Brewers Pile Up 106 Wins in 1982 Season Replay

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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Brewers Reach 55 Wins by '82 All-star Break

With a 13th-inning walk-off three-run home run by Gorman Thomas, the Brewers cruised into the 1982 all-star break with an 8-5 win over the Braves and a 55-30 record.

The Brewers closed the first-half of this APBA baseball season replay on a two-game win streak, defeating the Braves for the second straight day. Jim Slaton earned his eighth victory with three innings of scoreless relief.

Meanwhile, fans voted shortstop Robin Yount and first-baseman Cecil Cooper into the starting lineup for the American League all-stars. They will be joined in Montreal by teammates Paul Molitor, Ben Oglivie, Pete Vuckovich and Rollie Fingers.

The Brewers' league-leading offensive attack has been led by the one-two punch of Molitor and Yount. Molitor already has tallied 74 runs, 17 home runs, 24 stolen bases and a .337 batting average. Likewise, Yount has piled up MVP numbers including a .354 batting average, 57 runs, 66 RBI, 29 doubles and 14 home runs.

While Cooper started the season slowly, the all-star is now batting .312 with 58 RBI and 13 home runs.

The Brewers have already crushed 115 home runs, led by Oglivie with 22. Thomas and designated hitter Don Money have added 15 homers apiece. Money also is batting .325 and has driven in 46 runs in the cleanup spot.

With his 12-2 record, Vuckovich leads a pitching staff that has a combined 3.30 ERA. Among the starters, Moose Haas is 9-4; Randy Lerch stands at 7-4 and Mike Caldwell is even at 6-6. In addition to his eight wins, Slaton has compiled three saves while pitching mostly in relief.

Fingers, the all-star and future hall-of-famer, has four wins to go along with his 15 saves.

To this point, the Brewers have compiled a 28-14 record at home and are 27-16 on the road. The Brew Crew has amassed a 16-9 record so far in interleague play. (The AL Brewers' schedule was tweaked to include 48 interleague games, four against each of the 12 National League squads.)

This Brewers team, my favorite all-time, started quickly in this replay, sweeping the Blue Jays and winning their first five games. They built up a 12-5 record in April, followed by a 20-9 record in May. They went 17-11 in June and are 6-5 so far in July.

Among the season highlights so far:

April 9 -- The Brewers opened the season with a 10-0 win in Toronto on opening day. Vuckovich tossed the day one shutout. The offense included three-run homers by Yount and Thomas and a two-run shot by Molitor.

April 21 -- Money hits a two-run walk-off home run to down the Blue Jays 3-2. Buck Martinez had hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth to put Toronto ahead.

April 22 -- For the second straight day, the Brewers win 5-3on a two-run walk-off home run, this time by Oglivie in the bottom of the 10th inning versus the Blue Jays.

April 28 -- Second-baseman Jim Gantner led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a game-typing solo home run. Later in the inning, Cooper drove in Yount with the winning run. The Brewers hit four homers in the game, a 7-6 win over the White Sox.

May 1 -- Oglivie hits a pair of home runs in a 9-1 win over the Twins. Vuckovich throws a six-hitter.

May 2 -- Roy Howell hits a two-run homer in the 13th inning for a 4-3 win over the Twins.

May 6 -- The Brewers destroy the Cardinals 11-1 as Vuckovich gets another complete game win.

May 9 -- Gantner is the hero again, hitting one to the wall to drive in a pair of runs for a 6-5 win in the bottom of the 11th inning against the Twins. Gantner went 3-for-5 with a double, home run and four RBI.

May 15 -- Haas shuts out the Cubs 6-0, defeating hall-of-famer Fergie Jenkins.

May 23 -- Money hits a pair of homers in a 10-2 blowout of the Mariners. Molitor and Thomas also hit round-trippers.

May 27 -- Cooper and Money hit back-to-back homers to defeat the Angels 3-2 in Anaheim. Vuckovich gets the win, with a save by Fingers.

June 2 -- Oglivie's two-run homer in the 11th inning propels the Brewers to a 3-1 win over the Astros in the Astrodome.

June 8 -- Every batter in the lineup gets at least one hit in the Brewers' 7-1 win over the Orioles. Lerch gets the win.

June 9 -- Thomas gets a walk-off bases-loaded walk to defeat the Orioles 6-5. The free pass was the third in a row by O's reliever Tim Stoddard.

June 18 -- Yount and Cooper go a combined 8-for-9 with five runs, four RBI and four doubles in an 8-6 win over the Tigers.

June 19 -- Haas shuts out the Tigers on three hits for a 1-0 win at old Tiger Stadium. Oglivie hit a solo home run in the ninth inning against his former team for the only score.

June 23 -- The Crew scores seven runs in the bottom of the first inning off Mike Morgan on their way to a 9-1 win over the Yankees.

July 4 -- The Brewers complete a three-game sweep of the Red Sox with an 8-2 win on Independence Day.

July 7 -- Molitor hits a leadoff home run as the Brewers pound the Padres 13-6. Yount scored three runs and drove in five with a double, triple and a home run.

July 9 -- The Expos rally to score three runs, including two off Fingers, in the ninth inning to drop the Brewers 4-3. D'oh!

July 11 -- The Brewers pound out 19 hits in a 12-3 victory over the Braves, including a triple and a home run by Yount, who scored two and drove in five.

Note: Check out the Brewers' up-to-date stats here.

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