Brewers record: 5-1 (week), 7-5, 4th place, 2 gb (season)
April 17-19, versus Phoenix:
7-5,
10-1,
9-0
April 20-22, versus Los Angeles:
7-5,
0-1,
17-7
This would probably be a good time to talk about the baseball in the WPK.
There was much talk last season of a dead ball and when the season ended with only a single WPK player (the great Jesus Hernandez) having recorded as many as 20 home runs, the talk seemed quite justified.
While WPK league officials have refused to comment, two weeks into the 1977 season it certainly seems that the balls in play have a lot more jump. In fact, the leading home run hitter thus far- Phoenix' Devin Schwisow- has hit 8 in 12 games and is on pace for a 108 HR season (okay, it's early and small sample size, so nobody is seriously worried about that holding up.)
The first week of the season though you wouldn't have known it by the Brewers hitters as the team had just a single long ball- hit by Bobby Erbakan. Well, that changed a bit in week two.
And oddly it was probably relief pitcher
Ben Flynn who got the trend jump-started with his huge homer to end the first game of the series against Phoenix. (Well, okay, maybe not so odd. Flynn is one of the best hitting pitchers in the game, a frequent pinch-hitter for the Brewers, and perhaps the best power hitter on the club.) The Brewers found themselves trailing 5-2 going into the bottom of the 9th in that game. Flynn had entered the game in the top of the 9th and pitched a clean inning. But more importantly he came up with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th and the bases loaded, with the Brewers having scored one run but still trailing 5-3. He watched the first pitch pass by for a ball. The next one he watched caught the strike zone. He finally swung at the third pitch, hitting it on a line drive to left field. A line drive that traveled 404 feet. Walk-off, grand salami style!
After that the series was completely downhill for the visiting Speed Devils.
Sekien Hamasaki (2-0, 2.25), the best Brewer starter thus far, lasted 8 innings in game 2, giving up a run on 8 hits while striking out 8 and walking just 2. Among the Brewers 12 hits were the first homers of the season for
Josh Schaeffer,
Rich White, and
RodRod.
Given his recent struggles, the Brewers decided to pass over veteran
Cheol-han Lee for the start in game 3 in favor of swing-man
John Weaver. Good choice. Weaver just hurled a 5-hit complete-game shutout.
Bobby Erbakan hit his 2nd HR of the season and
Zacarias Martell his first- the second grand slam for the Brewers in the series.
The L.A. Spinners came into Denver one of the hottest teams in the early going with a 7-2 record. The Brewers cooled them off a bit.
The game 1 win was another walk off for the Brewers, this time thanks to a 2-run HR off the bat of
RodRod to break a 5-5 tie. Captain
Matt Helm had to leave the game in the 4th inning, having allowed 2 runs on 2 hits, and
Cheol-han Lee came in to try to carry a 5-2 for at least a few innings. He failed- giving up 3 runs on 4 hits in an inning and a third pitched (he also issued 3 walks.) Fortunately the team rallied for the win. (As is the fragile
Matty Helm's history, his injury is minor- a mid calf strain- and did not require him heading to the IL.)
A tremendous performance by Spinners veteran star Jason Wilson in game 2 spoiled a terrific start by
Sadahige Kawasaki (1-2, 3.09.)
But the Brewers bats exploded again in the rubber match- to the tune of 17 runs on 20 hits, including
RodRod's team best 3rd HR and
Josh Schaeffer's 2nd.
Steve Green (1-0, 4.91) wasn't sharp- giving up 6 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits over 8 innings- but with all of the run support he got his first victory of the season.