If Ned Was Our Manager Back in the Day...(lineup thread)

[Mike Felder]

I was amusing myself during the in-game chat today, while we were discussing Ned's current "lineup by position" template, and wondering what things would have looked like if the 2B-SS-LF-1B-RF-3B-CF-C pattern was applied back in the day. Here is what the batting order would have looked like for some selected teams in Brewers history (FYI - I took whichever player played the most games at that position per baseball-reference.com):

 

1970 (first year)

 

Ted Kubiak, 2B

Roberto Pena, SS

Danny Walton, LF

Mike Hegan, 1B

Bob Burda, RF

Tommy Harper, 3B

Dave May, CF

Phil Roof, C

 

1978 (first winning season)

 

Paul Molitor, 2B

Robin Yount, SS

Larry Hisle, LF

Cecil Cooper, 1B

Sixto Lezcano, RF

Sal Bando, 3B

Gorman Thomas, CF

Buck Martinez, C

 

1982 (AL Pennant)

 

Jim Gantner, 2B

Robin Yount, SS

Ben Oglivie, LF

Cecil Cooper, 1B

Charlie Moore, RF

Paul Molitor, 3B

Gorman Thomas, CF

Ted Simmons, C

 

This led to the hypothetical question: What is more ridiculous - Charlie Moore batting 5^th or Laynce Nix batting 3^rd?

 

1987 (Team Streak)

 

Juan Castillo, 2B

Dale Sveum, SS

Rob Deer, LF

Greg Brock, 1B

Glenn Braggs, RF

Ernest Riles, 3B

Robin Yount, CF

BJ Surhoff, C

 

Gantner would plug in at leadoff and Molitor in the 6-hole when healthy (if Molly didn't lose all his grittiness by DHing for awhile). Poor Robin…he had to go and hurt his shoulder, and got dropped 5 spots in the lineup as a result.

 

1992 (most wins in last 25 years)

 

Scott Fletcher, 2B

Pat Listach, SS

Greg Vaughn, LF

Franklin Stubbs, 1B

Dante Bichette, RF

Kevin Seitzer, 3B

Robin Yount, CF

BJ Surhoff, C

 

Sadly, Stubbs did in fact hit cleanup several times that year. Molitor was a 1B by then, so he'd now be a cleanup hitter when he was not a DH.

 

2002 (the vortex of suckitude)

 

Eric Young, 2B

Jose Hernandez, SS

Geoff Jenkins, LF

Richie Sexson, 1B

Jeffrey Hammonds, RF

Tyler Houston, 3B

Alex Sanchez, CF

Paul Bako, C

[Sundown Kid]

Great post! The first thing that stands out is that the 1978 lineup actually looks accurate. One may wish to invert Cooper and Hisle, but that's about it. That 02 lineup will lead me to wake up at some point tonight in a cold sweat. I'll hear an eerie wind outside my window and think it's the whooooooooshing sound of ash cruising through the strike zone, flailingly, missing its intended target over and over and over...

[temke]

the 02 lineup actually kind of makes some sense in that format. then again, you could have batted any of those guys anywhere and they would have 10 whiffs a game.

[Legacy25GT]

You're not being fair to Ned Yost here. His philosophy isn't 2B-SS-LF-1B-RF-3B-CF-C no matter what. He built the lineup to be Weeks-Hardy-Braun-Fielder-Hart-Hall-Cameron-Kendall and when one of those guys is out of the line-up he will bat the replacement at the same spot. If Nix had to start for an extended period of time, Ned would probably switch the lineup around to move Nix down. Not that I condone his philosophy... I think Ned should change the lineup a bit when a replacement steps in, but its way better than the excessive tinkering he did last year... in fact I wouldn't doubt if the line-up by position strategy is a reaction to the criticism he received for the excessive tinkering he did last year.

[phxMILWfan]

I agree with Legacy to some extent. There is something to be said for guys knowing where they will hit each day. Consistancy is good for them. Obviously if Braun was out for 15 days the lineup should be changed around a bit.