SB Nation - Brady Clark

Making Your '00 Face: Fifth outfielder

KLSnow — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:00:17 -0000

With the '00's almost behind us, it's time to take a look back and work together to make a BCB All Decade team for the '00s. Each day, we'll tackle a new position, and we'll have our 25 man roster complete sometime around the 1st of the year.

The concept here is pretty simple. Each day, I'll give you a list of candidates: For position players, it's the full list of players who appeared in at least 100 games at the position during the '00s. Here are the players we've selected so far:

First Base: Prince Fielder
Second Base: Rickie Weeks
Shortstop: J.J. Hardy
Third Base: Bill Hall
Corner Outfield: Ryan Braun
Center Field: Mike Cameron
Corner Outfield: Geoff Jenkins
Catcher: Damian Miller
Bench IF: Craig Counsell
Bench COF: Carlos Lee

#1 SP: Ben Sheets

Voting for a closer opened yesterday and will close at 4 pm tomorrow. Today we need to select a fifth outfielder. Since Carlos Lee won the voting for the other outfield spot, we need to select an outfielder that can play center, meaning we're down to two nominees:

Brady Clark

Seasons as a Brewer: 4, 2003-2006
Slash line as a Brewer: .284/.361/.393
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -1.1 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 5.8

Scott Podsednik

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2003-2004
Slash line as a Brewer: .276/.344/.401
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -11.3 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 8.7

Poll

Who should be the fifth outfielder on the Brew Crew Ball All Decade Team?

Making Your '00 Face: Backup Outfielder

KLSnow — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:00:17 -0000

Voting for a our backup catcher opened yesterday and will close at 4 pm tomorrow. Today we need to select a fourth outfielder.

Jeromy Burnitz

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2000-2001*
Slash line as a Brewer: .242/.352/.480
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: n/a**
WAR as a Brewer: 4

* - Burnitz was also a Brewer from 1996-1999, but those stats aren't reflected here.
** - FanGraphs only has UZR data dating back to 2002, so Burnitz has no data.

Carlos Lee

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2005-2006
Slash line as a Brewer: .273/.333/.511
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -23 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 2.1

Brady Clark

Seasons as a Brewer: 4, 2003-2006
Slash line as a Brewer: .284/.361/.393
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -1.1 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 5.8

Scott Podsednik

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2003-2004

Slash line as a Brewer: .276/.344/.401
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -11.3 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 8.7

Poll

Who should be the fourth outfielder on our BCB All Decade Team?

Jeromy Burnitz

84 votes

Carlos Lee

143 votes

Brady Clark

49 votes

Scott Podsednik

102 votes

378 votes | Poll has closed

Making Your '00 Face: Final starting outfielder

KLSnow — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:00:18 -0000

First Base: Prince Fielder
Second Base: Rickie Weeks
Shortstop: J.J. Hardy
Third Base: Bill Hall
Corner Outfield: Ryan Braun
Center Field: Mike Cameron

Voting for a catcher opened yesterday and will close at 4 pm tomorrow. Today we need to select our final outfielder. I've narrowed the list a little, removing some players who did not receive significant support in their first time on the ballot:

Jeromy Burnitz

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2000-2001*
Slash line as a Brewer: .242/.352/.480
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: n/a**
WAR as a Brewer: 4

* - Burnitz was also a Brewer from 1996-1999, but those stats aren't reflected here.
** - FanGraphs only has UZR data dating back to 2002, so Burnitz has no data.

Geoff Jenkins

Seasons as a Brewer: 8, 2000-2007*
Slash line as a Brewer: .276/.348/.496
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: +12.7 runs**
WAR as a Brewer: 15.2

* - Jenkins was also a Brewer from 1998-1999.
** - Data only includes 2002-2007 seasons.

Carlos Lee

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2005-2006
Slash line as a Brewer: .273/.333/.511
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -23 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 2.1

Brady Clark

Seasons as a Brewer: 4, 2003-2006
Slash line as a Brewer: .284/.361/.393
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -1.1 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 5.8

Scott Podsednik

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2003-2004
Slash line as a Brewer: .276/.344/.401
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -11.3 runs

WAR as a Brewer: 8.7

Poll

Who should be the third outfielder on our BCB All Decade Team?

Jeromy Burnitz

15 votes

Geoff Jenkins

419 votes

Carlos Lee

67 votes

Brady Clark

4 votes

Scott Podsednik

14 votes

519 votes | Poll has closed

Making Your '00 Face: Center Field

KLSnow — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:00:17 -0000

First Base: Prince Fielder
Second Base: Rickie Weeks
Shortstop: J.J. Hardy
Third Base: Bill Hall

Voting for a corner outfield spot opened yesterday and will close at 4 pm tomorrow. Today, we're looking at center fielders:

Marquis Grissom

Seasons as a Brewer: 1, 2000*
Slash line as a Brewer: .244/.288/.351
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: n/a**
WAR as a Brewer: -1.3

* - Grissom was also a Brewer from 1998-1999, but those stats aren't included here.
** - FanGraphs only has UZR data dating back to 2002, so no data on Grissom is available.

Jeffrey Hammonds

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2001-2003
Slash line as a Brewer: .241/.321/.398
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -7.5 runs*
WAR as a Brewer: 0.1

* - Only includes Hammonds' 2002-2003 seasons.

Alex Sanchez

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2001-2003
Slash line as a Brewer: .278/.327/.358
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -18.1 runs*
WAR as a Brewer: 1.4

* - Only includes 2002-2003 seasons.

Brady Clark

Seasons as a Brewer: 4, 2003-2006
Slash line as a Brewer: .284/.361/.393
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -1.1 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 5.8

Scott Podsednik

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2003-2004
Slash line as a Brewer: .276/.344/.401
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -11.3 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 8.7

Mike Cameron

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2008-2009
Slash line as a Brewer: .247/.337/.464
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: +21.3 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 6.9

Note: Bill Hall was also eligible, but was removed from the ballot after making the team at third base.

Poll

Who should play center field on the BCB All Decade Team?

Marquis Grissom

4 votes

Jeffrey Hammonds

3 votes

Alex Sanchez

2 votes

Brady Clark

61 votes

Scott Podsednik

133 votes

Mike Cameron

224 votes

427 votes | Poll has closed

Making Your '00 Face: Corner outfielder

KLSnow — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:00:18 -0000

First Base: Prince Fielder
Second Base: Rickie Weeks
Shortstop: J.J. Hardy

Voting for third basemen opened yesterday and will close at 4 pm tomorrow. Over the next few days we're going to jump around a bit: Today we'll unveil the candidates for our first outfield spot. In this case, we're looking at guys who played one of the corners:

Jeromy Burnitz

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2000-2001*
Slash line as a Brewer: .242/.352/.480
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: n/a**
WAR as a Brewer: 4

* - Burnitz was also a Brewer from 1996-1999, but those stats aren't reflected here.
** - FanGraphs only has UZR data dating back to 2002, so Burnitz has no data.

Geoff Jenkins

Seasons as a Brewer: 8, 2000-2007*
Slash line as a Brewer: .276/.348/.496
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: +12.7 runs**
WAR as a Brewer: 15.2

* - Jenkins was also a Brewer from 1998-1999.
** - Data only includes 2002-2007 seasons.

Brady Clark

Seasons as a Brewer: 4, 2003-2006
Slash line as a Brewer: .284/.361/.393
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: +1.3 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 5.8

Corey Hart

Seasons as a Brewer: 6, 2004-2009
Slash line as a Brewer: .273/.326/.470
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -5.2 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 6.6

Carlos Lee

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2005-2006
Slash line as a Brewer: .273/.333/.511
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -23 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 2.1

Ryan Braun

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2007-2009*
Slash line as a Brewer: .308/.363/.574
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -17.6 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 9.7

* - Braun spent the 2007 season at third base.

Poll

Who should be the first corner outfielder on the BCB All Decade Team?

Jeromy Burnitz

5 votes

Geoff Jenkins

164 votes

Brady Clark

1 votes

Corey Hart

1 votes

Carlos Lee

16 votes

Ryan Braun

255 votes

442 votes | Poll has closed

The Worst Brewers Seasons Hitting With RISP

TheJay — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:00:33 -0000

Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Watching J.J. Hardy Hit

It may sound strange following a 1-5 homestand in which the team hit a measly .116 with runners in scoring position, but the Brewers actually haven't been that bad with RISP this year. In fact, they're a hair above average both in the NL and for all of MLB. Their performance with RISP mirrors their hitting overall: slightly above average at getting on base and a little more above average in power.

As with all team batting numbers, some players inflate the average and some bring it down. The usual suspects are atop the team leaderboard: Prince Fielder and Casey McGehee are cleaning up with RISP, while Felipe Lopez and Ryan Braun are close behind. Craig Counsell is sitting right at the team average. Jason Kendall is contributing at a rate slightly below his overall numbers, which is to say he isn't doing much at all. However, there is one Brewer struggling even more than Kendall with runners on second or third: J.J. Hardy.

Through yesterday's game, J.J. Hardy is hitting .190/.272/.241 in 137 plate appearances with RISP in 2009. His 137 PA is good for fourth-most on the team, behind Fielder, Braun, and Cameron. He is one of only ten major leaguers to bat 100 times with runners in scoring position this season and put up an OPS under .600. For the record: the others are Robinson Cano, Ivan Rodriguez, Dioner Navarro, Emilio Bonifacio, the aforementioned Kendall, Rick Ankiel, Vernon Wells, Rafael Furcal, and Mike Fontenot. This isn't new for Hardy, either. Last year he sputtered to a .609 OPS in 160 plate appearances. He has matched his 2008 RISP RBI total in 23 fewer tries, though, so it's not all bad in 2009.

Now, it's not with an eye to sullying Hardy's reputation even further that I'm posting all this. Consider, for example, that the past two seasons have totaled fewer than 400 plate appearances with RISP. That's about four months' worth of at bats. Certainly it's not enough to judge a player's ability. Consider also his work with RISP in his first three seasons: a robust .298/.393/.440 line. For whatever reason, the last two seasons have not been kind to Hardy with runners on second or third. Maybe the baseball gods don't like soap operas. Who knows.

Whatever the reason, it doesn't take away from the fact his season in 2009 has been historic. If he doesn't play another game this season, he would finish with the third-worst OPS with RISP in a season in team history, minimum 100 plate appearances.

Name	Year	PA	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Chad Moeller	2004	108	20	.146	.224	.219	.443
Rick Auerbach	1972	135	24	.193	.276	.210	.486
J.J. Hardy	2009	137	35	.190	.272	.241	.513
Brady Clark	2006	113	20	.202	.286	.234	.520
Mike Ferraro	1972	104	24	.239	.282	.250	.532
Gerald Williams	1997	144	28	.205	.248	.283	.532
Tim Johnson	1973	121	29	.241	.283	.250	.533
Gary Sheffield	1989	111	26	.219	.284	.260	.545
Jim Gantner	1986	137	31	.198	.284	.261	.545
Eric Young	2002	115	25	.189	.277	.274	.550

I guess we know now why the 1972 team was hard up for runs. I included RBI because I think it's interesting that Hardy has already beaten everyone on this list. The next-lowest OPS for someone with 35 or more RBI is Charlie Moore's .567 in 1982.

Tim Johnson's appearance brings up another interesting point. Baseball-reference has something called tOPS+ for each player's splits. It basically compares his OPS in the split to his overall OPS. Like OPS+, anything over 100 means he did better in that split than overall. Johnson actually had a 112 tOPS+ for that anemic 1973 performance with RISP. He was just an awful hitter. He also had a pretty strange ending to his managerial stint with Toronto.

You may suspect that Hardy shows up on a tOPS+ leaderboard as well. You would be correct. In fact, he shows up twice on the list of 10 worst seasons with RISP in terms of tOPS+. I guess a better way to say it would be that these guys suddenly lost their ability to hit when runners were on second or third.

Name	Year	PA	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	tOPS+
Johnny Briggs	1972	129	41	.193	.260	.339	.599	49
Brady Clark	2006	113	20	.202	.286	.234	.520	52
J.J. Hardy	2008	160	35	.221	.308	.301	.609	53
Eric Young	2002	115	25	.189	.277	.274	.550	56
Sixto Lezcano	1977	121	22	.194	.339	.306	.645	56
Chad Moeller	2004	108	20	.146	.224	.219	.443	57
J.J. Hardy	2009	137	35	.190	.272	.241	.513	59
Damian Miller	2005	129	29	.182	.344	.242	.586	60
Jim Gantner	1986	137	31	.198	.284	.261	.545	61
Dave Nilsson	1997	179	52	.238	.318	.325	.643	63

Hardy still has the better part of a month (albeit not starting consistently) to work his way off these lists. A brief hot streak should do the trick, though it's hard to see how he could reverse his recent futility that drastically. Then again, stranger things have happened. Since it seems obvious Hardy will not be back in Milwaukee in 2010, it will be interesting to see if a change of scenery and coaching staff brings his performance with runners in scoring position back in line with his overall totals.

Friday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:05:21 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

Ryan Braun, Mike Cameron and Jody Gerut celebrate a victory against the Padres Thursday.

Browse more photos »

Some things to read while reevaluating your Oregon Trail strategy.

Jon Heyman is reporting the Brewers and Diamondbacks have until mid-day today to reach a deal that would send Doug Davis to the Brewers, but Doug Melvin says he's not engaged in conversation with the D-Backs at this point. Obviously, Melvin has thrown us off the trail before, but it seems unlikely a deal will get done in this case.

It's a huge day today for Mike Rivera, who will get his second consecutive start, the first time that's happened since the last two days of the 2006 season. Rivera's two home run day yesterday raised his OPS from .617 to .736 and spurred several blogs to call for him to see increased playing time: Cute Sports, The Bucky Channel and badgermaniac (in the FanPosts) all made the case.

Is Ken Macha starting to feel the pressure a bit? He had an interesting exchange with Tom Haudricourt while talking with reporters before yesterday's game. With Bill Hall DFA'd, Billy Castro gone and J.J. Hardy in AAA, Jason Kendall and Brad Fischer might be the only scapegoats left before the blame falls squarely on Macha.

Speaking of Hardy, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs has a look at his service time situation, and hopes the Brewers will call Hardy back up before it becomes an issue. I've come out against service time manipulation before, and I'm against it again here. I understand it's legal and whatnot, but Hardy has been a valuable member of the team for quite some time now, and screwing with his payday this way just seems unethical.

Meanwhile, Zach Sanders of Baseball Digest Daily has a look at what to expect from Alcides Escobar. He doesn't expect Alcides to hit much (.637 OPS), but expects him to pick up 12-15 steals and play exceptional defense. Baseball America listed Escobar as the PCL's most exciting player, best infield arm and best defensive SS.

The multi-home run games by Prince Fielder and Mike Rivera overshadowed Ryan Braun, who also homered yesterday. Casa de Machado profiles Braun's five tools.

By the way, as a consistent reader of many Brewer blogs, here's a quick guide to starting a new one:

Pick a favorite obscure former Brewer. Robert Machado, Ruben Quevedo, Chuckie Carr and Gary Sheffield are all taken. Scott Podsednik, Alex Sanchez, Brady Clark and Everett Stull are all available.
Pick a place they're likely to be.
Combine the two and start blogging.
If those steps were too hard, here are some suggestions: Podsednik's Palace, Alex Sanchez on the Waiver Wire, Jogging to First with Johnny Estrada.

Jeff Suppan will make his first rehab appearance Saturday in Appleton. Once he's ready to return to the majors, he'll need to rack up some innings to become the 55th pitcher since 1954 to qualify for the ERA title while allowing a .500 slugging percentage. He could also become just the fifth to do it while allowing a .900 OPS.

The Brewers are hoping to generate some run support for Yovani Gallardo today, and are expected to try Jason Bourgeois in right field. It will be Bourgeois' first career start, but he might get several more against lefties as the only right handed outfielder on the bench.

The Brewers held steady at #24 in Beyond the Box Score's Power Rankings.

Around baseball:

Mariners: Placed Adrian Beltre on the DL with a bruised testicle.
White Sox: Placed second baseman Chris Getz on the DL with an oblique strain.

I use Baseball Reference a lot for my work here on the site, probably 8-10 times daily or more. As a result, I've sponsored a couple of pages (Claudio Vargas and Yovani Gallardo, most recently), and I try to encourage you to do the same when given the opportunity. If you've always wanted to help out B-Ref but don't have the cash to spare, I'd encourage you to check out this opportunity to help them by entering some data from the 1930's. It's easy work, but it's time consuming.

Or, if you have some cash that's burning a hole in your pocket, you could spend $85 per person to camp on the field at Miller Park. This is a cool idea but the price is way out of line...two people could stay somewhere really nice for $170/night.

While you're there, though, you could run atmospheric tests to attempt to determine why a ball hit at Miller Park carries less than the league average.

Sometimes a pitch count is just a number. Tigers beat reporter Jason Beck twittered last night that Justin Verlander hit 99 on the radar gun with his 119th, 120th and 121st pitches, and hit 100 on #123. Incredible.

Manny Parra had a pretty rough outing yesterday, but somehow escaped with a win, meaning we're all due for a reminder that it could be worse. On this day in 1977, Brewers starter Bill Travers allowed 14 runs on 18 hits and four walks in 7.2 innings of work as the Brewers lost game two of a doubleheader to Cleveland, 14-5. Travers' game score for that outing was -13, the lowest by a starter in franchise history.

Happy birthday today to Mark Loretta, who played 796 games over seven positions as a Brewer between 1995 and 2002 and turns 38 today. Also, happy birthdays to David Manning (37) and Chris Saenz (28), whose storied Brewer careers combined to cover three games.

Drink up.

The Milwaukee Brewers' Last Trade With Each Team

TheJay — Sat, 09 May 2009 15:48:24 -0000

More photos » by H. Rumph Jr - AP

A long time ago, in a league 98 miles away, this guy was part of the Brewers' last trade with the Yankees.

Browse more photos »

One of my favorite parts of each year's team media guide is the page listing the Brewers' last trade with all the other major league teams. Maybe it's because it's so esoteric, maybe it's because of all the "some-team-wanted-him?" thoughts it prompts, or maybe it's the idea that for years Brewers and Mariners management had a bitter blood feud getting in the way of amicable trading. I don't know. Either way, let's take a trip down memory lane, transaction-style:

(note: PTBNL below stands for "Player to be Named Later," defined here)

The Milwaukee Brewers' Last Trade With...

Arizona Diamondbacks - 11/25/2006
Traded LHP Doug Davis, LHP Dana Eveland, and OF Dave Krynzel for C Johnny Estrada, RHP Claudio Vargas, and RHP Greg Aquino
Atlanta Braves - 12/7/2005
Traded RHP Wes Obermueller for RHP Dan Kolb
Chicago Cubs - 8/31/2004
Traded OF Ben Grieve for LHP Andy Pratt and cash
Cincinnati Reds - 1/14/2000
Traded OF Alex Ochoa for OF Mark Sweeney and a PTBNL (RHP Gene Altman)
Colorado Rockies - 12/13/2004
Traded RHP Marcos Carvajal in exchange for cash
Florida Marlins - 11/25/1996
Traded RHP Eddie Collins for LHP Joel Adamson
Houston Astros - 9/11/2007
Traded RHP Dennis Sarfate for cash
Los Angeles Dodgers - 3/26/2007
Traded OF Brady Clark and cash for RHP Elmer Dessens
New York Mets - 11/20/2007
Traded C Johnny Estrada for RHP Guillermo Mota
Philadelphia Phillies - 7/28/2006
Traded RHP Wilfrido Laureano for 3B David Bell
Pittsburgh Pirates - 12/7/2007
Traded RHP Marino Salas and RHP Kevin Roberts for RHP Salomon Torres
St. Louis Cardinals - 8/22/2003
Traded RHP Mike DeJean for two PTBNL (RHP Mike Crudale and RHP John Novinsky)
San Diego Padres - 7/25/2007
Traded LHP Joe Thatcher, RHP Will Inman, and LHP Steve Garrison for RHP Scott Linebrink
San Francisco Giants - 7/20/2008
Traded OF Darren Ford and LHP Steve Hammond for 2B Ray Durham
Washington Nationals - 9/4/2007
Traded a PTBNL (1B Andrew Lefave) for LHP Ray King

The AL teams are after the jump.

Baltimore Orioles - 7/16/1999
Traded a PTBNL (RHP Al Reyes) for RHP Rocky Coppinger
Boston Red Sox - 7/31/1998
Traded IF Eddy Diaz for RHP Joe Hudson
Chicago White Sox - 12/13/2004
Traded OF Scott Podsednik, RHP Luis Vizcaino and a PTBNL (IF Travis Hinton) for LF Carlos Lee
Cleveland Indians - 7/7/2008
Traded OF Matt LaPorta, LHP Zach Jackson, RHP Rob Bryson, and a PTBNL (OF Michael Brantley) for LHP CC Sabathia
Detroit Tigers - 7/1/2007
Traded RHP Jose Capellan for LHP Chris Cody
Kansas City Royals - 3/27/2007
Traded RHP Ben Hendrickson for a Marxist Empire
LAnaheim Angels - 7/31/2002
Traded OF Alex Ochoa and C Sal Fasano for C Jorge Fabregas and 2 PTBNL (RHP Pedro Liriano and IF John Raburn)
Minnesota Twins - 11/15/2002
Traded RHP Gerry Oakes and RHP Matt Yeatman for RHP Matt Kinney and C Javier Valentin
New York Yankees - 8/23/1996
Traded IF Pat Listach and LHP Graeme Lloyd for OF Gerald Williams and RHP Bob Wickman
Oakland Athletics - 5/23/2007
Traded RHP Alec Zumwalt for cash.
Seattle Mariners - 5/19/2005
Traded C Pat Borders for cash.
Tampa Bay Rays - 4/22/2008
Traded OF Gabe Gross for RHP Josh Butler
Texas Rangers - 7/28/2006
Traded OF Carlos Lee and OF Nelson Cruz for RHP Francisco Cordero, LHP Julian Cordero, OF Kevin Mench, and OF Laynce Nix
Toronto Blue Jays - 1/6/2006
Traded RHP Brian Wolfe for 3B Corey Koskie

This information comes out of the Brewers' 2009 Media Guide. I believe all listed trades include someone on the 40-man roster for one of the teams. Any errors are mine in transcription or not diligently checking MLB's work.

Brewer WAR Lords: The Outfield

KLSnow — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:15:07 -0000

Earlier in the series:

Catcher
First Base/DH
Second Base
Third Base
Shortstop

Today, we wrap up the series in the outfield. Here are the top ten outfielders in Brewer history, as ranked by WAR:

1. Robin Yount

Career WAR: 28 (1st)
Top three seasons: 15.5 (1st)
Top five seasons: 21.1 (1st)

Take a moment to let this sink in. Robin Yount had the greatest career ever by a Brewer position player while playing shortstop. Then, at age 29 he moved to center field and proceeded to post the greatest career ever by a Brewer outfielder, mostly after his 30th birthday. Yount won his second AL MVP in 1989, when he hit .318/.384/.511 and was worth six wins above replacement.

2. Ben Oglivie

Career WAR: 21.6 (2nd)
Top three seasons: 13.8 (2nd)
Top five seasons: 19.2 (2nd)

Acquired from the Tigers following the 1977 season, Oglivie spent his last nine seasons patrolling the outfield at County Stadium and is, at least in my opinion, one of the more underrated Brewers of all time. He had easily the best season of his Brewer career in 1980, when he led the AL in home runs, started the All Star Game in left field, won a Silver Slugger Award and finished in the top five in slugging percentage, OPS, total bases, RBI and intentional walks and was worth 6.6 wins.

3. Gorman Thomas

Career WAR: 17.9 (4th)
Top three seasons: 13.3 (3rd)
Top five seasons: 19 (3rd)

On top of having the greatest name ever for a dachshund, Gorman Thomas had one of the best short stretches in Brewer history. Thomas led the NL in home runs in 1979 and 1982 during a five year run where he was worth 19 wins. In the four years before and the four years after that stretch, he was worth -.1 and .1 wins, respectively.

4. Geoff Jenkins

Career WAR: 19.8 (3rd)
Top three seasons: 13 (4th)
Top five seasons: 18 (4th)

Jenkins had a better overall Brewer career than Gorman Thomas, but Gorman edged him out a bit in peak numbers, so Jenkins ended up at #4. Fans of Jenkins' career might always wonder what could have been: Jenkins was worth 8.8 runs above replacement in his 1999 and 2000, his first two seasons as a full time Brewer, then was worth less than 1.9 wins per season over the following six seasons, particularly struggling with staying healthy and hitting left handed pitching.

5. Jeromy Burnitz

Career WAR: 16 (tie for 6th)
Top five seasons: 11.7 (tie for 5th)
Top five seasons: 16.1 (5th)

Another Brewer who might be among the most underrated of all time, Burnitz spent five full seasons as a Brewer and averaged 152 games played over those seasons, all while playing at a high level. Burnitz' best season as a Brewer was his first full one, 1997, when he hit .281/.382/.553 and was worth 4.4 wins.

6. Sixto Lezcano

Career WAR: 16 (tie for 6th)
Top three seasons: 11.7 (tie for 5th)
Top five seasons: 15.4 (6th)

Lezcano made his Brewer debut in 1974 at age 20 and spent the first seven seasons of his 12 year major league career playing right field at County Stadium. Sixto had one of the better batting lines for a Brewer in team history in 1979, when he hit .321/.414/.573 with 28 home runs and was worth 4.8 wins.

7. Greg Vaughn

Career WAR: 16.1 (5th)
Top three seasons: 11.1 (7th)
Top five seasons: 14.4 (8th)

Vaughn made three All Star teams as a Brewer, mainly because the mid-'90s Brewer teams on which he starred were not very good. He had one elite season as a Brewer in 1993, hitting .267/.369/.482 and picking up 6.9 WAR.

8. Johnny Briggs

Career WAR: 14.6 (8th)
Top three seasons: 10.6 (8th)
Top five seasons: 14.6 (7th)

Briggs spent portions of five seasons as a Brewer between 1972 and 1975, and posted an OPS+ of 116 or more in each season. In 1971 and 1972, his first two seasons as a Brewer, he was worth 3.8 wins in each season.

9. Darryl Hamilton

Career WAR: 12.5 (9th)
Top three seasons: 10.2 (9th)
Top five seasons: 12.3 (9th)

While Greg Vaughn was patrolling right field and getting a majority of the accolades from the mid-1990's Brewers, Darryl Hamilton was largely unnoticed alongside him in center despite being only slightly less valuable. In 1993, while Vaughn was having the best season of his career, Hamilton also had his, hitting .310/.367/.406 and saving 13 runs in center field (according to Total Zone), good for 4.3 wins.

10. Dave May

Career WAR: 9.7 (10th)
Top three seasons: 9.3 (10th)
Top five seasons: 9.9 (10th)

David La France May shared an outfield with Sixto Lezcano for much of the early 70's, spending five seasons in a Brewer uniform and posting a career year in 1973, when he hit .303/.352/.473 and was worth 4.7 wins while playing center field.

Closing out the top 20:

Pos.	Player	Career WAR	Rank	Top 3	Rank	Top 5	Rank
11.	Scott Podsednik	8.8	11	8.8	11	8.8	11
12.	Brady Clark	7.3	12t	7.2	12	7.3	12t
13.	Rob Deer	7.3	12t	6.2	13	7.3	12t
14.	Corey Hart	4.2	14	4.7	14	4.3	14
15.	Bob Colucio	3.7	15	3.7	15t	3.7	15
16	Glenn Braggs	2.8	16	3.7	15t	2.8	17
17.	Mike Felder	2.1	17t	3	17	2.9	16
18.	Ryan Braun	2.1	17t	2.1	18	2.1	18
19	Carlos Lee	1.9	19	1.9	19	1.9	19
20.	Charlie Moore	1.2	20	1.2	20	1.2	20

Saved for Saturday: Stolen Base Stumbles and Surges

KLSnow — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 15:00:08 -0000

In Tuesday's Brewer Advent Calendar, we took a look at the career stolen base percentage of Rickie Weeks, the highest in Brewer franchise history among basestealers with at least 92 attempts. But the question about how much those stolen bases helped the Brewers, or how much stolen bases help teams in general, is more complicated than you'd think.

The generally accepted rule of thumb is that a 66% success rate for basestealers is about the break-even point, and that's more or less correct, but it's possible to do better. Without going too far into the math, Tangotiger gives us a formula for breakeven percentage that makes it possible to use a team's runs scored to adjust the breakeven percentage from season to season and team by team. Using that formula, here are the five seasons in Brewer history where the Brewers scored the fewest runs per game, and the resulting breakeven percentage:

Season	Runs	Games	BE%
1972	493	156	.582
1971	534	161	.593
1976	570	161	.608
1970	613	162	.624
1981	493	129	.626

And here are the five seasons with the highest breakeven percentage:

Season	Runs	Games	BE %
1996	894	162	.704
1982	891	162	.703
1987	862	162	.697
1995	740	144	.690
1999	815	161	.687

As you can see, the two-thirds guidleline is usually pretty close, with the occasional exception. Thirty-five of the Brewers' forty seasons have fallen somewhere between .62 and .70. But, having the exact percentages for every season means we can effectively measure how many bases were gained (or lost) by the best (and worst) base stealers in Brewer history with a degree of certainty. A player has stolen ten bases in a season exactly 150 times in franchise history, but only 107 of them have actually finished above the breakeven point. Here are the top ten:

Player	Season	SB	CS	Breakeven	Gain
Scott Podsednik	2004	70	13	.633	17.461
Tommy Harper	1969	73	18	.634	15.306
Tommy Harper	1971	25	3	.594	8.368
Scott Podsednik	2003	43	10	.658	8.126
Paul Molitor	1983	41	8	.672	8.072
Paul Molitor	1988	41	10	.648	7.952
Paul Molitor	1987	45	10	.697	6.665
Rickie Weeks	2007	25	2	.682	6.586
Paul Molitor	1992	31	6	.665	6.395
Pat Listach	1992	54	18	.665	6.12

It's worth noting that Molitor has the 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th best seasons in franchise history, and if the list went on he would also have the 11th and 12th.

And, for balance, here are the worst ten:

Player	Season	SB	CS	Breakeven	Loss
Brady Clark	2005	10	13	.661	5.203
Greg Vaughn	1992	15	15	.665	4.950
Jim Wohlford	1977	17	16	.634	3.922
B.J. Surhoff	1987	11	10	.697	3.637
Jim Gantner	1980	11	10	.685	3.385
Don Mincher	1969	10	11	.634	3.314
Kevin Seitzer	1992	13	11	.665	2.960
Fernando Vina	1998	22	16	.656	2.928
Pedro Garcia	1973	11	10	.656	2.776
Dion James	1984	10	10	.636	2.720

Now, for the career numbers. These figures are a little sketchy, as I only calculated gain or loss for seasons where players had more than ten stolen bases, since 256 lines of Excel spreadsheet work seemed like enough for one day. With that said, here are the top and bottom five Brewer careers in terms of bases gained via stolen base:

Player	SB	CS	%	Gain
Paul Molitor	412	115	78.1	57.043
Tommy Harper	136	37	78.6	27.978
Scott Podsednik	113	23	83.1	25.587
Robin Yount	271	105	72.1	22.959
Rickie Weeks	78	14	84.8	16.405

Of the 64 Brewers who have stolen ten bases in at least one season, only seven successfully gained more than ten bases in their careers (Mike Felder and Pat Listach are the others). In fact, 17 of them didn't even break even. Here are the bottom five:

Player	SB	CS	%	Loss
Greg Vaughn	62	40	60.8	5.881
Jim Wohlford	26	20	56.5	3.922
Ben Oglivie	44	44	50.0	3.639
Don Mincher	10	11	47.6	3-314
Fernando Vina	57	35	62.0	3.120