The Bucks and Brewers aren’t the only ones playing well! Check out this Milkmen Recap. Adam Brett Walker has the Milkmen on fire in the month of June!
Milkmen Recap
Milwaukee has seen a lot of winning the past couple of weeks. The Bucks are so close to getting to their first NBA finals appearance since 1974. The Brewers have taken advantage of the lighter part of their schedule and are atop the National League Central division.
Now, all of this is great and we should enjoy it BUT do not miss the special things happening twenty minutes Southwest of downtown….
With a little over a third of the season completed, the Milwaukee Milkmen have risen to the top of the American Association of Professional Baseball. With a league best record of 24-13, and in the midst of a 10-3 run the last 13 games, they lead the North Division over the next team by 2.5 games.
While they have had many contributions all around the diamond, the player most worthy of attention is Adam Brett Walker II.
Adam. Brett. Walker.
It only took one pitch this game for him to make it four consecutive at bats with home runs! ⚾️ ⚾️⚾️⚾️
Yes, you read that correct.
Talk about a hot streak 🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/SdtG4Y33DI
— Milwaukee Milkmen (@MKEMilkmen) June 26, 2021
Milwaukee’s very own
If you were attending your first Milkmen game at Franklin field, you would hear Van McNeil (emcee and director of fun) give a comprehensive player introduction for number 28.
“Now batting….the KID FROM THE NORTHSIDE….ADAM….BRETT…WAAALKER”
Indeed, ABW is from the Northside of Milwaukee. A graduate from Milwaukee Lutheran Highschool, Adam Brett Walker is in his third season with the Milkmen. The 6’5” outfielder was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the third round of the 2012 amatuer draft. After a fantastic career with Jacksonville University (Florida), Walker would look to take his game to the professional level. In five Minor League seasons, Walker hit .251/.310/.486 with 124 home runs in 2,449 plate appearances.
However, he was unable to crack into the big leagues. Determined, Walker would continue to look for opportunities to prove himself. In 2018, he joined the American Association through the Kansas City Monarchs (at the time, the T-bones). Near the end of the year, the Milwaukee Milkmen were announced as the newest team to join the association.
Back to Brew City!
With a chance to play in front of friends and family in his hometown, Walker was able to come home; a decision which has been mutually beneficial for himself and the city of Milwaukee. In 2020, Walker led the Milkmen to their first American Association championship in only their second season in existence. He led the league with homeruns (22) and owned an OPS (on base plus slugging percentage) of .929 which earned him player of the year awards.
On the American Association Now program with Cartel Woodiel, Walker was asked about his goals coming into this season after being the best player in the year before.
Walker replied, “I’m just trying to build off last season. The biggest thing is to try and be more consistent. Put the ball in play more. Trying to get on base more. Help the team out as much as I can. I was able to win the MVP last year and would love to try to get that again this year. That’s my goal is to try and to be the best player in the league.”
The 2021 Campaign
And he is on his way to doing just that! As of June 28th, Walker is in the top five in the league of batting average (.354), and leads the league in homeruns (15) & runs batted in (42). 37 games in, He and fellow teammate David Washington are in close contention for a league triple crown (league leader in batting average, homeruns, and runs batted in). Look out Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder; there is another “one-two” offensive punch in Milwaukee’s baseball history!
The stats speak for themselves but Walker recently added an MVP moment his resume.
The craziest game
The Milkmen hosted the Kansas City Monarchs for a four game series. After dropping two of three, they were hoping to take game 4 and settle for a split. The Monarchs had scored 20 runs in the previous game, and in the following game would pick up where they left off.
The Milkmen found themselves down 8-3. Walker in his 3rd at bat would send a first pitch curveball to the green pastures in left field for a solo homerun. A tack on run by the Monarchs would make it 9-4. In the bottom of the eighth with two men on, Walker would crush another pitch for a three run homerun to cut the deficit to 9-7.
Then in the ninth, with runners back on the corners with nobody out in a hazy evening in Franklin, would take a 1-1 pitch opposite field for another 3 run walk-off homerun. Check it out:
Is @DimTillard the @MKEMilkmen good-luck charm? 🍀
Early indicators are YES ✔️
2020 MVP, Adam Brett Walker (@walkoff28), helped bring the Milkmen back last night and won it with this walk-off shot:
3-for-5 | 3 HR | 7 RBI 👀#WePlayToWin | 📸 @DimTillard pic.twitter.com/VtbruxQltn
— American Association (@AA_Baseball) June 25, 2021
An unbelievable performance in an unbelievable game.
On June 28th, ABW was named the American Association batter of the week after after .400 AVG (12-for-30) | 6 HR | 12 RBI | 8 R | 2 SB. He is the second Milkmen to be awarded this honor this season, with teammate Washington being the first.
A legacy is being built for the Walker, and before it is all said and done, he is on track to become a local legend in Milwaukee. But his focus now is seeing the Milkmen repeat as champs. A third of the way into the season, Walker has the Milkmen moving in the right direction.
Series Recaps
June 15th-17th, For the first time since their championship clinching game, the Milkmen traveled to Sioux Falls to take on the Canaries. The Milkmen would sweep the birds in this rematch (8-2, 12-10, 5-4).
- In game one, former Milkmen pitcher Angel Ventura was on the mound for the Canaries. He was received like a warm glass of Milk as the Moo-crew scored 4 runs on 7 hits.
- In game two, the Milkmen found themselves up 12-4 after five innings. But the Canaries would snap back with 6 runs in the 7th and bring the score to 12-10. Thankfully, Nate Hadley was able to close the door in the 9th.
- The combined efforts of Walker and Washington would prove too much in game three. With the Canaries up two runs and trying to avoid the sweep a Walker base on balls followed by a Washington homerun would tie the game at 4. In extras, Walker would score the go-ahead run thanks to an Aaron Hill go ahead hit.
- Milkmen had 34 hits against the Canaries. Walker and Washington combined for 12 of those hits with 5 homeruns and 7 Runs batted in.
June 18th-20th, Milkmen host the Kane County Cougars for the first time. While the Cougars would take game one, the Milkmen took the following two games to win the series (2-8, 6-1, 7-6).
- Myles Smith came into his start in game one with a league leading ERA of .69 but the Cougars would tag him for 6 runs. Though his ERA has taken a jump (3.50), it is still second best in the league.
- Ryan Zimmerman had been struggling as of late, but in game two was able to string together 7 innings without giving up an earned run. Logan Trowbridge, who is having himself a great season offensively and defensively in front of the Walker and Washington duo, hit a two run homerun early.
- In the rubber game, shortstop Anibal Seirra was a double short of the cycle and hit a solo homerun that would turn out to be needed as the Cougars put together a late rally but fell short.
June 21st-June 24th, The Kansas City Monarchs came into town winning ten of their last eleven games. Both teams settled for a split in the four game series (2-1, 0-3, 5-20, 11-9).
- In game one, Ace David Holmberg silenced the red hot Monarchs with 9 innings pitched, giving up 1 run and struck out 9 on 111 pitches. A Trey Martin double to score Aaron Hill would be the difference. Holmberg leads the league in “Wins” by a pitcher and is second in strikeouts behind teammate Matt Solter.
- Matt Solter pitched well enough to win in game two (6 innings, 4 hits, 2 ER with 6 ks), but the Monarchs shutout the hot milkmen bats.
- Game three was….forgettable. The Monarchs scored 20 runs on 23 hits. The silver lining was that Walker, Christian Correa, and Christ Conley each had a homerun.
- Game four was legendary (see earlier in this post).
June 25th-27th, The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks attempt to regain the division lead but it would be for naught as the Milkmen were able to keep the bats hot (9-7, 11-10, 7-2).
- ABW and Tony Rossellie each hit 2-run homeruns. Trowbridge would hit his 5th homerun in the seventh to help the Milkmen hold onto game one.
- In game two, no pitcher was safe from the hot bats of each team. After leading 6-1 after 4 innings, Milwaukee would stave off a comeback attempt by Fargo-Moorhead. Trowbridge would triple in the 6th to score two runs then himself courtesy of a RedHawks error to secure the win.
- In the finale, Solter would go 7 innings, scattering 6 hits for 2 earned runs. Meanwhile, Brett Vertigan, Trey Martin, and Aaron Hill supplied the offense and the Milkmen completed the sweep.
Division Races
NORTH DIVISION: Your Milwaukee Milkmen are hot and lead the North by 2.5 games over the Chicago Dogs. The RedHawks are now 4 games back after failing to win any games in Milwaukee. Gary Southshore, Kane County, and Winnipeg are tight with one another, but are still 7 games back of Milwaukee.
SOUTH DIVISION: The Sioux City Explorers are 23-13 and also up 2.5 games over next place Kanas City Monarchs who are 20-15 on the season. The Cleburne Railroaders, Sioux Falls Canaries, and Lincoln Saltdogs are tied for 3rd with a .500 record. The Houston Apollos, who came into the league as a the travel team, have only won 6 times and have 30 losses.
IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY: The Milkmen would be in and host to the Dogs while the Explorers would host the Monarchs.
Two more months of baseball are still to be played, but the Milkmen’s fantastic June (18-7, .720 winning percentage) have them atop the league.
The Next Two Weeks
The Milkmen will go on the road (first Chicago then Fargo Moorhead) for the next 6 games against their division foes. After that, they will come home to host a couple of Texas teams (Cleburne Railroaders and the Houston Apollos).
Numbers and Statistics courtesy of Pointsteak.com, BaseballReference.com, and the American Association.
As Always
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