Jerry Kramer and Dave Robinson Talk About the Legacy of Willie Davis

When Willie Davis passed away on April 15, Jerry Kramer lost one of his best friends. They had a close relationship which spanned close to 60 years. A number of the great memories that the two of them had will be shared in this story.

Thanks to the heartwarming and also heartbreaking movie Brian’s Song, people became aware that Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo were the first black and white NFL players to room together. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that Willie and Jerry were the second black and white roommates in the NFL. That happened in 1968.

That strong friendship happened due to just a brief comment that Davis made to Kramer late in the 1962 season.

“We were in Los Angeles at the practice facility,” Kramer said. “We were getting to play the Rams. Back then, we always played the last two games of the season in Los Angeles and San Francisco. We had finished practice and I was getting ready to take a shower.

“So I had a towel around my waist and I was heading to the shower. Anyway, I stopped to chat with one of the guys and Willie was in that area.  So I’m talking to the guy and Willie came by and said, ‘J, you had a hell of a season and I think you are going to make the All-Pro team.’ I thanked him, as it was a nice compliment. It was a big moment for me, because I had been named All-Pro once before, but you were never certain you might make it a second time.

“Willie then walked on and headed into the shower. After I finished my conversation, I went into the shower. I kept thinking to myself that was a nice thing for Willie to say to me. But I thought beyond that and I remembered that Willie had a hell of a year as well. He should have been All-Pro too. So I told him that. Willie had never made All-Pro up to that point and he was very pleased to have me say that to him. He thanked me for the compliment.

“Both of our comments were genuine too. When didn’t judge each other because of our color. We judged each other based on our contribution to the team. It was just a case of two guys playing on the same team who were making a difference and recognizing that fact.”

When the 1962 season was over, not only did the Packers win their second straight NFL title in a game in which Kramer received a game ball because of his play, but also Kramer and Davis were indeed named Associated Press first-team All-Pro along with eight of their teammates on the Packers.

In 1963, the Packers first-round draft choice was Dave Robinson out of Penn State. In his first two years in the NFL, Robinson saw spot duty at right outside linebacker and started seven games there. But in 1965, Robinson was moved over to left outside linebacker, where he would play behind Davis at left end.

Robinson commented about the left side of the Green Bay defense then.

“I want to tell you something. I felt that we had the strongest left side defense in the history of the NFL,” Robinson said. “Our leader was Willie Davis! Willie was the defensive end and I was behind him at linebacker. Behind me was Herb Adderley at cornerback. Sometimes middle linebacker Ray Nitschke would shade to the left, as did safety Willie Wood.

“That means that when we lined up in that formation, we had five players on the left side of the defense who were future Hall of Famers. Willie Wood was the one who kept the entire defense together, but it was Willie Davis who kept our left side strong. Nobody could run the same play on us twice successfully. ”

Robinson remembered a time when that happened against the Cleveland Browns.

“I remember very distinctly that we were playing Cleveland,” Robinson said. “Willie always had big games against Cleveland because they were the ones who traded him. On this one play, the tight end tried to hook me, while the tackled pulled to the outside. Willie went with the pulling tackle naturally and what happened was the Browns then brought the off guard behind him who blocked Willie in the back. It wasn’t a clip. You could do that then on a play tackle-to-tackle.

“So Willie got knocked down and Leroy Kelly gained like seven or eight yards. Willie was mad and he yelled to the Browns, “You can take that play and throw it in the shit can because it won’t work no more.’ So in the huddle, Willie tells me if they run that play again, that I have to take the tackle and the tight end, because he was going to close on that guard. I said okay. I’m thinking to myself, how can I handle two men? But you didn’t argue with the “Doctor” when he told you something.

“Sure enough, three or four plays later, they called the same play again. So Willie took one step like he was going to chase the tackle and then stopped and waited for the guard. He put the guard on the ground with a forearm and then picked up Leroy Kelly and just slammed him to the ground. And Willie says to Leroy while he was stuttering a bit, ‘I…I…I told you not to run that play no more!’

In the 1965 NFL title game at Lambeau Field against those same Browns…Davis, Robinson, Nitschke and company held the great Jim Brown to just 50 yards rushing in a game which turned out be his last ever in the NFL.

Meanwhile, the running attack of Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor combined for 201 yards and a score behind the blocking of Kramer, Fuzzy Thurston and company, as the Packers won 23-12.

Another play which involved Davis and Robinson occurred when the Packers were playing the Baltimore Colts at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore late in the 1966 season.

A win would clinch the Western Conference title for the Packers, while a win by the Colts would give them a slight chance to still win the title. Quarterback Bart Starr started the game at quarterback for the Packers, but after an injury, was replaced by the best backup quarterback in the NFL at that time, Zeke Bratkowski.

Bratkowski led the Packers to a touchdown drive in the 4th quarter which gave the Packers a 14-10 lead. But quarterback Johnny Unitas had the Colts driving late in the game and a touchdown would win the game for Baltimore.

Robinson remembered that moment well.

“Yes, Johnny had them on the move,” Robinson said. “I saw Unitas running with the ball and he looked at me and I looked at him and he tried to give a little rooster move, the old head and shoulders fake. When he did that, he held the ball away from his body a bit and I saw big Willie’s hand come out and hit right on the ball and it came out and hit the ground.

“It popped up and I picked it up. I knew all I had to do is hold on to the ball and we would win the game.  I ran about five yards or so and a bunch of Colts were trying to pry the ball out of my hands before I finally went down.”

The Packers won their second straight NFL title in 1966, plus won Super Bowl I, when Davis had two sacks in the game, as Green Bay defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.

In 1967, which was Vince Lombardi’s last year as head coach of the Packers, the Packers won their third straight NFL title by beating the Dallas Cowboys in the “Ice Bowl” game, plus also won their second straight Super Bowl, as they defeated the Oakland Raiders 33-14 in Super Bowl II. Davis had three sacks in that game, which gave him five sacks in two Super Bowl games.

That storybook 1967 season was chronicled by Jerry in the classic book Instant Replay, which was edited by the late, great Dick Schaap.

Kramer, Davis and Robinson had put together quite a legacy for themselves up to that point going into the 1968 season.

Kramer had been named AP first-team All-Pro five times and he been on three Pro Bowl teams. Davis had been named AP first-team All-Pro five times himself, plus had been on five Pro Bowl teams. Robinson, who got his first chance to start full-time in 1965, had become part of the best group of linebackers in the NFL, along with Nitschke and Lee Roy Caffey. Robinson was named AP first-team All-Pro in 1967 and had been on the Pro Bowl teams in both 1966 and 1967.

Heading into training camp in 1968, Kramer knew he would be without his old roommate, Don Chandler, as No. 34 had retired.

“Willie and I knew that we were both in the latter portion of our careers at that point, Kramer said. “So we would talk about what happens after retirement. I asked Willie what his plans were, as he had been doing a lot of studying, because he had gotten his MBA at the University of Chicago. So we would talk about the radio business, communications and restaurant franchises.

“I mentioned to him that there was a new steak house in town and that it was a franchise and it looked pretty hot. I said that we ought to go look at it. Willie agreed to do so. I was thrilled. So we did that after practice. When we were done and heading back to the dorm, we were flapping our gums about the possibilities.

“My room was fairly close to the door and so we walked down to my room while we were still chatting. We were continuing that conversation and at some point Willie said that he better get back to his room. And I said to him why don’t you room with me or something like that. I told him that my roomy wasn’t coming back. Willie looked at me like he was considering it. He thought about it for a minute and he said, ‘Okay. Let me get my stuff.’ So that was how we became roommates. It was just casual. It wasn’t a big deal. We had a lot in common and it just made a lot of sense.”

Robinson remembered when Kramer and Davis became roommates too.

“it was a monumental moment for the team when Jerry and Willie became roommates,” Robinson said. “They were the first interracial couple so to speak in our team’s history. But you know what, the way they did it, it wasn’t a big issue. It was just two guys rooming together that got along fine.

“We never thought of them as black and white roommates. They were just two guys who get along. They were a great blend. Color never came up. It wasn’t a big issue. It could have been with somebody else, but not with Jerry and Willie.

“In fact on our team, color was never an issue. Coach Lombardi saw something in Willie. Coach wanted Willie to be the liaison between himself and the rest of the club. Primarily the black ballplayers. If anything did come up, regarding any issues for the players, trainers, equipment guys, what have you, we would go to Willie and say that this is wrong.

“After that, Willie would go to Vince and the problem was fixed quickly. And if Vince saw a problem with one of us, he would go to Willie. And Willie would call the player into his room and that matter would be settled quickly as well.”

Kramer concurred with with Robinson said.

“Willie had the respect of the players,” Kramer told me. “Not just the players of color, but all the players.

“When there was a problem when black players were having trouble getting decent housing accommodations at one time, Willie would talk to coach Lombardi about it, and then coach would chew some ass and straighten it out.”

Davis also had a great sense of humor. He told his teammates that his nickname was Dr. Feelgood. Why? Because he made women feel so good.

“Willie was always chatting with the guys,” Kramer said. “He would always get the fellas cracking up with his jokes and humor.”

Kramer retired after the 1968 season and his last game was against the Chicago Bears at Wrigley Field, while Davis retired after the 1969 season and his last game was against the St. Louis Cardinals at Lambeau Field. The common denominator in each one of those games was the performance of quarterback Don Horn.

In Jerry’s last game in 1968, when Horn came into the game for an injured Zeke Bratkowski, Kramer saw Horn and yelled, “What the hell are you in here for? Where’s Zeke?”

But Horn soon had Kramer and the other players on the Green Bay offense at ease, as No. 13 threw for 187 yards, plus had two touchdown passes without throwing a pick, as the Packers won 28-27.

In Davis’ last game in 1969, one in which Davis spoke to the crowd at Lambeau Field, Horn had a masterful performance, as he threw for 410 yards and also threw five touchdown passes, as the Packers beat the Cardinals 45-28.

Late in the game on the sideline, Davis came up to Horn laughing and said, “You stole my thunder!”

Robinson played with the Packers through the 1972 season and then was traded to the Washington Redskins where he spent the last two years of his NFL career playing under head coach George Allen.

It was in Washington when Robinson played with another Hall of Fame defensive end, Deacon Jones.

“I played behind Willie Davis for five years,” Robinson said. “And in Washington, at the end of his career, I played behind Deacon Jones. After playing with Deacon, I said to myself that he could not carry Willie’s jock strap. Now I’m not trying to say Deacon was a lousy football player, he was a great football player, but he was different from Willie.

“Deacon was the type of player who could execute. Willie was the type of player who could improvise and execute. That was a big difference. You sometimes could fool Deacon. Willie on the other hand, could sense what was coming. Both Deacon and Willie were great players, but Willie could improvise. He could analyze, improvise and then execute.”

After each of them retired, both Kramer and Davis became very close friends and were often in each other’s company.

“I was always comfortable with Willie,” Kramer said. “It didn’t matter where the hell we were. I could take him anywhere and he could take me anywhere. We were just comfortable with one another.”

One of those times occurred in 1969. But before that happened, Kramer was invited to the inaugural ball for President Richard Nixon, who had just been elected in November of 1968. Jerry was there with some friends, including former NFL player Claude Crabb, attorney John Curtin and Jay Fiondella, the owner of the famous restaurant in Santa Monica, California called Chez Jay.

Jerry’s new book Instant Replay was doing very well and was on the bestseller’s list and was No. 2 at the time. There were some photographers there and a number of people wanted to be photographed with Kramer.

“So I’m trying to be as pleasant as possible and accommodating,” Kramer said. “One of the photos was with an African American lady who was a beauty queen. She was just gorgeous. Plus she was very nice.

“So while this is going on, a photographer from Jet Magazine also took a few photos. Jay, who was standing next to the the photographer from Jet Magazine, decided to add a little spice to the evening. He told the photographer that the black lady I had just taken a picture with was my fiancée. And sure enough, the guy publishes the photos in Jet the next week.

“At the time, I was going through a divorce. So my wife was pissed, my girlfriend was pissed and I was pissed when this came out. I called a lawyer to see what we could do and the guy told me to leave it alone. That the story would go away. I was still pissed, as was the lady in the photo, but the story did go away eventually.

“But about three weeks later, I was going to be speaking at the Milwaukee Athletic Club as the Man of the Year, probably due to the book. There were going to have a dinner for me and the room held around 400 to 500 people. It had a stage and everything. Like a movie theater. So I get there early to check things out like the microphone and the setting in the room. I was there about 15 minutes doing that when Willie comes in.

“So Willie comes in the door which is quite a distance from where I was at. Willie starts laughing. He was laughing so hard he could hardly talk. He is just laughing his ass off. Finally he points at me and me and says, ‘Don’t ever let the white man say I can’t communicate. I room with the guy for a year and he’s ready to cross the road on me!’ Willie had obviously seen the photos in Jet and he was just jerking my chain.”

Yes, since they started rooming together in 1968 moving forward to when Willie passed, Jerry and Willie were very close. How close? Jerry told me that Willie was among his five closest friends in the world.

Another memory that Kramer will never forget was when he and Willie were on a fishing trip in Idaho in the Hell’s Canyon region.

“Yes, we were probably a couple hours from Boise,” Kramer said. “We went up over the mountain there over to a guide’s arrangement there with rooms, boats, fishing equipment and things. We stayed with him a couple of days and did a lot of fishing.

“One day we went about 15 miles upstream. The area was wild ass country because the river was only able to accessed by jetboat. We did a lot of lot of laughing and giggling, as we were doing something that Willie had never done. So we were fishing and Willie catches a carp. Of course they aren’t edible and they are basically a garbage fish.

“So Willie reels it in and the guide looks at it and says, ‘I’ll take care of that son of a bitch!’ He then reaches for his knife which had about an eight or nine inch blade on it and he just slits the fish from stem to stern and throws him in the water. Willie’s eyes became huge and he says, ‘J, what did that man do to that fish? What is that fish guilty of?’

“I know I was surprised, so I know Willie was. So we catch a couple more fish. Then Willie catches another carp and had it almost in the boat, but it’s hanging off his pole. The guide says once again, ‘I’ll take care of that son of a bitch!’ He reaches in a compartment in his boat and he has a 12-gauge there. In one motion he just blows the fish to hell and back with the shotgun. The empty hook and the sinker on Willie’s pole are just hanging there and Willie is just looking down at the water.

“Then Willie looks at the shotgun. Then he looks back at the water where the fish has been vaporized. Then he looks back at the gun. But we just had a great time out there and we came back to the cottage with our fish haul and Willie started cooking them. It was just a great time with a great friend!”

When Jerry would get together with Willie and his wife Carol in California, Jerry always knew he had a great setting during his visit.

“I had the Kramer suite at the Davis home in Marina del Ray,” Kramer said. “It was the big bedroom upstairs looking out at the ocean.”

Besides being teammates, plus being together on various All-Pro teams and Pro Bowl squads, Davis, Kramer and Robinson were all on the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decade Team of the 1960s. The three of them were joined on that team by teammates Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, Boyd Dowler, Forrest Gregg, Jim Ringo, Ray Nitschke, Herb Adderley, Willie Wood and Don Chandler.

Everyone of those players I just mentioned have busts in Canton. All except for Dowler and Chandler.

Speaking of Canton, Kramer and Robinson were good luck charms to each other when they were each inducted in the Hall of Fame, a place where Davis received a bust in 1981.

“Yes, the night before I was inducted in 2013 in New Orleans, Jerry joined me for dinner and we had a couple of bottles of wine,” Robinson said. “We did the same thing in Minneapolis in 2018 the night before he was inducted.

“The weird part about being in New Orleans, is that was where Jerry didn’t get in as a senior in ’97. I kept thinking, I hope this isn’t déjà vu. I was a bit nervous. But Jerry settled me down. Jerry told me that our dinner would be good luck for me and it was. So when he came up in 2018 in Minneapolis, my son and I went to dinner with Jerry and some people at Ruth’s Chris and had a great steak dinner. Plus we had our wine, too! I was so happy when Jerry got in. Almost as happy when I went in!”

The legacy that Davis, Kramer, Robinson and so many of their Green Bay teammates have created all stems from the guidance of Coach Lombardi. I have talked with many of the players from those championship teams in Green Bay under Lombardi and all have shown exceptional class and humility.

I talk to Kramer more than anyone and it’s a relationship I truly cherish. I first got to meet Robinson at Jerry’s party in Canton before the induction ceremony and when we talked again recently, it was like we were old buddies. I was only able to chat with Willie once and that was when he was on the phone with his wife Carol talking to me, but what an honor that was.

Getting back to Vince Lombardi now. Obviously, he was a great coach and a great teacher. But he was more than that. He was also a great man. A man who molded great football players to be sure, but more importantly than that, he molded great people.

Davis, Kramer and Robinson are a testament to that!

Why Lew Burdette Deserves Consideration for the National Baseball Hall of Fame

A couple of months ago I wrote a story about why I believe Bret Saberhagen deserves consideration for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In this piece, I’m going to write about another pitcher I believe deserves a chance for a plaque in Cooperstown. That pitcher was someone who my dad often talked about when he told me about the 1957 Milwaukee Braves when I was just a youngster. That pitcher is Lew Burdette.

When I wrote the article about Saberhagen, I had three Hall of Famers chime in about Bret. They were Larry Walker, Robin Yount and Rollie Fingers. In this story, Fingers is also going to comment about Burdette.

Burdette was originally signed by the New York Yankees in 1947. He was with the Yankees for a cup of coffee in 1950 (pitched in two games) when New York won yet another World Series.

In 1951, Burdette, along with $50,000, was sent to the Boston Braves for pitcher Johnny Sain. Burdette only pitched in three games for the Braves in 1951 after the trade. In his last year in Boston with the Braves, Burdette went 6-11 with an ERA of 3.61 in 1952.

But when the Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953, Burdette’s career skyrocketed. In that first year in Milwaukee, Burdette went 15-5 with an ERA of 3.24. Over the next three years (1954-1956), Burdette was a combined 47-32 with a cumulative ERA of 3.16. No. 33 also completed 40 games over those three years. In 1956, Burdette won the National League ERA title as well.

But it was in 1957 when Burdette became a household word in MLB. The Braves had a great trio of starting pitchers that season. It was led by Cy Young Award winner Warren Spahn, who went 21-11 with an ERA of 2.69. No 21 also completed 18 games that year. “Bullet Bob” Buhl was 18-7 with an ERA of 2.74. Buhl completed 14 games. Burdette was 17-9 with an ERA of 3.72. Burdette also completed 14 games.

The Braves were second in the NL in ERA and first in complete games.

The Braves also had a powerhouse hitting lineup. It was led by National League MVP Hank Aaron, who hit 44 homers and drove in 132 runs. No. 44 also hit .322. Eddie Mathews added 32 homers and drove in 94 runs.

The Braves were second in the NL in hitting and led the league in both runs and homers.

The Braves had six of their players make the NL All-Star roster in ’57. They were Spahn, Burdette, Aaron, Mathews, Red Schoendienst and Johnny Logan.

The Braves won the NL pennant in 1957, while the Yankees won the AL pennant.  It was in that World Series in which Burdette had one of the finest pitching performances of all time in the fall classic. Some, like myself, believe it was the best ever in MLB history.

All Burdette did was to go 3-0 in the series with an ERA of just 0.67. No. 33 completed all three games, plus pitched two shutouts, including one in Game 7, in which the Braves beat the Yanks 5-0 at Yankee Stadium. Burdette was rightfully named World Series MVP.

Another World Series MVP, Fingers, talked about what Burdette did in the 1957 Fall Classic.

“I just know that the Braves don’t win that World Series without his pitching,” Fingers said. “I have a couple of his baseball cards from 1959. That’s when I started collecting them.”

Fingers also talked about a saying which was used on one of Burdette’s teammates and also the guy he was traded for when the Yankees traded him to the Braves.

“There was a saying in the ’40s,” Fingers said. “It was Spahn and Sain and pray for rain. In the 50’s, you could have said Spahn and Burdette and hope you get wet.”

Fingers is correct. From 1953 through 1959, Spahn was 145-81, while Burdette was 120-71. That’s a combined 265-152. A pretty formidable starting duo, huh?

In 1958, Spahn and Burdette were a combined 42-21. Burdette won 20 games for the first times, as he went 20-10 with an ERA of 2.91. The Braves won the NL pennant again in 1958, while the Yankees won the AL pennant again. In the World Series, the Yanks turned the table on the Braves, as they came back from a 3-1 series deficit and won the series in seven games, 4-3.

The main reason was due to the managing of  Fred Haney of the Braves. With the Braves just needing one win to clinch the series, Haney started Spahn on two days rest in Game 6. He did the same with Burdette in Game 7. The result, two straight losses. Spahn had won two games in the series going into Game 6, but even the great No. 21 wasn’t going to be as effective as usual on just two days rest. The Yanks won Game 6 by a 4-3 score in 10 innings and Game 7 by a 6-2 margin.

Burdette was 1-2 in the series with an ERA of 5.64, which ballooned thanks to Haney acting like the Braves were down 3-1 in the series instead of the exact opposite scenario.

In 1959, Burdette won 20 games for the second year in a row, as he finished 21-15. Burdette was also an All-Star again in ’59, twice. MLB had two All-Star games back then. For the season, the Braves tied the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL pennant, but lost in a best-of-three playoff.

The Dodgers won Game 1 at County Stadium in Milwaukee 3-2. Burdette started Game 2 of the playoff series at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and pitched into the 9th, as the Braves had a 5-2 lead over the Dodgers. But even with Burdette, Don McMahon, Spahn and Joey Jay pitching in the 9th, the Dodgers scored three runs to tie the game at 5-5. The Dodgers ended up scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 12th.

The Braves never again made the postseason again while they were in Milwaukee. Burdette ended up getting traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in June of 1963 for Gene Oliver and Bob Sadowski.

Overall in Milwaukee, Burdette was 173-109 in 11 and a half seasons. Plus, No. 33 was 4-2 in the World Series with an ERA of 2.92. But it was in the 1957 World Series in which no fan of the Braves will ever forget what Burdette did.

After he was traded to the Cardinals, he played there for about a year before he was traded to the Chicago Cubs in June of 1964. The Philadelphia Phillies purchased the contract of Burdette in May of 1965. Later that year, Burdette signed with the California Angels where he played the last two years of his career before he retired. Burdette had a 24-24 record with the Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies and Angels to finish his career.

In all, Burdette’s career record ended up 203-144 with an ERA of 3.66. That adds up to a winning percentage of .585. Burdette also had 158 complete games in his career, along with 33 shutouts. In addition, Burdette had 32 saves.

In looking at some of the pitchers in the Hall of Fame, I would like to compare Burdette to three of them. Don Drysdale, Jack Morris and Bob Lemon.

Drysdale was 209-166 in his MLB career. No. 53 had six more wins than Burdette, but he also had 22 more losses. Drysdale had a sparkling ERA of 2.95, compared to the 3.66 mark of Burdette. Drysdale also had 167 complete games and had 49 shutouts. Drysdale was a nine-time All-Star and played on three World Series championship teams.

But Burdette was better in the World Series, as he  was 4-2 with an ERA of 2.92, had two shutouts and four complete games, plus was World Series MVP, while Drysdale was 3-3 with an ERA of 2.95, had one shutout and three complete games.

Fingers compared the two to me.

“Yeah, you can definitely compare Don and Lew,” Fingers said. “Drysdale’s ERA is a lot lower. By almost 3/4 of a point. And Drysdale struck out over twice as many hitters than Lew did. But Drysdale was a strikeout pitcher. Complete games are about the same, as is the winning percentage. Drysdale had more shutouts though. I will say one thing though, Lew hit only 1/3 of the hitters that Don did!”

Now let’s compare Burdette and Morris. Jack was 254-186 in his career with an ERA of 3.90. No. 47 also had 175 complete games and 28 shutouts. Like Burdette, Morris was also a World Series MVP in 1991 for the Minnesota Twins. Morris was a five-time All-Star and also played on three World Series championship teams (Detroit Tigers in 1984, the Twins in 1991 and the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992).

Morris did have 51 more wins than Burdette, but also had 42 more losses. Plus his ERA was 1/3 higher than that of Burdette. Both Burdette and Morris were 4-2 in the World Series with a very similar ERA mark (Burdette was 2.92 and Morris was 2.96). Plus, both were MVPs. Morris had one less shutout in the series and one less complete game in the series compared to Burdette.

Than there is the comparison of Burdette and Lemon. Bob was 207-128 with an ERA of 3.23 for the Cleveland Indians. That’s four more wins than Burdette and 16 less losses. His ERA is 1/4 lower as well. Lemon had 188 complete games, which is 30 more than Burdette, plus had 31 shutouts, which is two less than Burdette. Lemon also was a seven-time All-Star.

The big difference between Lemon and Burdette is their performances in the World Series. Both played in two and each won one. Lemon was 2-2 with an ERA of 3.94 with two complete games. Burdette again was 4-2 with an ERA of 2.92 with four complete games and two shutouts. Plus, was the ’57 World Series MVP.

When looking at all the pitchers in the Hall of Fame, the average for wins and losses overall is 246-171. Burdette was 203-144. The average ERA was 3.00. Burdette had a mark of 3.66. The average winning percentage was .589. Burdette was almost right on the mark with a .585 winning percentage. The average amount of shutouts was 38. Burdette had 33.

But when it comes to any pitcher ever having a better overall World Series performance than Burdette had in 1957, there is just one. Bob Gibson came close in the 1967 World Series, when he was 3-0 and was the MVP, but his ERA was 1.00 compared to the 0.67 mark of Burdette in 1957. Only Christy Mathewson, who was 3-0 and had an ERA of 0.00 in the 1905 World Series tops what Burdette did.

Plus there is more. Burdette averaged only 1.84 walks per nine innings pitched. That places him behind just four pitchers who all were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Those pitchers were Robin Roberts (1.73), Greg Maddux (1.80), Carl Hubbell (1.82) and Juan Marichal (1.82). This is based on having pitched at least 3,000 innings since 1920.

Burdette has been voted on 15 times for a plaque in Cooperstown,  with his last time being in 1987, when he got 23.32 percent of the vote.

Here’s what needs to happen for Burdette to get another chance for a spot in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame has four Era Committees which vote on 10 candidates in each committee for selection into getting a plaque in Cooperstown. The four Era Committees are Early Baseball (Prior To 1950), Golden Days (1950-1969), Modern Baseball (1970-1987) and Today’s Game (1988 To Present).

Burdette would be considered to be in the Golden Days category. The Golden Days Committee has 16 members, which will be a mixture of Hall of Fame players, MLB executives and writers. The list of 10 candidates for each committee is put together by the Historical Overview Committee.

The Historical Overview Committee is comprised of 11 veteran historians: Bob Elliott (Canadian Baseball Network), Jim Henneman (formerly Baltimore Sun), Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau), Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Bill Madden (formerly New York Daily News), Jack O’Connell (BBWAA), Jim Reeves (formerly Fort Worth Star-Telegram), Tracy Ringolsby (MLB.com), Glenn Schwarz (formerly San Francisco Chronicle), Dave Van Dyck (formerly Chicago Tribune) and Mark Whicker (Southern California News Group).

Hopefully, the Historical Overview Committee will make Burdette one of the 10 candidates for the Golden Days Committee to discuss and vote upon. The Golden Days Committee will meet in December to determine the Class of 2021 for the Hall of Fame.

To get in, a candidate must earn 75% of the votes to get a plaque in Cooperstown. I believe Burdette’s overall career statistics in MLB put him close to where he needs to be in terms of getting in the Hall of Fame.

What should put him over the top is his performance in the 1957 World Series, which is in my opinion, is the best of all time in modern MLB history. It would sure be nice to see the dynamic of duo of Spahn and Burdette together again in Cooperstown.

A Surreal Stretch of Time in April of 1970

1970 Milwaukee Brewers

In April of 1970, I was in Grade 7 at Corpus Christi in Milwaukee. It was an exciting time for me. I loved going to school, as I had a great teacher in Mrs. Schneck. My classmates were great as well. In addition to school, I played sports all the time, whether it was baseball, football or basketball.

In school, I especially loved history and science. I later minored in history in college. Science really intrigued me as well, mostly when studying about the universe and the solar system. The NASA space program had really caught my interest.

I was thrilled when astronaut Jim Lovell visited Corpus Christi in 1969. Lovell, who was a Milwaukee native, had been on the crew of three space flights, Gemini 7, Gemini 12 and Apollo 8. Plus he was about to lead the crew of Apollo 13 to the moon on April 11. More on that later.

It was a great time to be a sports fan in Milwaukee, as the city had just recently acquired another MLB team, when Bud Selig bought the Seattle Pilots and moved them to Milwaukee for the 1970 season. The team would be re-named the Brewers.

It would be the first time since 1965 that Milwaukee would have a major league team. My grandpa took me and two of my cousins to greet the new team when they arrived at Mitchell Field, the airport in Milwaukee.

I wasn’t able to go to opening day on Tuesday April 7, as it was a day game and I was in school. There were 36,107 in attendance however, but there wasn’t much to cheer about except for baseball returning to Sudsville, as the Brewers lost 12-0 to the California Angels at County Stadium.

Here was the opening lineup for the Brewers:

• Tommy Harper 2B
• Russ Snyder CF
• Mike Hegan 1B
• Danny Walton LF
• Steve Hovley RF
• Jerry McNertney C
• Max Alvis 3B
• Ted Kubiak SS
• Lew Krausse P

I was able to see the Brewers in person for the first time at County Stadium for the first time on April 18. The Brewers lost again 8-5 to the Chicago White Sox and there were only 7,788 fans in attendance, but it was great to see baseball again.

When I was younger, my dad had taken me to a couple of dozen Milwaukee Braves games and even though the Brewers didn’t have anywhere close to the talent the Braves had, it was still neat knowing that baseball was back.

About 10 years later, I became associated with one of the Brewers from 1970, as first baseman Mike Hegan later worked for WTMJ (Channel 4) in Milwaukee and that is where I became an intern in 1980. My main duty there was to cover the Milwaukee Brewers, which I was absolutely delighted to do.

Another sport was ongoing in Milwaukee as well in April of 1970. The Milwaukee Bucks were in the NBA playoffs for the first time and they were only in their second season in the NBA. Milwaukee had been without a NBA team since 1955 when the then Milwaukee Hawks moved to St. Louis.

The NBA awarded Milwaukee an expansion team in 1968. The Bucks were just 27-55 in their first year (1968-69) and averaged 6,246 fans at the cozy Milwaukee Arena.

But the Bucks won the coin toss for the right to select Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) of UCLA and that pick made the Bucks a NBA title contender right away. The Bucks went 56-26 and finished second behind the New York Knicks in the NBA Eastern Division. The attendance jumped to 9,490 fans per game as well.

Alcindor averaged almost 29 points per game as rookie, plus averaged 14.5 rebounds per game. The guard duo of Jon McGlocklin and Flynn Robinson combined for almost 40 points per game, while rookie forward Bobby Dandridge averaged 13 points per game.

In the playoffs, the Bucks won their first series against the Philadelphia 76ers 4-1, as the Bucks finished off the Sixers 115-106 on April 3 at the Milwaukee Arena. The Bucks would now have to face their nemesis, the Knicks, starting on Saturday April 11.

April 11 was also the day that Apollo 13 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center. Besides Lovell, who was the commander of the crew, there was Fred Haise, the lunar module pilot and Jack Swigert, the command module pilot.

The flight had a glitch right out of the gate, when the second-stage, center engine shut down two minutes early. But because the other four engines were able to burn longer to compensate, the flight went on and all seemed well.

The day before the launch, the Brewers, after losing their first three games of the season, won their first ever game 8-4 against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. The Brew Crew ended up sweeping that series and they evened their record to 3-3.

The Brewers went to Oakland to face the A’s for two games and lost both on April 13 and 14.

The Bucks got off to a slow start at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks on April 11, as they lost 110-102. Two days later on April 13, the Bucks almost pulled an upset, but lost again 112-111.

The flight of Apollo 13 seemed to be going to the moon without incident when something catastrophic occurred on April 14.  Just after a TV broadcast, the crew was instructed  to stir the oxygen tanks. Shortly after Swigert did that, the astronauts heard a “pretty large bang” and the control panel began fluctuating.

Shortly thereafter, Swigert said, “Okay, Houston, we’ve got a problem here.” Lovell then said, “Houston, we had a problem. We’ve had a Main B Bus undervolt.” What had happened is that oxygen tank No. 2 blew up, causing the No. 1 tank to also fail. The command module’s normal supply of electricity, light and water was lost because of that, and the crew was about 200,000 miles from Earth. The crew didn’t know the extent of the damage done to the service module at the time, but it was severe.

Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of the crew and the folks at the Mission Control Center in Houston, Apollo 13 was able to correct several critical issues and get back to Earth after a harrowing time in space.

Apollo 13 was able to safely splashdown in the South Pacific on April 17. A whopping 40 million viewers saw the splashdown.

On the day that Apollo 13 safely returned to earth, the Bucks beat the Knicks 101-96 at the Milwaukee Arena to cut the series lead down to 2-1.  But the Bucks lost Game 4 at home and then were throttled in Game 5 back in New York, as the Knicks won the series and would go on to be NBA champions.

But the Bucks learned well from the NBA playoff experience in 1970 and the next year, with the help of the addition of guard Oscar Robertson, the Bucks became NBA champs.

The Brewers had a very tough April in 1970, as the team won just five games, while losing 15. The team would finish with a 65-97 mark in 1970 and it would be 11 years before the Brewers would get to the MLB postseason.

I was there to witness that too, as I kept on at WTMJ for the 1981 season.

The bottom line, there was a lot going on in April of 1970. It was a very surreal setting, with the events of Apollo 13 going on. I know I was glued to the television and radio for news about the astronauts everyday during that drama.

Plus, there was the return of baseball in Milwaukee and Wisconsin after four long years without the national pastime. Add to that, the city and state also got to witness NBA playoff basketball for the first time, as the Hawks had never been able to do that in their time in Milwaukee from 1951 through 1955.

Yes, it was definitely a surreal time to be around in April of 1970. It was also a very gratifying time for the sports fans of Milwaukee and Wisconsin as well.

Green Bay Packers: Vince Lombardi Heated Up in the Month of July in a Couple of Epic Trades

Almost two months ago, I wrote  about how head coach and general manager Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers wheeled and dealed in the months of April and May in accumulating talent for his team.

Lombardi was able to bring in some excellent ballplayers in those trades, as he brought in the likes of Bill Quinlan and Lew Carpenter in April of 1959 when he traded end Billy Howton to the Cleveland Browns.

In May of 1964, Lombardi traded center Jim Ringo and fullback Earl Gros to the Philadelphia Eagles for linebacker Lee Roy Caffey and a No. 1 draft pick in 1965, which turned out to be halfback Donny Anderson.

Also in April of 1965, Lombardi traded linebacker Dan Currie to the Los Angeles Rams for wide receiver Carroll Dale.

Lombardi gave up excellent talent to get Quinlan, Carpenter, Caffey, Anderson and Dale, but it was well worth it in the end.

But two of greatest trades Lombardi ever made were both early in his regime and both happened in July. The first trade was made with the Baltimore Colts in 1959, a team that Lombardi had faced in the 1958 NFL championship game when he was running the offense for the New York Giants. That epic contest is considered one of the greatest games in the history of the NFL. In that classic game, the NFL had it’s first ever overtime game and it was finally won by the Colts 23-17 when former Wisconsin Badgers fullback Alan Ameche scored the winning touchdown for the Colts.

The trade occurred on July 22, 1959, as Lombardi dealt linebacker Marv Matuszak to the Colts for guard Fuzzy Thurston.

The acquisition of Thurston turned out to be a great trade, as No. 63 teamed with right guard Jerry Kramer to give the Packers the best set of guards in the NFL for several years.

Photo by Jack Robbins

Back in the day when Thurston and Kramer played, awards were given out by a number of media outlets. This included The Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) and The New York Daily News (NY).

Thurston was named first-team All-Pro at left guard in both 1961 (AP, UPI, NEA and NY) and 1962 (UPI), plus was named second-team All-Pro in 1963 (UPI), 1964 (NY) and 1966 (NY).

Kramer was named first-team All-Pro at right guard in 1960 (AP), 1962 (AP, NEA and UPI), 1963 (AP, NEA, UPI and NY), 1966 (AP, UPI, FW and NY) and 1967 (AP, UPI and NY), plus was named second-team All-Pro in 1961 (NY) and 1968 (AP).

That’s a combined 12 All-Pro honors. Five for Thurston and seven for Kramer.

Besides being a great player, Thurston was a fantastic teammate, who always brought a bright smile into the locker room, as well as a lot of laughs with his teammates at the local watering holes.

That exceptional play at guard by Thurston and Kramer led the Packers to five NFL titles in seven years, including the first two Super Bowls.

Thurston loved to tell anyone who would listen, “There are two good reasons the Packers are world champions. Jerry Kramer is one of them, and you’re looking at the other one.”

Thurston was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1975.

The second trade Lombardi made in July happened on the 19th of that month in 1960. He called upon a close confidant to make that trade. He also traded with the team in which he made his first ever trade in 1959, when he traded Howton to get Quinlan and Carpenter.

That team would be the Browns, who were headed by the man who the team was named after, Paul Brown.

Brown was fond of Lombardi, as both had gone up against each other many times from 1954 though 1958, as Brown was the head coach of the Browns and Lombardi had been basically the offensive coordinator for the G-Men.

In fact, Brown, along with George Halas and Sid Gillman, had all endorsed Lombardi to get the head coaching job in Green Bay when they were approached by scout Jack Vainisi of the Packers.

So in July of 1960, Lombardi made perhaps his best trade ever, when he acquired defensive end Willie Davis and all he had to give up was end A.D. Williams. In 1959, which was the rookie year for Williams with the Packers, he caught just one pass for 11 yards.

Another great trade with the Browns occurred in September of 1959, when Lombardi acquired defensive tackle Henry Jordan for just a fourth round pick in 1960.

But in  terms of getting Davis, he not only got a great player, but also a great leader.

Sports Illustrated

No. 87 became the defensive captain of the Packers under Lombardi and he earned that distinction with his fantastic play. Davis was a five-time first-team All-Pro, plus was named to five Pro Bowls.

According to John Turney, who is a member of the Professional Football Researchers Association, Davis had over 100 sacks in his 10-year career with the Packers.

Everyone remembers that Reggie White had three sacks in Super Bowl XXXI, but only a few know that Davis had two sacks in Super Bowl I and three more in Super Bowl II.

Davis also recovered 21 fumbles over his Packers career and that still remains a team record.

This fantastic production on the field led to Davis being named to the NFL 1960s All-Decade Team, the Packers Hall of Fame in 1975 and then the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981.

Like Thurston, Davis played on five NFL title teams in Green Bay, which included victories in Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II in which Davis had five sacks overall.

Also, Davis became roommates with Kramer for the 1968 season. Based on my research, that was only the second time that a black player and a white player roomed together in the NFL. The first occurred when Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo were roommates for the Chicago Bears starting in 1965.

The bottom line is that the early success that Lombardi had with his Packers was partly due to some acquisitions that were made early in his tenure in Green Bay, a place that would also be called Titletown in 1961.

Adding players like Thurston and Davis were certainly instrumental in the prosperity of the Packers throughout the Lombardi era.

Rollie Fingers Talks About His Career in MLB and His Time as a Milwaukee Brewer

Rollie Fingers had a fabulous career in Major League Baseball as a relief pitcher, as he was 114-118, with 341 saves and an ERA of 2.90. No. 34 was also a three-time World Series champion,  a World Series MVP, an American League MVP, an American League Cy Young Award winner, a seven-time All-Star and a four-time Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Year. That all led to Fingers being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.

I had a chance to talk with Fingers recently and we chatted about his career in MLB, as well as his time with the Milwaukee Brewers.

But it all started when Fingers was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics in December of 1964. The team moved to Oakland in 1968, which was the first year Fingers was in the majors, although he only pitched in one game. In 1969, Fingers was 6-7 with an ERA of 3.71, plus started eight games. Plus, Fingers also had 12 saves. 1969 was also the season when the baseball world started to notice the talent on the A’s, as the team won 88 games. In 1970, the A’s won 89 games and Fingers was 7-9 with an ERA of 3.65, plus started 19 games and had two saves.

It was during the 1971 season when Fingers went from being a starting pitcher to strictly a relief pitcher. Fingers talked about  how that all came together.

“I made the four-man rotation in ’71,” Fingers said. “About halfway through the season, I was put into the bullpen and long relief. As a starter, I had thrown a couple of shutouts, but I could never get in a rhythm where I could pitch more than five innings. Finally Dick Williams took me out of the starting rotation because I wasn’t getting anybody out.

“He started using me in mop-up games. I remember we were playing a game in New York and we were getting beat 11-3 and all of a sudden it’s the eighth inning and we were winning 13-11. And I was the only guy left in the bullpen. I pitched a couple of shutout innings and struck out a couple of guys. The next night I did the same thing. A day or two later, he brought me in the seventh inning and I got another save. Then he called me into his office and told me that from now on I would be his closer from the sixth inning on and to be ready.”

Fingers had 17 saves in 1971 and lowered his ERA to 2.99. But it was in 1972 when the Athletics became the rage in MLB with Fingers as their closer. It was the start of three straight World Series championships by the A’s, with Fingers being the World Series MVP in 1974.

Fingers talked about why the team meshed together so well.

“A lot of the guys came up through the minor leagues together,” Fingers said. “Myself, Joe Rudi, Dave Duncan, Vida Blue and Gene Tenace. We all played together in the minors and we all hit the majors at the same time. Plus the team already had some really good pitchers with Catfish Hunter, Blue Moon Odom and Kenny Holtzman. And Vida Blue had the great year in 1971 when he won the Cy Young and was also AL MVP.

“We just had a great pitching staff through those years. From 1969 though 1976, our team ERA was usually very good.”

Fingers was definitely correct. Here are the team ERA’s for the A’s from 1969 through 1976.

• 1969- 3.71 ERA
• 1970- 3.31 ERA
• 1971- 3.05 ERA
• 1972- 2.58 ERA
• 1973- 3.29 ERA
• 1974- 3.24 ERA
• 1975- 3.27 ERA
• 1976- 3.26 ERA

From 1971 through 1975, the A’s made it to the postseason five straight years and won three straight World Series titles. One of the big reasons why the A’s were so successful in the Fall Classic was because of the way Fingers performed. In the three World Series that Fingers participated in, he was 2-2 with and ERA of 1.35 in 16 appearances. In 33.1 innings, Fingers only allowed 25 hits, plus struck out 25 and had six saves. It was capped off in 1974 when No. 34 was named World Series MVP.

Fingers talked about why he was so successful in the World Series.

“It was because I learned how to pitch,” Fingers said. “When I first came into the majors I was just a thrower. But I studied guys like Catfish Hunter and Mudcat Grant who had pinpoint control. Catfish wasn’t overpowering, but he could hit a gnat in the ass with his control.

“By the time we started getting into the postseason in 1971, I had a pretty good idea as to how to pitch. I learned how to have good control, but I didn’t have a changeup then. I just threw hard at that time. But it was by watching Catfish and Mudcat pitch that really helped me develop as a pitcher.”

Although the A’s made the postseason again in 1975, things were changing. Hunter had moved on via free agency to play with the New York Yankees. And more moves were coming, as owner Charlie Finley just didn’t want to pay his talented players their fair market value. In 1976, Reggie Jackson and Ken Holtzman were traded to the Baltimore Orioles.

It was also during the 1976 season, when Blue was sold by Finley to the Yankees, while Fingers and Rudi were sold to the Boston Red Sox.

Fingers explained this surreal situation.

“We were playing Boston, as they had just come in for a three-game series,” Fingers said. “So I walked into the clubhouse and Frank Ciensczyk, our clubhouse guy, told me to grab my stuff out of my locker and he told me that Joe Rudi and I had been traded to the Red Sox. He said, ‘Yeah, Charlie sold you and Joe to the Red Sox.’ So I cleaned out my locker and said good bye to a few guys in the clubhouse and then went to the Red Sox clubhouse where I’m lockering next to [Carl] Yastrzemski. It was kind of crazy.

“Joe took it worse than I did, as I didn’t get along with Charlie that well anyhow. Anyway, going to Boston was great. Both of us were in uniform for three days, although neither of us played. I think Joe was hurt with a hand injury and although I got up a couple of times in the bullpen, I didn’t make an appearance.  It was in the third game of that series against Boston when [Commissioner] Bowie Kuhn nixed the deal and told Charlie that he couldn’t sell his players like cattle. Charlie went nuts. So Joe and I took out all of our shit in our lockers in the Boston clubhouse and went back to the Oakland clubhouse.

“The thing that was really crazy about the whole thing is that we didn’t play for two weeks. Charlie wouldn’t allow us in uniform. Neither Joe and I, plus Vida, who had to come back too, didn’t play for two weeks. So our team played two weeks with 22 guys. We got beat by Kansas City that year by 2.5 games and we lost six games in that period of time that we weren’t playing.”

It was at that point when the team came as close to one can have in terms of a mutiny, as Fingers explains.

“We decided to have a team meeting,” Fingers said. “Minnesota had just come into town and we had this team meeting. We all voted and it was unanimous that we would not play that night. So Sal Bando goes into Chuck Tanner’s office and tells Chuck that he better call Charlie because we weren’t playing that night and we were going to forfeit the game because he wasn’t allowing the whole team to play. Which means that Charlie would have lost the gate for the game.

“So Chuck tells Charlie that he better play Rudi and put everyone back on the roster or the guys won’t play. Charlie said to Chuck that we couldn’t do that. And Chuck told him that we were doing it. He told Charlie that we were in the clubhouse with our street clothes on and were getting ready to walk out to the parking lot and get into our cars. That’s about 20 minutes before the game.

“After he finishes with Charlie, Chuck comes back in the clubhouse and read the lineup. He said, ‘Leading off, Bert Campaneris. Hitting second, Billy North. Batting third, Joe Rudi.’ We knew then that it was over with and we were back on the roster.”

After the 1976 season, Fingers left Oakland to play for the San Diego Padres via free agency. Fingers explained why he went elsewhere to play after spending so many years with the Athletics. In nine years with the Athletics in the regular season, Fingers was 67-61 with an ERA of 2.91 and 136 saves. In the postseason, Fingers was just lights-out for the A’s, especially during the World Series.

“I didn’t really want to leave,” Fingers said. “I don’t think anyone on our ballclub wanted to leave. We all wanted to stay together. But Charlie wouldn’t pay us. Free agency was getting started in baseball and basically Charlie let a championship team leave because of his stubbornness.

“San Diego was offering me the best contract. I wanted to stay in California, as I grew up in southern California. The Padres had a decent club, although they weren’t a first-division team. So I flew down and met with Ray Kroc and Buzzie Bavasi. At the time, I was making like $63,000 in Oakland. Ray and Buzzie said some nice things and that they wanted me on their club to be their closer.

“So I asked Buzzie what he was talking about in terms of a salary. And Buzzie says, ‘I’ll give you $250,000 a year for five years and a $500,000 signing bonus.’ I said, ‘Give me the pen!’ So I went from making $63,000 a year to $250,000 a year for five years, plus get a half a million for a signing bonus.  That’s what free agency did for the game of baseball.”

In four years with the Padres, Fingers was 34-40 with an ERA of 3.12 with 108 saves. It was also in his time with the Padres that Fingers added another important pitch to his repertoire.

Fingers explained.

“I didn’t even throw a changeup in my first nine years in the big leagues,” Fingers said. “I was slider, hard slider, sinking fastball and cut fastball.  I just rared back and let it go. But I had good control. But when I got to San Diego, I saw Randy Jones getting guys out with a ball going 78 mph and with his changeup going even slower. So we started talking and he told me that I should try picking up some sort of a changeup.

“The only thing I could come up with was the forkball. My hands weren’t real big, so I stuck a ball between index and middle finger and I spread them real far apart. I taped the baseball between my fingers to keep them apart. I did that everyday to stretch out those ligaments between those two fingers.

“It finally worked and I started throwing it. I would throw it hard and it would go about 10 mph slower than my fastball, but I still kept the same arm speed. It still looked to the hitter that it was a fastball coming in, which is what you wanted. Plus, the ball started sinking because of a lack of velocity and I got a lot more ground balls due to the pitch. So I used it a lot when I needed a double play ball.”

But at the end of his tenure in San Diego, Fingers couldn’t wait to go somewhere else. I was on December 8, 1980 when No. 34 was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Fingers remembers that moment.

“The winter meetings were in St. Louis that year,” Fingers said. “Whitey Herzog had me fly to St. Louis to meet with him. I only spent one day there. But at the same time, Whitey had acquired Bruce Sutter for the Cubs. So he had me and Bruce in the same bullpen. I knew that would be a bit crazy and I didn’t think it would work, as both of us needed a lot of work.

“So I get home after the winter meetings and I read in the newspaper that I had been traded by the Cardinals to the Milwaukee Brewers [on December 12]. That’s how I found out about it. No one called me. Bruce told me the same thing, as no one called him either. That’s how we found out.

“But it was a great deal for Milwaukee, as they needed three positions. They needed a closer, they needed a catcher [Ted Simmons] and they needed a starting pitcher [Pete Vuckovich] and they got all three in one deal. Plus, Vuckovich ended up winning the Cy Young the year after I did, so it really was a great deal for the Brewers.”

Plus, Fingers would now be playing with some normalcy, with general manager Harry Dalton running the front office and Bud Selig owning the team. It was a far cry from when Fingers played under Finley in Oakland.

Fingers compared Finley to Selig to me.

“Finley was definitely hands-on,” Fingers said. “He wanted to be involved in everything. He was always calling the manager up. He wanted to make changes in the lineup. He did all this from Chicago. He was constantly calling the dugout to talk to the manager. In fact, one time I went to get a drink of water at the water fountain which was near the phone and it rings. So I pick up the phone and go, ‘Hello Charlie?’ And a voice goes, ‘Who is this?’ And I go, ‘This is Fingers.’ And Charlie goes, ‘Don’t you ever answer the phone like that again!’ But that is why Dick Williams left. He couldn’t put up with Charlie, even after winning two straight World Series titles.”

I then mentioned how Selig would act during games when I would be in the mezzanine in front of the press box. I would see Selig pacing back and forth. Fingers recalled that as well.

“I would be standing on the mound and I would see Bud up there pacing,” Fingers said. “He would be pacing back and forth smoking a tiparillo cigar. He just couldn’t sit still, especially if the game was on the line.

“Bud very seldom came down to the dugout or the clubhouse. Every once in a while Bud would come down on the field and want to jump in the batting cage. But we really didn’t see a whole lot of him after ballgames. Bud was just a big baseball fan. He would have liked to have sat right behind the dugout with the fans. I enjoyed being around Bud. He’s a great guy. I’m glad he traded for me.”

The 1981 season was a magical one for both Fingers and the Brewers. The season was split into two parts due to a strike. The Brewers won the AL East in the second half of the season. It would mean that the Brewers would taste the postseason for the first time. It was also a great time for me personally, because that was the period in which I was covering the team.

Fingers was just magnificent. No. 34 was 6-3 with 28 saves and had a miniscule ERA of just 1.04. In 78 innings, Fingers gave up just 55 hits, while striking out 61. It’s no wonder that Fingers won the AL Cy Young Award that season, as well as being named AL MVP. Just like his old teammate Vida Blue had done 10 years earlier.

Fingers remembered that special season.

“That season my control was there and I got ahead of hitters,” Fingers said. “I also had great defense behind me. Robin Yount and Jim Gantner were a great double play combination. Paul Molitor was at 3rd and he could pick it. Cecil Cooper was very good. We just had a solid infield. Those four guys played like there were five guys out there. We also had pretty good speed in the outfield with Ben Oglivie in left, Gorman Thomas in center and Charlie Moore in right.

“I just felt comfortable, because I knew if I made a mistake, that offense of ours was going to come back and score some runs. So I didn’t have a lot of tension out there. It was just easier to pitch. I just had one of those years where everything went right. Nothing went wrong. I could come in with the bases loaded and give up three line drives and they would be hit right at guys. If I needed a double play ball, I got it. If I needed a strikeout, I got it. It was just one of those years where nothing went wrong.”

I was covering the October 3 game at County Stadium versus the Detroit Tigers when the Brewers clinched the AL East for the second half. I’ll never forget Ted Simmons running out to the mound and jumping up and hugging Fingers after the final out.

Fingers recalled that moment as well.

“Oh yeah. I didn’t realize how heavy Simba was,” Fingers said. “I was going to jump on him, but then I saw he was coming at me. He took a big leap and hugged me, but because there were four of five guys right there, that was the only reason I didn’t go down to the ground.”

The Brewers took the Yankees to five games in the 1981 AL Division Series and Fingers won Game 3 and saved Game 4.

It was a great feeling for most of the players on the Brewers to finally play in the postseason. It was old hat to Fingers and Bando, plus Cooper was a member of the 1975 Red Sox who were in the World Series. Pitcher Randy Lerch was also on the Philadelphia Phillies in 1978 when they made it to the postseason. But for the rest of the squad, it was a new and great adventure.

Fingers concurred.

“Yes, it was great because most of the guys were kind of young,” Fingers said. “It’s always nice when you get in there for the first time. The next year the team made to the World Series. I remember Simmons coming up to me before Game 1 in St. Louis and he asked me how I felt playing in the World Series. I told him that it was just a game. I told him to pretend it was just a spring training game. Just relax.”

Simmons took the lesson well, as he hit two homers in the 1982 World Series.

Fingers also talked about Simmons as a catcher. No. 23 was known mostly for his hitting, but he did catch two back-to-back Cy Young Award winners in Milwaukee.

“Simba could stick down the right fingers,” Fingers said. “He was smart back there. There were times when I would shake him off and he would come back with the same signal. And I thought maybe he sees something with the hitter, maybe moving around the box, so he would call a certain pitch. Most of the time he was right.”

1982 was the year when the Brewers did make it all the way to the World Series. Milwaukee was floundering a bit early in the season and were just 23-24 when general manager Harry Dalton fired manager Buck Rodgers and hired Harvey Kuenn. The Brewers just took off under the leadership of Kuenn and went 72-43 under No. 32.

I recall that there was some discontent among some of the players regarding Rodgers and I asked Fingers about that situation.

“Everybody loved Harvey,” Fingers said. “Buck Rodgers never bothered me at all because I was sitting in the bullpen. The phone would ring and I would get up. I would come in and pitch. I didn’t have a lot of contact with Buck other than that. Harvey just kicked back and chewed tobacco and spit on the floor. He would just fill up the lineup card and tell the boys to go get ’em. The players were much more relaxed with him. I don’t know how the everyday players got along with Buck, as I was never in the dugout, but with Harvey, who had been around a while and all players liked him, it was just a matter of filling out the lineup card, chew some tobacco and watch the game.”

As the Brewers were heading down the stretch in the 1982 regular season, Dalton acquired pitcher Don Sutton in a trade on August 30. It was September 2, when Sutton would make his Milwaukee debut in the second game of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians at County Stadium. The first game was started by Moose Haas. The Brewers were nursing a 2-1 lead when Haas was first relieved by Dwight Bernard and then later Fingers. No. 34 pitched 1.1 innings and struck out three when he felt a pain in his elbow.

“I threw a pitch and it felt like a bee sting on my elbow,” Fingers said. “It was a real sharp pain. I kind of shook my arm a little bit because I didn’t know what it was. The next pitch really hurt. That’s when I called timeout and I asked Harvey to come out of the dugout. I told Harvey that something is wrong with my arm. Something with the elbow. So he took me out of the game. The team doctor looked at it and he thought it was just a strained muscle, but it was torn.”

Up to that point, Fingers was having another very solid year, as he was 5-6 with 29 saves and an ERA of 2.60. Unfortunately, that would be the last appearance for Fingers until 1984.

The Brewers could have certainly used him in the World Series, as the team lost two games with leads late in the contest. That occurred in both Game 2 and Game 7. The Cardinals had Bruce Sutter, while the Brewers had to rely on young Pete Ladd, who up to that point had done a nice job as the new closer for the Brewers. But Ladd was not Fingers and it showed in that Fall Classic.

Fingers would have liked an opportunity to pitch in the ’82 World Series, that’s for sure.

“Yes, there were a couple of games where I could have made a difference in had I been healthy,” Fingers said. “You never know, but I sure would have liked to have had a chance.”

Fingers missed all of the 1983 season due to his elbow injury and then came back in 1984 for the Brewers and was one of the bright spots on a team which went 67-94 under manager Rene Lachemann. Fingers was 1-2 with 23 saves and an ERA of 1.96. However, it was late in the year when Fingers injured his back.

“Yes, I hurt my back right around the first of September and had to have a back operation,” Fingers said. “That’s why I didn’t have as many innings pitched that year.”

In 1985, Fingers still had 17 saves, but his record was 1-6 and his ERA was 5.06. Fingers explained to me what the problem for him was in his final year with the Brewers and in the majors.

“I didn’t think [George] Bamberger was using me right,” Fingers said. “He would sit me down for sometimes two weeks before I would get in a game. You can’t go that long without pitching when you are a closer. Plus, there was an issue with my salary. They didn’t think I would make the club because of my back and my base salary was $200,000. But I also had a performance clause in the contract which meant every game I got in I would get an additional $20,000 for an appearance.

“Once we got to August and September and we weren’t in the pennant race, Bamberger just stopped pitching me. I didn’t pitch the last month of the season. They weren’t go to run me out there to get a save when it didn’t mean anything, plus they saved the $20,000. At the end of the season, I let Bamberger know how I felt about the way he managed me. They ended up releasing me.”

The ironic situation with that story is what I told Rollie about a conversation I had with Bambi in 1980. The Brewers were going through a stretch of games when the pitching staff had a number of complete games. In fact, the team had 48 complete games that year, which was second in the AL. Anyway, I asked Bambi why he didn’t utilize his bullpen that often in tight games.

Bambi told me, ‘Well, we don’t have f’ing Rollie Fingers. We have f’ing Reggie Cleveland.’ My guess is that Bamberger would have used Fingers early and often when the Brewers were pennant contenders while he was managing the team back then.

In his four years with the Brew Crew, Fingers was 13-17 with 97 saves and an ERA of 2.54.

The bottom line is that Fingers had a great time playing in Milwaukee with the Brewers. One of the reasons was because of the guy who called games in the radio booth, Bob Uecker.

“Ueck was great,” Fingers said. “Ueck had been on the field. He knows baseball because he’s been a player. So when you listen to Bob Uecker calling a ballgame, he could call it like a ballplayer.

“Plus, Ueck is a comedian. You can be listening to a 10-0 game and you would still be listening to him in the ninth inning because he is so entertaining. Ueck is a great announcer and have been friends with him for years, ever since I first met him. Plus, he’s still at it!”

Uecker is now in the National Baseball Hall of Fame (as a broadcaster). As is Selig. Plus there are four players who played with Fingers in Milwaukee who have also been inducted at Cooperstown. I’m talking about Sutton, Yount, Molitor and now Simmons.

And so is obviously Fingers. No. 34 has had his uniform number retired by both the Athletics and Brewers. Fingers is also in the Athletics Hall of Fame and the Miller Park Walk of Fame. Fingers was just the second relief pitcher ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The first was Hoyt Wilhelm.

341 saves will get you to Cooperstown, not to mention winning an AL Cy Young Award and being an AL MVP. Plus, Fingers was on three World Series champion teams, in which he was the World Series MVP in 1974. A World Series ERA of 1.35 in 16 appearances doesn’t hurt either.

When Fingers was playing, he was known as a “money pitcher” when he was on the mound. Not so much because of his salary, but because he seemed to have ice in his veins in clutch situations like the World Series.

That’s why him not being able to play in the 1982 World Series will always be a sad memory for Brewer Nation.