The "We Couldn't Have Done It Without..." Thread

[iluvlamp]

I won't pick any of the obvious choices. I will say Counsell. Those two walks made him a hero in my eyes. I don't even like him that much. Punching judy but I respect him. That Weeks homer was soooo clutch. He has proven to be such an underachiever but he delivered when the season was on the line. McClung? I have a man crush on him. That Kapler catch robbing a homer was AWESOME!

 

I am so happy.

[Brily0204]

I haven't seen a mention of him, so I'll toss in David Riske. He had two huge pick-up saves in games that would have been devastating to lose. First, on opening day, after the team lost a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth, he came on to preserve a 4-3 win in the 10th. Then, after they lost a 1-run lead in the ninth in Los Angeles, he came on in the 10th and K'd Manny Ramirez with the tying run on second. He also carried an ERA under 4 until a couple bad games late in the season.

[jhart05]

I didn't read the entire thread...

 

Did anyone mention the Florida Marlins yet??

[EdgarDiazRocks]

Alfonso Soriano not giving a crap during the weekend.

[craigharmann]

George Petak

No doubt about it. Without him years ago, the Brewers would be a distant memory for Milwaukee, either in another city or contracted. With Miller Park, you know you WILL have baseball, brought in the extra revenue that County Stadium wasn't going to bring in, and led to Bud selling the team. THANK YOU GEORGE!

[thablingster]

I'm going to try and steer away from the obvious (Braun, Fielder, firing Yost, CC, McClung, etc.). Here are 5 for you:

 

We couldn't have done it without Lou Pinella pitching Wuertz and Howry late in game 162.

We couldn't have done it without Salomon Torres, he held our bullpen together when it was collapsing right in front of our very eyes.

We couldn't have done it without Mike Rivera, any other catcher who played as little as Rivera would have put up Chad Moelleresque numbers. Rivera really contributed when he got the chance.

We couldn't have done it without Jim Skaalen. Our hitters went through so many poor stretches this year, but Skee never gave up on the guys and never tried to make radical changes to mess things up even more.

We couldn't have done it without Carlos Villanueva. We've really bounced Carlos around, but he has done whatever he has been asked and excelled for us in the bullpen.

[holybannana]

We couldn't have done this without.....162 games. We needed every last one of those to get this done.

[GormanHarvey]

Scott Bartell

[Baldkin]

David Bush.

 

He's been the second best pitcher on the roster since the debacle in Boston. Posting a 3.57 ERA since his last start in May, and if you don't include his two rust-filled starts after 16 days off from being platooned, it drops to 3.11.

 

He really, really, has not sucked. Despite what the radio hosts in Milwaukee would have you believe.

[Blindcheck]

The Whole Dang Roster.

 

For example...if Counsell does not draw a walk to tie the game on Sunday...is Ryan Swinging as well with a one run deficit as he is with a tie game...Little more pressure when you are losing.

 

McClung was awesome on Friday Night and when he was starting...I think he is strong candidate for a spot in the rotation next year.

 

Branyan had key hits.

 

Fielder carried the team the last month...

 

Braun, unbelievable at times.

 

Hart had key hits and steals and runs the bases really well

 

Kendall handles the pitchers well and killed many a rally with his great catching of would be base stealers.

 

Mota had a great end of the year....and won some big games.

 

Turnbow had a huge save as others have mentioned.

 

These are just to name a few...but it takes a whole Roster to get it done.

 

Oh year, CC was exactly what this team needed when he came to the Brewers before the all star break....Getting those extra starts before the deadline was absolutely huge. (thank you Melvin)

[TSack27]

Considering it came down to one game and we are looking at some of the more obscure contributions, I'll throw a little love out there for Todd Coffey for chewing up some important innings when much of the bullpen was running on fumes a few weeks ago.

 

PS - I'd really, really like to see Gabe Kapler available to pinch hit during the playoffs

/end role player man crush

[Legacy25GT]

I'd have to throw Mitch Stetter in there also.... being the one who'd be brought in to try to strike out the side with runners on base. I specifically recall a game earlier in the season when Turnbow loaded the bases with no outs, and Stetter came in and shut the door allowing none to score with 2 strikeouts and a foul-out. The guy I was next to said "I think Turnbow owes Stetter a beer"

[thablingster]

We couldn't have done it without Todd Coffey.

 

Coffey pitched in some big games down the stretch and was nothing short of flawless. Hopefully he can show some good stuff for us next year in middle relief.

[Weirdos19]

How about Manny Parra? Sure, he's fallen off lately, but he was a solid #2 through May and June after Yo got hurt. He was very very good those two months.

 

And Carlos Villanueva. There was a time when he and Torres were the only two dependable relievers in the pen.