The All-Brewers Team: Positional Players

It has been a long time coming, but it is finally here. The All-Brewers team is up and running, and submitted respectfully for your consideration.

There isn’t a lot more to go over, and to be honest I have been stuck to my laptop pouring over stats and writing drafts for far too long. So I’ll dispense the filler and show you the roster.

Catcher – BJ Surhoff (1987-1995) (VOTER’S CHOICE)

This was interesting, because going into the debate, we were settled that it was going to be either Dave Nilsson or Ted Simmons. Then BJ popped up into the mix again, and you guys and gals ran with it and made him your pick for the All-Time Catcher. Here’s what we said about him in the poll:

William James Surhoff was drafted by Milwaukee out of North Carolina in the 1985 draft. In his nine seasons with the club, he played 704 games behind the plate – more than any other Brewer besides Charlie Moore. He had quite a long career, playing 19 seasons in the Majors before calling it quits in 2005. During his tenure for the Brewers, he averaged .274 at the plate and racked up 1064 hits. His performances were always solid both at the plate and at defense. There’s a strong argument to be made that if he did not stay at catcher in his early days in Milwaukee, he easily could have made 3,000 hits.

1st Base – Cecil Cooper (1977-1987)

Cecil Came to the Crew in the winter of ’76 from a trade with the Boston Red Sox. For the next eleven years, Cecil was a staple at 1st base, playing a Brewers record 1,257 games for the position. During that time, he was voted on to five all-star teams, won two gold gloves, three silver sluggers, the 1983 Roberto Clemente Award and if I’m not mistaken, he got nominated for an Oscar at some point in there as well. He was a career .302 Hitter in Milwaukee, with 201 homers and 994 RBI’s. He almost didn’t win our vote, though. Here’s Lou with the reason Prince didn’t get the crown at 1st.

This has to be Cecil Cooper.  Prince Fielder is a great player and will probably go down as one of the greatest sluggers we have ever had, but he lacks the playoff prowess of Cecil.  These are two amazing players, but I have to use the playoff numbers to determine the best in franchise history. Coop was money during the ’82 World Series, hitting a home run with 6 RBI’s.  Fielder has great regular season numbers, but that lone playoff appearance was one to forget for the big guy.  To put it in perspective, Prince had 1 hit in 14 at-bats during the 2008 NLDS series with the Phillies (.071 BA).    That is what knocks him to 2nd on my all time Brewers list.

2nd Base – Jim Gantner (1976 – 1992)

Jim Gantner was a career Brewer in every sense of the word. He played 1,449 games at second base, more than Rickie Weeks, Fernando Vina, and Ronnie Belliard combined. He was always solid and always there. I think Lou summed it up best:

Not even a conversation here.  17 years as a Brewer, career .274 hitter.  In the 1982 World Series, Gantner hit .333 with 4 doubles.  No one in Brewers history is even close to Gumby Gantner.

3rd Base -Paul Molitor (1978-1992)

Paul Molitor.  End of discussion.  The guy had 2,200 hits in a Brewers uniform, not to mention that his career playoffs on base percentage is .435!!!  No one else should be at the hot corner for the Brewers, other than  #4.

I couldn’t say it any better than Lou has. But it won’t stop me from trying. Paul Molitor was an incredible player, to say the very least. He was as versatile on defense as he was punishing on offense. In his 15 seasons with the club he played 2nd base, 3rd base, shortstop, left, center and right field. He also batted at the DH spot. If you loaned him a suit, I’m sure he could have done the team’s taxes too. He was a career .302 batter with the Brewers, and his postseason batting average is .368. When Toronto won the series, he hit .500 in 6 games. That doesn’t pertain much to our argument here, but it’s pretty awesome. He did hit .355 in the ’82 Series as well. The man’s in Cooperstown as a Brewer, so there’s no argument he deserves to be on the list. It’s just a wonder that Milwaukee couldn’t have more success with him and Robin on the roster.

Outfielders –

Geoff Jenkins (1998-2007)

To say the very least, this outfield is pretty stacked. We’ve been blessed in Milwaukee with a lot of talented outfielders, so this might have been the longest discussion that didn’t go to a vote. We’ll start with what I’m sure is the most controversial pick in Jenks. I felt Geoff’s presence on the team was warranted because he represents an era in Brewers baseball that many would just as soon forget. But Jenkins was a solid offensive staple – batting .277 with 212 HR’s in 10 seasons –  and a talented defender. He also personified that work-a-day attitude that so many Milwaukee fans admire. His time in Milwaukee may not remembered as the brightest days, but he certainly was one of the brightest stars.

Geoff Jenkins was really the only offensive threat we had on the team for an entire decade.  Interesting fact about Geoff, he never broke the 100 RBI mark for a season and still managed to rack up over 700 RBI’s in his time with the Crew.

Gorman Thomas (1973-1983, ’86)

Stormin’ Gorman Thomas. He wasn’t a superstar per se, but don’t tell die-hard Brewer fans that. He was productive, powerful, great on defense, and all-around great character for the Crew. He led the AL in Home Runs twice, racking up 208 in his 11 seasons at County Stadium. You simply cannot talk about great Brewers without talking about Gorman.

Lou noted: Gorman Thomas was not just a ball player, but an icon for this team during the early 80’s. He spent 11 seasons in Milwaukee, racking up over 200 HR’s and 600 RBI’s.

Ryan Braun (2007-Present)

Of course Ryan Braun is on this team because his career stat line looks like this; .307 batting average, 128 HR’s. 420 RBI’s, and a .554 slugging percentage.  Pretty impressive considering he has not even played 4 full seasons yet.

The Hebrew Hammer – which Ryan Braun may or may not accept as his official nickname – has by far and away the most potential of any Brewer player today, and possibly in the entire league. He’s already a perennial all-star, Rookie of the Year, and has 3 Silver Sluggers under this t-shirt – which he designs by the way. The guy’s a stud in the field, and a pretty good guy off the field as well. He is on this team because – at this point – could you imagine a team without him?

Designated Hitter – Prince Fielder (2005-Present) (VOTER’S CHOICE)

Prince is the man with the bat in Milwaukee for the last five years, and it was almost no question he would end up here when the voting closed. He’s your guy at DH, so he doesn’t need a lot of arguing on our parts, but here’s Lou’s take:

After looking at our all Brewers squad, we have a lot of good guys, but we are missing that powerhouse slugger.  So my vote for all Brewers DH goes to Prince Fielder.  Let’s face it, if we were an AL team, you can bet your sweet arse that we would be working twice as hard to keep Prince.  In 6 seasons he has 192 HR’s and 536 RBI’s.  His value as a DH will grow as he gets older, but having his bat in this line-up would make this team a real force to be reckoned with.

There’s your starting lineup for the All-Brewers Squad, and I must say it looks impressive. Thanks to Lou for all the help and some good debates, thank you to the readers who voted, and thanks to baseball-reference.com for the stat assists. Did we get it right? Let us know how you think things stacked up in the comments section. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to try and stretch my fingers out before we get the All-Brewers Pitchers and Utility team up this weekend.