All-Brewers Team: The Pitchers

The Second installment of the All-Brewers team is here, and it is every bit as important as the positional players, maybe more so.

Pitchers in Milwaukee may not have always been Hall of Fame Caliber flamethrowers or strikeout specialists, but if one thing defines our list it’s consistency. These pitchers performed for years with a steady, successful track record that helped give their teams a winning chance every day they stepped on the mound.

So without further ado, we present the All-Brewers Pitching squad, submitted respectfully for your consideration.

Starting Pitchers

The Milwaukee Brewers have had 89 different pitchers start games in the franchise’s 4o-plus years of baseball. In those years, there were plenty of excellent hurlers and dozens of exceptional games that deserve an honored place in

the team’s history. Unfortunately, only 5 starting pitchers were given the spot on the All-Brewers Team.

1. Mike Caldwell (1977-1984)

Some of you are probably scratching your head wondering, “who is this Mike Caldwell guy?”.  If you are, you have no reason being on this website.

For casual Brewers observers, I’m sure your knee-jerk reaction is ‘huh?’ He certainly isn’t a household name by any stretch, but let me school you in just how good Caldwell was over the 8 years in Milwaukee. As a starting pitcher, Mike Caldwell has a career WAR (Wins above replacement) at 15.9, good for 5th on the Brewers All-Time List. He is second all time in Brewer Wins with 102, with 81 complete games and 18 shutouts. He pitched just a hair over 1600 innings in his eight season stint with the Brewers, and he was a model of consistency in pitching. He wasn’t always flashy, but he came ready to play whenever his turn was up in the rotation, which is just the kind of quality you’d look for in a staff ace, even though he never had the number spot in the rotation.

In his first season with the Brewers (’78), his record was 22-9 and he threw 23 complete games!!! That is not a typo.  He finished his career in Milwaukee with 81 complete games.  No pitcher in this team’s history is better built or more prepared to take the mound in Game 1 of a fictional All-Team….team playoff.  Without a question one of the most un-heralded pitchers in Brewers history, but Colin and I could only let that stand for so long.  Congrats Mike, just stay away from rebounds.