The Wisconsin Sports Rant

I haven’t blogged a lot this month. I have been in the midst of a move, among other things going on. The posts I have made haven’t exactly been that positive about the Brewers. Nonetheless…despite Greg Aquino, despite Sheets not getting the wins, the Brewers sit atop the NL Central by a good margin, and are 7 games over .500. Have they even been that far in the black since 1992? What may be even more amazing is that their starting pitching (again, despite the lack of wins from Sheets) has notched more wins than any other team in the league! That’s BREWER pitching I’m talking about! Suppan has been terrific, and Capuano has been equally brilliant. And let’s not forget about Francisco Cordero’s 10 for 10 record in save opportunities with nearly twice as many strikeouts as innings pitched.

This has been one of the best Aprils the Brewers have ever had, yet that’s all it was…one month. I want to believe that this team will be there in September, and it’s not that I don’t. The youth suggests that they are still getting better. Still, fool me once…shame on you. Fool me 25 straight times…

MORNING EDIT:   From today’s JSOnline:

It is the first time the Brewers have been atop their division after the first month since 1998, and their 3½-game lead is their biggest since topping the AL East by the same margin on May 7, 1987.

That is a pretty sad statistic.  Even as bad as this franchise has been over the last 15 years, I didn’t know that 3 1/2 games was the most they have been up, and that this is the latest in the season they have been atop the division since 1998.  Wow.  Maybe things are changing…

Two Words.

Ben Higuera

A little early to be starting this, don’t you think? Hopefully he won’t, but Ben Sheets may already miss a scheduled start due to injury. The fragility of our ace never ceases to amaze me. Kinda makes you feel for the Cubs (but just for a moment). Between Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, they make Sheets look like Cal Ripken. Still, it has been disappointing that we have only one win to show for all of Ben’s starts this season. The fact that we are still in first place in the division is either a testament to the rest of the staff, or a statement on how sorry the NL Central is right now.

That giant blowing sound you hear is that of Brewers’ pitcher Greg Aquino blowing yet another game. It’s a shame that due to the way losses work in baseball, none have been attributed to him, but he certainly has been the leading cause of them this week.  Giving up Craig Biggio’s first grand slam in 13 years was just enough to account for a loss to the Astros.  Prince Fielder did all he could to keep Milwaukee alive with a smashing 3 run homer in the bottom of the ninth.  Alas, in true Brewer fashion, it was simply not enough to get the job done.  Hopefully with the return of Jose Capellan, Nashville can be home to two things I am not fond of…country music and Greg Aquino.

If I were still in the Cream City last night, I would totally have gone to Miller Park (to where Major League Baseball relocated the Indians vs Angels game) dressed in full Indian (er…Native American) garb, complete with tee pee and drum, and done my best Randy Quaid:

“Wild Thing, I think I LOATHE you!”

They should have had Uecker stay back to call the game over the PA. I bet they would have sold the place out then…even his namesake seats!

Continuing the disturbing trend of poor play when wearing their “real uniforms”, the Brewers were slammed by the Cubs last night 9-3. Dave Bush actually made me miss Tomo Ohka. Baseball is a very long season with a ton of games, so I am not going to be making many grand judgments right now. All I can say is between the Bucks and the Brewers, it was one ugly night of sports in Milwaukee. What else is new?

UPDATE:  Dropped the game and the series this afternoon.  And that was our ACE pitcher giving up 5 runs in 6 innings.   Way to go!

Ok, the hiatus is coming to an end. I have reread my last post several times, just to see if I still agree with it. It was written pretty soon after the loss, so I was a bit worried that I would regret some of what I said. Well, I don’t at all. Perhaps some of my language was a bit harsh, but everything I wrote I still stand by. That said, my bitterness received a shot in the arm tonight. By winning the NCAA tourney, Florida has now won more championships in the last two years, in just one sport - football not included!, than I have seen all the teams covered in this blog win in my entire life! Not only are sports a continual disappointment, they are not close to fair either. But whoever said they should be, right? So, with that, the Rant can get back to business.

Nice start to the year, for both Sheets and the Brewers. Not to sound pessimistic (ah bull$+@*, this is totally glass half empty), but the Bucks started off this season with a solid win in Detroit, and we all know what direction their season took from there. Let’s just hope the Brewers don’t follow the same path. Tim Kurkjian of ESPN did bring up one fascinating point tonight. Ben Sheets has the lowest walk percentage of any pitcher in history who averages a strikeout per inning. He went on to say that if he stays healthy the Brewers have a chance, otherwise they don’t. Well…like the historical evidence has made me a pessismist when it comes to the Brewers’ chances of making the playoffs, said evidence makes me equally skeptical they can keep Sheets off the DL. Please Brewers, prove me wrong.