Revisiting Medwick

In National League baseball history, which began in 1876, the last man to win the Triple Crown was Joe Medwick, left fielder of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1937. Today, Milwaukee Brewers’ right fielder, Christian Yelich, has the possibility of becoming the first man to do so in 81 years.

He has clinched the National League in batting average with a .324.
He is tied in home runs with Matt Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals with 36 home runs.
He is 2 RBI behind Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs with 109.

Before Hall of Famer Medwick, only Hugh Duffy, Paul Hines, Rogers Hornsby and Chuck Kline have done it.

In 1878, Paul Hines, center fielder of the Providence Grays, won the Triple Crown with 4 HRs, 50 RBI and a .358 batting average.
Hugh Duffy, an outfielder with the Boston Beaneaters in 1894 led the league with 18 home runs, 145 RBI and a .440 batting average. Coincidently, in 1901, he was the player-manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1945.
Twenty-eight years later, in 1922, Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby, second baseman of the St. Louis Cardinals won the Triple Crown with 42 HRs, 152 RBI and an .401 batting average. In 1925, he did it again with 39 HR, 143 RBI and a .403 batting average.
In 1933, Hall of Famer Chuck Klein, right fielder of the Philadelphia Phillies won the Triple Crown with 28 HRS, 120 RBI and a .368 batting average.
Then came Joe Medwick who banged out 32 HRs, 114 RBI and a .343 batting average.

Now on Sunday, in Miller Park, the Milwaukee Brewer right fielder, Christian Yelich has the opportunity to do something improbable in the Senior Circuit. He has a chance to win the Triple Crown. It has never been done in Milwaukee baseball history.

In the Cream City’s Major League baseball history, only Henry Aaron has ever won a batting title, in 1956 with a .328 batting average for the Milwaukee Braves, and again in 1959 with a .355 BA, both times in the National League.

In Milwaukee baseball history, Eddie Mathews (47 in 1953) & (46 in 1959), Henry Aaron (44 in 1957) & (44 in 1963 led the National League in home runs when they were with the Milwaukee Braves while Prince Fielder (50 in 2007) and Ryan Braun (41 in 2012) led the National League in home runs as the Milwaukee Brewers.

In Milwaukee baseball history, Henry Aaron as part of the Milwaukee Braves (NL) drove in 132 RBI in 1957; 126 RBI in 1960 & 130 RBI in 1963. George (Boomer) Scott delivered 109 RBI in 1975 (AL); Cecil Cooper had 126 RBI in 1983 & 122 in 1980 (AL); while Prince Fielder had 145 RBI in 2009 (NL) to lead the league.

All he has to do today is drive in 2 to 3 more RBI and the Triple Crown will come to Milwaukee for the first time in history.

Play Ball!
#watchingattanasio⚾️
https://atmlb.com/2y4fEBo

Scaredy Cats

‘Its a beautiful day at Wrigley Field. The sky is blue. The grass is green. It’s very colorful in the stands with people wearing blue, some white. And Lake Michigan is a turquoise blue.’, that was how Pat Hughes began the broadcast on Saturday. ‘Beautiful, but it is cold. It is 43 degrees and very windy. There are going to be some adventures in the field today.’

What an understatement. The Milwaukee Brewers looked like the Keystone Cops (The term is to be used to criticize a group for its mistakes, particularly if the mistakes happened after a great deal of energy and activity, or if there was a lack of coordination among the members of the group.) in a Roscoe Conkling “Fatty” Arbuckle movie. Orlando Arcia flashing out from shortstop to center field to chase a wind driven fly ball which allowed Javier Báez to reach second with a double. Ryan Braun shaded his eyes with his first base glove as Johnathan Villar called him off at the last moment to grab the pop up near first base. Hernán Pérez ran all across the infield from his third base position to completely miss the pop up behind the pitchers mound as neither Arcia nor Villar could provide any help. In the sixth, Braun again fought the wind and the sun to miraculously catch a pop up to first. Then the next batter, Anthony Rizzo smashed a fly into right and Dominico Santana made a nice running catch against the wind and the vicious sun. This ain’t a beautiful ballpark. It is a field inside of a mix master with a bright light shining into it with a gummy attitude.

But it wasn’t the wind nor the sun that was reflective of a team in turmoil. This was a first place team that completely rolled over and did everything they could to loose again to the Northsiders. The Cream City Nine simply can’t complete with bully teams like the Northsiders or the Mississippi Mudders. They go limp, hoping something bad won’t happen to them. In plain English, they are ‘Scaredy Cats’.

When they play at that other beer stadium, they are bushed. And when it comes to playing in Gum Park, they are overwhelmed by the crowd, the small locker room and the idea they are in a big city. Small farmers can’t fit into big cities. The Cream City Nine is left on the farm.

But why does this happen? Why do teams who are so good play so badly, excessively fearful, when it comes to playing their rivals?

The answer is seasoning. Not salt and pepper but playing time in pressure situations of a pennant race, Divisional playoffs, Championship series and the World Series. On The Crew, there are only a couple of players who have had that ‘seasoned’ experience. Ryan Braun (15 games) has been through a number of playoff runs. And Lorenzo Cain (31 games) has been through the ultimate playoff wars. But if you look further, you will come up short. Only Matt Albers (2.1 innings), Jeremy Jeffries (1.0 inning), Hernán Pérez (2 games), Travis Shaw (1 game), Eric Sogard (5 games) and Jonathon Villar (1 game) have playoff experience. None of the other 17 players on their active roster have any of that in their MLB history. They simply do not have any seasoning.

On the other hand, the Northsiders are awash in Playoff experience, for one of the few times in their history. And they are all young players who can hold their ‘big brother’ mastery for a number of years until the Scardedy Cats from Pigsville go through the grind of understanding the mental attitude of winning.

While The Crew is looking good, slightly better than the previous, exciting season. They beat those teams that are not very good. Lorenzo Cain is a magnificent example of a complete all-around player of the highest caliber. Ryan Braun is a proven star on the field. He is the face of the team and can do everything. But they still do not have the one big stopper on the mound who puts the fear into the opposition.

When you saw Randy Johnson pitch for the D’Backs, the opposition felt, even if they were a good team, they had little to no chance of winning. When Madison Bumgarner or Clayton Kershaw are on the mound, same goes. And when you see Max Scherzer start on the mound for the Nationals, the game is as good as a win for Washington. Until that happens, until this team has a star pitcher, this team is excessively fearful to the point that they cannot beat the big boys of baseball.

Don’t misunderstand. The Cream City Nine had excellent pitching, both starting and in relief, during the first three games of a four game series in Gum Park. But overall, it was just that one mistake a player would make that made the final decision. Excessively fearful is the backbone of this team.

#watchingattanasio⚾️

Play Ball!