{"id":39983,"date":"2018-10-08T11:15:13","date_gmt":"2018-10-08T15:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=39983"},"modified":"2018-10-08T16:03:44","modified_gmt":"2018-10-08T20:03:44","slug":"kratz-brewers-head-to-national-league-championship-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/kratz-brewers-head-to-national-league-championship-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Kratz, Brewers head to National League Championship Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

Only after thanks and a blessing to umpire Ted Barrett could Milwaukee Brewers catcher Erik Kratz let himself celebrate Sunday night\u2019s Game 3 6-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies that advanced the team to the National League Championship Series. [See MLB\u2019s Tweet with video here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

Kratz, a 2002 Eastern Mennonite University graduate, was behind the dish for Game 2 and 3, contributing a key 2-run single in Friday\u2019s 4-0 victory \u00a0and going 3-for-4 with a double in Sunday night\u2019s shutout. He also scored one of those runs on a wild pitch.<\/p>\n

“You get all your celebrations in, because you never know if you’re going to get another one,” said Kratz, as reported in MLB coverage<\/a>. “Just like you never know if you’re going to get another day in this game. That’s the best way to play. I’ve been very fortunate to be on this team where everybody plays that way.”<\/p>\n

Kratz was mic\u2019d up<\/a> for Sunday’s game, which means he can be heard making fun of his own lack of speed, urging on his teammates, and celebrating one of the two back-to-back homeruns that all but sealed the win in the ninth inning.<\/p>\n

He played a key role, as he was signed to do, in managing a lights-out pitching staff for the series: building on their heavy use and success in the regular season,<\/a> the bullpen had a series combined ERA of 1.17.<\/p>\n

“To give up two runs in three games and to finish it with a shutout here in the most difficult place to pitch in baseball\u2026those guys on the staff deserve a ton of credit,\u201d said manager Craig Counsell. \u201cWe\u2019ve been pitching at a really high level for a good bit here.”<\/p>\n

Hear Game 3 starter Wade Miley talk about throwing to Kratz in this MLB footage from a post-game press conference.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Media has made much of Kratz\u2019s \u201crookie\u201d postseason debut, after 17\u00a0years playing professional baseball and nine in the majors with seven different teams. He\u2019s riding a career-best season this year (career-high hits at 48, career-high plate appearances at 219, and nearly eclipsing games played and starts in a season).<\/p>\n

\u201cA true baseball lifer is getting his shot on the big stage, and hasn\u2019t disappointed,\u201d wrote SB Nation\u2019s Eric Stephens<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kratz\u2019s Game 2 start was quickly contextualized in arcania: He is the oldest player (since 1905’s 39-year-old A’s thirdbaseman Lave Cross) to make a postseason debut. Once Game 3 concluded, he became the second-oldest catcher in postseason history with three hits in a game.<\/p>\n

At EMU, Kratz played every inning of every game of his four-year career. In 2002, he was drafted in the 29th round by the Toronto Blue Jays. Locally, Kratz played with Waynesboro in the Valley League and for a few games, before being drafted, with the Broadway Bruins of the Rockingham County Baseball League. He is a 2012 inductee of EMU’s Hall of Honor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Brewers play next on Friday evening at Miller Park against an as-yet-undecided opponent.<\/p>\n