Harvey Kuenn narrowly voted Wisconsin's most impactful in HS baseball
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We asked readers to vote for the most impactful high school baseball player in Wisconsin history, with 10 top suggestions, and the voting was close thanks in part to a lower turnout than some of our other polls.
In full disclosure, because of a technological glitch, our poll wasn't initially appearing for readers, which led to lower totals.
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Narrowly, the nod went to Harvey Kuenn, the former Milwaukee Lutheran standout who went on to become rookie of the year with the Detroit Tigers and then manager of the Milwaukee Brewers.
But special mention to Oak Creek star Tony Butler, who received 36 verified votes and also another 257 from the same IP address and location over the course of a couple days. We counted all duplicates as one vote.
Jim Gantner, the Campbellsport native who became a longtime fixture of the Milwaukee Brewers, was a close third with 35 votes.
As we wrote in the initial story, the history of Wisconsin baseball often deviates from a traditional high school path, particularly the further back in time we go. Legends such as Al Simmons, Addie Joss and even Bob Uecker didn't leave a traditional imprint in high school ball.
How the votes played out for the 10 top suggestions:
- Harvey Kuenn: 37 votes
- Tony Butler: 36 votes
- Jim Gantner: 35 votes
- Craig Counsell: 12 votes
- Eric Hinske: 5 votes
- Rick Reichardt: 5 votes
- Dennis Overby: 4 votes
- Scott Servais: 3 votes
- Augie Schmidt: 2 votes
- Joe Randa: 2 votes
Mike Jirschele receives three write-in votes
As was the case with our other votes, we had plenty of write-in candidates. The only player to receive multiple votes: Mike Jirschele of Clintonville, a multi-sport standout who became a manager in Class AAA and third-base coach of the World Series champion Kansas City Royals in 2015.
Two other write-ins appeared in our list of suggestions on the initial story: Bob Wickman (Oconto Falls) and Jerry Augustine (Kewaunee).
Wickman became an all-star closer with Milwaukee and Cleveland during a 15-year MLB career after attending the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Augustine played baseball at UW-La Crosse, got drafted in 1974 and spent 10 years with the Brewers, was part of the 1982 team that went to the World Series and later became UW-Milwaukee head coach for 12 seasons.
Other former Brewers also made the list of write-ins, including Owen Miller and Damian Miller (no relation). Damian Miller played college baseball at Viterbo and played for the Brewers from 2005-07, with a World Series title and all-star appearance during his time with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Owen Miller remains active in the Chicago Cubs organization; he played for Milwaukee in 2023 and 2024 and was a third-round pick out of Illinois State by the San Diego Padres in 2018.
Owen's brother, Noah, was a first-round pick in 2021 by the Minnesota Twins and currently plays in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.
Those who received write-in votes include:
- Jerry Augustine, Kewaunee
- JT Bruett, Oconomowoc
- Rob Coe, Appleton North
- Luke Fox, Catholic Memorial
- Billy Hoeft, Oshkosh
- Tim Jorgensen, Luxemburg-Casco
- Mike Jirschele, Clintonville
- Ralph Kalies, Kimberly
- Howard Koplitz, Oshkosh
- Damien Miller, West Salem
- Owen and Noah Miller, Ozaukee
- Lance Painter, Nicolet
- Connor Prielipp, Tomah
- Greg Reinhard, Marinette
- Pat Richter, Madison East
- Terry Ryan, Janesville Parker
- Dene Storch, Neenah
- Andy Thompson, Sun Prairie
- Mickey Vandehey, Auburndale
- Gary Varsho, Marshfield
- Curt Weiskirch, Thomas More
- Bob Wickman, Oconto Falls
- Steve Wilmet, St. Norbert High School (De Pere)
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Readers choose Harvey Kuenn as most impactful in high school baseball