That, in a nutshell, sums it up for the Brewers, whose offense sputtered for extended periods of time during the 2008 season - most notably in September, when an all-or-nothing sprint to the postseason came down to the season's final day because of a prolonged offensive slump.
It was the home run that got the Brewers into postseason contention and it was the home run that kept them from advancing.
Milwaukee batters hit 198 homers during the regular season, the third-best mark in the National League. The Brewers homered in 120 games during the season, winning 74 times. In games in which they didn't homer, they were 16-26.
They got their first long ball of the postseason on Sunday, when Prince Fielder went deep in the seventh inning against Philadelphia's Joe Blanton. Unfortunately, it came with the team down, 5-1 and with nobody on base.
When Dale Sveum was named interim manager, the team was mired in its worst offensive slump of the season. He put an emphasis on playing "small ball," incorporating more sacrifices and had his players bunting and using the hit-and-run more often.
"We live and die by the home run, and hopefully we pop them when we get people on base," Sveum said. "We've got to change that. We've got to start learning how to manufacture runs and do things and put the ball in play and have really, really good at bats going into next season."
The Brewers' reliance on the home run was obvious in the final two months of the season. Milwaukee went 20-7 in August, when batters homered once every 26.91 at-bats, averaging 1.30 long balls per game. In September, the Brewers went deep once every 41.19 at-bats -- hitting 0.81 per game.
Hitting coach Jim Skaalen has stressed the importance of taking a patient approach all season. It paid off in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, when the Brewers forced Phillies starter Jamie Moyer deep into the count all day and clawed their way to a 4-1 victory.
"There have been too many days, especially in pressure situations, where we over-swang a little bit. That more than anything contributed to the inconsistencies down the stretch," Skaalen said. "Say what you will, we simply tried to do too much. As soon as September hit ... guys were pressing a little bit, wanting to do so much and got away from themselves a little bit."
Sveum thinks the players are capable of adapting. And he thinks they enjoy manufacturing runs just as much as they enjoy belting tape-measure shots to the bleachers. If he's back as manager next season, he plans to drive that point home.
"You start out in spring training and get them to understand, so they can have a lot of fun playing this game," Sveum said. "There's a lot more to this game than just waiting for the three run homer.
"Players really understand that, and they get a lot of satisfaction out of sacrifice bunting. When they get a sacrifice bunt over, when they hit and run and they get it on the ground, believe it or not, they get a lot of satisfaction out of that, and it's a lot of fun to play the game."
Decision time: The front office will have a lot of big decisions to make in the next few months, starting with the futures of general manager Doug Melvin and interim manager Dale Sveum.
Owner Mark Attanasio plans to sit down with Melvin, who has one year remaining on his contract, in the coming weeks about a possible extension. He plans to defer to Melvin when it comes to replacing or retaining Sveum, who took over on Sept. 15 and stabilized a free-falling team while leading the Brewers to their first playoff berth since 1992.
"We definitely want to keep Doug Melvin," Attanasio said.
"We're all comfortable with him, and I think he's done a great job under extremely difficult circumstances," Ryan Braun said. "I think he deserves that opportunity."
Once those questions are answered, the focus will turn to the team's free agents.
Ben Sheets has probably made his last appearance in a Brewers uniform and its unlikely Sabathia will return when big-money offers from large-market teams start pouring in this winter (more on Sabathia in a moment). Gabe Kapler, before he was injured, made some major contributions and could be a key to another postseason trip next year.
Teams have a two-week window to negotiate exclusively with their own free agents. The window begins after the World Series ends. Expect Attanasio and his top managers to be hammering out some budget numbers until then.
CC you later? Sveum sent Sabathia in to pinch-hit for Jeff Suppan in the third inning of Sunday's season-ending loss to the Phillies. While it could have been perceived as a nostalgic gesture -- allowing Sabathia a chance at one last ovation from the Milwaukee fans -- Sveum said a number of other factors played into the decision.
"I wanted to get the crowd back into it," Sveum said. "I knew if I sent him up there, that the crowd would get back in the game when the crowd was taken out of the game."
With the Brewers down, 5-0, at that point and Philadelphia having three lefties in the bullpen, Sveum also wanted to keep his bench intact for pinch-hitting situations later in the game.
"If we were going to come back, we had six more innings left and then you can mix and match with all the pinch-hitters you had to rest, because they had three lefties in that bullpen that could cause a problem if you just waste one of your pinch-hitters right there with nobody on."
For his part, Sabathia -- who becomes a free agent this winter -- hasn't ruled out a return to Milwaukee in 2009.
He was impressed by how quickly he was accepted into a very closely-knit clubhouse and by the appreciation and adoration he received from Brewers fans. He'll take that into account when deciding his future.
"It was fun. I had a good time," Sabathia said. "I'd be lying if I didn't say this is one of the better times I've had in my career. Meeting these guys and being on this team, it was a good experience. This is a young, talented team and a great clubhouse. Guys get along and have fun.
"I like to be around people I enjoy. You've got to be around them eight months out of a year. That will all factor in."
Attanasio was "encouraged" by Sabathia's comments, but is planning to do due diligence on contemplating a deal that will, in all probability, require the Brewers to devote a major portion of their payroll. As an investment banker, Attanasio understands the risks.
"We'll take a look at the numbers," Attanasio said.
Bullpen closes season on a high note: Pat Burrell's eighth-inning home run off Guillermo Mota was the first run allowed by a Milwaukee reliever in the series.
"They were the reason we were here," Sveum said. "The bullpen was as good as it could be. We gave up very few runs, very few base runners as a matter of fact, and there's no doubt that we're here, able to play in these games, because of what our bullpen did."
Which way is home? Milwaukee scored nine runs in the NLDS to become the 13th team to score fewer than 10 runs in the NL's first round since the introduction of the Wild Card format in 1995. They joined the 2006 Padres and 1998 Astros as the third team to have four games to do it -- the other 10 only played three. The 2008 Cubs (six runs) join them on the list.
Hardy hot in playoffs: Hardy's .429 average is currently third in MLB this postseason (among players with at least 10 at-bats) behind Derek Lee (.545) and Manny Ramirez (.500).
Mark your calendars: There are 182 days until the Brewers open the 2009 season at San Francisco and 185 days until the Cubs come to Miller Park for the home opener on April 10.
