Brewers Mother’s Day Flashback: 1984

Mother’s Day 1984 was on Sunday, May 13. The Brewers took on the Twins at County Stadium. The top ding on the Billboard Charts was “Hello” by Lionel Richie. The top movie was “Breakin”. Yes a film about breakdancing was number one. The 80s were weird. The top TV show was “Dallas”, My favorite show, “The A-Team” wasn’t far behind.

The Brewers were going through a transition in 1984. Their lineup was a shell of the famed Harvey’s Wallbangers and they finished the year a dismal 67-94. They lost Paul Molitor to injury early in the season. Bright spots were few and far between. One of those bright spots happened to occur on Mother’s Day.

Randy Ready was in the lead off spot that day. He did his best Paul Molitor impression, igniting the Crew with a lead off home run in the bottom of the first. The Brewers had an early 1-0 lead. Another unsung Brewer, Mark Brouhard provided the rest of the offense. He went 2-3 with a home run, double and three runs batted in. Ready and Brouhard provided all of the offense in the Brewers’ 4-1 victory. 

On the pitching side, Jaime Cocanower did his job, out dueling Frank Viola, allowing one run in five and two thirds innings. Who needed Molitor, Yount, Cooper and Vuckovich, when you had Ready, Brouhard and Cocanower? In an otherwise terrible season, these unsung heroes sent the fans home happy on Mother’s Day.