Memories of the 1982 ALCS

[sross1800]

Hi there! My name's Sean! I'm 22 years old, and I've got autism. Even though I wasn't born until 1991, but since I like the nostalgia of the 1980's and 1990's, and even though the Brewers lost the 1982 World Series to the Cardinals, but what memories do you have from the 1982 ALCS with "Harvey's Wallbangers", with manager Harvey Kuenn, and players like Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Mike Caldwell, Gorman Thomas, Pete Vuckovich, Pete Ladd, Cecil Cooper, Don Money, Jim Slaton, Mark Brouard, Jim Gantner, Bob McClure, Ted Simmons, and Ben Oglivie?

 

Thanks!

Sean

[torts]

I was 1 1/2 I have no memories other than pictures of me wearing a Gorman Thomas jersey outside of my parents house and inside "watching" the games with my dad.

[Baldkin]

Welcome aboard, Sean. Hopefully some of those who were around (and making memories) in 82 can discuss things further, but, I was only 3 years old in 82, and don't remember anything at all.

 

I do know that for a long, long time, I had a toybox which had a treasured bumper sticker on it, that said simply, "Andujar is a hot dog"

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19821021&id=s3pQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JRIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5320,4387247

[Invader3K]

Welcome aboard, Sean. Hopefully some of those who were around (and making memories) in 82 can discuss things further, but, I was only 3 years old in 82, and don't remember anything at all.

 

I do know that for a long, long time, I had a toybox which had a treasured bumper sticker on it, that said simply, "Andujar is a hot dog"

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19821021&id=s3pQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JRIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5320,4387247

 

Great story. I had never heard about this. Thanks for sharing.

 

Like many others, I was too young to have memories of the 1982 season (I'm 33 now). Hopefully I'll get to see the Brewers in the World Series at least once in my lifetime, but I'm having my doubts it will happen.

[StearnsFTW]

I was at game 3. I was almost 12 years old. I will take my hatred of Willie McGee to my grave because of that game. He hit a big home run and continually robbed the Brewers of basehits.

 

My strongest memory of that team was that they were never out of any game because their offense was so good. Even down 6-3 in the top of the 9th against the best reliever in baseball (that wasn't a Brewer), I thought they had a chance.

 

That game was the only time I ever cried over a sporting event.

[pitchleague]

I, too, was at game 3. McGee hit TWO homers in the game and made a catch at the wall, right in front of me (I'm in the photo in Sports Illustrated in which he makes the great catch.) I was only 9 & 11 months at the time but I remember getting a ball during BP (we sat in the bleachers), there was a marching band and cheerleaders on the field for pre-game, Andujar got drilled with a line drive and Vuckovich pitched pretty poorly.

 

I didn't get to the ALCS as my dad only put in for WS tickets, but I remember watching game 5 earnestly on television because I REALLY wanted to go to the Series.

[DocLuna7]

Good stories. I am also too young to remember '82 having not even turned one yet. From what I can tell it must have been a pretty magical time to be a Brewers fan. I would really be interested in hearing from people old enough to remember both '82 and '11 to see what year brings back better memories for you. Obviously in '82 the team got to the WS, but since that '11 team is the first in my lifetime that I thought had a legitimate chance to win it all it seems like a pretty interesting comparison.

[StearnsFTW]

I, too, was at game 3. McGee hit TWO homers in the game and made a catch at the wall, right in front of me (I'm in the photo in Sports Illustrated in which he makes the great catch.) I was only 9 & 11 months at the time but I remember getting a ball during BP (we sat in the bleachers), there was a marching band and cheerleaders on the field for pre-game, Andujar got drilled with a line drive and Vuckovich pitched pretty poorly.

 

I didn't get to the ALCS as my dad only put in for WS tickets, but I remember watching game 5 earnestly on television because I REALLY wanted to go to the Series.

 

Yeah, he did hit 2. I only remembered the one because it was 3-run shot to break up a scoreless tie in the 5th.

 

I hate me some Willie McGee.

 

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=198210150MIL

[StearnsFTW]

Good stories. I am also too young to remember '82 having not even turned one yet. From what I can tell it must have been a pretty magical time to be a Brewers fan. I would really be interested in hearing from people old enough to remember both '82 and '11 to see what year brings back better memories for you. Obviously in '82 the team got to the WS, but since that '11 team is the first in my lifetime that I thought had a legitimate chance to win it all it seems like a pretty interesting comparison.

 

 

I was much much more confident in the '82 team. Just a far better team all around in my opinion (of course I was only 11, so I could have been wrong). The '11 team's defense always worried me.

 

'82 had it all. Speed, defense, huge power, and good pitching. Losing Fingers really hurt though. Ladd did fine as closer, but it was one of those deals where everyone got pushed up a spot because the guy at the end was out.

 

I seem to recall seeing too much Bob McClure for my liking, but that is purely anecdotal.

[Patrick425]

I was 16 years old and had seats in the left center field bleacher for each home post season game in 1982. So, yes, I remember those days and that team quite fondly. However, my memory is a little foggy on exactly how I got the tickets. I believe my mom entered a lottery and we were selected (I still have the stubs. If I remember I will take a picture and post them in this thread tonight or tomorrow). We got 4 seats and even though the tickets were dirt cheap by today's standards, my parents could not afford to purchase all of them. So, I took one seat for each game and sold the rest to my friends for face value. I remember that the scalping price was much greater than the face value and at least one of my friends was making noise that we should sell the tickets. I convinced him (and the others) not to sell and, to this day, I'm so glad I was able to do that.

 

We all jumped the outfield wall after game 5 of the ALCS and stormed the field. I think one of my friends was jumping before Cooper even caught the throw from Yount and he may have been one of the first guys to the crowd that was around the mound. After things "settled down" and they start "ushering" people off the field we all caught a city bus to downtown. We got off the bus around Van Buren and Wisconsin and walked westward down WI avenue slapping hands and celebrating with the throng that had filled the streets. I think we made it all the way to around 50th street when we decided to call one of our parents to come pick us up.

 

I remember the a fore mentioned line drive that Andujar took off his body in the WS. In our teenage foolishness we kept yelling "Juaquin is dead! Juaqin is dead!" Until it annoyed the middle aged woman behind us who finally replied with a very curt "Is Juaquin dead?" Of course we all stopped, looked at each other for a brief moment, and started laughing.

[Patrick425]

Good stories. I am also too young to remember '82 having not even turned one yet. From what I can tell it must have been a pretty magical time to be a Brewers fan. I would really be interested in hearing from people old enough to remember both '82 and '11 to see what year brings back better memories for you. Obviously in '82 the team got to the WS, but since that '11 team is the first in my lifetime that I thought had a legitimate chance to win it all it seems like a pretty interesting comparison.

 

 

I have to pretty much agree with cubsdie and his assessment. Perhaps it was just the optimism of my youth, but I really thought the Brewers were the team to beat in 82 and their loss in the WS to the Cards was an "upset". It also seemed like the national media had a love affair with that 82 team and the likes of Vuke, Thomas, and Harvey Kuehn. They were definitely a blue collar, working man's type of team.

 

Also, remember that back then only 4 teams total from both leagues made the playoffs (not 8). So, it was easier to dream and feel confident about winning the WS once your team made the playoffs. It was a shorter path to that destination.

[StearnsFTW]

Patrick, I'm glad you brought up the ticket thing.

 

The only reason I got to go was that I BEGGED my then-22-year-old brother to take me. He did, although he made me pay for my own ticket ( a LOT of money to an 11-year-old), and, on top of that, made me pay him a $25 "chauffeur fee". What a jerk.

 

Anyway, it worked out great for me. It's a memory I'll have the rest of my life. Hopefully I can go to another Brewers World Series game some time in the future.

[brewers4eric]

The playoffs in 1982 were actually kind of anticlimactic for me. After the four game showdown with the Orioles at the end of the season, I was still recovering emotionally from the final game of the season. When they came back from 2 down to beat the Angels and advance to the World Series, they seemed destined to win it all. I can recall the incredible record they put together after they cut Buck Rogers loose in the middle of the season.

 

I may have blocked out most of my memories outside of game one of the 1982 World Series. Molitor and Yount made hitting look easy and Caldwell was scattering hits like he did when he threw twenty plus complete games during the 1978 season. After that, I can only remember cursing every time Dane Iorg or Willie McGee came to the plate for the Cardinals. How in the world did Brewer castoff Darrell Porter wind up as the MVP?

 

In 2011, I had taken the family camping and didn't hear about the KRod trade until a week after it happened. We had a regular stable of closers and former closers with Saito, Hawkins, KRod and Axford. Braun and Fielder would drive the runs in and we could play a six inning game and the bullpen would shut them down. I attended the mid season game against the Cardinals where Casey Magahee hit three bombs. The night before, we had lost an extra inning bean ball war but the Cardinals pulled it out. I blame that loss as the one that allowed the Cardinals to make their late season run and sneak into the playoffs. Once they were in, they started hitting and never looked back. Meanwhile, our starters ran out of gas and our formula for winning faltered two wins short of the series.

 

The 2013 version of the Brewers reminds me too much of what we had on the field during the 1990s. We've got some outstanding hitters, but the pitching isn't good enough to put together a winning streak. If I need to chear myself up, I just think back to what the roster looked like in 2002.

[gypcasino]

I was 11 years old and was at game 5 of the ALCS in the left field upper deck with my cousin. I remember she went down to the stadium really early in the morning i think the day before the game and stood in line to buy tickets.

 

She bought three and ended up selling the extra to a guy for face before the game, which was either $12 or $15, I can't remember. My mom later gave my ticket stub to some guy to get laminated and I never saw it again. Anyway, my cousin called me on the phone and said "where is the place that you'd most like to be tomorrow" and of course I said "at the Brewers game."

 

I remember parts of the game, mostly Marshall Edwards making a great catch and crashing into the wall in the 8th & then Cecil Cooper leaping into the air after Carew grounded out in the 9th. I jumped up and down for joy and for the first time ever gave a high five to someone I didn't know. Some drunk guy screamed "HEY REGGIE (BLEEP) YOU!!!" and I thought the was the funniest thing I ever heard.

 

It was bedlam outside and we drove back to Pewaukee, everyone honking and going nuts.

 

Still far and away my favorite in person sports memory of all time. Perhaps we'll see another WS here in my lifetime although I'm not counting on it.

[RockCoCougars]

Personally, my memories of the ACLS (games 3, 4, and 5) and game 162 against the Orioles are both more vivid than those of the World Series. Some of the things that I remember most from the Angels series include (not necessarily in order):

 

Coop's single in Game 5

Marshall Edwards' catch

Brouhard stepping up with the bat

Charlie Moore gunning down Reggie

The idiot who turned an out into a Bob Boone homer by pulling a ball out of Benji's glove (20 years before Bartman)

and, of course the final out and the celebration ceremony on Channel 18

[DocLuna7]

Personally, my memories of the ACLS (games 3, 4, and 5) and game 162 against the Orioles are both more vivid than those of the World Series. Some of the things that I remember most from the Angels series include (not necessarily in order):

 

Coop's single in Game 5

Marshall Edwards' catch

Brouhard stepping up with the bat

Charlie Moore gunning down Reggie

The idiot who turned an out into a Bob Boone homer by pulling a ball out of Benji's glove (20 years before Bartman)

and, of course the final out and the celebration ceremony on Channel 18

 

On a different note, I love how it has been ten years since that Marlins-Cubs playoff series and that "Bartman" is still a household word (or at least to baseball fans).

[gypcasino]

The idiot who turned an out into a Bob Boone homer by pulling a ball out of Benji's glove (20 years before Bartman)

I'd forgotten all about that

Eddie Becker, the "Phantom Fan"-

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=q3pQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JRIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6886%2C2383576

[The stache]

Welcome to the forum, Sean.

 

Let's see, I'd have been 10 years old in the summer of '82. It was a great time to be a kid growing up in Milwaukee, and my teacher, Mrs, Trovato, got us all kinds of Brewer goodies, as her husband worked in the front office for the Brewers (I forget what position).

 

I remember playing in WPR baseball, and all the kids on my team had their favorite Brewer. A couple of them had their Robin Yount batting stance and swing down to a tee. I unfortunately was more like the Mark Brouhard of the team.

[The stache]

Here's her hubby, apparently they still live in Waukesha.

 

http://www.linkedin.com/in/timtrovato

 

Tim Trovato.

 

I had a Brewers yearbook signed by a couple of the players, but lost it moving down to Texas.

[1982_fan]

for me, 1982 is still THE season of the brewers, i too was 16 at the time, and still have vivid memories of the action.

In fact, i'm in the process of publishing a book on that season. stay tuned...

[1982_fan]

for me, 1982 is still THE season of the brewers, i too was 16 at the time, and still have vivid memories of the action.

In fact, i'm in the process of publishing a book on that season. stay tuned...

[Patrick425]

Yes, please keep up posted 1982_fan! I'll be very interested in how another 16 year old experienced that great season.

[502 to Right]

Edit - I am an idiot.

[Patrick425]

Well, since 1982_fan stated this: " i too was 16 at the time, and still have vivid memories of the action."...I'm assuming he "lived through" the 1982 season.

[1982_fan]

I had the unique privilege of having my parents move to Wisconsin just before 1978, and then move out of the state just after 1982. During those years - before the advent of the Internet - it was quite difficult to follow a sports team from out of state. So basically, the only Brewers I knew where the ones from that golden era.