Series 52 - Milwaukee Brewers vs Chicago Cubs September 26 - September 28 at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WIWhen the 2008 Brewers schedule was released in September of 2007, I boldly predicted that the season would be decided in the final weekend of this year when the Brewers squared off against the Cubs. I was only halfway right, because I predicted that they would be battling for the division title. Since the Cubs had already wrapped up the NL Central title and homefield advantage for the playoffs, they were just playing for pride and division rivalry. The Brewers however, had just a little bit more at stake LIKE THEIR 1ST PLAYOFF APPEARANCE IN 26 GODDAMN YEARS!!! All eyes were on the Mets/Marlins series because both the Brewers and Mets entered this weekend deadlocked in a tie for 1st place in the NL Wildcard. It was tough to not scoreboard watch, because none of that matters if we don't take care of business and win, but I couldn't help but root for the Marlins. Seeing how shitty that the Brewers have played in September so far, we were going to need a little (ok, a lot) of help from others just to make it to baseball's sacred postseason. The fact that they were playing the hated Cubs really didn't make it easier on the fans, because "Wrigley Field North" would be anywhere from 30% - 50% full of jackass Cubs fans who can't get a ticket to hangout in the toilet they call Wrigley Field. It kind of takes the homefield advantage out of the equation, but that just means that whatever Brewers fans didn't sell their tickets to Cubs fans would just have to cheer twice as loud. Any Brewers fan that sold their ticket to a Cubs fan should be ashamed of themselves. In fact, I'm working on finding out who did it, so that we can issue them a lifetime ban from Miller Park for their inexcusable actions. I know that Cubs fans are jerks, but this was the most important series of the entire year, and the Brewers really needed you to be there to support the shit out of them. From the time when the gates opened and the 1st Cubs fan walked through the turnstile, there were already 1 too many Cubs fans in Miller Park. Thanks a lot assholes for allowing those FIBs to infest our park with their suckiness. You're a great benefit to us all and our cause. But enough about harping on the fans that did not attend - that's not the reason why I started the 2008 Brewers season Wrap-ups; I did it to reflect on the games and give my 1st hand insight into this magical season. So with 159 games down and 3 to go, we needed to win at least 2 out of 3 and hope the Marlins take 2 of 3 from the Mets just to make it to the playoffs. Show me something more exciting than this, and I'll show you a liar (you). There is nothing better than this weekend, so let's get on with the wrap-up so that I can tell you all about it.
Game 1 (Friday) - Jeff Suppan (10-10, 4.96 ERA) vs Ryan Dempster (17-6, 2.96 ERA)
Jeff Suppan has so far had a very forgettable September. His losses and ERA are up, and lately you just can't count on him to put your team in a position to win the game. It's terrible, because he used to be such a big game pitcher and exactly the guy that you would turn to in this must win situation. He had a magnificent September back in 2007 to keep the Brewers in it as long as they were, but this September in 2008 has been a nightmare for him (and all of us). So why then, did the Brewers run him out there to pitch in this game? Because they simply didn't have any options remaining. Sure, Carlos Villanueva or Seth McClung maybe could have started today, but both of them have been so incredible out of the bullpen that Svuem probably didn't want to disrupt that. So while we all held our breath waiting for Suppan to screw it up, he made us feel relaxed enough to exhale. Suppan wasn't especially sharp, allowing 8 hits in 5 innings, but he limited the potent Cubs offense to just 1 run on a Jim Edmonds homerun. in the 2nd inning. The Brewers got that run back in the bottom half, and it stayed tied until the 6th inning, when the Brewers took a 1 run lead. I was able to watch this entire game, and I once again had the Mets game constantly refreshing on my iPod. When the Mets lost to the Marlins, I was brimming with excitement. But the Brewers were clinging to just a 1 run lead, and the Cubs, as we all know too well, are very capable of a big comeback inning. That's why Rickie Weeks' pinch-hit 3 run homer in the 7th inning nearly sealed the deal. But some Brewers pitcher still needed to close this game out, and we all know that Torres is not the man for the job (given his track record against the Cubs this year). That is why the hero of the game today was none other than "Big Red" Seth McClung. He came on in relief of Suppan in the 6th inning, and tossed 4 scoreless innings of 1 hit ball. Simply amazing. I know that the Cubs really aren't trying too hard, but McClung deserves some recognition for his job well done today. With a Mets loss and a Brewers win, we move up to a huge 1 game lead in the Wildcard standings with 2 games to play. Plus we beat the Cubs today. It's always a good day when we beat the Cubs. Final score Brewers 5, Cubs 1.
Brewers record : 89 - 71, 2nd place NL Central, 1st place NL Wild Card (1 game ahead of the New York Mets)
Game 2 (Saturday) - Ben Sheets (13-9, 3.09 ERA) vs Ted Lilly (17-9, 4.09 ERA)
Ben Sheets exited his last start with elbow problems, and although everyone in the world begged him to not go out and pitch if he wasn't 100% healthy, Ben Sheets went out there and pitched. The Cubs threw out a lineup of bench players (Fukudome, Cedeno, Hoffpauir, Ward, Johnson, Fontenot, McGehee, and Blanco) so that they could rest up all of their regulars. I thought that the Cubs were sending out replacement players, and I half expected to see Shane Falco, Clifford Franklin, and Nigel "The Leg" Gruff take the field under the tutelage of Jimmy McGinty. But this was real life, not my favorite movie. In reality, the Cubs were sending out 16 game winner Ted Lilly, but the Brewers have historically hit well against left handed pitchers. But the worst that could happen did, and all hell broke loose at Miller Park. Ben Sheets gave up a 1st inning homerun to Daryle Ward (who was batting a majestic .216 with 3 homeruns and 15 RBIs coming into the game today) and just really didn't have anything today. He didn't even had bad stuff, he had nothing. When he gave up 2 more runs in 3rd inning, he was pulled for Mark DeFelice and everyone saw the Ben Sheets that we have known all too well during his tenure in Milwaukee - the one that has spent more time on the disabled list than on the pitching mound. We all knew that Sheets just threw his last pitch in a Brewers uniform. But there was no time to lament over Sheets' mysterious injuries in his career, we still needed to figure out a way to win this ballgame. Dave Bush came in after DeFelice, and he went 3 innings and didn't even give up a hit. He was supposed to start this game had Sheets not been ready to go, and I know that second guessing is easy because it happens after the fact, but maybe, just maybe, he should have started while Sheeter shut it down and rode the pine. Too late for that. The Brewers scored a run in the 7th, and 2 more in the 8th to make it a 4-3 ball game. With the Brewers down by a run, Sveum put in his closer Salomon Torres, and Torres once again sucked the big one against the Cubs. He gave up 3 runs without recording an out, and this game was suddenly out of hand. The Brewers had a chance to come back and win this one, but they failed. Since the Mets won, they fell to a tie in the Wildcard lead with 1 game left to play. That means tomorrow's game (game # 162) was for all of the marbles. A Brewers win and a Mets loss, and the Brewers go to the playoffs. A Mets win and a Brewers loss and the Mets go to the playoffs. If both win or if both tie, then there is a 1 game playoff at Shea Stadium on Monday to determine the Wildcard winner. God I hope it doesn't come down to that. This is just too thrilling and exciting for me to handle. Final score Cubs 7, Brewers 3.
Brewers record : 89 - 72, 2nd place NL Central, 1st place NL Wild Card (tied with the New York Mets for 1st)
Game 3 (Sunday) - CC Sabathia (17-10, 2.70 ERA) vs Angel Guzman (0-0, 5.59 ERA)
The Brewers once again asked CC to pitch on 3 days rest, and he once again took the ball in a do-or-die game. Hard to believe that they play 162 games (which is a lot compared to all of the other major professional sports) and that the season comes down to just 1 day, and the final day of the season at that. That's why baseball to me is so exciting, because so many things can happen during the final weeks depending on the matchups. I awoke early and suited up for the game, fully expecting to work today. When I got there, to my surprise I found that I wasn't on the schedule. Normally I would have been pissed because my boss told me that I was working, but today was anything but normal. I stayed punched in for a half hour while they tried to work it out, but I said screw it, I'm just gonna go somewhere and watch the game. My friend and former roommate Fresno Chris was there, and I had a ticket from my friend and current roommate Joey Kanz to give to him. So I met him outside of Friday's in the outdoor smoking patio. He had some Miller Lites on him, so I downed a couple of beers (free drink count : 2) while we were chatting. Then my Uncle Gary and his friend Dennis walked by, so I hung out with them for a minute. My Uncle bought me a beer (free drink count : 3), and then I got a ticket from him to give to my brother James' friend Dave. So that means the game hasn't even started yet, and already I have had 3 free beers, 2 tickets, and 1 free admission to the game (via my employee badge). I sat down in left field level section 128 (my Uncle's seats) for about an inning with Dave and James, then I had to move because I was occupying some dude's seat, and he arrived and finally claimed it. I then went up to the club level to watch the game, sitting in the wheelchair section 310. The cashier Theresa allowed me to get some food, so I got a nachos grande, bag of peanuts, and a large mountain dew (free drink count : 4.) That is where I spent the majority of the game (about 3rd inning on) where I nervously ate my peanuts and paced back and forth. We all now know what happened during this game, but let me play it out for you (and me) so that we can one day look back at this as the greatest game that we have ever seen. Yep folks, I am putting this game at #1 on my list of all-time Brewers that I have attended. CC retired the side in the 1st inning, and it looked like this one was getting off to a great game when Mike Cameron singled (something he hasn't done often in the leadoff spot) to start out the Brewers half of the inning. But that's about all that happened for a long while. The Mets/Marlins game got a late start due to a rain delay, and every time that the Marlins score popped up on the left field video board, the crowd went nuts. I've never seen so many Marlins fans (if only for 3 days) in my entire life. The Cubs decided to use a cadre of bullpen arms (mostly September call-ups that would not be on the postseason roster) to throw the 9 innings in today's game, and I think the constant switching off left and right handed pitchers with different styles really threw off the Brewers batters, because after Cameron's leadoff single, another Brewer wouldn't reach base until the 7th inning, when Ray Durham leadoff with a double. The Cubs had scored in the 2nd inning, and this was looking like no more scoring would go on today. But not so fast! Durham, as I said, reached on a leadoff double. He moved to 3rd on Braun's ground out. Then with a base open at 1st, Fielder was intentionally walked. JJ Hardy then worked a nice at bat into an unintentional walk, and the bases were loaded with 1 out and Corey Hart at the plate. And then came one of the worst at bats that I have ever seen in my life. Hart struck out swinging on 3 total pitches that were all low and outside. All he had to do was lift one to the outfield for a sac fly to tie the game. Corey Hart just looked lost up there at the plate, which has pretty much been the case for him since the All-Star Break. And then came Craig Counsell. He worked an excellent veteran at bat to take a walk with the bases loaded to force in the tying run. He may never hit above .250, play every day, or knock in a bunch of RBIs, but he does the little things like working counts, moving runners over, and playing great defense - 3 things that no one else on this club knows how to do. Kendall grounded out to end the inning. Sabathia was still cruising along, and it looked like he would be going to distance today. Former Brewer Wes Helms had just hit a homerun to put the Marlins ahead of the Mets, and the cheering had just stopped at Miller Park in bottom of the 8th inning, and then came the moment that will always give me chills when I watch/listen to the in-game call. Cameron singled, then Ryan Braun crushed a first pitch fastball from Bob Howry into the Brewers bullpen for the lead in the game. That place just erupted with screams, and I saw more high fives than I've ever seen in my entire life. People were going apeshit up in there. It was so loud, I thought that the glass panels were going to break. With that homerun, Braun just joined the likes of Yount and Molitor for greatest Brewers player ever, even though he's only been on the team less than 2 years. For me though, it's hard to imagine a Brewers team without Braun. It's a good thing that we got his ass locked up for like 6 years. And at $45 million, it's a steal! He's only gonna get better. The crowd quieted down at the end of the inning, but it didn't take long for them to get amped up again when CC walked out to the mound to pitch the 9th inning and go for yet another complete game. After getting the lead man out, CC allowed a single to Ryan Theriot. But then Derreck Lee hit into a double play, and the Brewers did it...well at least they did their part. Miller Park was rocking hard, but a Mets win over the Marlins could force a 1 game playoff at Shea Stadium tomorrow (Monday) so it wasn't over until that game ended. But the Miller Park staff put the Marlins/Mets game on the big screen in centerfield, and I went back down to section 128 to hang out with my brother James. Because of the rain delay, we joined the Mets game in the 8th inning, and had to sit (not gonna lie, but I was standing because I was too nervous to sit) on the edge of our seats to see if we were going to the playoffs.When Marlins pitcher Matt Lindstrom collected the final out to seal the 4-2 victory for the Marlins, millions of Mets fan knew that feeling of a late season collapse all too well, after seeing it happen last year in 2007. But no one in Miller Park cared, because our team was the NL Wildcard Winner and was going to the playoffs in 2008. Music blared over the loudspeakers, confetti and streamers fell from the rafters, players doused each other and some lucky fans with champaigne, and thousands of fans who stuck around Miller Park hugged, high fived, and roared in celebration for this wonderful moment. I was right in the middle of the festivities, and I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else to revel in this victory. These are my people, and although some of them were stepping on and off the bandwagon during our September swoon, I kept the faith theh entire time. I may have not believed they's make the playoffs, but until the team is mathematically elimninated, they still have a chance. It might take 162 games to get there, but the fact that we got there speaks volumes for this team's willingness to push through adversity and focus on the final goal. And what a roller coaster season that it was, and despite what happens in the playoffs, I will always be able to refer to this team as the 2008 National League Wildcard winning Milwaukee Brewers. So this game ended, but the fun for me on the Greatest Day of my Life did not, but I'll get into that in just a minute. Final score NL Wild Card Winning Milwaukee Brewers 3, Cubs 1.
Brewers record : 90 - 72, 2nd place NL Central, 1st place NL Wild Card
The following is an entry that was supposed to be by itself and labeled the Greatest Day of my Life, but I'll just include it on here because I already told you about the 1st half of the day in the Game 3 Wrap-Up. We hung out for a while to soak it all in, then we went over to Friday's to get another drink. Dave was buying, so I got a Captain and Coke (free drink count : 5) and got rowdy with some Brewers fans. Things started to die down at Miller Park, so we went out to my Uncle Mike's house. Today was my little cousin Joey's baptism, but I missed it due to the fact that I need to be at the game 2 hours prior to the start, and since I don't have a car, I need to leave my house on the bus 1 1/2 hours prior to that. So that means if the game on a Sunday starts at 1:00 pm, I need to leave my house at 9:30 am. So I had no choice but to miss his baptism. But we went over to hang out, with my family, and I grabbed a couple of more beers (free drink count : 7). Since we were already out in Menominee Falls, we stopped by J. Reiley's, which is a bar owned by Dave's brother Mike. James bought me a beer (free drink count : 8) and we sat at the bar. James had to work at 5:00 am tomorrow morning, Jenny at 7:00 am, and I had to work at 8:00 am. We were all ready to turn in and head off to bed, but James' friend (one of his co-workers from the HD) called and said that the Brewers were partying over at Karma on Ogden and Van Buren. So of course we had to stop there. I got to meet and party with CC Sabathia (who is all of 6'7" and 290 lbs, and was really wasted that night), Mike Cameron, Bill Hall, and Prince Fielder. I stood behind Fielder, and I realized that I am Fielder's white body double. He's the same height and same build as me, but I have to imagine that he's stronger and in better shape than I am. I got CC's and Bill Hall's autographs, and got to mingle with them for about a half hour. After those guys left, James bought me yet another beer (free drink count : 8) and his friend bought me a shot (free drink count :9). It was after midnight, and I really should have been going home and into my warm and cozy bed, but I went out to BBC's to meet up with my roommate Paul. I finally paid for a drink today (paid drink count 1), and before you think that I was freeloading all day, I didn't bring any money with me because I was expecting to make money at work. I grabbed some bills, and Jenny and I (James went home cause he had to work in less than 5 hours) went out. While I was there, I talked with some other Brewers fans, and they ended up buying me a shot of Goldschlager (free drink count : 10). Jenny and I finished off the pitcher of Miller Lite, then we went back to my house. Since Jenny worked across the street at Beans and Barley (I live above Vittuchi's) she slept over on the pull-out couch. So at about 1:30 am, I finally went to bed and officially closed the book on the Greatest Day of my Life. So getting to the playoffs was an exciting thrill ride, I expect the playoff games to be exactly the same. I altered my work schedule so that I will be home from work by 2:00 pm so that I can sit on my couch, pop open a few beers, and soak up every moment of my 1st Brewers postseason in my non-baby life. The whole reality of this hasn't really sunk in yet, but I'm sure that it will tomorrow. Hells yeah bitch.Next up - Milwaukee Brewers @ Philadelphia Phillies (Wednesday October 1st, 2:00 pm CST) - Game 1 of National League Division Series at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA
- pookon -
www.pookon.comemail : pookondotcom@gmail.com
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