All-Brewers Team: Utility Guys

So, after weeks of work, it has come to this: the final addition to the All-Time Brewers team. It has been a while, so feel free to take in the Positional and Pitching teams before diving in to this section of the roster. We’ll wait.

The utility team was an idea I cooked up during the debates we were having about our positional team, as I realized that there were way too many players we wanted to mention, but simply couldn’t fit on the roster. So rather than simply a team filled with also-rans, the All-Utility team is a celebration of the hometown heroes. These are the players that may have not been the All-Stars or elite players, but without them being a Milwaukee Brewers fan just wouldn’t be the same.

So sit back and page through some of our favorites, and don’t be afraid to add some of your favorites to the comment section, as always discussion is welcomed and encouraged.

We will start with Lou’s selections, a group of five varied and talented players from across the eras of Milwaukee Brewers history.

P- Pete Vuckovich

The two healthy seasons he had in Milwaukee were nothing short of Disney magic.  Vuck came over in the same trade that brought us Rollie Fingers and Ted Simmons…maybe the greatest trade ever for this team.

Vuck won the Cy Young in 1982, his 18-6 record was the best in the majors.  In his 5 years with Milwaukee he posted a 40-26 record with a 3.88 ERA.  Sadly, all but 8 of those wins came in ’81 and ’82.  Before the start of the ’83 season, Brewers team doctor’s discovered Vuck had a torn rotator cuff.  That was pretty much the end of Pete Vuckovich’s career.  He started 22 games in 1985, but was no where near the dominator he had been just two season prior.  Let us also remeber his EPIC portrayal of Yakee’s power hitter Clu Heyward in Major League.

OF – Ben Oglivie

This is a guy who really hit his stride once he came to Milwaukee.  Ben kicked tires with the Red Sox and the Tigers before finally getting a chance to play everyday in Milwaukee.  To say he capitalized on that opportunity, would be a gross understatement.  The original “Big Ben” went crazy in County Stadium.  His 41 HR outburst in 1980 got him some hardware: an All-Star appearance and the Silver Slugger Award.  Ben spent 9 seasons in Milwaukee, during that time he accumulated over 1100 hits, 175 HR’s, 685 RBI’s, and a .277 BA.  Lest we forget about his glove!!  In his 16 year MLB career he posted a stunning .980 fielding percentage.  He averaged less than 5 errors per season for his entire career.

C – Dave Nilsson

Maybe the greatest Aussie ballplayer of all time.  Granted, there are not very many on the list to begin with, but Nilsson is the only Australian to ever play in the MLB All-Star game.  Why do I like Dave so much?  Probably because he was one of the hardest working guys I have ever watched with my own two eyes.  His career started at Catcher, but due to injuries (both to Nilsson and his teammates), he ended up playing 1B, DH, LF, and Catcher during his 8 seasons with the Brewers.  This guy was my choice to be the starting Catcher for the All-Brewer team, but you all liked B.J Surhoff better.  Dave finished his career with 105 HR’s and an impressive .284 career batting average.  He was also a part of the first Aussie to Aussie inning ever pitched in MLB history (Graeme Lloyd was the pitcher).

P- Moose Haas

The Moose played in Milwaukee for 10 seasons.  His best season occured during the summer of my birth (1983).  That year Moose posted a 13-3 record, while only recording 75 strikeout’s.  Look me in the face and tell me that is not amazing!! Haas also threw 55 complete games in his Brewers career.  He was the Brad Penny or Carl Pavano of his day.  Not a strikeout pitcher, but will always give you a good solid outing on the mound.  For the sake of this list though, I would probably move him to long relief.  Anyone who was around in the 80’s knows that Moose was money.  Plus, who doesn’t want a guy named Moose on their team?

And now, for the Bennett additions to the All-Time Utility Team:

OF- Sixto Lezcano

Sixto Lezcano was a player we seriously considered putting on the All-Time Positional Team, but in the end he didn’t make it. I will gladly put him here, because I believe his numbers can stack up against heaps of outfielders from around the majors. Sixto started his career in Milwaukee and stayed for seven years, before being traded in the blockbuster deal that would bring Ted Simmons and Rollie Fingers to Milwaukee. He averaged .275 at the plate, with 102 Homers and 374 Runs Batted In. In 1979, his seminal season in Milwaukee he garnered fifteen MVP votes and got himself one of those fancy Gold Gloves everyone seems to enjoy. He was as consistent in the field as he was at the plate. He was rated at 149 Runs over Replacement at the dish, and .980 fielding percentage.

1B – John Jaha

Most people probably remember John Jaha as…well…not many people probably remember John Jaha. The truth is, he was a great hitter, and one of the better defensive first basemen in the Majors – certainly the best in Brewers history. John consistently had a fielding percentage better than the league average in every year he played in the field. He also pulled plenty of DH duty for the Crew during his seven year tenure. He finished his career in Milwaukee with a .268 average and 105 dingers. He hit over .300 twice in Milwaukee (1995-1996) and registered 97 Runs Above Replacement in his career. And yes, he may or may not have been my favorite Brewers player when I was growing up. So what? No one said this was an impartial study.

3B – Jeff Cirillo

Jeff Cirillo is another player from the black hole known as ’90s Milwaukee Brewers history. But here’s a fun fact for you: Jeff Cirillo was a beast. Yes, I said it, and I will say it again. Cirillo hit .307 in Milwaukee over 8 seasons. Ryan Braun is tied with him as the best in Brewers history, and he has nearly a thousand less plate appearances. He’s also in the top ten all-time in Milwaukee for On Base Percentage (.383), OPS (.831), Runs Scored (506), and Hits (1000!). He played the hot corner in Milwaukee for more games than anyone, with a fielding percentage of .970. Oh yeah, in a hilarious twist of irony, he struck out – yes struck out – Craig Counsell in his only pitching appearance in 2007. Jeff Cirillo was a beast. The Defense rests.

OF/IF – Richie Sexson

Richie Sexson came to Milwaukee mid-way through the 2000 season, and the collective response from Milwaukee fans at the time was probably something akin to “yawn”. Then what did he do? Well, just hit 133 home runs with a .274 average. He hit 45 home runs twice in his tenure with the Brewers. He had a .536 Slugging percentage and an On Base of .366.  What really helped him out on this roster was the fact that he played first base and left field in his career, as well as DH when he played out in the American League. He was versatile, aggressive, and powerful in his short time in Milwaukee. I doubt sincerely there are more Brewers who had a bigger offensive impact.

P- Juan Nieves

I’ll be honest, I did not really want to put Juan Nieves on this team, but you can’t ignore him when you talk about Brewers history. His career ERA is nothing to write home about (4.71) and he only pitched three seasons in his career – all with Milwaukee. He does however, have the fourth highest winning percentage in Brewers history with .561. He also pitched 8 complete games and 5 shutouts. Oh, did I mention he is the only Brewer to throw a no-hitter? On April 15th, 1987 Juan Nieves took the mound at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore and pitched 9 spectacular innings of baseball, posting five walks and seven strikeouts to get his second win of the season and the only no-hitter in his short-lived career. Check out the box score, it must have been a hell of a game to watch. I was but five months old at the time, so I was probably napping when this was going on – a decision I have come to regret. Nieves was a pitcher with fantastic potential but simply never panned out. Even still, he deserves a spot on this roster.

In Conclusion

So there we have it: the completed All-Brewers Team. Among them are three Hall of Famers, 17 All-Stars, and countless memories of great plays and games. Milwaukee has a rich history of baseball, and these are the players that defined that history in one way or another.

In case you were wondering, I did run a simulated season using a secret formula I developed, and this team finished 162-0 and beat the New York Yankees in the World Series in a 4-0 sweep.

I hope you enjoyed the All-Brewers team, and if you have anything you’d like to add you are more than welcome to as usual. Now we can stop looking back and get ready for this year’s squad to live up to these Brewers greats.