This week saw the Brewers (a disappointing 2012 team in their own right) play against another disappointing team the Arizona Diamondbacks in a rematch of the 2011 National League Division Series. We all know how that one ended. And we all liked it. A whole lot. But from the get-go you could tell that this was a whole different year for the two snake bitten teams. I don't know the D'Backs' situation but the Brewers are plagued by injuries and poor performance. I know some of the Arizona players are playing below their usual standards (most notably Justin Upton who is well below his career avg, HRs and RBIs at this point) bu they still sit at .500. That's more that I can say about our Brewers. I pay so much attention to our team that I can't follow other teams so I don't know aside from the peripheral stats how they are doing. Then they play us and I get a pretty good idea of how we stack up against them. And I can honestly say that despite the overall records, we are better than the Diamonbacks. This Brewers team has a whole lot of talent they just need to put it all together on the same night. Every night it's a different story. The offense. The starting pitching. The bullpen. The Manager. The fans. The Shadows. The Polish Sausage. Joe Block. Enrico Pallazzo. The 6th Man. The One-Armed Man. The people under the stairs. The Ace in the hole. The Groundhog. The House of Representatives. The man, the myth, the legend. You catch the drift. It's a different thing every night. I don't know what to say anymore so I'm going to move on to the next series. I'm drunk off of box wine and I have my shirt off. Don't judge me.
The Marlins made a heralded move from Florida to Miami (in essence they stayed in the same city but changed their name) and from Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins Stadium/Landshark Stadium/Sun Life Stadium into a baseball only park of their own, Marlins Park. This new stadium opened just in time for the 2012 season and they spent a lot of money on free agents Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle to make their team relevant again. But for the most part they have disappointed the South Beach crowd with a 38-41 record prior to this series. The Marlins have already won 2 World Series Championships (1997, 2003) since they were brought into the league in 1993 while the Brewers have won none while appearing in only one World Series in 1982. Which franchise would you rather be? No offense, but I would take the Florida/Miami Marlins. I need to see a World Series Championship before I die. And seeing as I only have 9 years left on this planet (I don't expect to live past 40) it better happen soon while I'm conscious enough to appreciate it. This was a huge 4 days for the Brewers as they looked to set the ship in the right direction and also for me as I would be hanging out in Veteran's Park on Milwaukee's Lakefront for the 3rd of July Festivities. This is a huge time for me and one of the many traditions that used to be Timmy's that I now have had to take on in order for them to continue. I will not let these things end. Rage for Timmy is all about keeping some of the things going that he embodied. Tradition was huge for Timmy and I will grind myself to the bone and wear out my last spark of energy in order to keep this thing going. So excuse me if the Brewers took a backseat from July 2-4 as I cared more about the setting up, day of and recovery from the most important single day of my entire year (July 3rd). That having been said, I still was able to catch enough of these games to get a good understanding of where we stood at this point in the year. If you've been following along this year we're in the same position as we've been all year long - 4-6 games under .500 and clinging to life support.
Friday June 29 - Sunday July 1. Milwaukee Brewers vs Arizona Diamondbacks at Miller Park. Games 76 - 78 of 162. This is the first time Arizona has played at Miller Park since we ended their season with a victory in Game 5 of the NLDS. What a difference it is this time around. Milwaukee is 36-42 and in 4th place in the Central and Arizona is 39-39 and in 3rd place in the West. Both teams won over 90 games last year and are having disappointing seasons. Looking at the scores below you can understand why - they are the same teams. Inconsistent offense and pitching. Sure Saturday and Sunday were fun but watching Randy Wolf get shelled on Friday wasn't. I'm done with that guy. Ryan Braun proved on Saturday that the fans are wrong not to elect him an NL starter in the All-Star game (and this is coming from me!) and Gomez was outstanding when put in the right spot and used properly (like he was on Sunday). I think I summed up the weekend alright. I worked all 3 games for the first time in a while so I was too busy making money to offer a full analysis. Sue me. I certainly have the scratch to pay legal fees now. Diamondbacks 9, Brewers 3. Brewers 10, Diamondbacks 2. Brewers 2, Diamondbacks 1.
Monday July 2. Milwaukee Brewers vs Miami Marlins at Miller Park. Game 79 of 162. Tonight was the beginning of a very long couple of days. I only got to hear part of the game on the radio because I was busy setting up for the 3rd of July fireworks. And sadly I heard the losing part of the game where Greinke gave up 5 runs in 5 innings and not the part where Ishikawa tied it up or Aoki bunted home the eventual winning run. But after everything was set up and the cars were parked up the hill for the night I could sit and relax a bit and have a nice cold adult beverage. Bu even still I don't remember listening to the game. That's because so much planning and preparation goes into the 3rd of July that I wanted to do nothing else but sit by the lake and relax. Like almost every other day this season the Brewers were secondary to whatever else I was doing. In years past I would have had a problem with that. But this isn't years past. Things change. I've changed. Brewers 6, Marlins 5.
Tuesday July 3. Milwaukee Brewers vs Miami Marlins at Miller Park. Game 80 of 162. Regardless of what BK3 will tell you, this was an awful game even though they won. When you have a 9-2 lead in the 7th inning you shouldn't ever be tied in the 9th, losing in the 10th and have to rally back to win the game. I wish I could be more pissed off about this but July 3rd is my favorite day to sit and listen to a Brewers game. Laying out by the lakefront with a beverage in hand, trying to find some shade and hanging out with my family. There isn't a whole lot better than that. Having slept only 2 hours the night before, I was too hot (it was in the mid-90's) and tired to really pay attention so I can't really get into details about this one. All that I know is for one of the first times I can say that I'm glad that I wasn't at this game. There is no reason why anyone should be subjugated to bad baseball. Congrats to the offense for putting up runs and then putting up more but the bullpen (10 runs in 4 innings) should be ashamed of themselves. They are a bunch of losers this year. I don't know what happened. Are the losses of Saito and Hawkins that huge? Except for them it's the same guys. What the hell? Brewers 13, Marlins 12.
Wednesday July 4. Milwaukee Brewers vs Miami Marlins at Miller Park. Game 81 of 162. Here we are at the statistical halfway point of the year. It's fitting that it falls on a disappointing game because that about sums up the 2012 season. After riding the high that was last year we're really riding the lows now. I was passed out for most of this game (thanks to the July 3rd festivities) but it still was no surprise to me that the result was reality and not just some conjured up nightmare. Wolf was cruising then decided to lose this game himself before letting the bullpen do it again. But once again the offense rallied back (they haven't been the problem lately) but Axford blew another save with 2 outs, 2 strikes and no one on base of course. A solo homerun to a batter hitting under .200. A batter with a girl's name (Gaby). Ridiculous. I should have seen it coming. Christ, it happens often enough this year. There was no comeback magic left and the offense can't bail out the bullpen every day. And we're right back to 5 games under. This is why we need to sell. Every time we get back in it we take another step back. They've been doing it all year. And they'll keep doing it. Marlins 7, Brewers 6.
Thursday July 5. Milwaukee Brewers vs Miami Marlins at Miller Park. Game 82 of 162. Same old crap. Different day. Once again we fall to 6 games below .500 and split a series that should have been won. That 4 game winning streak was nice but now we followed it up by losing 2. Hurray Hurrah. They just can't get things going man. The worst part is that I said that very same thing back in May when they were struggling. They haven't been doing any better since then. When is the rest of the world going to realize it? And by world I mean Roenicke, Melvin and Attanasio. Maybe they do know but can't say it because it's a bad PR move to admit defeat. Oh c'mon guys. The fans know. Or at least the ones who have half a brain and aren't complete morons. Any Brewers fan who thinks they can still win the division or make the playoffs should be expelled from Brewers Nation. I get it - have faith. Be a homer. Love your team. But don't be an idiot. Don't be uneducated. Be a little realistic. Have you watched or listened to this team? Is this a playoff team? No. Is this a winning team? No. Then what they hell are they? Marlins 4, Brewers 0.
For every good thing the Brewers do they do another thing that is equally as bad. They (barely) won the series against the Diamondbacks and then go ahead and split the series against the Marlins. Nothing has been solved and at the end of the week we still sit 6 games under .500 and 8 games behind the 1st place Pittsburgh Pirates. That's been the story on repeat for the entire 2012 season. Up next is a series against Houston which they should easily win and then the All-Star Break where they will hopefully recharge their batteries and get ready for the second half. If they still want a piece of this thing they have to come out like gangbusters over the next few weeks. Time is gonna tell you whether or not this team has a chance. I'm still calling this one as being over because 8 games back is a tough hole to dig out of and they haven't been at .500 for like the entire year, but I have been wrong before. And I might be wrong again.
- pookon -
www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com
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