Paul Molitor's legacy

[RockCoCougars]

rockcocougars, what brewers player is that in your avatar?

Chris Dickerson

http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Chris+Dickerson+Milwaukee+Brewers+Photo+Dayvd9Q5eN7gl.jpg

Yes, I was the charter member of his fan club last season and this past off season and spring training. I had several spirited debates about what he brought to the table. Another board member was kind enough to donate his artistry to my picture.

[gregmag]

I want to thank JohnBriggs12 and Rock Co. Cougars for (a) being even older than I am, or at least having been Brewers fans even longer than I've been, and (b) sharing some really vivid and fun recollections of players who are just pictures on baseball cards to me. I never put together that Scott, May, and Briggs played for the Brewers at the same time. That's a pretty great core to build on. In retrospect, the early Brewers seem to have turned some pretty fine talent -- Briggs, May, Darrell Porter, Harper, Colborn -- into exactly Jack Squat. It helps me realize why people were so pumped starting in '77 about signing Bando, flipping Scott for Cooper, grabbing Caldwell, and then flipping a year of Slaton for Oglivie.

[RockCoCougars]

Well, I'm not that old, but from what I can gather, the early 70's Brewers teams seemed similar to the mid-late 90's Brewers, a decent enough young lineup, but not nearly enough pitching to be competitive over a 162 game season. They were also similar in the way they would get off to good starts and then fall apart. For the first few years of the franchise they made tons of big trades with Trader Lane as GM. Most of these trades turned out pretty well for the Crew in hindsight. They seemed to have annual issues with pitching. They got Colborn for a song from Durocher's doghouse in Chicago and he won 20 soon after, he never really pitched that well afterward. They had a pitcher named Bill Parsons who I believe was A.L rookie pitcher of the season- apparently due to overuse, he was injured and basically done. By the mid 70's, there was a ton of young talent on the roster, but I'd say they were mismanaged by Crandall and mostly Grammas. Drug (Porter) mental (Dan Thomas) and attitude (Scott, Pedro Garcia) issues ran some guys out of town, other guys like Lezcano and Gorman were considered headcases and came around nicely for Bamberger. Heck, even Yount was feigning retirement one spring after 4 years playing for Crandall and Grammas.