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.

2. Teddy Higuera (1985-1994)

Teddy Higuera was one of the first the Brewers I remember actually seeing at a game. It was right around 1994, so it was near the end of his nine season stint in Milwaukee. At the time, it didn’t register just what a talent we had on that rotation, but hindsight is always 20/20. Even though he was plagued by injuries throughout his career, he managed to start 205 games, 50 of which were complete games and 12 shutouts. He was a deftly talented pitcher and a real key to success during the mid ‘8os. In 1988 he was averaging 6.2 Hits per 9 innings, and led the American League with a WHIP of .999! That’s pretty incredible, and should be enough to get him on this list alone. Lou has more:

Teddy Higuera – The Yankee Killer himself.  For a 5 year stretch, from the 1985 season until 1990, there was no one better than Teddy.  Higuera was an undrafted free agent from Mexico, Ted went from undrafted to Rookie of the Year in one season.  15-8 with a 3.90 ERA in your rookie season will get you noticed.  TYK is in the history books for being the first Mexican-born pitcher to win 20 games in a season.  Sadly, his career was cut short due to a horrific list of injuries (back, both ankles, rotator cuff).  I try not to think about what might have been… However, Teddy deserves to be in the number 2 spot in our rotation (does not hurt that he is a lefty).

3. Bill Wegman (1985-1995)

This decision has sentimental value for me, but that is not why he made this rotation.  With Bill Wegman, you did not get a guy with terrific stuff (see Caldwell and Higuera), but you got an absolute fighter and work-horse.  Billy spent his entire 11 year career in a Brewers uniform.  I personally watched him go head to head with Nolan Ryan (in his prime) and get a no decision.  Wegman was a guy who only had one great statistical season.  In 1991 he went 15-7 with a 2.84 ERA.  The very next season, he had a 3.20 ERA…but his record was 13-14…and he pitched 60 more innings than he did in 1991.  Number 46 is not in this rotation because he was an amazing statistical pitcher.  The guy is on this list because every rotation needs this guy.  A guy you can count on to chew up innings and always keep your team within striking distance.

We said starting out on his endeavor that we were looking for consistent success in our pitchers. Bill Wegman may not have the numbers of a Hall of Fame guy,but he was a model of consistency. His career WAR was 16.2, and he also lands in the club’s all time top ten for wins (82), WHIP (1.29), strikeouts (696) and games started (219). He hurled 33 complete games in his time in Milwaukee, with most of them coming in the latter part of his career, a real testament the kind of attitude he brought to the team.

4. C.C. Sabathia

I have a dilemma. On the one hand, CC more than has the chops necessary to be on an All-Time team on basically any roster – even if he didn’t play for the team. On the other hand, Sabathia only started a paltry 17 games in Brewers history.  Granted those games were phenomenal – posting 11 wins with a 1.65 ERA and 128 K’s. It is hard to deny him a spot on any team, as he is most certainly headed to Cooperstown when he hangs up his cleats. As it stands however, we have to look at an entire career to make the case for limited spots on the team. And while CC definitely pitched us into the postseason in Milwaukee, he also helped to pitch us out of it. So CC deserves the spot, absolutely, but limited starts and whatever you wanted to call his playoff performance is what drops him down to number 4 in the rotation.

Clearly this decision is based on the role he will play in Brewers folklore.  No Brewers fan can deny him the right to be a part of this pitching staff.  What that guy did for this baseball team can not be measured in units known to the common man.  CC gave us something we had not had in my entire life, a chance to play in the playoffs.  I was born in 1983, so I had waited for CC for just over 25 years.  We all knew that he was nothing more than a “rent-a-player” but we didn’t care.  In the three and a half months we were fortunate enough to watch him work, Sabathia went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA.  As long as we don’t look at what he did in the Phillies series, we can all remember him the way he was in August, September, and…..parts of October.  Plus, it worked out that he is also a lefty…….see you all thought Colin would only put the best 5 pitchers.  He is building a rotation that would make Zeus poop the bed.

5. Ben Sheets (2001-2008)

The Golden Boy spent 8 seasons on the mound in Milwaukee as a highly qualified and highly talented ace on the Brewers staff during a time when Milwaukee had little to speak of in terms of pitching (or batting)(or fielding) quality. he has one of the highest Was Above Replacement in Brewers history with 23.8. Benji had an unfortunate history in Milwaukee, as injuries kept him from turning into a much better pitcher than he already was – which is pretty damn good. At the top of his career in Milwaukee in 2007-08, he had 25 wins in 55 starts, and averaged around 7 strikeouts a game. So cheers to Ben Sheets, number five in the rotation, number one in our hearts.

When this guy was healthy, he was almost unhittable.  For his career he averaged 10 K’s every 9 innings.  Sheets holds the team record for most strikeouts in a single season, 264.  His career strikeout-to-walk ratio was almost 4!!  Ben knew how to get people swinging at that 2-seam fastball.  The 2008 season really was the perfect storm for the pitching staff.  Having CC and a healthy Sheets, must have been a gift from 6 pound, 7 ounce baby Jesus.  Another pitcher robbed of his potential by that damned injury bug.  Curse you injury bug!!!!   Ben finished his career in Milwaukee with over 1,200 strikeouts and 86 wins in a Brewers uni.  He is a perfect final punch to this rotation.

Bob Wickman (1996-2000)

Another throwback to the forgotten era in Milwaukee, Bob Wickman was a Wisconsin boy and a bit of a journeyman. He spent five years back in the Dairyland, which was long enough to rack up 79 of his career 267 saves. He pitched a total of 315 innings, with a WAR of 6.7. Fun fact, in two ALDS appearances with 4 innings pitched, he has an ERA of 0.00, with 5 strikeouts. Imagine if we had that kind of performance against the Phillies.

Let’s set aside the fact that Wickman was born in Green Bay and graduated from UW-Whitewater.  Wickman is without a doubt, one of the best relievers in the history of the game.  He made more appearances and more strikeouts in a Brewers uniform than with any other team(CLE, NYY, ATL, ARI, MIL).  For his career, he pitched over 1,00 innings and posted a 3.57 ERA.  We were lucky to have him.

Closing Time

There is something so iconic about the closer – the closer coming into a game is like everything amazing about baseball wrapped up into one moment. Imagine the stones you need to have in order to perform under the pressure of holding a win in your hands. It’s enough to make me pee in my pants, and I’m just watching the games. So my hat goes off to the closer, and in particular to this one:

Rollie Fingers (1981-82, ’84-85)

Come on, who else were we going to pick? That iconic high kick, delivery, and of course the mustache made him a living legend in the Brew City. Rollie had 97 saves in Milwaukee, a 1.08 WHIP and 196 strikeouts in 259 innings of work. Not a bad resume off the bat, but then add 7 All Star Nods (2 in Milwaukee) and the fact that he is 10th all time in saves. He ought to be baseball’s All-Time closer, not just for the Brewers.

Not sure how it could have been anyone else.  Rollie had a mustache that could kill a jackal.  1981, his first season in Milwaukee he does not do too much…oh wait, he wins the AL MVP award as a closing pitcher!!!!!!  He received 81% of the vote.  Oh, he won the Al Cy Young, too.  Sadly for us, he is enshrined in Canton, Ohio as a member of the Oakland A’s (it’s cool, he won a world series there).  We retired his number (34) in 1992.  Truly one of the greatest Brewers ever.

Well there’s the bullpen, all filled out and ready to start tossing. Think we did a good job? Think we messed up? Let us know in the comment board. Keep an eye out for the All-Time Utility team coming up soon, and check out the All-Time Positional Team as well. I need to go ice up before I start typing again.