The Wisconsin Sports Rant

This is starting to look more like the Milwaukee Brewers we have all come to expect. Shoddy pitching and a .286 winning percentage over the last 14 games. Yep…it sure feels like things are getting back to normal. What could only be termed as magnificent pitching 3 weeks ago has rapidly degraded into T-Ball-esque outings such as the one from Dave Bush last night. Like Greg Aquino and Derrick Turnbow earlier this season, Dave Bush has reached that level of putridity where it makes increasingly less sense to leave him in the rotation. The pitching in general has not been able to sustain its early success. Whereas in the past, injuries have often been the downfall of the staff, this May, it has simply been a lack of performance.  Or, for the more “I-told-you-so” type of person, you can point to the fact that we have started playing against quality teams. Whichever way you want to look at it, gravity has taken hold of the Brewers, and shows no signs of letting up.

I have been struggling for time lately to post, so here are some quick thoughts:

It is really too bad that Keyshawn Johnson preferred to roam the halls at Bristol U instead of catch Favre fastballs. I don’t think he ever reached the level of a Randy Moss, but he still would have been a nice weapon in Favre’s arsenal this year. Hopefully Jennings will continue to develop, and one of the young guys will be a surprise talent.

The Brewers have been quite disappointing lately, dropping 4 straight series. Not good. Still, I find it ironic (even for me) that I am frustrated with this team as they remain soundly in first place. With the exception of Cordero, the pitching has fallen off considerably since their 9-1 home stand. (Side note: I hope Turnbow’s self destruction does not have the same effect on the team it had a year ago) The problem is that losing all of these series to the better teams like LA and New York shows that perhaps we really haven’t reached the upper echelon of baseball yet.

That sound you hear approaching is the Brewers beginning that long fall back to Earth. If you think you are experiencing Deja Vu, beware, you aren’t. That’s the Brewers’ multimillion dollar setup man returning to 2006 form, complete with stupid dumbfounded look plastered on his face as he watches the winning home run ball land in the bleachers after having been in his hand not 60 seconds before. I gotta say, up until last night, the Turnbow/Cordero combination was lights out. But if I am Ned Yost, after the insane meltdown from a year ago, I just don’t think I want to even let it get that bad for Turnbow again this year. Sure it is only two games, but how many complete screw ups did it take last year before he was benched? Too many, that’s for sure. It sounds like a gut reaction to another bad loss, but I think you have to start worrying about his confidence problems sooner rather than later. The bottom line is he has brought this kind of scrutiny on himself, and the Brewers simply can’t afford to have him hurt the team time and time again.

3 out of 4. Turnbow looks like he did in 2006. Counsell caught stealing 3rd at a critical moment. These are NOT things we want to see from the Brewers. This is a dangerous time now. The Brewers got fat on the cesspool at the bottom of the National League. Now, they are coming back to the pack while playing the quality opponents on the road. I can take the 3 game set in Shea. They never play well there. But to lose in the manner that they did tonight, this has “old Brewers” written all over it. A four run lead going into the 8th inning should hold up with this team. Yet when Turnbow comes in and throws wild pitches, can’t hit the right spot, and delivers balls to the hitters’ preferred locations, it simply isn’t going to go well for the guy. Tough loss. They need to get back on a winning pace now, road or otherwise.

I will admit, I am of the opinion that Favre deserves a bit more lattitude than others due to what he has given the Packers and their fans over the years. I get just as frustrated as anyone with his untimely interceptions, but I still would rather him be our QB than anyone else. I also like that the man says what he believes, and sometimes, like he did at his charity auction, he lets his emotions get the best of him while he speaks. This is what makes him genuine and allows the common fan to identify with him. It is what makes him so popular. So when I heard about the alleged trade demand and the fallout from said demand, I knew this was not right. Sure, he had every right to be frustrated with Ted Thompson for letting Moss go. I was upset about it after I heard how little it would have taken to actually get the guy. But to demand a trade? I couldn’t imagine him doing that after all the drama about coming back and how he has always said it was Packers or nothing. With a lot of atheletes, I may not believe that kind of statement. With Favre, I do. Still, getting back to the Moss thing, I do think it is slightly absurd that the Packers could have had him for a fourth round pick. I agree with Favre’s sentiment that the time to win is now. Why not load up for this year? I think most Packer fans have accepted that when Favre goes, there will be down years (heck, while Favre was still here 2005 was a total down year). So to me, and Favre it seems as well, getting Moss should have been more important than it apparently was for Ted Thompson. Letting Ahman Green go was a sad but correct thing for Thompson to do. Allowing Moss to escape to New England was not.

Let’s look at the teams in the World Series since 2004, shall we?

• 2004 - Red Sox/Cardinals
• 2005 - White Sox/Astros
• 2006 - Tigers/Cardinals

The Cardinals have won the second most World Series of any team, but look at the other 4 teams up there. What is the common thread here? None of those teams had been to a World Series for quite some time, let alone won one. Here’s to hoping the tradition continues this season, and a certain team from the Cream City steps up to the plate. Literally.

Ok, ok. It’s May. We have played some bad teams during this amazing home stand. Still, if we have a successful May, in which we play the Mets, Braves, and Dodgers (arguably the 3 best teams beneath the Brewers - ha! Beneath!), then we will have made significant progress towards the aforementioned goal. The thing is, our pitching has been so excellent, that I think we will enjoy similar success against these top teams. Our offense has been great too, but when your starting pitching gets you to your setup man or even directly to the closer on a regular basis, it takes the pressure off the hitters. On the other hand, when you have players like Fielder and Hardy in zones of this magnitude, you are going to get your run support!

Side note: On BBTN the other night, Kruk mentioned that Fielder has the makings of an MVP some day. I say, why some day? Why not this year? There are plenty of great players out there having great seasons thus far, so I am not saying he is a clear cut MVP. However, how many games has he won for this team already? The home run in last night’s game to take the 4-1 lead was telling. He had to adjust his swing and hit a ball that was up and way inside, and he still smashed it out of the park. He knew he needed to get at least a run across with a deep drive, but he got three.

We are beginning to move into uncharted territory for the Brew Crew, well, at least uncharted in recent memory.  One thing we have seen in many recent seasons is a nice start with a fade at some point during the season.  Sometimes it happens sooner, sometimes later.  However, this season, at least so far, we have seen a gradual build to the best record in baseball, rather than a hot start with a quick fall back to the pack (a la 2006).

If the Brewers keep this up, then we can finally reserve the phrase “the roof is caving in” exclusively for Miller Park instead of using it to describe the season as well.