[Nick Soulis]

PRELIMINARY ROUND
Series #136
2010 Milwaukee Brewers (77-85) vs 1939 Philadelphia Athletics (55-97)

The 2010 Brewers as with many of their teams provided the power that worked well at Miller Park but on the flip side their lack of pitching and relief work ended up costing them a losing season. The team hit 182 home runs with Primce Fielder leading the charge slugging .471 with a .401 OBP and 32 home runs. Fielder walked 114 times but drove in only 83 runs in 16 1 games proviing he was not as effective as you would think. Cory Hart hit 31 home runs and drove in a much more valid 102 RBI adding 34 doubles and 91 runs. Carlos Gomez split time with a 40 year old Jim Edmonds in centerfield as Gomez hit .247 in 97 games while Edmonds was not the same player but had a 125 OPS+ with 8 home runs. In left was the consistent Ryan Braun. Braun hit no matter what people thought of him slugging .501 with 25 long flyes and 103 RBI while scoring 101 times. He added 14 steals and truly when Braun was on, there were few in the game as good as him. Alcides Escobar really struggled at the dish at short hitting .235 with a .614 OPS while Rickie Weeks struck out 184 times but did manage 29 home runs in his feast or famine approach. Casey McGehee played almost everyday at third having his best season with 104 RBI, 38 doubles, and 23 home runs. Jonathan Lucroy at only 24 was the catcher of the future but had not really hit his stride yet and split time with lefty George Kottaras. Craig Counsell and Lorenzo Cain were two well known bats on the bench each bringing something different to the table. The team ERA was 4.58 and in contrast to the hitting, a liability in their hitter friendly park. Randy Wolf was the ace of the staff with 13 wins and a 4.17 ERA. He threw 215 innings allowing 29 home runs and a risky 1.4 WHIP. Yovani Gallardo went 14-7 with a better 3.84 ERA in 31 starts while his FIP was 3.02 and he seemed to be getting better with each start. Dave Bush lost 13 games and had a 5.13 FIP while allowing 28 home runs in only 174 innings worked. Chris Narveson had a 4.99 ERA but still managed to win 12 times however he was not a dependable option in the rotation. Manny Parra made 16 starts but struggled and Chris Capuano was another emergency option who did better with a 3.95 mark. John Axford was the closer pinning down 24 saves and 8 wins. His support was very little as Tood Coffey and an old Trevor Hoffman had very little left. Kameron Lee was the best man for middle relief. A typical Brewers team that lives on the edge hoping that their bats are louder than their opponents on any given day.

The great days of the White Elephant and the Athletics had long passed as Connie Mack stood as a nostalgic figure of better days. This Athletics team lost 97 games and honestly had a pitching staff worth laughing at, but Mack has surprised us before with this ability to win. Starting with the mess that was the pitching, the team ERA was 5.79 as 6 different arms started the majority of the season with disastrous effect. Lynn Nelson was the only 10 game winner and he had the best numbers across the board with a 4.78 ERA and 1.50 WHIP. Nels Potter had an ugly 6.60 ERA allowing 144 earned runs and 26 home runs to a 1.76 WHIP. Buck Ross wasn’t any better with a 6.00 ERA in 28 starts with only 43 strikeouts and am 87 ERA+. Bill Beckman came in with a 4.40 FIP and 2 shutouts but he struck out a meager 20 men. George Caster was 9-9 with a 4.90 that wasn’t that bad for this team including his 1.39 WHIP that lead the team. Cotton Pippen had a great name but a 5.99 ERA that did no one any good but the opponent. Chubby Dean saved 8 games and worked 116 innings in relief at only 23 years old, he likely felt like he signed up for more then he bargained for. Roy Parmelee and Bob Joyce were part of the remainder of the pitching roster that was just plain poor. At the plate no one could complain about Bob Johnson who had a monster season with a .993 OPS and 114 RBI while stealing 15 bases. He scored an impressive 115 runs and was a good tandem with Sam Chapman who hit 15 home runs and stole 11 bases while holding a less impressive .770 OPS. Wally Moses is a good left fielder hitting .307 with a .370 OBP but played in only 115 games and had no pop. Frankie Hayes was a good hitting catcher managing 20 home runs and 83 RBI that were way above the mean for the position. Dick Siebert hit .294 but was not the typical first baseman as he had a .423 slugging percentage with only 6 home runs. Skeeter Bewsome played in 99 games at short and hit only .222 with 10 overall extra base hits; Bill Nagel took his job by the end of the season hitting a better .252. Dario Lodigiani hit .260 with 6 home runs and 44 driven in and proved competent enough at the hot corner. Joe Gantenbein was the 23 year old second baseman who had 101 hits and a .290 average complimenting the lineup nicely. Dee Miles was a .300 hitter off the bench with outfield depth while Wayne Ambler and Nick Etten were well below league average. The Athletics could hit a bit, but their complete lack of pitching efficiency would seem to be impossible to overcome.

Game 1 At Miller Park
Roof closed
1939 Athletics..................9
2010 Brewers..................10 (16 inn)
WP: C. Villanueva (1-0) LP: L. McCrabb (0-1)
HR: J. Gantenbein (1), G. Kottaras (1), P. Fielder 2 (2), A. Escobar (1)
POG: Price Fielder
2010 Brewers lead series 1-0
An epic 16 inning battle to open this series as the totality of it took almost six hours. The Athletics scored 4 in the first inning but the home side had them in a 4 run hole heading into the 8th. John Axford blew the save chance in a big way as the A's scored three in the ninth to tie the score as Earle Bruckner went 4-7 on the night with 3 runs and 2 RBI. Some batter had 8 or even nine at bats as the game moved all the way to the 16th when Prince Fielder hit a towering drive 398 feet over the right field wall to walk it off. Each side had 17 hits and both sides must be exhausted with a very long series still ahead of them.

Game 2 At Miller Park
Roof closed
1939 Athletics......................1
2010 Brewers......................5
WP: C. Narveson (1-0) LP: G. Caster (0-1)
HR: P. Fielder (3), B. Johnson (1)
POG: Prince Fielder
2010 Brewers lead series 2-0
Chris Narveson allowed a first inning home run to Bob Johnson and had 108 pitches going into the 6th inning but he did enough to scratch his way to a win. Prince Fielder hit another big home run this time with an man on in the 4th to break a 1-1 tie. Corey Hart also went 4-4 and the Brewers pen closed the contest with a much more comfortable win for Milwaukee then in game one.

Game 3 At 3 At Shibe Park
Clear 58
2010 Brewers....................1
1939 Athletics....................4
WP: S. Page (1-0) LP: M. Parra (0-1) S: C. Pippen (1)
HR: D. Lodigiani (1), R. Braun (1)
POG: Sam Page
2010 Brewers lead series 2-1
Connie Mack and the Athletics get back on track with a fine effort from Sam Page who goes 8 innings striking out six. This was a must win for the Athletics and Dario Lodigianni came up with the biggest hit of the game blasting a two run home run in the 4th inning. Prince Fielder had two more hits in the losing effort and is hitting .500 for the series.

Game 4 At Shibe Park
Partly cloudy 61
2010 Brewers.............................8
1939 Athletics.............................3
WP: R. Wolf (1-0) LP: L. Nelson (0-1)
HR: C. Hart (1), C. McGeehee (1), P. Fielder (4)
POG: Corey Hart
2010 Brewers lead series 3-1
Casey McGeehee hit a three run home run in the 6th inning to break the game open and in the 8th it was Prince Fielder who hit his fourth home run in as many games with two men on to set the Brewers up for another win. Corey Hart also scored three runs and drove in two while Randy Wolf went into the ninth with 8 strikeouts before she showed fatigue allowing three runs. Milwaukee now has the strangle hold on the series and look to avoid a trip back home with a win in game 5.

Game 5 At Shibe Park
Clear 56
2010 Brewers....................2
1939 Athletics....................6
WP: E. Smith (1-0) LP: Y. Gallardo (0-1)
HR: C. McGehee (2)
POG: Eddie Smith
2010 Brewers lead series 3-2
Eddie Smith and the Athletics bullpen allowed only two hits over nine innings to finally subdue the Brewers for a win and send the series back to Wisconsin. A four run 5th inning thanks in part to a 2 run double by pinch hitter Lou Finney set the table in a 10 hit effort. The Brewers will have to try and wrap things up at home.

Game 6 At Miller Park
Roof closed
1939 Athletics...................3
2010 Brewers...................4
WP: J. Axford (1-0) LP: C. Pippen (0-1)
HR: J. Edmonds 2 (2), B. Johnson (2), S. Chapman (1)
POG: Jim Edmonds
A dramatic game at Miller Park that ended in celebration after a great comeback by the Bew Crew. Philadelphia held a 3-0 lead behind George Caster and looked to force a game seven. Prince Fielder drove in a run in a 2 run 6th off Caster for the home team to cut the lead to one. In the 8th inning ageless Jim Edmonds tied the game with his second home run of the game off of Les McCrabb. In the 9th inning Lorenzo Cain stole second base with Ryan Braun at the plate and a single to right sent the runner to the plate, Cain beat the throw and Miller Park began to celebrate. A very fun series in the end.

2010 Milwaukee Brewers Win Series 4 Games To 2

Series MVP:

Prince Fielder
(.435, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 6 R, .500 OBP, 1.043 SLG)