{image1}Some baseball people believe the season doesn't really start until Memorial Day. Others use the All-Star break as the defining moment when contenders and pretenders part ways. To me, August's onset has always signified that the stretch run has begun.

August 1 is the date which playoff teams must get serious. There are no more waiver-less trades on the horizon, injured players must either get well or look forward to next season, and there is no more ground to give in the postseason chase. It's now or never.

For the 2005 Milwaukee Brewers, though, the playoffs are probably a "never." Barring a collective defensive facelift, far better clutch hitting and a drastic reduction in home runs allowed by the starters, Ned Yost's team isn't likely to cut into its 5.5 game wild-card deficit (as of Monday).

But very few people were talking playoffs in Milwaukee this spring. This season was supposed to be about a winning mindset and results to match. While the omnipresent goal is .500, or 81 wins, Milwaukee's final record isn't as important as the building blocks the team is establishing this year.

In fact, future Brewers fans may look back at 2005 as -- if not a playoff year -- one that finally turned the program around.

The most tangible evidence of the turnaround is the arrival of the first wave of legitimate prospects at Miller Park. J.J. Hardy, Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder and even Dana Eveland have all contributed significantly despite suffering some growing pains.

Hardy and Weeks have contributed the most and suffered the most. But the Brewers will benefit from the short-term pain, perhaps handsomely. If the team can stay alive in the wild-card race -- not truly contend, but simply remain in the picture -- for another month, Yost will have succeeded in developing talent while remaining competitive, the oft-stated goal of the club's short-term future.

The Brewers' other key development has been the continued emergence of the starting rotation. Losing Ben Sheets to an inner-ear disorder early on was a frustrating setback, but the team's ace is finally rounding into 2004 form. Doug Davis has proven to be a quality starter with his second consecutive strong season. And the emergence of Chris Capuano, the team's winningest pitcher, gives the club two quality lefty starters, something very few teams possess.

Neither Victor Santos nor Tomo Ohka are likely to be long-term options, but they're sufficient back-end starters for a team that is beginning to define itself.

Speaking of definition, don't underestimate the one that Carlos Lee has provided Ned Yost's Brewers. More than just a big homer and RBI guy that the team desperately needed, Lee is starting to dispel the idea that Milwaukee is a baseball wasteland.

Lee's arrival may end up being similar to Reggie White's in Green Bay. White was an instrumental player on the Packers' Super Bowl teams, but his signing also redefined Green Bay as a possible destination for future free agents. Once White arrived, Green Bay started to feel less like Siberia and more like Titletown.

Lee arrived in a trade while White came over via free agency, but the effect could be the same. Yost was already gaining a reputation around the league as a manager whom players like to play for, but if success doesn't follow, that reputation doesn't amount to much. Lee's success expands on that first step; good players can thrive in Milwaukee -- and do it on a team that isn't awful. This was not the case with Richie Sexson or Greg Vaughn or other sluggers that didn't last as Brewers.

What is the most important fact of all? The team hasn't tanked yet. The memory of last year's second-half plunge must be erased before Milwaukee can be a contender again, which makes the actual wins and losses from here on out a valid factor, even if the playoffs are an extreme long shot.

Whether or not the Brewers reach 81 wins isn't vital, but reaching, say, 75 or so is. In short, we need to see some actual rather than theoretical improvement. Increased attendance shows that the fans are buying into the team's progress, but they aren't likely to be satisfied with a 68-win team again come October. Neither is Ned Yost. And I'm sure he'd rather not gamble on if his bosses would be.