Michael Trzinski

One Roger Miller earned his chops as a country singer. Another Roger Miller was a guitarist for the band Mission of Burma. Our Roger Miller was a fireballing phenom who made steady progress through the minor leagues and pitched two games for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1974 one month after his 20th birthday. After at least two arm issues in 1976 and 1977, he retired from baseball before the 1978 season. Sadly, he died at age 38 in an explosion that was caused by a leaking acetylene tank while welding. Roger Wesley Miller was a baseball star as a youngster and high schooler in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. He was drafted by the Brewers in the 15th round of the 1972 MLB Amateur Draft. Miller spent a season at Low-A Newark and despite an ERA of 5.49, was promoted to Single-A Danville in the Midwest League in 1973, where he posted a record of 8-4 with an ERA of 3.32. That earned him another promotion, this time to Triple-A Sacramento. Despite giving up 26 homers, many of them at Sacramento's Hughes Stadium, which had a left field fence that was just 232 feet from home plate, Miller was named to the Pacific Coast League West All-Star team. In September, he was called up to the Brewers. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound righthander pitched in just two games, both against the Boston Red Sox. His major league totals show 2.1 innings, three hits, three runs, no walks and two strikeouts. Miller pitched at Sacramento in 1975, missed 1976 due to arms injuries, and finished his career in 1977 at Triple-A Spokane, which was the new Brewers affiliate. After retirement in early 1978, Miller returned to Pennsylvania and worked with the local high school and American Legions teams until his death in 1993. View full player

Hopefully Chewy doesn't get hamstrung by his malady.

Nothing against you, Jake. I just question how accurate the framing stats really are. Kinda like when the Brewers official scorer calls an obvious throwing error a hit, and on Aug 18 in Wrigley Field, the Cubs official scorer calls the same exact play an E1. Who is right? Too much subjective objectivity, ya know? 😁

As a dinosaur when it comes to new analytics, I am not convinced that framing numbers have any merit at all. That's just me. I still think wins for pitchers are a 'thing.' 😁

Nice to see Opie struggle for once...two K's and an airmail throw to the dish...

IF Contreras is going on the IL, this was probably a must-do deal. Yeah, the price is a bit high, but otherwise I'm sure David Fry was available 😁

In 1994, Cincinnati catcher Joe Oliver played six games in April and missed the rest of the season due to synovitis and arthritis in his left ankle. One year later, Oliver was signed as a free agent by the Milwaukee Brewers when starting catcher Dave Nilsson underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. Oliver started 87 of the 144 games played in the strike-shortened season, splitting time with B.J. Surhoff and Mike Matheny. Joseph Melton Oliver was selected in the second round of the 1983 MLB Amateur Draft out of William R. Boone High School in Orlando, Florida by the Reds. Even though Cincinnati legend Johnny Bench retired in 1983, Oliver spent seven years in the minors before he made his big-league debut in 1989 as a 23-year-old. Oliver spent six years with the Reds, including three seasons in which he started more than 100 games behind the plate. His arm was above average as he threw out 34% of runners trying to steal, compared to the league average of 31.4%. Oliver played in a total of 97 games for Milwaukee in 1995 with a batting line of .273/.332/.439 over 337 at-bats with 20 doubles and 12 home runs. Oliver became a free agent after the season and re-signed with the Reds in 1996. After two solid years with Cincinnati, Oliver became the definition of a journeyman, playing in Detroit, Seattle (two years), Pittsburgh, Boston, and in New York with the Yankees over the next four years before calling it quits at age 35 in 2001. Oliver coached in the high school ranks in Florida, at Pine Castle Christian and Bishop Moore Catholic in Orlando between 2004-2011. He then got back into professional ball, managing in the Red Sox organization from 2014-2019 at the Single-A and Double-A levels. In 2022, the led the Frederick team in the MLB Draft League, which was a collegiate summer league. Joe Oliver never made an All-Star team or won any major awards, yet he was a solid big-league catcher in the early 90s, including one nice season in Milwaukee. View full player

Hank Allen grew up in a baseball family. Two of his brothers played in the major leagues, including Hall of Famer Dick Allen. Hank’s career wasn’t nearly as good, but he still played for seven years with three different ball clubs and was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers in their inaugural season. But Allen was best known as a thoroughbred horse trainer/owner, having won 286 races in a 23-year career from 1976-1998. Harold Andrew Allen was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1960. In his third year in the organization, Allen won the Triple Crown (37/140/.346) for the Magic Valley (Twin Falls, Idaho) Cowboys in the Pioneer League. He was attacked by a drunk one night before the end of the season and ended up with a sore neck, which probably contributed to Allen going 0-for-12 in his last three games, nearly costing him the batting title. After two more seasons in the minors, Allen was purchased by the Washington Senators. Allen, a right-handed batter who played in the outfield and infield, made his big-league debut for the Senators on September 9, 1966, going 1-for-2, getting his first major league hit off Chicago White Sox pitcher Gary Peters. Allen spent most of the next three-plus seasons in the majors for Washington, playing in a total of 324 games for the Senators, batting .251/.290/.326 with an OPS+ of 82. On May 11, 1970, Allen was traded along with infielder Ron Theobald to the Brewers for outfielder Wayne Comer. Allen played almost every day for the Brewers over the next month, hitting .246/.317/.316 over 57 at-bats, including his best game as a Brewer on May 23 when he went 3-for-4 with a double and threw out two baserunners from center field in a 3-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals. In mid-June, he was involved in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles in which he was optioned to Triple-A Rochester. The Wampum, Pennsylvania native would go on to play two seasons (1972-73) with the White Sox, re-united with brother Dick. Hank Allen also spent time as a scout in the Houston Astros organization, He passed away on May 29, 2024. View full player

Summer reading material: The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports, by Jeff Passan A true must-read for sports fans.

Image courtesy of © Brett Davis-Imagn Images The Milwaukee Brewers entered the All-Star break as one of, if not the, hottest teams in baseball. It hadn't always looked so bright, though. After waking up on May 18, manager Pat Murphy checked the latest National League standings and saw his Brewers in fourth place in the NL Central, six games behind the division-leading Chicago Cubs with a dismal record of 21-25. Since then, the Brew Crew has won 35 of their last 50 games to improve to 56-40 and are lurking a single game behind the now mortal-looking Cubs going into the All-Star break. Many players have contributed mightily for Milwaukee, but perhaps none as well as the three Brewers 'freshmen, namely Jacob Misiorowski, Caleb Durbin, and Isaac Collins. 'The Miz' was called up a few short weeks ago and has made a huge splash in the major leagues. In his big-league debut on June 12, Miz pitched five innings of no-hit ball against the St. Louis Cardinals, earning his first big league win before leaving with a minor injury. In his next outing, Misiorowski threw six perfect innings against the Minnesota Twins before giving up a walk and a two-run homer to Matt Wallner in the seventh in a 17-6 trouncing of the Twins. Game number three was more of the same, with Miz outdueling Pittsburgh Pirates superstar Paul Skenes in a 4-2 win, the third straight victory for the young Brewers hurler. Misiorowski came down to earth on July 2, getting tagged with his first major league defeat in a 7-3 loss to the New York Mets. In just 3.2 innings, he allowed five hits, five runs, and three walks while giving up a grand salami to Brandon Nimmo, followed by a solo shot by Francisco Lindor in the bottom of the second. The Miz looked tired, and his velocity was down. Six days later, he faced another legend, Los Angeles Dodgers sure-thing Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw. Seemingly revitalized, the young buck took it to the established star and outpitched LA's southpaw by a long shot. Miz went six innings and allowed four hits, one run, and one walk while striking out 12 batters. The next day, Kershaw said, "I know him now, huh? That was super impressive. That was unbelievable. It was really special. I mean, everything. The velo, but he’s got four pitches, commands the ball, and made it — I mean, I don’t know how you hit that, honestly. That’s just really tough.” Clayton Kershaw, meet Jacob Misiorowski. The Miz was a late addition to the NL All-Star team and pitched one inning on Tuesday, allowing one hit in one inning while hitting 102.3 mph on the radar gun. Hopefully, that is the first of many trips to the ASG for the star Milwaukee pitcher. There were probably more than a few Brewers fans unhappy with the acquisition of New York Yankees farmhand Caleb Durbin. The Brewers traded closer Devin Williams to the Yanks last December for Durbin and pitcher Nestor Cortes. Fast forward eight months. With the overall success of the Brewers' pen and solid pitching by new closer Trevor Megill, Brewers fans might now be asking, 'Devin Who?' Durbin started the season at Triple-A Nashville but was called up three weeks into the season and has played almost every game for Milwaukee since. In his first major league game against the 'Nomadic' Athletics, Durbin collected his first big-league knock and went 2-for-4 in the contest. Durbin's season has been typical of a rookie, with the usual ups and downs. On May 20, he was batting .169 with an OPS of .501 when he went on a hot streak over his next 11 games, batting .333/.383/.500 over 42 at-bats while slamming seven two-baggers and stealing three bases. Then came a 2-for-23 famine that saw his average plummet to .203 in mid-June. But over the next month, Durbin had a red-hot streak in which he batted .367/.440/.468 over 79 at-bats. The power is still not there (12 doubles, four HRs), but he has provided some clutch moments, including three walk-offs, which ties him with the immortal Gomer Hodge (1971) with the most walk-offs in major league history before the All-Star game. (Hodge would later manage the Beloit Brewers in the Class-A Midwest League from 1986-88.) Durbin kills southpaws to the tune of .351/.413/.509 over 57 at-bats, while scuffling somewhat against righties, batting .232/.329/.316 in 177 ABs. Platoon splits aside, the diminutive (5-foot-7) infielder is batting .261/.348/.363 overall and is playing a decent third base for Milwaukee. His six defensive runs saved (DRS) ranks fourth overall, just ahead of 10-time Gold Glover Nolan Arenado. Hmm... Isaac Collins began his professional career with the Colorado Rockies. He made it as high as Double-A before being selected by the Brewers in the minor league portion of the 2022 Rule 5 Draft. The switch-hitter clawed his way up the chain and made his big-league debut last year, going 2-for-17 in 11 games. What a difference a year makes. With injuries to Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins, Collins worked his way up the outfield depth chart and has been a mainstay in left field, starting 48 games for the Brewers. Although he split time between left field and second base in the minors, he has become adept at playing 'the corn' at Am Fam Field and has passed the eye test, having made several outstanding catches this year. His five defensive runs saved rank in MLB's top 10 for left fielders. Proving that they don't all grow big in Minnesota, the 5-foot-8 Collins has been steady for Milwaukee, batting .259/.363/.389 over 193 ABs. Although not a big power hitter (eight doubles, one triple, five homers), Collins plays good defense and shows some speed, stealing 10 of 13 bases this season. Collins has the potential of being a 30-stolen base guy and could hit 10-15 homers. Add to that his defensive skills, and you have a pretty solid player. If The Miz can pitch as well in his next 12-13 starts as he did in his first five, he will be a slam-dunk Top 5 NL Rookie of the Year candidate. Durbin and Collins could collect some votes, but it's more likely they will simply be solid rookies, and right now, that's what the Brewers need. What do you think of the jobs that these three have done this year? Let us know in the comment section, and thanks for reading! View full article

On May 16, 2004, Ben Sheets threw one of the greatest games in Milwaukee Brewers history. The righthander struck out 18 batters - still a Milwaukee record - on the way to a 4-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves. It was a window into Sheets' electrifying ability. Sadly, Sheets' career would be derailed by injuries and bad teams - otherwise he may have ended up as the best pitcher in franchise history. Ben Sheets was born in Louisiana in 1978. He attended college at Northeast Louisiana University (now the University of Louisiana Monroe), where he was an All-American. The Brewers drafted Sheets in the first round (10th overall) in 1999. In 2000, Sheets became the hero for the U.S. Olympic baseball team, pitching 22 innings and yielding only one walk and 11 hits. For the gold medal game, he pitched a complete game shutout against the favored Cuban team, giving up only three singles and no walks. The Brewers moved Sheets rapidly through the minor leagues, and by 2001, he was a fixture in the rotation. Sheets quickly became a workhorse, averaging 225 IP from 2002-2004. During the span, Sheets became a complete pitcher, controlling his offerings and increasing his strikeouts. All of it came together in 2004, when Sheets produced one of the best seasons in Brewer history. In addition to a 2.70 ERA, Sheets struck out 264 batters and walked just 32. Unfortunately, Sheets suffered from a lack of run support and only had a record of 12-14. (The club won only 67 games that season.) Due to the low win total, he finished a distant eighth in the Cy Young Award voting, despite producing 7.2 bWAR - second in the league behind Randy Johnson. After Sheets' breakout campaign, the Brewers gave their newly minted ace a four-year contract worth $38.5 million. Unfortunately, Sheets never rose up to the brilliance of the 2004 campaign as he missed time due to injury and illness during each of the next four years. He was still effective, but he never threw for more than 200 innings or produced a sub-3.00 ERA. His list of injuries included shoulder tendinitis, hamstring issues, ear infections that caused vertigo, and a tear in his right elbow. The latter injury occurred in the final weeks of 2008 - the only winning season Sheets had been part of with Milwaukee - and shelved him for the playoffs. With the season concluded, Sheets was a free agent. The Brewers decided the oft-injured Sheets wasn't worth a significant investment but did opt to offer him arbitration with the expectation of landing a draft pick as compensation. Unfortunately for Sheets, who declined the arbitration offer, the elbow injury was worse than thought and required Tommy John surgery. He missed all of the 2009 season. Sheets signed with Oakland for the 2010 season, starting 20 games, with mediocre results, before suffering a torn flexor in his pitching elbow. He made one final stab at playing in 2012, signing with Atlanta mid-season. He pitched well over nine games before landing on the DL again with a sore shoulder. After the last setback, Sheets decided to call it a career. After retiring, Sheets returned to Louisiana to raise his family, where he owns and operates Sheets Baseball Academy. He has served as a volunteer baseball coach at his alma mater since 2013. He was inducted into the Brewer Wall of Honor in 2014. Ben Sheets was unique in that he was a starter that relied primary on only two pitches: his fastball and a devastating curveball. No player in team history probably threw a curve ball as often and as effectively as Sheets. Sheets' legacy with Milwaukee is effectively in place as one of the top pitchers the organization ever produced - even if it was tinged with disappointment. In addition to pitching in four All-Star games, he is second in career bWAR, with 25.6, behind only Teddy Higuera. And he has more strikeouts than anyone other than Yovani Gallardo. Sheets' name appears in the Brewers top 10 of just about every pitching statistic that you can think of, including WHIP, innings pitched, and wins. As I noted, for all the accomplishments of Sheets, there is a dose of disappointment that things weren't better during his run in Brew City. Sheets pitched on some really bad clubs, dimming his accomplishments in some eyes. Also, as the club's first home grown star in years, he was cast as the savior for the franchise and awarded the richest contract in team history. But the injuries that followed clouded people's view of him and he would never carry the club on his back like he did in 2004. I remember during the time period that people on brewerfan.net would sarcastically say things such as, "It would be nice if our 'ace' would get over his dizzy spells" and things of that nature. The final injury cemented for many fans the sour view of Sheets. At the time, some felt he was bailing on the team in the heat of the pennant race. When he left the Brewer organization, there was some bitterness between both parties, but that appears to have faded over the years. In the end, it's easy to remember Sheets for the good things he did in Milwaukee. Watching him when he was on top of his game was a thing of beauty. Sheets' curveball was second to none. I personally remember going to an afternoon game with my father and watching Sheets mow down the opposing team in less than 2.5 hours. It was brilliant. That's how I remember Ben Sheets. And finally, we can't mention Sheets without talking about his batting. Sheets had a reputation as one of the worst hitters in the league. His .076 BA backs up those claims. I used to joke that Brewer pitcher Doug Davis (who had a career BA of .083) used to thank Sheets for not making him look so bad. View full player

Little did Pete Ladd know that one year after he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, that he would play a crucial role in the magical season that was 1982. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound righthander—known as Big Foot because of his size 15 cleats—started the season at Triple-A Vancouver. In mid-July, Ladd was called up to the big club when pitcher Jamie Easterly went on the disabled list. Ladd played an understudy role to closer Rollie Fingers, but when Fingers was lost for the season with a torn forearm muscle in early September, Ladd moved into the closer’s job the last month of the season. He notched two saves in the ALCS with California but was largely forgotten in the World Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Peter Linwood Ladd was born in Portland, Maine but moved to Atlanta and played high school ball at Henderson HS and then attended the University of Mississippi. The Boston Red Sox selected him in the 25th round of the 1977 MLB Amateur Draft. After three seasons in the Sox organization, Ladd was traded to the Houston Astros. He pitched 10 games for the Astros in 1979 and then spent the next two seasons in the minors before his trade to the Brewers. Ladd earned two saves in his first two games after taking over the closer spot but then lost two games in a five-game span mid-month and lost his high leverage job. He pitched three times in blow-out games late in the season. Ladd earned saves in Game 3 and Game 5 of the ALCS as the Brewers defeated the Angels to advance to the World Series. In three outings, Ladd was perfect in 3.1 innings, striking out five in a dominant showing. But he pitched only one time in the Series, while lefty Bob McClure appeared in five games, earning two saves. The Cards would win the Series in seven games and even to this day, Brewers fans think their team would have been victorious had Fingers been healthy. Ladd had his best season in 1983, saving a team-high 25 games, but became a medium-leverage/long reliever the next two seasons before being released by the Brewers after the 1985 season. He pitched well for the Seattle Mariners in 1986, posting an ERA+ of 111 in 52 appearances. His career ended after pitching at Triple-A Albuquerque in 1987. Ladd passed away in October 2023 after a short battle with cancer. View full player

Sam Hinds was a real-life globetrotter. He was born in Maryland, spent much of his childhood in Florida, attended high school in La Jolla, California, and graduated from an international high school in The Netherlands. After graduation, he was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 35th round of the 1971 MLB Amateur Draft but elected not to sign. He attended Broward Community College in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for two years and was later signed by the Brewers in 1974 as an undrafted free agent. Samuel Russell Hinds was born in 1953 in Frederick, Maryland. His father took a government job in The Netherlands and Sam flourished in sports, winning team European titles in basketball and baseball in 1970-71. In 1974 he was signed by Brewers scouting director Jim Baumer. Hinds, a 6-foot-6 righthanded pitcher, was assigned to Single-A Danville in the Midwest League in 1974. Hinds won nine games and helped the Warriors to the Midwest League crown. Hinds spent the next two years at Double-A (Thetford Mines and Berkshire) before moving to Triple-A Spokane in 1977. He was called up to Milwaukee and made his big-league debut on May 21 against the Boston Red Sox. He replaced Moose Haas in the second inning and pitched well, going 5.1 innings while allowing five hits, two runs, and two walks and striking out three. Hinds collected his first save in mid-June in a 6-2 win over Baltimore and earned his second and final save two months later in a 7-5 win over Toronto. Hinds did not earn a big-league win. He posted an ERA+ of 87 and a FIP of 4.11 in 29 games (one start). He did not fare well in his only big-league start, getting knocked out in the third inning by the Red Sox in a late-July game. Hinds pitched for the final time in the bigs on September 4. He pitched for Spokane in 1978 and was bumped down to Double-A Holyoke in 1979, where he made 19 starts and won his final six games. Hinds was released by the Brewers prior to the 1980 campaign. Hinds passed away on September 19, 2019 in Hanford, California. View full player

Not a trade, but I hope the Brewers look at a Chewy-type contract for The Miz. Seven-year, $125 MM? Don't call me crazy...that's how they made me. 🤩

the subtle art of framing? Like when William catches a ball two inches off the ground and jerks his glove waist-high in the middle of the plate? Pretty subtle...lol. ⚾

Back in the early 1990s, Greg Vaughn spent his time roaming left field in ‘Vaughn’s Valley’ at Milwaukee County Stadium. Although his best years came later after he was traded from the Brewers, Vaughn still played well enough to be considered one of the best left fielders in Milwaukee Brewers history. In his eight years as a Brewer, Vaughn was named to two All-Star teams and hit more than 20 home runs in a season four times. Gregory Lamont Vaughn was born in Sacramento, California and attended Sacramento City College after graduating from John F. Kennedy High School, where he starred in both football and baseball. He was drafted five different times over two-plus years before he finally signed with Milwaukee, who drafted him fourth overall in the 1986 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase. Prior to signing, Vaughn played two seasons in the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL), leading the Cotuit Kettleers to league titles in both seasons, and was named league MVP in 1985. He was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2009. The right-handed hitting Vaughn spent four years in the minors before getting called up to Milwaukee for good in August 1989. Vaughn doubled and singled in his first two big league at-bats. His final numbers for the season showed a batting line of .265/.336/.425 over 113 at-bats with five homers and 23 RBI. Vaughn led the Brewers in home runs from 1991-94 and would have led in 1996 but was traded to the San Diego Padres before the trade deadline after slamming 31 round-trippers in just 375 at-bats. That trade, which brought the Brewers pitchers Ron Villone and Bryce Florie, along with outfielder Marc Newfield, was probably one of the worst in Brewer history. In the eight years after the trade, Vaughn hit over 45 homers in two straight seasons (45, 50), made two more All-Star appearances, and hit 186 home runs to give him a career total of 355. Villone, Florie, and Newfield combined for a bWAR of just 0.8 in seven combined seasons for Milwaukee, while Vaughn's total bWAR in eight seasons after the trade was 15.6. As a Brewer, Vaughn ranks eighth all time with 169 home runs and 10th with 566 RBI. View full player

I agree. I believe that both Joey O and Durbin will pick up the pace enough to make a deal a non-issue.