Series 46 - Milwaukee Brewers vs San Diego Padres September 4 - September 7 at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WII know that there are a few games left to go in the 2008 season, but I have no doubt that the Brewers vs Padres series (this one) will go down as one of the most disappointing series of the year. If we happen to miss the playoffs (I surely hope that I'm not jinxing it by mentioning it right now) it will be a direct result of this homestand including this series. Sure, they still have 4 games against the Philadelphia Phillies (who trail Milwaukee in the Wildcard) and 6 games against the Chicago Cubs (who lead the NL Central) so they can chose their destiny by beating those teams. But to get to those games, they need to beat the teams that are worse than them, teams like San Diego and Cincinnati. San Diego is one of the worst teams in the National League, but the Brewers certainly beat up on them like they should have. What follows is one of the most ridiculous performances that I have ever seen by a Brewers team, and I used to watch games at Milwaukee County Stadium and the early days of Miller Oark when players like Lyle Mouton, James Mouton and Marc Newfield were roaming the outfield, Mike Matheny was catching, John Jaha was playing 1st, Eric Young at 2nd, Kevin Seitzer at 3rd, Jose Hernandez at SS, and pitchers Scott Karl, Cal Eldred, Glendon Rusch, Jeff D'Amico, Mike Fetters, Valerio de los Santos, Curtis Leskanic, and Nick Neugebauer were on the hill. That's some crazy ass name dropping. So believe me when I say that I have seen some poor Brewers teams over the years. This 2008 team is totally better than all of the previous teams (with the exception of the early 80's and early 90's) yet they aren't currently playing like it. It's almost like they don't want the playoffs, even though it has been gift-wrapped and handed to them on a silver platter. I have to post a warning here, the content that follows is extremely negative because I'm really pissed off that the Brewers are blowing it in September and I may once again have to settle with a normal baseball season that doesn't include scheduled games in October. Oh the humanity. Well, on with the negative and upsetting wrap-up.
Game 1 (Thursday) - Jeff Suppan (10-8, 4.56 ERA) vs Shawn Estes (2-1, 2.97 ERA)
Suppan was his old self again, and not the magical pitcher that he was in August (when he compiled a 5-0 record with a 3.00ish ERA for the month). The nice thing about Suppan's old self is that he's going to pitch 6 innings and give up 4 runs. He's never going to shut down a team, so it is up to the offense to back him up. All Soup can do is limit the offense from the opposing team and the Brewers bats need to step it up just a little bit more. But Soup was a little worse than normal, as he went 5 1/3 innings and gave up 5 runs. It might as well have been 50 runs with the way that the Brewers offense has been playing lately. There was no way that they would have been able to plate 6 runs against some kid named Shawn Estes and the worst team in the National League. To think that they would be able to do that is just silliness. I hate to sound pessimistic and upset, but G D it, I F-ing am! I'm tired of this September losing BS. If Soup couldn't rescue he team (and despite his magical August, no one figured that he would), then who can? The Brewers scored a couple of garbage runs, but this game was already over from the time that the anemic offense came to the plate in the bottom of the 1st inning. We need more than a band-aid to stop this bleeding, and if doesn't happen soon, we can kiss the playoffs goodbye. Thank heavens that CC Sabathia is pitching tomorrow against some guy that I don't know, or else I'd have a panic attack. If you look up the word Savior in the dictionary, you'd see a picture of Jesus Christ and CC Sabathia eating a picnic lunch on a blanket in the park. They'd be laughing, sharing a bottle of wine, eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, laughing and recalling memories from the good old days, and enjoying each other's company. Now that's a party that I'd like to be invited to. Final score Padres 5, Brewers 2.
Brewers record : 80 - 60, 2nd place NL Central, 1st place NL Wild Card
Game 2 (Friday) - CC Sabathia (15-8, 2.77 ERA) vs Josh Geer (1-0, 3.60 ERA)
The Brewers offense was damn near horrid again, but that was ok because CC is basically flawless. Richard Kessler (who wants to be your jeweler) was jealous, because CC has more flawless facets than even his most pure 81-faceted Kessler 81 diamond. If you want a diamond that burns with all the fire and brilliance Mother Nature intended, the Kessler 81 is the diamond for you. But if you want a pitcher that burns with all the fire and brilliance that Major League Baseball intended, then CC Sabathia is the pitcher for you. Take that Kessler. The Brewers were barely clinging to a 2-1 lead in the 8th inning (CC only made it through 7 innings and topped out at 106 pitches today) thanks to the horrendous offense, but then CC was denied his 10th victory with the Brewers from the moment that Eric Gagne toed the rubber. When he came into the game, fans started the preemptive booing because they knew exactly what was coming next - Gagne was about to blow the game. You don't need ESP to see that shit coming. Gagne allowed a homerun that tied the game at 2, and since the Brewers offense is horrible at the moment, it took us until the bottom of the 11th inning to scratch across the winning run. Rivera led off with a single, then Counsell tried to bunt Escobar (in for Rivera as a pinch runner) over, but hit into a fielder's choice at 2nd. Durham followed with a single that moved Counsell to 3rd, then JJ Hardy (who was 0-5 today) hit a single to left and all of Brewers nation exhaled. Then they shouted really freaking loud. Sure, it was just a win over the Padres, but when you are 0-for-September and in a 4 game losing streak, it's exhilarating to end it with a win. I almost lost it, but thankfully the Brewers saved me from ending up in the hospital with a heart attack. If you can't win against the worst team with MF-ing CC Sabathia on the mound, then you don't deserve to represent your league in October. There's still hope for us, but it's time to get our asses in gear. Final score Brewers 3, Padres 2.
Brewers record : 81 - 60, 2nd place NL Central (4 games back of Chicago), 1st place NL Wild Card (4 games ahead of Philadelphia)
Game 3 (Saturday) - Ben Sheets (13-7, 2.82 ERA) vs Jake Peavy (9-10, 2.63 ERA)
Jake Peavy is the reigning NL Cy Young award winner (given out to the best pitcher in each league) and Ben Sheets is having a career year in his last as a Brewer (setting a career high in wins at a paltry 13). So I knew going into this game that we were going to see an old fashioned pitcher's duel that the bandwagon fans would hate because of the lack of offense. They have no respect for the game, and make t-shirts like "Bernie digs the long ball" because they get all excited when Bernie goes down the slide. I guess homeruns are nice because they can change the game, but I'm getting tired of this "if we can't score homeruns via the homerun, then we just aren't going to score runs at all" bullshit mentality that the Brewers employ in their offensive scheme. I for one, enjoyed every second of this game. How could you not love a Sheets/Peavy matchup? Are you high or something? All of the offense came in the 3rd inning, when Braun hit a tapper towards 3rd, which Peavy fielded and threw low to first, allowing Braun to reach on an infield single. It could have easily been ruled an error. Fielder then ripped a scorching liner over the head of Giles in right field, which allowed Braun to score from 1st. And that's all the Murder, She (Angela Lansbury) Wrote. There really wasn't much else here, as Sheets eases everyone's injury concerns by throwing a 120 pitch complete game shutout. Looks like our pitchers need to be damn near perfect because our offense forgot that you need to have runners cross the plate in order for there to be numbers under the letter R on the scoreboard. Today Sheets was, but it's impossible to ask all of our pitchers to pitch like this every time out. We're in big trouble if we can't get some runs. So like an awkward teenager in high school , we are going to have to figure out how to score so we don't get laughed at in college for being a virgin. Final score Brewers 1, Padres 0.
Brewers record : 82 - 60, 2nd place NL Central (4 games back of Chicago), 1st place NL Wild Card (4 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia)
Brewers record : 82 - 60, 2nd place NL Central (4 games back of Chicago), 1st place NL Wild Card (4 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia)
Game 4 (Sunday) - Manny Parra (10-7, ERA) vs Chris Young (5-5, 4.48 ERA)
I was working this game, but I almost wish that I wasn't. It was Corey Hart bobblehead day, so naturally the game was sold out. For the first time since I began buying tickets for the bobblehead games to get my bobbleheads (instead of purchasing them off of EBay) I got one of the 5,000 limited edition retro bobbleheads. Most people would be stoked about that, but I was pissed because I don't want the players in the retro uniforms because that's not what they wear. The bandwagon fans dig the old ball and glove logo, and although I will admit that it is the most clever logo in the history of sports, it doesn't belong on the uniforms of current players. Fan demand brought it back, but it seems to me like they always lose when they wear those unis. Thankfully some guys sitting by my friends Casey, Lorge, Denise and Amanda didn't want theirs, so I was able to get a normal one of Corey in the home white uniform to keep the consistency in my collection. I wanted to go home, but I was getting paid, so I decided to stick around. Oh yeah, and because I'm a true fan of the game of baseball, I wanted to see if Chris Young could complete his bid for a perfect game. He had not allowed a runner to reach 1st base via a hit, walk, or error going into the 8th inning, then it all changed when Gabe Kapler (with 2 outs no less) hit a homerun to left to put the Brewers on the board and break up the perfect game. Everyone stood and cheered and clapped their hands, but the true baseball fans in attendance were clapping for Chris Young and not Gabe Kapler. It's not every day that you get to see a no hitter or perfect game, but I was glad that Kapler broke it up. I watched on TV on June 12, 2007 when Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers threw a no-hitter against the Brewers. That was tough to watch. Interesting tid-bit, I was planning on going to Detroit with Kanz for this series, and I was just about to make hotel reservations when Kanz found out he couldn't get off of work. So I would have been able to see it in person, which would have been cool from a baseball standpoint, but not from a Brewers standpoint. No one wants to see their team get no hit. So we now know how Chris Young did during the game, so how did Manny Parra do? 5 innings, 6 runs allowed (but only 1 earned thanks to Bill Hall's costly error) and the Brewers lost this one easily. The only other redeeming part of this game was Matt Gamel's 1st Major League hit (a double) in the bottom of the 9th inning. Hopefully that is the 1st of many to come when he makes it to the big leagues. Where he will end up playing will be the subject of many drunken debates between my friends and I. That much I am sure of. You know what else I am sure of? The Brewers sucked today. Real bad. There's always tomorrow, but I don't think I'll like tomorrow cause we head off to the City of Brotherly Love (yeah right) to face the Philadelphia Phillies. Good luck Crew. Final score Padres 10, Brewers 1.
I was working this game, but I almost wish that I wasn't. It was Corey Hart bobblehead day, so naturally the game was sold out. For the first time since I began buying tickets for the bobblehead games to get my bobbleheads (instead of purchasing them off of EBay) I got one of the 5,000 limited edition retro bobbleheads. Most people would be stoked about that, but I was pissed because I don't want the players in the retro uniforms because that's not what they wear. The bandwagon fans dig the old ball and glove logo, and although I will admit that it is the most clever logo in the history of sports, it doesn't belong on the uniforms of current players. Fan demand brought it back, but it seems to me like they always lose when they wear those unis. Thankfully some guys sitting by my friends Casey, Lorge, Denise and Amanda didn't want theirs, so I was able to get a normal one of Corey in the home white uniform to keep the consistency in my collection. I wanted to go home, but I was getting paid, so I decided to stick around. Oh yeah, and because I'm a true fan of the game of baseball, I wanted to see if Chris Young could complete his bid for a perfect game. He had not allowed a runner to reach 1st base via a hit, walk, or error going into the 8th inning, then it all changed when Gabe Kapler (with 2 outs no less) hit a homerun to left to put the Brewers on the board and break up the perfect game. Everyone stood and cheered and clapped their hands, but the true baseball fans in attendance were clapping for Chris Young and not Gabe Kapler. It's not every day that you get to see a no hitter or perfect game, but I was glad that Kapler broke it up. I watched on TV on June 12, 2007 when Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers threw a no-hitter against the Brewers. That was tough to watch. Interesting tid-bit, I was planning on going to Detroit with Kanz for this series, and I was just about to make hotel reservations when Kanz found out he couldn't get off of work. So I would have been able to see it in person, which would have been cool from a baseball standpoint, but not from a Brewers standpoint. No one wants to see their team get no hit. So we now know how Chris Young did during the game, so how did Manny Parra do? 5 innings, 6 runs allowed (but only 1 earned thanks to Bill Hall's costly error) and the Brewers lost this one easily. The only other redeeming part of this game was Matt Gamel's 1st Major League hit (a double) in the bottom of the 9th inning. Hopefully that is the 1st of many to come when he makes it to the big leagues. Where he will end up playing will be the subject of many drunken debates between my friends and I. That much I am sure of. You know what else I am sure of? The Brewers sucked today. Real bad. There's always tomorrow, but I don't think I'll like tomorrow cause we head off to the City of Brotherly Love (yeah right) to face the Philadelphia Phillies. Good luck Crew. Final score Padres 10, Brewers 1.
Brewers record : 82 - 61, 2nd place NL Central (4 games back of Chicago), 1st place NL Wild Card (4 games ahead of Philadelphia)
So there we go. We scored a total of 7 runs in 4 games (spanning 38 innings). That's an average of 1.75 Runs per game. Luckily we were playing against one of the worst teams in the NL and 2 of our pitchers (CC, Sheets) were flawless in the games that we were able to win. It's not as bad as it could have been (we could have lost the series of got swept by the Padres) but it was pretty damn close. This late in the season, you have to take advantage of the games that you are supposed to win (at home no less) against inferior opponents. Not taking advantage of it is like letting that golden opportunity slip away. Since we currently have the lead in the NL Wildcard, all we have to do is split the remainder of our games (play .500 baseball the rest of the year) and we should make the playoffs, right? Sounds easy enough. But it's not. If it were easy we would already have been in the playoffs during the years 1983-2007 and wouldn't keep talking about the playoff drought that has been going on for 26 years. If they keep this shitty play going on, it is soon to be 27 years. I don't want to see that happen, so they better get their asses in gear and win a couple of games against Cincinnati. If they don't, you'll bet that I'll be on here bitching about it. See you then with hopefully some good news, but from the way that it has been going lately, it's hard to believe that anything good can happen to this team. It's like God hates us or something. God, if you're listening - just what the heck did we do to piss you off?
Next up - September 8 (Monday) - September 10 (Wednesday) Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinatti Reds at Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI
- pookon -
email : pookondotcom@gmail.com
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