Brewers HOF News: Farewell, Jeromy Burnitz

It certainly wasn’t shocking, but in case anyone was wondering, former Milwaukee Brewer (and Pirate, and Dodger, and Rockie, and Met, and Cub, and Indian) Jeromy Burnitz did not make the 2012 class of the Hall of the Fame.

He failed to receive a single vote, thus falling short of the necessary 5% of votes required to stay on the ballot. One year on, and one year off. We didn’t even get a chance to start a grassroots twitter campaign or anything. What a shame.

He might not be a hall of famer, but this is a good opportunity to review the career of one of Milwaukee’s fan favorites. Burnitz spent 14 seasons in the Major Leagues, and six of those were right here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His most productive days were spent in County Stadium and Miller Park – where he averaged .268 at the plate and slugged .507. He wasn’t a great contact batter, but he had a great power swing and remains to this day one of the best big bats in Brewers history by the numbers. There was never a chance that he was going to Cooperstown, but I hope that some people had the opportunity to appreciate the fact that Burnitz, for the most part, was the single bright spot on a team that had nothing to show for the better part of a decade.

We here at Reviewing the Brew would also like to congratulate Barry Larkin on his lone induction to the 2012 class to the Hall of Fame. Larkin was a fantastic player, the league’s first 30/30 shortstop and a very classy individual. Visit our Fansided NL Central friends at Blog Red Machine for more on the man who is, in more ways than one, in a class by himself.