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Thursday January 3rd, 2013

Ryan Braun’s 162 Game Average is scary for Pitches. .37 HRs, 118 RBI, 113 Runs Scored, 41-2B, 23 SB, 200 Hits and a .313/.374/.943 Slash Line.

Ben Dobson ( Baseball Writer and Brewers Correspondent): Follow @brewerpride06

1982….Mention this date to any Brewers fan and immediately you will witness a smile and a nod of the head. Very little has to be said that isn’t communicated with that simple smile and subtle shake of the head. Harvey’s Wallbangers; Cecil Cooper, Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Gorman Thomas and Ben Oglivie to name a few. Coming off a (3-2) AL Division Series loss to the Yankees in 81′ the Brewers stormed in to 82′ ready to make amends. The Brewers began 82′ slowly going (23-24), thus Harvey Kuenn replaced Buck Rodgers. The Brewers made history going forward posting a (72-43) record leading the league in runs and HRs. This team poured it all out on the field before losing in Game 7 of the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals. Yount, Molitor and Cooper will forever be household names associated with the epic ’82 team.

Fast-Forward 26 years….2008 & 2011….The Brewers finally made it back to the postseason. This time the club was led by Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks. These were both magical years but neither year ended in a World Series appearance. The constant and consistent cog of these two playoff teams was Ryan Braun. The “Hebrew Hammer” lead the team in batting both playoff years and put up power numbers as well as speed numbers. This perennial All-Star continues to perform as one of the best in the game, but how does Ryan Braun compare to the 82′ heroes of Yount, Molitor and Cooper. The following statistics were taken during 6 consecutive seasons for each player (only exception is the 84′ season for Molitor who was limited to 13 games, 85′ season was substituted).

Ryan Braun Highlights in 2012:  Suggestive Mature Lyrics-Parental Guidance Advised:

Braun has been one of the most consistent hitters in MLB again over the last 5 years and has won 5 straight Silver Slugger Awards has made 5 straight ALL-Star Appearances.

 Runs:                       Hits:                     Hone Runs:           RBIs:  

  Braun-614           Cooper-1108                Braun-202            Braun-643

  Yount-579             Braun-1089              Cooper-134           Cooper-602

Molitor-538             Yount-1010                 Yount-103             Yount-461

Cooper-522            Molitor-928                 Molitor-64            Molitor-284

Stolen Bases:                  Average:                          On-Base%:  

 Molitor-180                     Braun-.314                           Braun-.374

  Braun-126                    Cooper-.312                          Molitor-.357

    Yount-75                      Yount-.295                          Cooper-.351

  Cooper-49                     Molitor-.294                           Yount-.344

Looking at these basic comparisons it would appear that Ryan Braun is the “best” Brewers player in the history of the franchise. But most of us know better and realize this is a very small statistical sample of 6 seasons in each of these players careers. Yount, Molitor and Cooper all had long careers and had consistent if not excellent performance numbers throughout. Ryan Braun will soon begin his 7th season in Major League Baseball and hopes to continue the pace that he is currently on:

 2007: 91 runs, 146 hits, 34 HRs, 97 RBIs, 15 SB, .324 Avg, .370 OBP

2008: 92 runs, 174 hits, 37 HRs, 106 RBIs, 14 SB, .285 Avg, .335 OBP

2009: 113 runs, 203 hits, 32 HRs, 114 RBIs, 20 SB, .320 Avg, .386 OBP

2010: 101 runs, 188 hits, 25 HRs, 103 RBIs, 14 SB, .304 Avg, .365 OBP

2011: 109 runs, 187 hits, 33 HRs, 111 RBIs, 33 SB, .332 Avg, .397 OBP

2012: 108 runs, 191 hits, 41 HRs, 112 RBIs, 30 SB, .319 Avg, .391 OBP

2013: 106 runs, 200 hits, 37 HRs, 115 RBIs, 35 SB, .329 Avg, .390 OBP

With these numbers stretched out over another 10 or 12 years in Major League Baseball, Ryan Braun will become the most talented player to ever play the game of baseball for the Milwaukee Brewers. When you combine the All-Star Appearances (20), MVP’s (3), Silver Slugger Awards (15), a Rookie Of The Year Award and (2) Hall of Famer’s, you have a group of players that could rival any team’s past or current All-Stars. When comparing Yount, Molitor, Cooper and Braun it is nearly impossible to decide who is or was the “best.” Milwaukee Brewers fans have been, and always will be proud just to say these four players played for the greatest team in baseball in one of the greatest baseball cities in the United States.

When watching a game at Miller Park you can’t help but notice the numbers that will forever be enshrined in Milwaukee baseball history. Bob Uecker, #4 Paul Molitor, #19 Robin Yount, #34 Rollie Fingers, #44 Hank Aaron and #42 Jackie Robinson (Major League-wide). Twenty years from now I can see my son writing a similar article to this but with one addition; the list of retired numbers will include #8 Ryan Braun. #8 will forever be cemented in Milwaukee Brewers history and stories of success, skill and performance will be passed from generation to generation.

It was too bad that  couldn’t have stayed a Brewer as they could have been a force for many more years to cone

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners.***

A big thank-you goes out to our Brewers Correspondent Ben Dobson for preparing today’s featured article.  Ben is from Janesville, WI. He works for the County Government in working with at-risk youth in the community. he works with the youth in the Middle Schools as well as out in the community running groups. Ryan Braun is far and away his favorite baseball player. The anticipation of Spring Training help the long winters pass here in Wisconsin.  Baseball is the “only” sport you can sit outside, relax, talk with friends, cookout, and listen to on the radio and still have the feeling you are at the game. Baseball is a game that brings people together. Nothing compares to those warm summer nights listening to Bob Uecker on the radio.  Ben says “GO BREWERS!”  Feel free to follow Ben on twitter and talk the game of baseball Follow @brewerpride06

Please e-mail us at: mlbreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback. You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. To subscribe to our website and have the daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.

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Sunday, January.13/2013

Dwight Evans falls into that category with Don Mattingly, Mark Grace, Will Clark and Keith Hernandez. Guys that were the best players amongst their peers, (offensively and defensively) plus BBHOF Worthy (In some cases) – but are trounced on by the ballooned ‘Steroid era” numbers.

By John Tuberty – Special Guest Writer and Cooperstown Correspondent (Owner of The Wesbite Tubbs Baseball Blog, please view here . )

Under current Hall of Fame voting rules, the Expansion Era Committee meets once every three years to vote on retired players who are no longer eligible for election by the BBWAA, have been retired 21 or more seasons, and made their biggest contributions to the sport after 1972.  In addition to the retired players, the Expansion Era ballot also includes retired managers, umpires, and executives from the post-1972 era.  One player who is eligible to be included on December’s Expansion Era ballot is former Red Sox Right Fielder, Dwight Evans.

Despite owning impressive career totals such as 385 Home Runs, 2,446 Hits, and 8 Gold Glove Awards, Evans struggled to draw support in BBWAA Hall of Fame voting and fell off the ballot after failing to draw the necessary five percent needed to stay on the ballot on a very crowded 1999 election.  However in recent years, Evans has become a popular Hall of Fame debate in the sabermetric community and several articles have been written in support of his overlooked Hall of Fame candidacy.  One particular writer, Patrick Languzzi is spearheading a campaign to put Dwight Evans on December’s Expansion Era ballot.  Languzzi, who writes for MLB Reports as the Hall of Fame Correspondent, created his own website, Call to the Hall, which is devoted to bringing awareness to Dwight Evans’ overlooked Hall of Fame candidacy.  Languzzi even started a petition which calls for Evans to be selected as one of the twelve finalists on December’s Expansion Era ballot.  Languzzi was nice enough to take the time for me to interview him about his Call to the Hall website and petition.

JT: Patrick, you, along with Nick Carfardo of the Boston Globe were recently interviewed by Tom Caron on the New England Sports Network (NESN) to discuss Evans’ overlooked Hall of Fame candidacy (see link below).  What was that experience like?

http://nesn.com/2012/12/dwight-evans-hall-of-fame-candidacy-languishes-with-veterans-committee-video/

PL: The experience was validating for me, meaning, when I started this project, I never imagined it would have gone as far as it has, and gotten the attention it’s drawn.  It’s great to see that I’m not the only one that feels that Evans’ case deserves to be revisited.

JT: You mention in the NESN clip that you got a chance to meet Dwight, what can you tell us about meeting him?

PL: Through all of my research, I’ve gotten to know Evans, and what I’ve found is that he is extremely humble and unwilling to discuss himself as a possible Hall of Fame candidate.  He was humble as a player too.  A good example of this is the clip from the 1987 All-Star game (see link to clip below) when Dwight fields a fly ball and fires a strike to home plate, Tim Raines the player at third holds from tagging up.

Dewey had his best Post Season Series during the 1986 World Series with a .308/.400/1.015 3 Slash Line – with 2 HRs and 9 RBI in the 7 Game Series loss to the Mets.

What I like about it was after Dwight fires the ball in, he just turns and begins his walk back out to Right Field.  There’s no arrogance or poor sportsmanship involved.  Players nowadays would be staring down runners after a throw like that. He did just the opposite.  I asked him about that play, he stated that it wasn’t like him to act in any other manner, that he was just doing his job by trying to keep the runner from scoring.  Most humble athlete I’ve EVER had the opportunity to meet ANOTHER reason I’d love to see him get inducted.  H-U-M-B-L-E !!!!

JT: What do you feel makes Dwight Evans a Hall of Famer and what led you to support his Hall of Fame candidacy?

PL: Most people would agree that Evans’ defense was of Hall of Fame caliber, but what a lot of people don’t know is that he also had offensive Hall of Fame numbers.  For instance, during his 20 Year Career (’72-’91), no one in Major League Baseball reached base more than Dwight Evans (3,890) and ONLY Reggie Jackson hit more Home Runs in the American League during that time period.  Dwight Evans also led the American League in HRs during the decade of the 1980′s (256) and led all of Major League Baseball in Extra Base Hits (605) and runs created (1,067).  And, if you go back to the inception of the American League in 1901 until Evans retired in 1991, he ranks as one of the four most prolific Right Handed Home Run hitters in American League history, trailing only Hall of Famers Jimmie Foxx, Al Kaline, and Harmon Killebrew .

I had always felt that if Jim Rice were to ever be inducted into the Hall of Fame, that you could make a case for Evans.  It was at the time of Rice’s induction in 2009, that my wife challenged me to do the research since I felt so strongly.  The more I uncovered, the more convinced I became, and once the Red Sox and some local BBWAA writers took an interest, I knew I was probably on to something.

JT: Since you mentioned the Red Sox interest, are you able to expand on that?

PL: The Red Sox have been great to me and very supportive.  I reached out to them three years ago with some offensive statistics on Evans.  It wasn’t nearly as comprehensive as what I have now, but enough to catch their attention.  Now it’s become a body of work of his combined play.  I worked with Dick Bresciani, the team historian. Bresciani was the person responsible for putting together Jim Rice’s Hall of Fame case for the BBWAA in Rice’s last year (2009) of eligibility (in which he ended up getting inducted).  His advice to me was to stay away from the rhetoric and stick to the stats, he claims the only thing Hall of Fame voters would be in interested in would be statistics to support why Evans (or any player for that matter) should be in the Hall of Fame.

JT: Tell us about your Call to the Hall website and the online petition.

PL: It was another challenge from my wife that led me to create a website called: Call to the Hall.  She simply stated, “why don’t you build a site, this way you can educate people on Evans’ accomplishments if you feel so strongly that he deserves the Hall of Fame.”

The site is designed to help educate fans on Dwight’s Hall of Fame credentials and career accomplishments, including: Video Footage, an On-line Petition, Hall of Fame Player Comparisons, Unique Achievements, Endorsements and more.

I created an on-line petition so that the general public could cast their own vote, should they want to support Evans.  I felt that if enough people supported any given cause, in this case Evans, that whoever it [petition] was directed to, might take the cause into more consideration.

JT: What is your favorite Dwight Evans moment?

PL: My ALL-Time favorite moment is one that Dwight NEVER mentioned, even after I got to know him.  I had to see it for myself on his [NESN] TV biography, then asked him about it.  His reply was simple, “it wasn’t about me, so why would I tell you?”  While in the thick of the 1982 AL East Division race, Dwight hit two home runs at the request of his son Tim, who was in the hospital having one of his more than 30 surgeries.  Most of his teammates didn’t even know his kids were so sick.  His wife Susan said that he [Dwight] never wanted anyone to think he was using it as an excuse for why he had a bad day at the park if he didn’t do well.

See, what most people don’t know, is that Dwight has two sons with a life threatening disease called Neurofibromatosis or NF.  What’s not included in the article (below), is that his son Tim asked him to hit a home run the night before he hit the two, which he did.

Dwight’s quotes about that night are included in an article David Laurila wrote for Fangraphs below:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/dwight-evans-hall-of-fame-individual/

JT: Earlier in our discussion you mentioned that you felt Dwight’s fielding may have overshadowed his offense?  Would you mind elaborating, especially given that he played right field in one of the toughest ballparks in all of Major League Baseball?

PL: Sure, Dwight is arguably the best Right Fielder of his era, and had one of the greatest outfield arms the game has ever seen.  So when most think of Dwight Evans, they recall his fielding and incredible arm.  But what a lot of people don’t know or realize, is that he had offensive Hall of Fame numbers to go along with it.

As I mentioned earlier, Dwight led the American League for the entire decade in home runs and all of MLB in extra base hits as well as winning five-straight Rawlings Gold Glove awards.  The ONLY other player that comes close to this combined accomplishment is Hank Aaron with three Gold Gloves in his entire career.  Pretty good company if you ask me.

JT: Why do you think Evans fell off the BBWAA ballot so quickly?

PL: We can speculate and theorize, but if you go back and look at the Hall of Fame voting [ballot] between ’97 and ’99, their [Rice and Evans] votes dropped during the McGwire and Sosa home run barrage.  I’m not convinced that was coincidental. I think the writers may have been enamored with what was going on with the home run in baseball at the time.  I also feel strongly that the perception on Evans was that of a great defensive player with a phenomenal arm, so it’s easy to overlook his offensive accomplishments.

JT: I agree that the ’98 home run race was a major factor.  I also think the ’99 Hall of Fame ballot played a large role in Dwight falling off the ballot.  Aside from this year’s ballot with Bonds, Clemens, Biggio, Piazza, Schilling, and Sosa, the only other ballot crowded with such a statistically impressive group of first time nominees was the ’99 ballot with Nolan Ryan, George Brett, Robin Yount, and Dale Murphy.  I believe that with the focus expanding to include sabermetric stats that Evans certainly would have picked up a lot of votes in the 2000′s, possibly even enough to be elected by the BBWAA…which leads me to my final question:  How much do you think the emergence of stats like his OBP, WAR and OPS+ impact his Hall of Fame candidacy?

PL: Personally, I believe they strengthen his case.  Obviously the voters weren’t focused on sabermetrics when Dwight was on the ballot and seem to take those types of stats into more consideration with today’s candidates.  I think you put it best in one of your past articles, “when you look past Dwight’s traditional stats and focus on his career .370 OBP, 62.8 WAR, and 127 OPS+, he’s on par with the BBWAA inductees of the last thirty years.”

Patrick Languzzi also wrote a piece for MLB Reports ( on how Dwight Evans Should Be In The Hall Of Fame right here.)

Dwight Evans talents may be more appreciated in today’s sabermetric MLB Game – with a  Career Slash Line of .272/.370/.840 with 1391 Career Walks, 385 HRs and 1384 RBI in 2606 Career Games.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their partners***

***A big thank-you goes out to our ‘Cooperstown Correspondents’ John Tuberty and Patrick Languzzi – for preparing and participating as an interview subject for today’s featured article.   We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers. You can also follow Patrick on Twitter: Follow @patricklanguzzi  Also, please feel free to check out Patrick’s grass roots campaign in support of Dwight “Dewey” Evans for the Hall of Fame at: Call to the Hall***  

Please e-mail me  at: mlbreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback.  You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.  To subscribe to our website and have the Daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.

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Friday, February. 08/2013

Jose Bautista with fellow Hank Aaron Award winner Joey Votto in 2010. In 2010 Bautista became the 26th player to ever hit 50+ HRs in a single season, eclipsing the mark with 54.

By Ryan Dana (MLB Reports Intern): Follow @ryandana1

Who is Jose Bautista? He is a 32-Year Old, Dominican, Major League Baseball player. He is the starting Right Fielder and number 3 hitter in the Toronto Blue Jays lineup. He is a 3x All-Star (’10-’12), 2x Silver Slugger Award winner (’10-’11), and 2x Hank Aaron Award winner (’10-’11). Bautista is a former 20^th round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirate s- who struggled to make any significant impact for a Major League team into his late 20’s. He arose from baseball obscurity and launched into the spotlight seemingly overnight. Bautista’s breakout campaign in 2010 was followed with an even better 2011, which was all foreshadowed by a promising September in ’09 – where he tapped into a power surge hitting 10 HRs in the month.

This was especially surprising since his career high for HRs in a season to that point was only 16 in ‘06. Modifications Bautista made in his swing were career changing. He completely reinvented the system he was using to time pitching, and it paid big dividends. Bautista’s success forced the Rogers Center to keep their roof open for all home games due to the amount of moonshots he was hitting. I’m only joking, but he did hit an MLB high 54 HRs in 2010 and 43 HRs in 2011.

Jose Bautista 2012 Highlights Mix:

Cito Gaston is credited for fixing Jose Bautista’s swing when he arrived in Toronto.

However, like Isaac Newton said, “what goes up must come down.” As all of the Bautista bombs touched back down to Earth so did his out of this world pace of hitting, as he wrestled with injury and a less than spectacular start to his 2012 campaign. He missed nearly every game after July 17^th when he was placed on the DL with a wrist injury. He would later return and almost immediately re-injured his wrist forcing him to get season ending surgery. Bautista played in 92 game is 2012, 90 prior to July 17^th. The question is, will Bautista return to form and win another Hank Aaron Award?

The Hank Aaron Award is annually given to the player, from each league, that is selected as the top offensive player voted on by baseball fans, and media along with a special panel of Hall of Famers — personally selected by Hammerin’ Hank himself. The panel includes Tony Gwynn, Paul Molitor, Joe Morgan and Robin Yount. The last 5 AL winners of the award include Kevin Youkilis (’08), Derek Jeter (’09) Jose Bautista (’10-’11), and Miguel Cabrera in (’12). Alex Rodriguez has won the award for the AL 4 of 14 times since it was started in 1999. One interesting thing about the 2012 Hank Aaron Award nominees is that only 4 of 30 were nominated by their team last year (each team nominates one player for the award each year).

Only Miguel Cabrera was a repeat nomination for the AL (Tigers). Edwin Encarnacion was the nominee for the Blue Jays in 2012, and deservedly so. The 1^st step for Bautista to regain the Hank Aaron Award will to be getting the nomination for the Blue Jays again, which won’t be as easy as in the past since they loaded up on talent this offseason. Even with an improved Blue Jays roster, and reigning Triple Crown winner and MVP Miguel Cabrera in the picture, I believe Jose Bautista has as good of a chance at winning the 2013 AL Hank Aaron Award as anybody.

How does it look Jose? Is another trot around the bases in order? Possibly one of the MLB high 124 HRs since 2010?

Here are some important stats from Bautista since 2010:

2010: 161 GP, .260/.378/.617, 54 HR, 124 RBI, 109 R, 6.8 WAR, 134 wRC

2011: 149 GP, .302/.447/.608, 43 HR, 103 RBI, 105 R, 8.3 WAR, 139 wRC

2012: 92 GP, .241/.358/.527, 27 HR, 65 RBI, 64 R, 3.2 WAR, 66 wRC

And now here’s Bill James’ projection for Bautista in 2013:

2013: 153 GP, .259/.377/.529, 39 HR, 99 RBI, 96 R, 110 wRC

While I have a lot of respect for Bill James’ statistical brilliance, and while he’s usually pretty accurate, I feel he may be selling Bautista a little bit short in 2013. I’m going to go ahead and assume Bautista’s wrist is fine, which I have no reason to believe otherwise. James see’s Bautista’s power in ‘13 as being much more similar to ’12 than ’10 or ’11, but I think it makes sense that it would be somewhere in between. Bautista might not Slug over .600 again, but I think he will be a little north of .550, and could also easily eclipse the 40 HR and 100 RBI mark. I think James is probably more accurate when it comes to Bautista’s projected BA and OBP, but it is kind of hard to say for sure. Bautista had an outlying season of .302 BA and .447 OBP when his career numbers suggest he is more like a .260/.360 kind of hitter. It depends on whether you believe the increase was due to progress as a hitter or it was just a fluke. Even still, .260/.378 was good enough to win him the Hank Aaron in 2010.

Another thing that lends itself favorably is Bautista’s walk rate. Bautista may not have the highest Batting Average, but he can flat out get on base. In fact, since 2010 he has more Walks than Strikeouts. Bautista sees a lot of pitches per Plate Appearance (4.21 in ’10, 9^th in MLB; 4.28 in ’11, 6^th in MLB; and 4.28 again in ’12 although he did not qualify for league lead). This patience gets Bautista good balls to hit, which often spells trouble for opposing pitchers if they lack pinpoint control.

The Bautista high leg kick, which is now an integral part of his new and improved timing mechanism.

Just for fun I’ll throw out some of Bill James’ projections in 2013 for the reigning Hank Aaron Award winner in the AL, Miguel Cabrera.

Cabrera 2013: 160 GP, .331/.413/.595, 38 HR, 126 RBI, 107 R, 136 wRC

I wouldn’t bet on anyone vs. “the field” to win the Hank Aaron Award in 2013 or any other year, but Jose Bautista would definitely be in my Top 5 contenders going into the season. It will not be easy with the likes of Cabrera and Mike Trout coming off incredible offensive seasons not to mention the AL also includes the likes of Josh Hamilton. Bautista is capable of a lot though. I think with a great season in 2010, an even better one in 2011, and a little bit of a backslide in 2012, 2013 will be the year we see what Bautista is really made of. Is he a true Superstar, or just the best hitter in Canada?

Jose Bautista doesn’t always eat hotdogs in an empty Rogers Center, but when he does, he wears a suit.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their partners***

Welcome  to our newest Baseball Intern: Ryan Dana:

Ryan Dana is junior studying physical education with a concentration in coaching at Bridgewater State University. He has been playing baseball since he was 7 and coaching since he was 14. Ryan wants to be a college baseball coach once he graduates.  Ryan is, and always will be, a diehard Boston Red Sox fan. Secondary to baseball, he is a big health and fitness enthusiast.  You can find Ryan on Twitterbase. Follow @ryandana1

Please e-mail me  at: mlbreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback.  You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.  To subscribe to our website and have the Daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.

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The Milwaukee Brewers had a modest 2013 season, yielding a 74 – 88 record. They finished 23 games back in the NL Central (ahead of only the Chicago Cubs) which saw three of its five teams reach the playoffs. The farm system cupboards are bare, with not one single top 50 prospect in it’s ranks. A rebuild is necessary but general manager Doug Melvin seems more in tune with adding free agents instead of using home grown youth (Although they do have a few on their current roster). The Brewers are picking a respectable 12th in this years Major League draft, and every effort must be make to start making those picks count, or the club may find themselves on the outside looking in while division opponents Cincinnati and Pittsburgh regularly see post season play.

Milwaukee Brewers State of the Union: A Long Road Ahead

By Robert Villarreal (MLB Reports Columnist):   Follow @RobMVillarreal

Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter  Follow @mlbreports

As recently as 2011, the Brewers held the National League Central Division title.

Historically the fans are still biding their time though, having not seen a pennant since the Brewers were in the American League and won it in 1982.

Milwaukee’s own Robin Yount won the AL MVP that year, but the Brewers inevitably lost out in the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Besides a 2008 Wild Card birth – and a 2011 NLCS appearance – it’s been a rough ride for this ball club for the last 32 years.

Milwaukee Brewers 2013 Highlights

In September of 2004 Mark Attansaio reached a deal on behalf of an investment group to purchase the Milwaukee Brewers from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig for $200 million. A long time lover of the game, he fulfilled a life long dream of owning a Major League Club when in 2005 during the Winter meetings, his investment groups purchase of the Brewers was approved. He thinks very highly of general manager Doug Melvin (2011 MLB Executive of the Year) and manager Ron Roenicke and hopes that together, they can bring another pennant to Milwaukee and also that elusive first World Series win.

The Brewers actually have a really decent set up as far as both pitching rotation and position players are concerned. Here’s a look at what’s going on with the roster that we know will be around in April.

Jonathan Lucroy will fill the catchers’ duties for most games this season. He hit a decent .280 last season (4th best in the entire MLB amongst catchers) with 18 HRs and 82 RBIs. He’ll get an occasional day off from Martin Maldonado.

Juan Francisco is the most likely candidate to man 1st, although Maldonado (back-up catcher) has played a few games there and the recent signing of Lyle Overbay will make the competition interesting when the Brewers report for spring training February 15.

Francisco’s .733 OPS in 89 Games for Milwuakee does not look that great – however he did club 13 HRs and 32 RBI in just – 240 AB.  If he can duplicate those power numbers, he could go 25 – 30 HRs and 85 – 90 RBI for a full campaign.

Overbay is a career .240 hitter, so it’s yet to be seen if he can turn around the meager .227 he hit in 2013.

Ryan “Scooter” Gennett made a huge splash last season when he came up to the Major Leagues and appeared in 69 games for Milwaukee.

The young speedster seems to have already carved out a spot for himself at 2B and after hitting a very respectable .324 last season, don’t expect it to be relinquished anytime soon.

Gennett shoud be given every opportunity for the spot, even though the Brewers are forking out $11 MIL – for a downward spiraling Rickie Weeks.

Ramirez has 816 Extra Base Hits by the age of 35 – including 80 in 2012 (1st in the NL) – but managed another 30 XBH this past year in 2013 after battling health. The long time veteran has been battling knee problems for years, and it sidelined him for 70 games during the 2013 campaign. The Brew Crew desperately needs a healthy campaign in 2014 out of him, as he is the highest paid player of the club at $16 MIL next year.  If he can have a great start, but the club struggles, he could potentially net the franchise a great return as a trade chip near the deadline.

Aramis Ramirez is the most likely candidate to field the “hot corner” in Milwaukee this season. Regardless of being injured for some of 2013, his numbers are steadily dropping off since his better years of 2005-07.

Unfortunately for the Brewers, his back-up Jeff Bianchi isn’t full time starter capable. The only other good choice is to move Francisco over to 3rd and have Overbay start as 1st. This position is going to give the Brewers some fits in 2014.

Jean Segura was undoubtedly the break out star for the Brewers last season. An athletic and speedy SS, he hit .294 in 2013 while also swiping 43 bases in 146 games.

Given a full season to work with, you could expect 15 -20 HRs and 50+ SB if given the opportunity.

Khris Davis is expect to earn the LF job in spring training. He came up last season and did a good job overall in both fielding and hitting, with a decent .279 BA in only 136 ABs.

21 Extra base Hits among his totals – for a .949 OPS will be tough to duplicate over a full campaign, but if he can match Gomez for power production, it will be quite the raking outfield in 2014.

His challenger may be Kentrail Davis.

Although his resume only included Minor League games, he’s still quite impressive. Another speed guy in Milwaukee’s line-up, since 2010 he’s amassed 95 2Bs, 32 3Bs, and 89 SBs.

Carlos Gomez is the rare combination of good defensive CF and hitter with power, putting up 24 HRs and 40 SB in 2013. The 28 Year Old OF also rounded his 2013 campaign with a Gold Glove, while finishing 9th in NL MVP Voting.

it looks really great that the franchise extended him from 2014 – 2016, for the sum of $24 MIL total.  This is a nice value deal when you factor he is only one of about a dozen guys that went 20+ HRs/20+ SB last year.

He’ll be backed up by Logan Schafer, a solid utility OF who can step in and play any day at any OF position. His batting is somewhat lacking, but the ability to play so many positions is very useful.

Ryan Braun, the face of this ball club, is the starter in RF. Greeted warmly at the team’s convention recently, a multitude of fans gathered for autographs. Speaking to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, Braun said that he has felt embraced in Milwaukee since his suspension, insisting he had only one “challenging conversation” with a fan while calling around last year to apologize to season-ticket holders. “It wasn’t surprising in any way,” Braun said of that one tough talk. “I made a mistake; I made a big mistake. I don’t expect everybody to be supportive or everybody to be understanding or everybody to understand where I was coming from. I certainly didn’t anticipate the amount of support I received.” Before the Biogenesis scandal took center stage, he was hitting .298 with 9 HRs and 38 RBIs. Expect those numbers to climb dramatically and be much closer to his career .312 average, and tack on 30-40 HRs.

The Brewers pitching has been their Achilles heel for generations, but this season things are looking up.

For the second straight year, Melvin waited until the market cooled for its Starting Pitcher – to pick up a Veteran Hurler.  2012 it was Lohse, and 2013 it was Matt Garza.

Kyle Lohse was the gem of the Free Agent pitching market last season. His 2013 in Milwaukee wasn’t as good as his 2012 in St. Louis, but don’t expect that to get him down. 3.35 is still a very good and enviable ERA. He will remain Milwaukee’s Ace.

Matt Garza, most recently of the Texas Rangers, will slide into the number two spot of the rotation. More of a “hurler” than a finesse pitcher, he eclipsed the 1000 SO mark last season; Not too shabby for only having 1,182.1 innings under his belt.

Yovani Gallardo has been a full time starter for Milwaukee for five straight season and is a staple in this rotation. He and Garza are very similar pitchers, as Gallardo also hit the 1000 SO mark last season, but in roughly 85 less innings.

Gallardo has been very dependable, as he’s started at least 30 games in every season since 2009.

Willy Peralta and Marco Estrada will fill out the five-man rotation.

With a 4.11 and 4.17 ERA (respectively) they’re good, but not great, starters. However when it comes down to a 4th and 5th starter, they aren’t bad choices either. Just hope for some offensive help on those days.

The top 5 Starters are all under team contract for the next 2 years, so at least there is a chance at some solidarity.  Much has been said about possibly trading Gallardo.

If the club is out of contention for near the Deadline, plus Gallardo is throwing well, look for the team to try and trade him.  They can always promote some of their own talent to fill the void.

Guys like: Mike Fiers ( 22 Game Starts and a 3.74 ERA) and Tyler Thornburg (1.73 ERA in 4 Game Starts in 2013) may see some time at starting games – but are probably better suited for late inning work this coming season – at least to begin the year.

The Milwaukee Brewers Bullpen was a bit under the radar for the 2013 campaign, mustering a 26 – 28 record, with a 3rd best NL ERA of 3.19.

This years relief core loses Burke Badenhop and Francisco Rodriguez, however they have Tyler Thornburg for a full year (2.03 ERA in 66.2 IP), stalwart Tom Gorzelanny  (2.70 ERA in 36.2 Relief Innings) is back for another season – while Brandon Kintzler (2.69 ERA in 77 IP for 2013) will also contribute.

Jim Henderson (read caption below) will anchor the 9th inning.  The Brew Crew could also see Thornburg see some action as a Starter if one of the other guys goes down.

Milwaukee will pin its hopes a lot on Ramirez and Ryan Braun coming back to have star like seasons, for this team to propel into a playoff race.

Jim Henderson is the gem of this ball club’s relief staff. In 2013, he tosses 60 innings with a whisper thin 2.70 ERA. His 28/32 saves is fairly respectable when you look at Milwaukee’s offense last season. Expect bigger numbers in 2014 with an upgraded young, speedy squad doing the hitting.  The 31 Year Old Canadian took over the reigns of the team from fellow countrymen John Axford after the 2012 season.

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A big thank-you goes out to our ‘MLB Columnist’ Robert Villarreal for preparing today’s featured article.

Robert is an avid sports blogger pursuing a dream to write about sports and to be a sports radio personality one day.

A Rockford, IL native, he’s a graduate of Kishwaukee College and lover of all things Chicago. He lives in Loves Park, IL with his wife and two children, and is involved in fundraising for YMCA charities.

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Now that we’ve taken a look at how Alan Trammell stacks up against other shortstops in the Hall, let’s take a look at how he stacks up against Shortstops in the Hall from his era which include Robin Yount, Cal Ripken Jr., Ozzie Smith, and then specifically against Barry Larkin as he was not in the Hall at the the time this was originally written.

I took a look at standard Hall of Fame stats as well as some simple Sabermetrics and then others like awards, games played at other positions, etc. Finally I took a look at Baseball-Reference.com’s who are they most like for their career. Take a look at how Tram faired…

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An old well-known expression is “April showers bring May flowers.”  On May 1, 1975, the Milwaukee Brewers showered hits all over Milwaukee County Stadium in a 17-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.  Every Brewers starter reached base that day, but it was also one of the rare times that both Hank Aaron and Robin Yount went ballistic on the opposition in the same game.

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This weekend the Milwaukee Brewers honored the 1982 World Series team with special promotions and ceremonies.  I’ve done my fair share of reminiscing of that team over the weekend, and it got me thinking…what exactly were the Brewers up to on these dates in 1982?

I vaguely remembered some of the details from the research for my Brewers book, but started revisiting that specific era (July 14-16, 1982) again to put myself back in the right frame of mind for this blog post.  So here are the details…

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Robin Yount said on the leadup to his 3000^th hit that it wasn’t going to be a big deal.  The man who took more pride in his Milwaukee Brewers winning ballgames than personal stats found out he was wrong – the 3000 hit plateau was a huge deal.  On September 9, 1992, a crowd of 47,589 packed Milwaukee County Stadium to see history made when Yount became the 17^th MLB player to reach the mark.  He tied Roberto Clemente for 16^th on the list.

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The Brewers are 1 – 9 in their last 10 games. They have had the biggest swings in win streaks and then losing streaks. The club has played 21 games at home versus 14 on the road.