The Brewers raced to a fast start and never let up on the gas as they cruised to a 106-56 record in this 1982 APBA Baseball Game season replay.
As in real life, the Brewers pounded opponents with their hitting and had plenty of pitching -- especially with the late-season addition of Don Sutton -- to assure Milwaukee the AL East Division title. They outscored their opponents 844-630!
The Brew Crew put an exclamation point on their season by finishing with a three-game road sweep of their closest division rivals, the Baltimore Orioles. The sweep included a 15-5 demolition and a ninth-inning come from behind victory.
Trailing 4-2 in their last at bat, second baseman Jim Gantner led off the inning with a single, followed by a home run by catcher Charlie Moore. After a triple by Marshall Edwards, third baseman/leadoff hitter supreme Paul Molitor drove him in with a single. Pete Vuckovich wrapped up his 22nd win with a one, two, three-out bottom of the ninth.
It's no wonder Vuckovich earned the Cy Young Award, going 22-3 with a 2.76 ERA. He pitched 251 innings in 30 starts, with 17 complete games. Mike Caldwell and Moose Haas contributed 16 wins apiece. Sutton compiled a 5-1 record in his six starts after arriving from Houston.
The bullpen was led by Hall-of-Famer Rollie Fingers, who went 7-9 with 29 saves. Jim Slaton added 3 saves along with his 10-5 record; Dwight Bernard also had 3 saves and a 7-2 win/loss tally.
In the replay, all-star shortstop Robin Yount nearly duplicated his MVP stat line -- batting .346, scoring 124 runs, driving in 117, and smacking 54 doubles, 14 triples and 26 home runs! Molitor, The Igniter, lived up to his nickname, batting .343 and scoring 140 runs! His stats included 230 hits, 86 RBI, 29 doubles, 27 home runs and 42 stolen bases.
First baseman Cecil Cooper and left fielder Ben Oglivie anchored the middle of the lineup. Cooper batted .304 in the three spot, scoring 100 runs, and driving in 115 with 42 doubles and 22 home runs. Oglivie led the team in home runs with 45, matching Cooper with 115 RBI and 101 runs scored.
Center fielder Gorman Thomas contributed 93 RBI, with 27 home runs and 37 doubles. The bottom of the order did its share of damage as well. Catcher Ted Simmons batted .258 with 12 home runs and 67 RBI; Gantner batted .331, scoring 61 and driving in 57; and part-time designated hitter Don Money batted .323 with 16 homers and 59 RBI.
As a team, the Brewers batted a stellar .284, with 202 home runs, a .330 on-base percentage and a .453 slugging percentage. Here's a link to all the stats.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the 1982 Brewers World Series squad is my most favorite, having grown up in Milwaukee. It's surprising it took this long to get to a season replay. I've been playing APBA baseball since 1976.
This is the third season replay I've completed this year, the others being the 2008 Brewers playoff team and the 1969 Cubs, who also managed to win more than 100 games in my replay.
In replaying the 1982 Brewers I used the team's actual starting pitching rotation and opponents' starting lineups. I kept pitchers close of their actual innings pitched; and batters close to their actual number of plate appearances. I also mixed in an interleague schedule, with four games against each of the National League squads.The Brewers went 32-16 against the NL.
I'm looking forward to replaying the 1982 World Series against the Cardinals, who defeated the Brewers in three out of four games during the replay. One twist I plan for the Series is including Rollie Fingers, who missed the actual World Series due to injury. What the heck, it's my replay!
Note: As always, here's a link to my Brewers replay stats ...
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