Mike Caldwell had a Brewers career that was very similar in many respects to Cecil Cooper, though Cooper was certainly the better player as compared to the league. Both Caldwell and Cooper came to the Brewers in 1977. Caldwell came by way of a trade on June 15 for two minor leaguers that was pushed in part by the Tom Seaver trade on that same day.
Caldwell spent time with the Padres (the team that drafted him) and the Giants before he got to the Reds, however, and in fact he spent just 19 games in the minor leagues for San Diego -- all as a reliever! What's funny, though, is that Topps tried to keep up in 1977 with the transactions of the previous year and airbrushed Caldwell into a Cardinals uniform. He was traded by the Cardinals to the Reds at the end of Spring Training.
When Caldwell got to Milwaukee, George Bamberger set about trying to separate Caldwell's arm from its socket, leaving Caldwell on the mound in 1978 to complete a league-leading 23 games that year. Caldwell won 22 games that season and finished second in the Cy Young Award race to Ron Guidry (rightfully so, too).
After that, Caldwell became more of an innings muncher than a true ace of the staff, and he stuck around in Milwaukee through the 1984 season. In the process, he topped the 100-win mark (putting him second to Jim Slaton in the team record book), threw 18 shutouts (again, second to Slaton), and pitched just over 1600 innings -- again, behind only Slaton.
As was the case with Cooper, Caldwell, too, was named to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel All-Decades team for both the 1970s and the 1980s. Of course, Caldwell was named as a starting pitcher.
He's a PC for all that, and for his nickname. He was known ironically as Mr. Warmth because he was notoriously an unfriendly guy. I like that he could laugh about that, and, to be fair, he wasn't that bad.
I have 54 Mike Caldwell cards/items with him on the Brewers, with autographs counted separately from the unautographed versions.
1978 (2)
1978 Topps #212
1978 Topps #212 (autographed on front in blue sharpie)
1979 (2)
Hostess #14
Topps #651
1980 (2)
O-Pee-Chee #269
Topps #515
1981 (5)
Donruss #86
Fleer #512
Topps #85
Topps #85 (autographed on front in blue ballpoint pen)
Topps Sticker #97
1982 (5)
Donruss #330
Fleer #136
Milwaukee Brewers Milwaukee Police
O-Pee-Chee #378
Topps #378
1983 (11)
Donruss #154
Fleer #29
Fleer Sticker #21
Gardner's Bakery Milwaukee Brewers #4
McDonald's Placemat (w/Gorman Thomas)
Milwaukee Brewers Milwaukee Police
Milwaukee Brewers Washington County Sheriff's Department
Milwaukee Brewers West Bend Police
Topps #142
Topps Sticker #184
Topps Sticker #185
1984 (13)
All-Star Program Inserts #166
Donruss #237
Fleer #196
Gardner's Bakery Milwaukee Brewers #3
Milwaukee Brewers Germantown Police
Milwaukee Brewers Hartford Police
Milwaukee Brewers Milwaukee Police
Milwaukee Brewers Waunakee Police
Milwaukee Brewers West Allis Police
Milwaukee Brewers Winneconne Police
O-Pee-Chee#326
Nestle #605
Topps #605
1985 (3)
Donruss #490
Fleer #577
Topps #419
1992 (2)
Carlson Travel/United Airlines/TV6 1982 World Series Commemorative Set SGA
1982 Anniversary Collection (Yearbook card?)
2000 (2)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel All Decades Team 1970s Starting Pitcher
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel All Decades Team 1980s Starting Pitcher
2003 (1)
Indianapolis Indians (Brewers AAA) #04
2007 (2)
Hero Deck Milwaukee Ten of Diamonds
Milwaukee Brewers 1982 Silver Anniversary Bobblehead SGA
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