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Retrospective: Underrated Brew Crew Star

 

Looking at the birthday list I noticed Ben Sheets who is celebrating his forty-fourth birthday today. Though Ben never got his chance to win the Cy Young during his career and according to baseball reference he only received votes for the award once in 2004. In my opinion, looking at his stats Sheets seems like one of the most consistent pitchers during the era. The Brewers were lucky enough to develop him into the team's first real ace in the turn of the century. The Brewers weren't exactly ever known for pitching during the history of the team so having one of the best pitchers in baseball wasn't something that was common for the team. Take a look at Ben Sheets' tenure with the Brewers from his debut in 2001-2008.


 Sheets would become a four time all-star as a member of the Brewers. In response, to what was a career year for Ben and as mentioned earlier the one year he received votes for the Cy Young at the end of the 2004 season was given a four year extension by the Brew Crew. Ben was given a four year extension worth 38.5 million and unfortunately in 2008 his first long term injury would hit. Ben would file for free agency for the first time and sadly would incur a tear in his UCL and it forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery which would cause him to miss the 2009 season. Following that Ben would sign a contract with Oakland Athletics and unfortunately would get hit with a torn flexor in his elbow and would miss the 2010 season. 

Following that injury Sheets would fall away from the baseball spotlight before signing on with the Atlanta Braves on a minor league contract. Sheets much like various other pitchers who were bit by the injury bug attempting to make a comeback. Sheets would finally return to the major leagues for nine starts in 2012 and to a point would be allowed to end his career on his own terms. On June 13, 2014 the honor was given to Ben Sheets getting inducted into the Brewers Wall of Honor for pitching over 1000 innings for the club. It isn't easy to consistently keep a sub four era in the MLB and even though he fell from the spotlight Ben Sheets was one the best during that period of time and most certainly would be considered underrated. 



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