Brewers Auto Round-Tripper Pt. 4

How about we get back to some of my recently acquired all time Brewers Autos? We're deep in the weeds, now. If you remember any of these guys, you are a True Blue Crew Devotee...

Jack Heidemann was once a hot-shot prospect with the Indians, but failed to produce either at the plate or in the field. He came to Milwaukee in June 1976 from the Mets and became the team’s regular third baseman, despite an atrocious .520 OPS. His career WAR of -6.1 ranks among the worst in baseball history. But Jack is a generous TTM signer. He signed my card and sent along a business card (he now works as a real estate appraiser) that has a picture of him with the Indians on the backside.

Most Impressive Brewers Stat: He hit a homer off Bill “Spaceman” Lee in September, 1976.

Gary Sutherland was no-hit infielder who was a regular with the Expos and Tigers before Detroit sent him to the Brewers for former ROY runner-up Pedro Garcia in the middle of the 1976 season. He played part-time for the rest of the year before being released.

Most Impressive Brewers Stat: Batted .538 during his first week as a Brewer (and .176 the rest of the way).

“Bullet” Bob Reynolds threw six innings for the Brewers in 1971. Over a six year career, he appeared with six teams. For two years with the Orioles, 1973 and 1974, he was dominant, posting a 2.25 ERA over 180 innings and helping the O’s to consecutive AL East titles. His fastball was known to top out at 100 mph.

Most Impressive Brewers Stat: Threw five scoreless innings against the AL West Champion A’s in 1971.

Art Kuysner was one of the less-memorable parts of the huge 1973 trade that send Ollie Brown, Ellie Rodriguez and Skip Lockwood to the Angels for Steve Barber, Ken Berry, and Clyde Wright. He appeared in 15 games for the Brewers in 1976. He was a part of history in 1973 when he caught Nolan Ryan’s second career no-hitter.

Most Impressive Brewers Stat: As noted in his Wikipedia page, he hit a three-run double against the Red Sox. It was the only three runs he drove in for the Brewers.

 

Brewers Auto Round-Tripper Pt. 3

I tried at Target yesterday for some Update blasters, but OF COURSE, they didn't have any yet. So, here are some more Brewers autos I've recently acquired. This one we'll call the 'Dooley n Dick' edition...

Dooley Womack lacks a Pilots card, but Commissioner Bob was nice enough to mail me this one a few months back. Dooley broke in with the Yankees in 1966 and saw plenty of action during one of the Bombers’ most forgettable periods. He was traded to the Astros after the 1968 season for Dick Simpson (another future Pilot) and was sent to Seattle near the end of the 1969 season for the man profiled above, Jim Bouton. He pitched well for the Pilots in a handful of games, but was traded after the season in what baseball-reference.com calls an “unknown transaction.”

Most Impressive Pilots Stat: 2.51 ERA over 14.1 innings.

Wayne Comer was the Pilots’ everyday center fielder and put up decent numbers in what would be – far and away – his best season in the bigs. He hit 15 homers and managed a .354 OBP to go with 18 steals. He opened the 1970 season with the Brewers before he was traded to the Senators for Hank Allen and Ron Theobald.

Most Impressive Pilots/Brewers Stat: 14 OF assists in 1969, 2^nd in the AL

Dick Schofield joined the Brewers at the very end of a 19-year career. He broke in the Cardinals in 1953 at age 18 and an important cog in the 1960 Pirates’ World Championship team. He came to the Brewers in a trade in late July and played mostly off the bench. He managed only three hits with the Brewers.

Most Impressive Brewers Stat: Played errorless at 2B, SS, and 3B.

Kevin Kobel debuted with the Brewers in 1973 at the tender age of 19 and is still the only Brewers pitcher to appear in the majors as a teenager. Even more interesting is that he doesn’t really seem to have been much of a prospect. He was drafted in the 11^th round and had pitched decently, but not overly fantastic over three minor league seasons. He joined the Brewers rotation in 1974, pitching pretty well for a 20-year-old with a 3.99 ERA and a pair of shutouts. He developed arm troubles the next season and would only throw four more innings for the Brewers.

Most Impressive Brewers Stat: 2.06 ERA over his first nine games in 1974, at age 20.

 

Brewers Auto Round-Tripper Pt. 2

The Dodgers and Astros have moved on (yea!), the Cubs have the series advantage (gross!), and the Yanks and Indians will play a winner-take-all tomorrow night (DEAR GOD CLEVELAND PLEASE WIN!)... in the spirit of play-off mania, how about some more recent Brewers/Pilots TTM additions!

John O’Donoghue came to the Pilots in an ever-rare late April trade with the Orioles. In 1965, he had been an All-Star with the A’s (in a season in which he would eventually lose 18 games). He was a decent bullpen option for the Pilots and stayed with the team after their move to Milwaukee. His son, with the same name, pitched for the Orioles briefly in 1993. This card is part of the Renata Galasso “Only Year” Pilots set.

Most Impressive Pilots/Brewers Stat: 2.96 ERA in 1969.

John Donaldson was a career Athletic, save for a 95-game hitch with the Pilots in 1969. A no-bat infielder, he came to the Pilots mid-season for Larry Haney after a dreadful start that saddled him with a .077 batting average. He was sent by the Brewers back to the A’s as a minor leaguer the next May for Roberto Pena.

Most Impressive Pilots Stat: Seven hits during a hot week in mid-June that raised his average from .074 to .184.

Garry Roggenburk’s name is a little hard to read on this card, but it’s there. Just as he was a little bit invisible as a Pilot, getting shut out by both Topps and in the Galasso set. He was a mid-level reliever for three teams over five years, ending his career with the Pilots and recording a 4.44 ERA over 24 innings. Like Jack Heidemann, who will show up later in this series, he became a real estate appraiser after his Big League career.

Most Impressive Pilots Stat: Threw a complete game against the Angels on July 8, allowing one run and five hits.

Jim Bouton is easily the most famous of any player to wear the Pilots colors. His diary of the 1969 season became the classic baseball book ‘Ball Four’ and generated most controversy than nearly any sporting book before or since. Despite being a former All-Star and a regular bullpen man with the Pilots, he never got a Topps card with Seattle. I got this one signed via TTM, with a reasonable $5 fee paid to Bouton.

Most Impressive Pilots Stat: 5+ million books sold.

Brewers Auto Round-Tripper Pt. 1

So, I've had a massive TTM return for my All-Time Brewers project recently. I want to share all these sigs with BoS (blog-o-sphere), but I've thought it best to portion them out a few at a time. Four is a nice number, I suppose, one for each station on a baseball diamond. So, in groups of four, I will now begin to present my spoils, in no order whatsoever. 

Chase Anderson put together a great 2017 season despite missing several weeks due to injury. He is one of the prime reasons the Brewers were a contender and finished OH SO CLOSE to a playoff spot. After three season around the league average, Anderson posted a 2.79 ERA and recorded a 3-1 k-to-walk ratio. If him and Jimmy Nelson (once recovered from his own injury) can keep their form for 2018, the Brewers could be a serious threat for the NL flag. I got this via TTM a few weeks ago. I had gotten Chase during Spring Training in 2016 (on a D-Backs card), but still needed a Brewers auto for my collection.

Most Impressive Brewers Stat:160 ERA+ in 2017.

John Briggs is the forgotten Brewers star. He was an offensive force for the team between 1971 and 1975 and was actually the all-time team leader in a number of offensive categories until the early 1980s. He was off to another hot start in 1975, but a payroll dispute led the Brewers to trade him to the Twins for Bobby Darwin. I got this one on eBay, since Briggs is not known to sign TTM. 

Oddly enough, it came with this little note, which mentioned that the seller got the autograph at Briggs’ alma mater. I’ve never had this happen before and it was a nice touch.

Most Impressive Brewers Stat: .845 OPS in 1971.

Darrell “Bucky” Brandon pitched all of 15 innings for the Pilots back during their lone season. He was an expansion draft pick, but was sold to the Twins in July after posting an 8.40 ERA. He broke in with the Red Sox and had a decent rookie season in 1966. He pitched in 39 games the next season, but was not with the team when they played in the World Series against the Cardinals. Poor Bucky also has one of the least-appealing Cards in my Brewers/Pilots collection. Yeesh.

Most Impressive Pilots Stat: Pitched three innings at Fenway on May 17, allowing zero runs. It was the only clean appearance of his Pilots career.

Jesus Aguliar is another current-day Brewers TTM get, and one of my favorite returns from this past year. “Babe” was a killer all year for the Brewers as a bat off the bench and a first base option against left-handed pitchers. Just one of the many great pick-ups of the David Stearns era.

Most Impressive Brewers Stat:16 homers in 311 PAs in 2017.