{image1}Most baseball fans know Al Downing, but not because he began the Brewers' tradition of mediocre left-handed starting pitching in 1970. Downing struggled in the Brewers' inaugural campaign, winning just twice in 12 decisions and issuing 59 walks in 94+ innings pitched. Four years later, Downing earned his place in the record books by serving up Hank Aaron's 715th home run.

Lefty starter Doug Davis is the latest heir to Downing's uncertain Milwaukee legacy, which has included the likes of Ken Brett, Clyde Wright and Wayne Franklin along the way. Thankfully, he's experiencing quite a bit more success. Sunday, Davis became the fifth Brewers pitcher -- and first left-handed one -- to win five games in June, joining Ben Sheets, Steve Woodard, Cal Eldred and Jim Colborn in the accomplishment.

Davis (8-5, 3.34) is scheduled to start two more games before All-Star break. But whatever happens between now and the Midsummer Classic on July 13, Davis is on pace for one of the best seasons by a Brewers starting left-hander in franchise history. And it's not entirely out of the question that Davis could represent the Brewers in Houston. While Sheets is the team's most likely All-Star, Davis will be a legitimate candidate for N.L. skipper Jack McKeon to consider if he can win once or twice more before then.

In 2003, Davis started games for Oklahoma, Texas, Toronto, Huntsville, Indianapolis and finally Milwaukee, an unlikely compilation of vacation postcards for a guy with All-Star aspirations the following year. And even if midsummer accolades are a pipe dream, it's not too early to start contemplating his single-season standing among past Brewers lefties.

For extended left-handed excellence, it's difficult to beat Mike Caldwell. "Mr. Warmth" was the team's winningest lefty from 1978-'84, going 22-9 with a 2.36 ERA in '78. Like Davis, Caldwell wasn't a hard thrower -- his 131 strikeouts that season were a career high. But unlike Davis, Caldwell was ruthlessly efficient when it came to balls and strikes; he walked just 54 in 293.1 innings pitched in '78, which translates to 1.7 BB/nine innings. To put it another way, had Caldwell been a 1979 free agent under today's market conditions, he'd have been worth approximately $20 million.

For mercurial lefty brilliance, it's difficult to beat Teddy Higuera. From 1986-88, Higuera was one of the best left-handers in baseball, winning 20, 18 and 16 games. He pitched parts of five more years in Milwaukee, fighting arm trouble and the expectations of a huge contract. But he never regained the nasty form of those three seasons, when he averaged 213 strikeouts per year.

Davis' early success may resemble that of Caldwell and Higuera, but his methods are purely original. A tad on the wild side, Davis allows three BB/nine innings -- but that's just part of his charm. Take Sunday, when a double, single and hit batsman loaded the bases with nobody out in the Twins' fifth. The wily lefty used a line drive, a fly ball and a grounder to escape the jam. Though his 2-0 lead had been halved, it was still intact.

Unlike some effectively wild pitchers, Davis doesn't rack up strikeouts. He fans 6.2 batters for every nine innings of work, among which are a fair amount of called third strikes, testimony to his ability to change speeds and set up hitters.

Davis is also notorious for working under dire circumstances. On Sunday he stranded one man in the first and two each in the third, fourth and fifth. When any other Brewer walks the leadoff hitter, I curse under my breath; when Davis does not, I wonder if he's feeling OK.

If not Caldwell or Higuera, which historical Brewers lefty does Davis most closely resemble? How about Scott Karl, who had double-digit victory seasons from 1996-'99? No, Karl never had an ERA below 4.40 in those years. Umm, Glendon Rusch? Nah, he had his days (or, day), but Rusch was never consistently good.

Perhaps the closest parallel is 1970s starter Bill Travers, who had four double-digit victory seasons in the late 1970s, including a 14-8, 3.89 campaign in '79. Travers was 26 that year, just a few years younger than Davis. But Travers had been an All-Star in 1976 at the age of 23, so his development curve ran inversely to Davis', who appears to be getting better with age.

Whoever Davis resembles and however he's doing it, the Brewers current No. 1 lefty is doing it well. He's registered 13 quality starts (six or more IP, three or fewer ER) in 17 outings this year, which follows a six-for-eight ratio in Milwaukee last season. It's no coincidence that his emergence and that of the Brewers are running on parallel tracks.