Pete Ladd Obituary – Pete Ladd, who was one of the Milwaukee Brewers’ unlikely heroes during their 1982 World Series run, died on Saturday night following a brief battle with cancer. The team confirmed the information. Ladd was given the age of 67. According to an article on the television station WMTW in Ladd’s hometown of Portland, Maine, he died on Friday after a long fight with cancer.
“We learned of the passing of Pete Ladd, a key member of the great Brewers teams of the early 1980s,” the Brewers stated in a statement today. “”Pete was a big personality with an even bigger heart,” one of Pete’s pals stated. During this terrible time, our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Ladd, who had previously spent his entire baseball career in the minor leagues, was thrust into the role of Brewers closer in 1982 when Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers suffered an arm injury.
Ladd had played in the lower levels for the bulk of his baseball career. Ladd did not make a single error in the American League Championship Series against the California Angels. Ladd pitched three and one-third innings without allowing a single hit, struck out five hitters, and earned two saves while pitching in all three games for the Brewers, including the game that sent them to the World Series for the first and only time in franchise history.
Despite appearing in only 16 games during the regular season, Ladd was still eligible to play as a rookie. Ladd entered Game 5 of the ALCS with a runner on second and no outs in the ninth inning. He was tasked with facing three players that were nominated for MVP that season: Bob Boone, Brian Downing, and Rod Carew, with Reggie Jackson on the roster if they made it. Ladd prevailed against all three of these guys, and the Rangers won the series.
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