For years, much of the Milwaukee Brewers’ hopes have been dependent on the arrival of its highly-touted crop of young talent. Those hopes have, for the most part, come to fruition in 2007 thanks to the talents of shortstop J.J. Hardy, first baseman Prince Fielder, third baseman Ryan Braun and right fielder Corey Hart.

That quartet has had to undergo a lot of on-the-job training in their young major league careers, but it has worked well so far as the Brewers hold a 4½-game lead in the National League standings.

As difficult as adjusting from AAA to the majors can be, the young Brewers have had the benefit of going through the process together. Of the team’s regular starters, six were drafted by Milwaukee and worked their way up the organizational structure. That experience has helped make the transition process easier.

Hardy was the first to arrive, followed quickly by Weeks and Fielder. Having quickly developed a friendship in the minor leagues, they were able to have a familiar face waiting when the parade of prospects started flowing into Milwaukee two years ago. The situation was similar when Corey Hart finally landed an everyday role with the team this season, and was joined later in the season by former Nashville teammates Tony Gwynn, Jr., Braun and Yovani Gallardo.

Aside from the benefit of knowing their teammates and having familiar faces around the call to the big club finally comes, these youngsters have another feather in their cap; they have won a lot of games together.

Manager Ned Yost believes that experience is invaluable. Winning, at any level, is just as important to experience as hitting, fielding, or pitching a baseball.

“It’s really big,” Yost says. “Any experience, whatever level; a championship in high school feels just like you’ve won the National League. The same hold true in college and the minor leagues. They have been through it before and understand the pressure that comes with trying to be No. 1.”

Hardy opened the 2005 season with Milwaukee and was joined later by Weeks (called up in June) and Fielder, who was also summoned during the summer, that season’s Nashville squad gave Brewers fans a hint of what was to come. Even after the Sounds were gutted by call-ups, the Nashville Sounds -- in their first season as a Brewers’ affiliate -- won the Pacific Coast League.

The lessons learned that season have stuck with the Brewers as they open the second half with the goal of winning the NL Central. The days of being the quiet rookies have come-and-gone and the prospects are now the centerpiece of the organization. Of the four Brewers that took part in the All-Star Game last week, only Francisco Cordero wasn’t a product of the team’s minor-league system.

With their arrival, they also know that the learning curve is slowly starting to disappear and the time to produce has come. It’s a challenge, Hardy says, they learned about in the minors and are ready to accept head-on in the big-leagues.”

“We just tried to bring that (winning) mindset with us up here,” Hardy says. “We all know what we can do and what we’re all capable of doing.”