These are the times that try men's souls. And just about every other part of the body as well.

Riding the crest of good hitting, good pitching, good defense and great fan support, the Brewers cruised along atop the National League Central standings for 102 days before falling out Wednesday night.

Now, they find themselves in a genuine pennant race. It's either going to be a two-team race, with the Cubs or a three-team race with the Cubs and Cardinals. The Brewers have seen their once-huge lead disappear and the hounds are nipping at their heels.

This is the tough time. Fans worry. Talk radio spews wild opinion disguised as fact. Nobody is immune to the pressure of a pennant race. Here's how it affects various people:

The Owner -- Even though he doesn't live in Milwaukee, he's spent his summer loving every minute of being an owner. His Los Angeles friends see him with a big smile on his face. The Milwaukee fans see him in his box, surrounded by friends and family, and spreading a big smile across his face. This guy knows how to smile. But the smile is a little strained right now. He's wondering about all those millions of dollars he's kicked into this team. He can't help but wonder.

The General Manager -- A real tough position to be in. Those are your players. That's your manager. And everybody is looking at you for clues. Are you going to send players down and bring someone else up? Are you going to unload a player or two or acquire a player or two? Do you really believe we can win this thing, or are you whistling in the dark? And how do you explain this collapse to your owner? After all, he wants to know.

The Manager -- The manager is conflicted. On one hand he has a firm belief in what he's doing. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to work as frequently as he'd like. He may say he doesn't hear the fans who call for his job, but that's a crock. He knows damn well that the pressure is building and that if the team fails; he's going to take the fall for it. He's also got a bunch of coaches, most of whom he hired, wondering how they can help their main man succeed.

Veteran players -- Most of them have been through tough times before. For some, it's a way of life. Others know that a baseball season has its ups and downs and they don't get too excited either way. If they are secure in their contracts, they remain very calm. If they are in a contract year, they want to bust their butt to get out of the doldrums.

Young players -- Most of them have never enjoyed anything but success. From the time they were kids, they were special and they were so special their teams almost always won. Now, they find out they aren't so special and their team doesn't win all the time. Some of them, despite the brave talk of one at a time, etc., are actually wondering whether they are going to make it. Does anyone think Rickie Weeks isn't worried a little bit about his future in baseball? If he wasn't, then he wouldn't be human.

Fans -- Most fans are quick to make decisions. Thank goodness they don't run baseball teams. They love to disagree with the manager and the general manager. When the team is winning, they shut up. Fans are fickle and unenlightened and generally pretty far down the totem poll of baseball smarts. But, they are guided by loyalty, which counts for something. They truly have the best interests of the team at heart and they wish them success.

The media -- A little harder to pinpoint, but generally speaking, a reporter gets his juices going when he's got his teeth into a good story. And say what you will, failure is big news. Sports talk guys have more to talk about. Losing is less boring than winning. That may not be a universal truth, but it is a media truth. A president with a balky Congress and an unpopular war is more fun to cover than a president who is sailing through his term. The same holds true of sports.

What this means, of course, is that there is a universal truth that applies to owners, general managers, managers, fans and media: It's easy when things are good. It's when things seem to fall apart that you find out what you are made of and whether you deserve to be called a professional.

The jury is out on these young Brewers, but by the time this season ends in a couple of months, we'll all know the answers.