee lead. Gorman Thomas singled, and was sacrificed up by Ben Ogilvie. Bando drove in the run with a single and Milwaukee had a 3-1 lead, with the league MVP—closer Rollie Fingers—in reserve.

But Fingers struggled in the seventh, and New York got four straight one-out singles from Watson, Milbourne, Cerone and Willie Randolph to immediately tie the game back up. Milwaukee could have been forgiven for folding—but they didn’t—Molitor homered to start the eighth and put his team right back on top.

Yount beat out an infield hit. John was removed, and Simmons again had a big RBI, this time a double for a 5-3 lead. Given a reprieve, Fingers rolled through the eighth and ninth. We would come back to Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10

Milwaukee’s Pete Vuckovich was a year away from an 18-win Cy Young season. He shouldered his team’s fate against New York’s Rick Reuschel, who had been the ace of some disappointing Cubs’ teams in the late 1970s and now had the chance to be on the October stage.

Both pitchers rolled through three innings and the Brewers began chipping away in the fourth. Molitor and Yount both singled. A sac fly from Cooper plated the first run and Ogilvie’s two-out double staked Vuckovich to a 2-zip lead.

An error and a double by Dave Winfield gave the Yankees second and third with no outs in the sixth. Vuckovich was removed for lefthander Jamie Easterly. It wasn’t a long or noteworthy career for Easterly, but this is at or near the top of his greatest moments.

He struck out Jackson, and even though Piniella picked up one run with an RBI groundout, Easterly had maintained the lead.
And a Brewer tag-team of Jim Slaton from the right side, Bob McClure from the left and eventually Fingers, slammed the door. Milwaukee won 2-1 and this strange series, with the road team winning every game, would go to a decisive finale on Sunday night.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11

It was a Hass-Guidry rematch and the Brewers again showed they could hit the renowned Yankee ace. Thomas homered in the second. In the third, utility man Ed Romero singled, Molitor walked, Young legged out an infield hit, Cooper picked up the RBI with a sac fly and it was 2-0…just like it had been in Game 1.

And just like the opener, Haas couldn’t hold the lead and it was the fourth inning, with the Jackson/Gamble duo doing the Brewer pitcher in. It began with a leadoff single from Milbourne. Jackson then went deep tie the game and Gamble immediately followed with a home run to put New York on top.

Haas was gone and Caldwell was in, but the Brewer lefty didn’t have the stuff of Game 2. Graig Nettles and Watson each singled and with runners on the corners, Rick Cerone picked up the RBI with a productive groundball.

It was still only 4-2, and just like Game 1, the Brewers got a run back. In the seventh inning, with Righetti on for Guidry, Yount tripled and came in on a Cooper base hit. But New York immediately answered when Cerone took Slaton deep.

In a battle of teams with great closers, it was New York who turned a lead over to Gossage, while Fingers could only watch. The Goose gave up a couple walks in the eighth, but got Don Money to fly out and keep the 5-3 lead. New York tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, and it was all over, but the shouting, ending 7-3.

Both series of the 1981 ALDS had been taken by the first-half winners, as the New York Yankees and Oakland A’s advanced to the American League Championship Series.

1981 DIVISION SERIES MVPS

This wasn’t an official award then, nor is it today, but it should be. So let’s rectify the omission and give out some hardware. In the Oakland-KC series, Dwayne Murphy is an easy choice. He was 6-for-11 and there was no significant A’s rally that Murphy didn’t have his hands in.

The New York-Milwaukee series has three worthwhile candidates. Gamble went 5-for-9 and hit two home runs, both in decisive spots of the series opener and closer. Righetti won two games—he came on in the fifth inning of Game 5 and got the win in that game and pitched brilliantly in nine total innings.

But the overriding factor in this series was the dominance of the New York bullpen. Gossage saved all three New York victories and they were all legitimate saves (i.e., none of this stuff were you get three easy outs with a three-run lead). The Goose pitched multiple innings in close games. In 6.2 IP of work, he shut out a great offensive team and only gave up three hits. He would be my choice.

THE AFTERMATH FOR THE VANQUISHED

Milwaukee and Kansas City would each be back. The Brewers built on the postseason experience gained, won the AL East in 1982 and reached the World Series, losing a good seven-game Fall Classic to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Royals were a steady organization and though it took a couple more years, they again won the AL West in 1984. One year later, Kansas City saw its dreams come true, with a World Series victory over St. Louis.

THE AFTERMATH FOR THE VICTORIOUS

New York and Oakland’s ALCS matchup featured two good games, but the Yankees won both of those, and took home the pennant in a three-game sweep.

The Yankees then won the first two games of the World Series at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers. But the trip west proved their undoing. New York lost three consecutive one-run games and then were blown out on their home field in Game 6.

Most surprising is that the Yankees and A’s disappeared from the October stage for several years. New York fielded pretty good teams in the coming years, but not up to the usual standards of this franchise and they didn’t make the postseason until the new alignment and wild-card era began in 1995.

Oakland fell completely off the map, as their starting pitching burned out, Martin burned out and the A’s disappeared until a new cast of characters emerged later in the decade. Neither disappearing act would have been expected when the Yankees and A’s were pouring champagne at the end of the 1981 ALDS.

Giving The 1982 Milwaukee Brewers Their Rightful Place In The History Books

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The 1982 Milwaukee Brewers felt like they were coming into a must-win season, after reaching the expanded playoffs in the strike year of 1981, but losing to the New York Yankees. The Brewers were stacked with veterans, in the everyday lineup and in the rotation and if they were going to make the franchise’s first World Series it was now or never.

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Milwaukee did it with a potent offense. They led the American League in runs scored and did by simply bashing home runs. The Brewers went deep 216 times and finished first in the AL in slugging percentage, making up for a more average #6 ranking in the league in on-base percentage

Cecil Cooper at first base, Ben Ogilvie in left field and Gorman Thomas in center all hit 30-plus homers. Ted Simmons, the veteran catcher hit 32. Even the leadoff hitter, Paul Molitor, popped 19. And Molitor was a great table-setter, with a .366 OPB and stealing 41 bases. If you got to the bottom of the order, second baseman Jim Gantner wasn’t exactly an easy out—he hit .295.

But no one was better than Robin Yount. The shortstop finished with an OBP of .379 and a slugging percentage of .578. Yount hit 29 home runs and produced 114 RBIs. His rangy defense was a big asset in the field, and he was a deserving winner of the AL MVP award.

The greatness of the lineup masked a pitching staff that was decent at best. The starting pitching had some good veterans at the top. Pete Vuckovich finished 18-6 with a 3.34 ERA and won the Cy Young Award, although that was as much the product of a relatively weak field.

Mike Caldwell won 17 games and finished with a 3.91 ERA. The rest of the rotation was a mishmash, with inconsistent veterans ranging from Moose Haas to Bob McClure to Doc Medich to Randy Lerch taking their turns on the mound. The bullpen was anchored by Rollie Fingers, who had won the MVP and Cy Young a year earlier. Fingers saved 29 games with a 2.60 ERA. Between Vuckovich, Caldwell, Fingers and the offense, the Brewers had enough to win games.

It didn’t start right away though. There was a five-game losing streak in mid-April. Then on May 10, the Brewers started a stretch where they lost 14 of 21 games to AL West opponents. On June 1, the day after Memorial Day, they were 23-24. In this must-win year, Milwaukee was in sixth place in an AL East that was then seven teams.

The only saving grace is that the division leaders—the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox—weren’t long-term contenders. But the Brewers were still seven games out and the front office fired manager Buck Rodgers. Harvey Kuenn, the batting coach, was elevated to take over. And the Brewer season turned around.

On June 10, Milwaukee started a stretch of 20-8 and the offense was nicknamed “Harvey’s Wallbangers” By the All-Star break, they were 48-35 and had pulled into a first-place tie with Boston. Detroit had faded, while the Baltimore Orioles—the more feared long-term threat—was within 3 ½ games.

BREWER 6-PACK
WATCH THESPORTSNOTEBOOK’S VIDEO DISCUSSION OF THE 1978-83 ERA

The Brewers stayed consistent through August, going 19-11 and arrived at Labor Day in first place with a three-game lead on the Orioles and were plus 3 ½ on the Red Sox. But the biggest news was developments in the pitching staff—one positive and one negative that took place as the calendar turned from August to September.

Fingers had been developing elbow problems and in early September he was sidelined. There was always reports he might make it back, but it never came and this injury effectively ended the career of the future Hall of Famer.

On a more positive note, help was on the way for the rotation. Milwaukee packaged up three prospects and sent them to the Houston Astros. In return came Don Sutton, a veteran of the excellent Los Angeles Dodgers teams in the late 1970. Sutton made seven starts for Milwaukee and went 4-1 with a 3.29 ERA.

And the Brewers needed the reinforcements because Baltimore was coming. The Red Sox faded in September and on the season’s penultimate weekend, Milwaukee was still holding a three-game lead, but there were seven games with the Orioles on deck in the ten days. It started with a three-game series in old County Stadium in Milwaukee.

Baltimore got to Sutton for four runs in the first inning of the opener, but Yount answered with a two-run blast in the bottom of the first. The Brewers tied it by the third, scored five times in the fourth and won 15-6. But on Saturday, the Orioles again grabbed four in the first and this time there was no comeback. Baltimore won the finale on Sunday and the Milwaukee lead was down to two games.

Milwaukee took two of three in Fenway Park, nudging the lead back to three games. They would close the season in Baltimore, a doubleheader on Friday and then on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. One win would clinch the AL East.

Memorial Stadium was a madhouse, with Baltimore fans waving brooms and chanting for a sweep. And the Brewers seemed ready to roll over in the face of it. On Friday, both Vuckovich and Caldwell fell behind early. Medich got rocked on Saturday. The Brewers lost the first three games by a combined 26-7.

It would come to one game, winner-take-all. This had happened only once before in baseball history, where a showdown came in the last game of the regular season—the 1949 race between the Red Sox and New York Yankees. The 1982 showdown was even better—two future Hall of Famers, Sutton and the Orioles’ Jim Palmer would be on the mound. And Baltimore’s legendary manager Earl Weaver had already announced his retirement at the end of the season. It was a lot for Milwaukee to overcome.

Enter Yount. He stepped in against Palmer in the first inning and took a solo home run the other way. Yount homered to center in the third, and in the eighth inning he tripled and scored. The Brewers clung to a 5-1 lead with Sutton pitching well.

Sutton then walked two batters and gave a hit in the bottom of the eighth, to cut the lead to 5-2. Joe Nolan came up to pinch hit with two outs and runners on the corners. Nolan laced a low line drive into the left field corner. It looked certain to score two more runs. Instead, Ogilvie went sliding feet first and made the catch, as his legs rolled up the wall that was on the right on top of the foul line.

The rally was turned back, and the Brewers scored five times in the top of the ninth. At last, the AL East title was put away.
Milwaukee’s sense of drama didn’t stop in the 1982 ALCS. They met the California Angels and the Brewers dropped the first two games of what was then a best-of-five series. They rallied and won three in a row at home. The pennant was clinched in an epic Game 5, when Cooper hit a two-run single in the seventh inning to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 win.

The Fall Classic was a “Suds Series”. The Brewers met the St. Louis Cardinals, meaning the two cities known for their brewing industries met. And the drama just rolled right on. Milwaukee won the first game, then fell behind 2-1 in games and looked dead in Game 4. They rallied in that game, then won Game 5. Now they looked in control, but lost Game 6. Alas, this time they had pushed themselves to the brink one too many times. St. Louis took Game 7 and the World Series.

1982 was the last hurrah for this edition of the Milwaukee Brewers. They stayed in contention through August in 1983 before fading in September. The team collapsed in 1984. There was a brief flirtation with contention in the late 1980s and early 1990s with some pretty good teams. But October baseball did not return to Milwaukee until 2008, when they had been switched into the National League.

The Brewers didn’t make it back to the LCS round until 2011…when St. Louis again got in their way. The search for the first World Series title in franchise history still continues.

The 1981 Milwaukee Brewers Breakthrough Win

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It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee on October 3, 1981 and the city was rife with anticipation. The 1981 Milwaukee Brewers were on the verge of making the postseason for the first time in franchise history, and for the season’s penultimate game a big pitching matchup awaited.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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Brewer ace Pete Vuckovich would go toe-to-toe with Detroit Tigers’ rising star Jack Morris. A Brewer victory would put them in the playoffs. A loss meant tomorrow’s finale would be winner-take-all for the chance to play the New York Yankees.

1981 had been a weird year for major league baseball. A players’ strike in June had ripped the summer out of the season and play didn’t resume until August. Faced with the challenge of reinvigorating interest in the game, commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried a novel idea.

In an era where each league was split into just an East & West division with only the first-place teams advancing, Kuhn declared the teams in first place at the strike to be “first-half champions.” The remainder of the schedule would determine the second-half champion and the two winners would then play a best-of-five to advance to the League Championship Series.

The system had its flaws, to be sure. The Cincinnati Reds would finish with the best record in baseball, but come in second in both halves. But even the best record came with an asterisk—the four first-half winners—the Yankees, Oakland A’s, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers had no incentive in the second half.

Due to the need to guarantee television a full slate of opening-round series, if any of the first-half winners won the second half they would get an additional home game—but still have to play whomever finished second  in the second-half.

But flawed or not, it was probably the best Kuhn could do, given the need to get people talking about baseball and the realities of television and the folks in Milwaukee—this writer was a junior-high student living in the city’s west suburbs—were hungry for a winner of any kind.

The Brewers had the franchise’s first winning season in 1978, when they won 93 games and then followed it up with 95 victories in ’79. But neither was good enough for the playoffs in the rigorous world that existed prior to the realignment and playoff expansion in 1995. Then the team slipped to 86 wins and third place in 1980.

Pitching was the problem, especially the bullpen, and general manager Harry Dalton struck with a blockbuster trade. He dealt four players to St. Louis—a mix of highly regarded prospects and regulars—to St. Louis in exchange for starting pitcher Pete Vuckovich, veteran catcher Ted Simmons and the big prize—closer Rollie Fingers.

Milwaukee had been right in the thick of the race when the strike hit. Even with the acquisition of Vuckovich and Fingers, offense was still the team’s calling card. They finished second in the American League in runs scored, thanks to a power attack that underwent a nickname metamorphous over a five-year period.

When new manager George Bamberger oversaw the team’s resurgence, the hitters were “Bambi’s Bombers.” When the skipper resigned in 1980 and handed the reins to Buck Rodgers they were “Buck’s Bombers,” the name the 1981 Milwaukee Brewers played under. Eventually, Harvey Kuenn would be in charge and the offense would live in history as “Harvey’s Wallbangers.”

First baseman Cecil Cooper was the key to the offense in 1981, hitting .320 and slashing 35 doubles. Milwaukee’s ability to drive the ball in the gaps was often overlooked, but it supported the home runs, which were led by Gorman Thomas, who hit 21 in the 109-game schedule.

The table was set by Paul Molitor and Robin Yount, both of whom were beginning Hall of Fame careers and Yount was a year away from the first of his two MVP awards. Ben Ogilvie had tied for the home run title in 1980 and though Simmons struggled much of ’81, he’d been a good hitter throughout his career and would be again for next season.

Vuckovich gave the rotation an anchor, winning 14 games and crafty lefthander Mike Caldwell won 11 more, as did Moose Haas, although the latter’s 4.46 ERA meant the team’s run support had as much to do with his wins.

But no one mattered more than Fingers. The last two innings of games had previously been reasons for Milwaukee fans to drown themselves in Miller beer to avoid the agony. Now it was lights-out time. Fingers racked up 28 saves, posted a 1.04 ERA and would be rewarded with both the Cy Young and MVP awards in his first year in Milwaukee.

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WATCH THESPORTSNOTEBOOK’S VIDEO DISCUSSION OF THE 1978-83 ERA

 

 

 

At the start of September, Milwaukee swept four games on the road in Minnesota, a sign they were ready to make a move down the stretch. They won two of three at home against Baltimore and they went on the road for a nine-game homestand against the Orioles, Red Sox & Tigers—the three teams they were in direct competition with for first place, as the Yankees had played like a team with no incentive to win.

Milwaukee went 5-4 on the homestand to survive and came home. Vuckovich then beat Boston 1-0 and the Brewers eliminated the Red Sox. The Orioles fell by the wayside. It was down to Milwaukee and Detroit and their weekend series to close the year would be a de facto 2-of-3 playoff.

Haas pitched the game of his life on Friday night, going the distance, and the Brewer offense peppered Detroit starter Dan Petry. Milwaukee got the scoring started in the second in typical fashion—Ogilvie hit a two-run homer. They broke it open two innings later in atypical fashion—a walk and three singles, including a two-RBI base hit from Yount and the final score would be 8-2.

Thus we came to Saturday. Detroit’s Morris would build a reputation as one of the premier big-game pitchers. Both he and Vuckovich had the reputation of being better than their ERAs—they could get key outs and pitch to the scoreboard, something that would have infuriated the sabermetrics movement that was still several years away from notoriety. Regardless, they put on a great battle on a sunny Saturday afternoon in old County Stadium.

Cooper had an excellent series—over Friday and Saturday he delivered four hits, but his normally stellar defense failed him in the sixth. A Cooper error opened the door to the game’s first run and it was still 1-0 Detroit when Milwaukee came to bat in the eighth.

In light of the reputation the team’s offense already had and which would grow even stronger a year later, the rally the Brewers put together is ironic. Molitor drew a walk. Yount put down a bunt that Detroit flubbed. Cooper came up and bunted. The Tigers again flubbed it. Now it was bases-loaded and no one out. Simmons hit a ground ball to weak to be a double play ball and the speedy Molitor scored the tying run, with only the out at first recorded. After an intentional walk, Thomas lofted a sac fly for the winning run. The Brewers had taken a 2-1 lead without ever getting a clean hit.

There was no irony whatsoever in how the game ended. Fingers had pitched the eighth and was in line for the win. He retired the side in order, striking out Lou Whitaker to close the win and send Milwaukee into celebration.

Milwaukee would lose the Division Series to New York, dropping the first two games at home, rallying to win two in the Bronx and taking an early lead in Game 5, before the Yankee veterans finally responded one last time and put the series away.

After a slow start in 1982, Rodgers was fired and replaced by Kuenn. The players responded to the change, and the offensive fury unleashed carried the team to the World Series the following year. They lost a seven-game heartbreaker to the St. Louis Cardinals, although any Brewer fan from that era would be quick to remind people that Fingers had been lost for the season in September, the elbow injury that essentially ended his career.

It was the 1981 Milwaukee Brewers that essentially served as the opening act to the thrills that would follow a year later. It gave the core players the experience of closing out a pennant race, even if it was an abbreviated one and it gave their home city a taste of winning.