1986: A SIGNATURE COMEBACK

Brewers - 9, Wild Bunch - 8

May 8th 1986

"Signature Comeback"

Brewers vs. Wild Bunch at Ryan

During the 11 seasons that the team played in the DVFL, the Brew Crew established themselves as the league's true "Comeback Kids", staging many a memorable rally.

Fueled by the confidence of knowing we had the talent to score big at any time, which was bolstered by actually having done it a number of times, we always believed that as long as we had another at-bat coming that we could win the game, no matter how far behind. One of the earliest examples was this victory in the 1986 regular season.

The Brewers were the defending DVFL Champions after a dreamlike 1985 season that saw the club finish with 13 straight wins, counting the playoffs. The 1986 club started by winning its first two games before seeing the streak end at 15 in a row as longtime Brewers nemesis pitcher Billy McAfee tossed a 2-hitter at us in a 3-0 Pirates win at 10th & Bigler. So for the first time in a year, the Brewers were coming off a loss.

The team had undergone a number of key changes from the championship season. The biggest of these was the loss of league and team MVP shortstop John Kelly, who had unexpectedly decided not to play at the last minute in 1986.

Center fielder Tom Loiacono moved in to takeover at shortstop, and a new outfielder named Ron Stein moved into left field, with Greg Nigro sliding into Loiacono's spot in right center. Stein also was given the unenviable task of taking Kelly's spot as the #3 hitter in the batting order.

Over the years, Ronnie proved to be a great glove man and a supreme hustler, but he wasn't really a classic three-hole power hitter. However, on this night in 1986, he played the role of offensive hero against a strong Wild Bunch team.

The Wild Bunch had been one of the league's top offensive clubs for years, and 1986 was no exception. As a whole they were never much with their gloves, and rarely beat you with their pitching. You could often count on a game with the Bunch ending up with both teams having a chance to score in double figures.

The Wild Bunch bats wasted little time doing damage to Brewers ace John Delagrange on this overcast night at Ryan. Future Brewer star Wally Potter started a first inning rally that put the Bunch up by a 2-0 score.

Infield errors by the usually reliable Brewers defense opened the gates to a five-run Wild Bunch outburst in the 2nd inning. When the Bunch tacked on a single run in the top of the 4th to take an 8-0 lead, the game seemed all but over.

With two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the 4th, Stein began his offensive heroics with a triple. Frank Gleason followed with an RBI single to finally put the Brew Crew on the board. That was all the Brewers were able to muster through five innings, and the game entered the final two frames with the Wild Bunch sitting on an 8-1 cushion.

Frank O'Connell, brother of Brewers 3rd baseman Tom and himself a future Brewer, was tossing a typically tough game against us. Our patience at the plate was legendary, and no team in DVFL history took more walks and put more men on base than the Brewers.

However, O'Connell rarely walked anyone, and his pitching style always seemed to induce popups and fly ball outs from the Brewers bats. Through the first five innings he had typically shut us down, scattering six singles while walking no one.

Delagrange had settled down himself after that error-filled 2nd inning. He retired 16 of the final 20 batters he would face in the game, allowing the Brewers at least the chance to mount a comeback. Mount a comeback we would, and then some.

With one out in the bottom of the 6th, Joe Gessner and Matt Veasey each lined singles. Then with two outs George Rayzis singled. Trailing 8-1 on the scoreboard, the Brewers had the sacks loaded, but were down to their final four outs in the game.

At this moment, Stein came through again, lining an RBI single to make it an 8-2 game. Gleason followed with another RBI single to cut the deficit it to 8-3. But the Bunch ended it there, and got out of the inning still holding an 8-3 lead. They would take that margin into the bottom of the 7th.

The beginning of the bottom of the 7th was legendary Wild Bunch bad-gloves stuff. They committed errors on four of the first five Brewers batters, allowing George Sweeney, Bobby Vanderziel and Ronnie Briggs Jr to score and cut the deficit down to 8-5.

Veasey then delivered an RBI single to pull the Brewers within 8-6. But the Bunch then traded a pair of fielder's choice outs for another run to close in on a win.

Greg Nigro then stepped to the plate with the Brewers trailing by a run, runners at 1st and 2nd, and two outs. Greg worked a walk to load the bases which brought up Stein, who had owned O'Connell thus far on the night.

What followed was one of the great moments in Brewers regular season history. Ronnie drilled a hit for his third straight clutch base knock in the game. Veasey waltzed home with the tying run from 3rd base, and Tommy Loiacono was running from 2nd base all the way. He charged around 3rd, and came sliding in just ahead of the throw to score the game-winning run.

The Brewers had capped a magical comeback for a 9-8 win. The team piled on one another in a heap at home plate to celebrate the incredible comeback win. The Wild Bunch were left shaking their heads wondering how it all had come apart.

That victory was the springboard to an 11-2 start, one that would create dreams of back-to-back DVFL titles.

Ultimately this Brewers team would fall apart under the weight of losing four of their final five games. Included in that stretch was a 10-1 loss to the Indians on June 25th at 10th & Bigler that caused tremendous friction. The fallout would ultimately lead to major changes on the team in the off-season.

The team nearly overcame those troubles in the playoffs. The 1986 Brewers were swept by the eventual DVFL champion Indians in the semi-finals. But the games were agonizingly close 4-3 and 7-6 nail-biters.

But on one magical early season night, all was well with Brewer Ball at Ryan. Ron Stein was an offensive hero, and the Brew Crew had one of our all-time most memorable comeback wins. We celebrated with a post-game bash at our 1986 hangout and sponsor, "Flashdance" (that's a whole other story, for a whole other day).