The Brewer Advent Calendar #23: Rickie Weeks

by Kyle Lobner on Jan 20, 2009 12:00 PM CST Comment 12 comments

So 23 days remain until pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Behind door #23 on the Brewer Advent Calendar is the Brewers' #23, Rickie Weeks.

via z.about.com

Weeks isn't holding a lightning rod in the picture, but he frequently is one. We don't talk an awful lot about his speed, though, and it is notable. Consider this: Weeks has 78 stolen bases in 92 career attempts, a better percentage than any Brewer with at least 92 attempts in franchise history:


Player	SB	CS	%
Rickie Weeks	78	14	84.7
Scott Podsednik	113	23	83.1
Mike Felder	108	27	80.0
Tommy Harper	136	37	78.6
Paul Molitor	412	115	78.2
Pat Listach	112	36	75.7
Darryl Hamilton	109	40	73.2
Robin Yount	271	105	72.1
Jose Valentin	78	32	70.9
Jim Gantner	137	78	63.7
B.J. Surhoff	102	64	61.4

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For those of us who weren't following the brewers in the 80s/early 90s

and didn’t pay attention to BJ Surhoff until he was good (’95 on) … the idea of him attempting 166 steals is hilarious. 6 triples in 1996? Hilariouser!

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Jan 20, 2009 12:12 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

He was my favorite Brewer

when I was littler. Probably ’88 or ’89 (I would have been 8 or 9). And it was only because I thought he had a cool name.

by Charlie Marlow on Jan 20, 2009 12:22 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

huh, we're the same age

I was surprised to look up Surhoff’s stats and see that he played when he did. When I first got into baseball, I was an NL fan (thanks, WGN and WTBS) so BJ didn’t really show up on my radar until the mid-90s. Can’t believe he was such a solid player for all those years in Mke and it took a move to Baltimore, of all places, to get my attention.

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Jan 20, 2009 12:49 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Perception among many during his MKE days...

… was that Surhoff was a second half guy and that he put up most of his numbers when the team was already out of it. It was true some years, though not all of them. Surhoff, while being a great guy from all appearances, suffered from the same thing that gets Weeks in trouble with some of the fanbase (myself included): outsized expectations based on draft position. Many never really forgave him for not being a franchise player they could build the team around.

I have an unreasonable dislike of Bill Hall.

by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Jan 20, 2009 12:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Boy was he on the juice?

His best power years were ages 30-35 or so. I think atypical would be an understatement.

by Charlie Marlow on Jan 20, 2009 12:24 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

He would have been awesome in Milwaukee...

… if someone told him that the games count in April and May.

He was the target of one of the more entertaining heckling incidents I’ve ever witnessed. In the first game of a 3 game series, everytime Surhoff came to the plate, a guy seated near the railing between the Brewers dugout and the box would stand up and start booing his ass off. Later he started chanting BeeeeeeJaaaaaay in the whiniest, most obnoxious voice he could muster. Then he started shouting out various reasons why Surhoff sucked (some of which were even valid). It was loud and the stadium was pretty empty, so it wasn’t hard to hear him. Surhoff made the mistake of glancing over at him while he was in the on-deck circle before his second at bat, which only keyed the guy up even more. Finally, late in the game, as Surhoff walked back to the dugout after striking out, the heckler shouted “I’ve got tickets for the next two games, Surhoff. Seeya tomorrow,” prompting widespread laughter and a few groans from the other people in the section who also had tickets for the next two games. I heard Uecker bust out laughing on my oh-so-cool stadium headset radio. A few seconds later he said announced on air that the BJ Surhoff fan club would be attending the next two games.

I have an unreasonable dislike of Bill Hall.

by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Jan 20, 2009 12:51 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs