Milwaukee Brewers: The all-time bracket
No. 2 vs. 7 seed
Like other great Milwaukee Brewers teams, the 2011 club seemed to naturally gravitate toward offense. Prince Fielder hit 38 home runs and drove in 120 runs while batting .299. Ryan Braun hit .332 with 33 homers and 111 RBIs.
The Brewers, managed by Ron Roenicke, led the National League in home runs with 185.
The pitching, led by Zack Greinke’s 16-6, 3.83 in 28 starts, was adequate. John Axford delivered 46 saves, fanning 86 batters in 74 innings of work.
The 1992 Brewers went 92-70 but missed out on the AL playoffs because there as yet was no wild card. They finished second in the AL East four games behind Toronto‘s eventual World Series-winning Blue Jays.
Take nothing away from this team. With Greg Vaughn delivering 23 home runs a Paul Molitor still good for a .32 batting average, Milwaukee’s balanced lineup also featured 36-year-old Robin Yount plus Pat Listach, Kevin Seitzer, b.j. Surhoff and Dante Bichette.
At 17-11, 3.33 in 34 starts, Jaime Navarro led a capable but starless pitching staff that also included Chris Bosio, Ricky Bones, Cal Eldred, and Bill Wegman. Doug Henry saved 29 games’
Game 1: The 2011 club’s 96-66, .593 percentage gives it a win over 1992, at 92-70, .568.
Game 2: Yet another post-season walk-over, this time for the 2011 team.
Game 3: the 2011 club’s 102 OPS+ is narrowly superior to the 1992 club’s average 1000 OPS+.
Game 4: The 1992 club begins its comeback based on pitching. Ts 113 ERA+ keeps it alive against 2011’s 109 staff ERA+.
Game 5: In team WAR, 1992 also has an edge with 48.1. The best 2011 can muster is 39.8.
Game 6: The 1992 team’s .986 fielding average is four percentage points superior to the 2011 team’s 1982. This series, which seemed over three games ago, is going to a seventh game.
Game 7: The 1992 club produced two established Hall of Famers in Molitor and Yount. The 2011 team hasn’t produced any …yet. There’s still time, of course. Braun particularly has a chance. But a PED suspension plus declining production the past few seasons hurts his case. Greinke, too, might make it.
Neither, however, is close to a sure thing, handing this decision to the 1992 club, and completing the comeback of the tournament to this point.
Winner: 1992 in seven games