Yesterday, I posted some questions that were brewing in my head as the Brewers prepared to take the mound for Game 2.
Today, unfortunately, I have some answers:
- In the span of one month, Corey Hart has gone from my favorite to my least favorite player on the Brewers. A good player doesn't swing at the first pitch with the bases loaded, after the pitcher has just walked in a run. Hart then grounded weakly into a double play, killing a potential rally. I don't think I'll ever forgive him for this postseason.
- On the same note, I suggested Dale Sveum start anyone else in the outfield yesterday. But in reality, that could only be Tony Gwynn, Jr., our "4-A" bench player. The loss of Gabe Kapler is hurting the Brewers so very much right now.
- Speaking of outfielders, it looks like Mike Cameron is trying to give the Brewers a reason not to pick up his option for 2009. In two consecutive games, he muffed two nearly identical catches. Very hard plays in crazy windy conditions, to be sure, but this Golden Glover makes those grabs 98 percent of the time. Too bad that 2 percent is the difference between post-season wins and losses. We didn't sign Cameron for his offense, and now we can't count on his defense, either.
- CC Sabathia doesn't have post-season performance problems. The wheels just fell off. The Brewers wouldn't be in the playoffs without him, and he's the best pitcher ever to wear a Brewers uniform. I'll blame anyone but him for a team that forgot how to hit around Labor Day. And if I were Mark Attanasio, I'd spend anything to get him back. Ben Sheets, however, see ya.
- I'm not surprised the Phillies are throwing free and easy with Rich Dubee as their pitching coach. Maybe Guillermo Mota should've been on the Phillies (lame Spanish slang joke, Google it).
- I said yesterday the Brewers need to take a few pitches. They did. Thanks. But they also have to swing at good pitches instead of looking at strike three. Again, what happened to the offense?
- I hate to say it, but I now think we're going to get swept. My heart says we'll win Saturday, but I don't really see any reason to believe that. Starting with Spring Training, I've watched seven full months of Brewers baseball. This series has reminded me of those Packers playoff games against the Cowboys in the mid '90s, in which everyone knew the outcome before the coin flip. Unbelievably, I felt like turning off the game in the seventh inning last night. Don't worry, I didn't.
- And finally, who cares if we get swept? We just asked for post-season baseball, and we got it. We'll get to see a playoff game in person on Saturday. We never have to say the phrase "in 26 years" again, unless it's 2034 when the Brewers make it back to the playoffs. Lets just enjoy this moment as long as it lasts ... and remember that people in Chicago are probably even more upset than we are.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
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