We have been chasing the St. Louis Cardinals longer than Tom has been chasing Jerry. That's because they are the class of the NL Central and they seemingly have been since like forever really. I don't have the time nor the patience to look this one up, but I can promise you that they finish within the top 3 of the division every year. I hate the Cardinals in a way that is different than the way in which I hate the Cubs. I wish the Brewers could be like the Cardinals. Mostly I wish that we had a storied history and won multiple World Series Championships. Shit, I'd give just about anything to see the Brewers win just 1 in my lifetime. And the Cardinals go out and win an improbable one last year as the Wild Card team when everyone said that it couldn't be done. They went on some ridiculous run to close out the year so why can't the Brewers do the same thing? Truth be told they are on a roll right now but the 2012 Brewers are not the 2011 Cardinals. You can point fingers and call out several players but I'm not going to get into that. Their situations are completely different which is the biggest disparity between the Cardinals and the Brewers. Last year the Cardinals were in 2nd place for the Wildcard and only had to worry about the Braves in front of them. I'm not saying it happens every day that a team goes on a ridiculous hot streak while the other one goes on an epic collapse, but it is a more likely scenario to expect 3/4 teams in front of you to fall apart all at the same time while you go on some crazy run. It's just too tall of an order to ask for considering they have already played over their heads to get back to this point. I don't know man, call me a negative Nancy or some shit but I don't care. For personal reasons I just can't get buy in and say they are going to make the playoffs because it goes against every thing I've believed this entire season. Feel free to yell at me all you want and take away my fan card. I know that I'm right. At least I'm right in my world. And I don't really care about what happens outside of my world. Scotty's World. Booyah motherfucker. If you don't like it you can write your own god damn blog and tell everyone your opinion. And now back to my opinion. You know you want to hear it.
Friday September 7 - Sunday September 9. Milwaukee Brewers vs St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Games 138 - 140 of 162. The St. Louis Cardinals currently hold the 2nd Wildcard and final playoff spot. Well, at least the gateway into the playoffs. This series was huge. The Brewers have been on a nice run lately and are within a few games of .500 for the first time since April or some shit. A lot of people are back on the playoff wagon but not me. They need to have a winning record first before we talk about that nonsense. And here's the other thing - Pittsburgh (2.5 back) and LA (1.5 back) still stand in our way. And even if we somehow win the 2nd Wildcard we'd have to play Atlanta in a 1-game playoff game to make the NLDS. So it'll take a lot of work. So now we got that out of the way. Even though the season will end Oct. 3rd, that doesn't mean we still can't have fun now. I hate the Cardinals more than I hate the Cubs. Wow. Didn't think that would happen. But after the NLCS last year and the fact that they've won multiple World Series Championships in their history makes me boil over with jealousy. So I like to stick it to them when I can. Friday after a rain delay and 13 innings the Brew Crew really showed them what's up. Never feels good to lose a game like that. Suck it St. Louis. Your Arch is an abomination. Rainbow looking f*ck. Saturday we owned them from start to finish and then nearly stole Sunday's game but lost it in the 10th. Well done on the road there gang but now it's time to come back home and take care of business. I need a winning record. I'm not ready to be a loser again. Tired of that shit. Brewers 5, Cardinals 4. Brewers 6, Cardinals 3. Cardinals 5, Brewers 4.
The Braves hold the 1st Wildcard with an 81-60 record. With 21 games remaining they could lose all of them and still finish .500. They could go 10-11 the rest of the way and still win the 1st NL Wildcard with a 91-71 record. Never say never, but I seriously doubt that the Atlanta Braves of 2012 will suffer the same collapse as their 2011 counterparts. So why do I bring this up? This series isn't as important as the one against the Cardinals was because you aren't chasing the Braves. You are so far behind them you can't even see their dust trails anymore. So for the Brewers these games are only important as far as winning goes; the opponent is irrelevant. At this point the Brewers just need to keep on winning no matter who they play and winning was what they did. I was at 2 of the 3 games (Monday and Wednesday) with my buddy Mike Bates who was in town with the week, and it was a hell of a good time. Even though I'll hold true to my beliefs that they won't make the playoffs, you've got to give the players credit for turning it around and getting the fans back into this. The atmosphere is always great at Miller Park and it is without a doubt one of the best places to watch a baseball game. But without the fans getting hyped and going nuts it just isn't the same. It's not quite as it was last year (and who could blame them as the Brewers had 57 wins at home, by far the best home record in all of baseball) but the home crowd is still having a great time. They must all be drunk. With this 3 game sweep the Brewers are above .500 for the first time since April 12 when they were 4-3. Let that sink in for a little bit. They were above .500 when they were 4-3 (Game 7) and did not get back to that point until 72-71 (Game 143). That's just wrong but it just goes to show what kind of season it has been and why I haven't been able to fully enjoy it. For the most part it has been a disappointing season. But with 19 games remaining they have put themselves in a position to make it one hell of a ride on the way out. It sure feels nice to back at this point but it is too little too late. We should have been hovering around .500 all season long if not for the slow offense and shaky bullpen in the first few months of the season. But it is good to be back. Now let's see where we can go from here.
Monday September 10 - Wednesday September 13. Milwaukee Brewers vs Atlanta Braves at Miller Park. Games 141 - 143 of 162. What the hell is going on here? And I mean that in a good way. When Gamel and Gonzalez went down we were in trouble. When Lucroy broke his hand I lost hope. When Axford and KRod blew seemingly every game which led to 7 losses in a row we waived the white flag and traded Greinke. Flash forward to today and we're 1 game above .500. 3 games back of the 2nd Wildcard, winners of 18 of the last 23 games including 9 straight at home and the hottest team in baseball with 19 games remaining. We're seriously in this playoff chase. The Atlanta Braves are the 1st Wildcard with a 81-63 record, but we manhandled them this series. Do you know what manhandling is? That's when you grab a guy's balls, taking control of the very thing that makes him a man. Our offense was clutch, the starting pitching was dominant and the bullpen locked it down. This team is very impressive right now. I still think we're a longshot to make the playoffs because we need to go 15-4 (for 87 wins) to have a legitimate chance at the Wildcard. Plus we need to hope that St. Louis, Pittsburgh, LA and Philadelphia lose almost every day. It's a tall order. I don't like them tall. I like them short, sexy and sassy. I can't go all in. I'm afraid of getting my heart broken again. if they come up short. I can't go balls to the walls because I don't want the wheels to fall off. But what's the worst that could happen? They fall short and we reload for next year. Brewers fans are used to next year. Brewers 4, Braves 1. Brewers 5, Braves 0. Brewers 8, Braves 2.
Coming up next is the New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Mets have lost their last 6 games and are crumbling in the 2nd half while the Brewers have won 18 of their last 25 including 17 of 19 at home. I think it's pretty safe to say that this series will work out in our favor. After that we start our final roadtrip of the year with a brutal 10-game, 3 city stretch that begins in Pittsburgh. At least we have the Pirates' number over the last few years and their ship is sinking badly. We'll make them walk the plank for sure. I thought I was done with this Pirate Talk nonsense. But with International Talk Like a Pirate Day coming up on September 19th this is only the beginning it what is sure to be a long trip at sea. I hope I don't get scurvy.
- pookon -
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com
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