Best duos in Milwaukee Brewers history
In Major League Baseball, it takes more than one skilled player to field a championship contender. It takes talent all over the field at a variety of positions, both in terms of pitchers and hitters. While having a star pitcher and a star hitter at the same time is no guarantee of success, it does put your team in a position to have the type of season that fans will talk about for generations.
While it's not quite the same as the NBA, where one standout duo can take a team from the cellar to playoff contention, it's not uncommon for an outstanding season from a pitcher and position player duo to add 20 wins or more, according to Baseball Reference's wins above replacement player metric. The number is designed to illustrate the difference between a star player and the type of player that would be considered "replacement level"—that is, one who could be easily signed as a midseason free agent or called up from the minor leagues.
The following is a list of the top pitcher/position player duos in Milwaukee Brewers history. Using wins above replacement, Stacker compiled a list of the seasons in franchise history that had a pitcher and hitter with the most combined value. Note that, for the purpose of capturing and examining the game's "modern era", only seasons after 1969 were used for this list.
#10. 1993 Milwaukee Brewers
- Greg Vaughn: 6.7 WAR (#8 position player in 1993)
- Cal Eldred: 4.4 WAR (#20 pitcher in 1993)
- Total: 11.1 WAR
#9. 1989 Milwaukee Brewers
- Robin Yount: 5.8 WAR (#13 position player in 1989)
- Chris Bosio: 5.4 WAR (#8 pitcher in 1989)
- Total: 11.2 WAR
#8. 1973 Milwaukee Brewers
- George Scott: 6.7 WAR (#12 position player in 1973)
- Jim Colborn: 4.7 WAR (#21 pitcher in 1973)
- Total: 11.4 WAR
#7. 1980 Milwaukee Brewers
- Robin Yount: 7.1 WAR (#5 position player in 1980)
- Moose Haas: 4.5 WAR (#16 pitcher in 1980)
- Total: 11.6 WAR
#6. 1986 Milwaukee Brewers
- Robin Yount: 2.9 WAR (#82 position player in 1986)
- Teddy Higuera: 9.4 WAR (#1 pitcher in 1986)
- Total: 12.3 WAR
#5. 1987 Milwaukee Brewers
- Paul Molitor: 6 WAR (#10 position player in 1987)
- Teddy Higuera: 6.3 WAR (#7 pitcher in 1987)
- Total: 12.3 WAR
#4. 1970 Milwaukee Brewers
- Tommy Harper: 7.4 WAR (#4 position player in 1970)
- Marty Pattin: 5.1 WAR (#12 pitcher in 1970)
- Total: 12.5 WAR
#3. 1988 Milwaukee Brewers
- Robin Yount: 5.7 WAR (#17 position player in 1988)
- Teddy Higuera: 7.4 WAR (#3 pitcher in 1988)
- Total: 13.1 WAR
#2. 1982 Milwaukee Brewers
- Robin Yount: 10.6 WAR (#1 position player in 1982)
- Pete Vuckovich: 2.8 WAR (#54 pitcher in 1982)
- Total: 13.4 WAR
#1. 1978 Milwaukee Brewers
- Sal Bando: 5.7 WAR (#13 position player in 1978)
- Mike Caldwell: 8.2 WAR (#3 pitcher in 1978)
- Total: 13.9 WAR
