Discover Top Posts Tagged with #pat listach

30 Day Brewers Challenge: Day 10 - Favorite Brewer infielder of all-time

This is a tough one too. I can't give just one infielder, so I will give one for each position.

First Base:

Richie Sexson

This was a tough choice. I had it narrowed down to Sexson and John Jaha. Sexson won out because he was one gangly mf'er. That isn't the batboy pictured with Sexson, that is Geoff Jenkins. He was the first Brewer to post 3 straight 100 RBI seasons, matched (and passed) by both Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. He tied Gorman Thomas for the Brewer record with 45 home runs and then tied the record again the next season. Obviously, Prince has since broken that record. He also briefly held the Brewers record for strikeouts in a season until it was broken the next year by Jose Hernandez. One thing I like about Sexson is that he actually had his best years in Milwaukee. Too often over the (more recent) history of the Brewers players sucked in Milwaukee only to explode elsewhere. When the Brewers traded Sexson they got an absolute boatload of players. Sexson went on to be a huge disappointment in Arizona and Seattle. In December 2003, the Brewers traded Richie Sexson, Shane Nance, and Noochie Varner for Junior Spivey, Lyle Overbay, Craig Counsell, Chad Moeller, Chris Capuano, and Jorge De la Rosa. All 6 players played for the Brewers and 4 played a significant role for multiple years.

Another Richie note: The first year of Miller Park I saw Sexson hit a walkoff 3-run HR in the bottom of the 9th. That remains the only walkoff hit that I've seen at a Brewers game. It was his second HR of the game. Jeromy Burnitz hit the Dew Deck in that game as well.

Second Base:

Jim Gantner

I picked Gantner for a few reasons. First, he was pretty good. He rarely hit home runs, but played a pretty good 2nd base and hit for a decent average. Second, his nickname "Gumby" ranks right up there in all-time nicknames. He earned that nickname for the way he turned double plays. And lastly, my dad loves to tell the story of how he beat out Gantner for all-conference honors at third base in high school. Granted, my dad was a senior and Gantner was a freshman. Looking at pictures of Jim Gantner now it is easy to see that he came from the Sheboygan/Fond du Lac county areas. He has that "look" about him. That isn't really a compliment.

Anyway, Jim Gantner was a home town guy, born in Fond du Lac, high school in Campbellsport, college at UW-Oshkosh, and his entire 17 year career with the Brewers. He pinch-ran for Hank Aaron in what was Aaron's last major league game. He once had a streak of 1,762 at-bats without a home run. His last career HR was an extra-inning walkoff against the Red Sox in 1992.

Shortstop:

Pat Listach

Pat Listach had a short career. He played five seasons with the Brewers and then a parital season with the Astros. He won the 1992 AL Rookie of the Year with the Brewers and helped them win 92 games and almost make the playoffs. I imagine that is where the picture of him, Molitor, and Yount was taken. That is a big "one of these things is not like the other." Listach was fast and stole a bunch of bases his rookie year. Injuries kept him from stealing many more.

Third Base:

Paul Molitor

I suppose this is cheating a bit. He is officially listed a designated hitter, but when he did play in the field he played 3rd base more than anywhere else (791 games). Not cheating as much as the person who named Molitor as their favorite outfielder of all-time. I'm sure that was a simple mistake, he only played 50 games in the OF in a 2,683 game career. Anyway, Molitor was one of the best pure hitters of the 80's. He may be best known for his 37 game hit streak in 1987. He never won the batting title, although he finished in the top 6 nine times and hit over .320 seven times. He hit .357 in 1987 and finished second to Wade Boggs.

When Molitor left the Brewers via free agency to join the Toronto Blue Jays he was viewed by many fans as a "traitor", even though it was the Brewers that low-balled him and offered him a one year deal that was a cut in pay. This doesn't happen now, of course. Prince Fielder may be viewed as such if he signs with the Cubs or Cardinals, but only then. It didn't help matters that he had a great year, finished 2nd in the MVP race, and the Blue Jays won the World Series. He continued with the Jays for a few more years before finishing his career with the Minnesota Twins, a lifelong dream for him, having been born and raised in MN. He became the 2nd Brewer inducted into the HoF in 2004.

#Paul Molitor #Richie Sexson #Pat Listach #Jim Gantner #Brewers #Sports