The year 1982 marked the first of three 1980′s appearances in the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals. It also marks the one and only time that the Milwaukee Brewers reached the World Series.
With the two teams, now in the same league, prepared to face off for the National League Pennant, i70baseball brings you a look back to that series in 1982. A monumental series that took all seven games to decide a winner. A series that would see would see both teams win a game by a double digit margin as well as each team winning a game by two or fewer runs.
You can read more about Game One by clicking here.
After being blown out of game one by the underdog Brewers, the Cardinals would look to salvage a split at home before heading to Milwaukee for three games. The Brewers on the other hand would be out for blood, hoping to take both games at Busch Memorial Stadium and head back home with a huge advantage. The second game of this series was played on Wednesday, October 13…
Game Two: October 13, 1982
The Brewers would turn to Don Sutton, acquired at the end of August from the Houston Astros in a trade, to pitch game two. Sutton had on overall record that season of 17-9 with a 3.06 earned run average with his Milwaukee numbers being 4-1 with a 3.29 ERA. Sutton was on the backside of his 23-year, major league career but had proven effective for the Brewers.
The Cardinals countered with rookie hurler John Stuper. The young man received his first call to the majors in June of that year and compiled a 9-7 record with a 3.36 earned run average. His career would see him split time between the bullpen and the rotation with moderate success prior to coming to an end in 1986. His final game was as a Cincinnati Red in 1985 prior to being traded to the Montreal Expos that offseason. He never appeared for the Expos.
Stuper would not help his cause in this game, getting into trouble early after walking Robin Yount in the first. His defense would come to his aid and turn a double play to get out of the inning and Cards fans would hope for some momentum to build. In the second inning, Stuper would again issue a free pass, this time to Gordon Thomas. Thomas would be erased on a fielder’s choice ground out by Roy Howell, who would advance to second on a wild pitch from the ineffective Cardinal starter. Charlie Moore‘s double to left-center would put the Brewers on the board and the Cardinals were playing from behind once again.
The third inning would not yield better results for Cardinal fans. Paul Molitor would lead off the inning with a base hit, following it up with a steal of second base and moving to third on another wild pitch. Robin Yount’s ground out to second base would allow Molitor to score and the Brewers would take a 2-0 lead. Two batters later, Ted Simmons would take on a run with a solo blast to right field and the Brewers were now on top 3-0 after two and a half innings.
For the first time in the series, the Cardinals offense would get going in the bottom of the third and they would start chipping away at the lead. Dane Iorg would get the inning started with a single before being erased on Willie McGee‘s groundout. McGee would steal second and move up to third on Ozzie Smith‘s groundout. Second baseman Tommy Herr would put a run on the scoreboard for the Cardinals for the first time in the series with a ground rule double to right-center field. Herr would then score on Kent Oberkfell’s single and when the third inning came to a close, the Cards had pulled within one.
After an uneventful fourth inning, the question of “How short is Stuper’s leash?” would be answered quickly in the fifth, as he was removed from the game after surrendering a leadoff double to Yount. Jim Kaat would enter the game in relief and immediately surrender a run scoring single to Cecil Cooper, putting the Brewers on top 4-2. The book on Stuper would be closed at four innings, six hits, four runs (all earned), three walks, three strikeouts and a home run.
Both teams would roll along until the bottom of the sixth when the Cardinals would surge back. The term Whiteyball would be used often in the 1980’s to describe the Cardinals and it was represented well in the sixth inning of the second game of the 1982 World Series. With one out, Kent Oberkfell would single to right field. Oberkfell would then steal second base and advance to third on Keith Hernandez‘s flyball to right. George Hendrick would work a walk and catcher Darrel Porter would shoot a line drive down the left field line scoring both men and tying the game at four runs a piece.
The bullpens would battle into the eight with Bob McClure now on the hill for the Brewers and Bruce Sutter on for the Cards. In the bottom of the eighth inning, McClure would be lifted from the game with one out after walking Hernandez and surrendering a base hit to Darrel Porter. The Brewers would hand the ball to Pete Ladd. Ladd had pitched well in limited action in 1982 and the Brewers needed him to stop the bleeding with runners at first and second and only one out. Ladd, however, would walk Lonnie Smith to load the bases and issue a second free pass to Steve Braun to force in the go-ahead run. He would get McGee to line out to the shortstop before surrendering a base hit to Ozzie Smith. Unfortunately for Cardinal fans, it is only a base hit in the record books. The ball would hit Steve Braun as he was running from first to second and bring an end to the inning with the Cardinals now in the lead for the first time in the series.
Sutter, and Porter, would nail down the victory in the ninth inning. A leadoff single from Molitor would be erased when Porter would throw him out attempting to steal second base and Sutter would close the door on Yount and Cooper to preserve a victory and even the series at a game a piece. The Cardinals had come from behind and won game two by a score of 5-4.
The teams would travel the following day before resuming the series in Milwaukee for game three. Check back on Wednesday as i70baseball continues to bring you the 1982 World Series.
Stay tuned as i70baseball brings you game recaps for all seven games of the 1982 World Series on game days of the 2011 National League Championship Series.
Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
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