The Battle for the Basement shouldn't be this ridiculous. Bombardier in the Basement should be because it was a game from my childhood in the 80's when you could throw things at kids without people getting concerned and contacting authorities. Damn I miss the good old days. The Milwaukee Brewers are a bad baseball team and that is evident in them being tied for last place against the Chicago Cubs. Last place. That hurts man. For a team that was in contention to repeat as NL Central Division Champions to a must win to stay out of last place seems like a stretch. But it's happening. And it's going to be that way all season pal so deal with it. I was at the game on Friday night at stuck it out all 13 innings because I never leave a game early unless I am forced to for whatever reason. I don't know if I have ever seen a better worse game in my life. There were so many lead changes, poorly executed plays, bad defense, rally and rally kills and periods of desperation for both teams. Even though we won the series I can't help but compare our team to the Cubs. I've been saying all season that they are a bad baseball team but now I've come to the realization that we are too. We're still a couple of steps above awful but we're heading downstairs, not up where we should be going. I don't how I feel about this because I'm not ready to stink as much as the Northsiders.
The Mets aren't that bad of a team despite what the season preview said about them. I guess one could say that they are a bit of a surprise in the early part of this season. In fact, the entire NL East is a big surprise as all of the teams are at or above .500 with the Braves in first and the Phillies in last. I wonder if anyone in Philadelphia feels like we do here in Milwaukee. They too have suffered some pretty big injuries and find themselves dwelling in the basement. But at least they are around .500 while we keep falling further away from it. These two games were interesting. In the first one Gallardo wasn't great as he walked 6 but only allowed 2 runs in 6 innings. He's really starting to test me this year because the pitch count is way up and I don't remember the last time that he pitched into the 7th or 8th inning. I would like to see him get a complete game sometime soon just to show everyone (because I still believe) that he is capable of being this team's ace when Greinke leaves in free agency after the season or gets traded mid-season if we fall out of it. People doubt Gallardo because they see Greinke's perform like he did on Tuesday - 7 innings pitched, 0 runs allowed, 5 hits, 7 strikeouts and no walks. If that's not ace-like I don't know what is. He set the tone for a victory and the offense backed him up by scoring 8 runs led by Travis Ishikawa's 3 for 4, 2 homerun, 5RBI night. It was good to see but as we would find out 2 days later it meant nothing because they couldn't string together a couple of wins.
Houston. This is your last season in the NL Central so give us a nice going away present by laying down and letting us walk all over you. What? You're not going to do that this year? But you did it last year and I really liked it. Last year we kicked some Astro but this year it was our Astro that was going to get kicked. Does anyone read this and be like"why?" Shake your heads all you want folks, I'm a genius. But I was just wondering if anyone reads what I have to say about the Milwaukee Brewers in 2012. Why am I even including this in here? You mean to say that the backspace key doesn't exist in the 13th Dimension? So I can't take any of that back. So much has happened since then that I'm just going to say that if Houston was supposed to be a bad team this year, and we just got beat by them, then what are we? Are we a bad team? Yes. Get used to hearing it. I can't even remember what I am talking about. You might as well just move on because I'm going to be stuck here for a while.
Friday May 11 - Sunday May 13. Milwaukee Brewers vs Chicago Cubs at Miller Park. Games 32 - 34 of 162. I'm at a loss for words here. Funny, right? It was a very long weekend for both myself and the Brewers. Let's start with Friday night. I tried to describe the game Friday and I think I've nailed it by now - epic chaos by two fundamentally bad teams. It was one of the best worst games that I've ever seen. There is no way there should have been that many pitching changes, pinch hitters, comebacks, defensive miscues, missed bunts, missed cut-offs, poor plate discipline and just awful baseball. If we lost that game it would have been a worthless way for me to spend 5 hours. But they won in 13 innings. Moving on. Saturday's game was a little more straight up thanks to the unlikely hero Edwin Maysonet, who delivered with a grand slam. For a team that is known for its' power the last two grand slams have come from a career minor leaguer (Maysonet) and a pitcher (Shaun Marcum in 2011). I don't get it. But hey, it was a win. Sunday was fine until the bullpen gave it away in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings and the Brewers still haven't swept a team this season. But we did see some offense so there's still time. But the inconsistency might just cost them some more games. Brewers 8, Cubs 7. Brewers 8, Cubs 2. Cubs 8, Brewers 2.
Monday May 14. Milwaukee Brewers vs New York Mets at Citi Field. Game 35 of 162. I hope Brewers fans are upset right now. And they should be. The pitching has been there for the last few weeks but the offense is gone once again. Gallardo wasn't the best (victimized by 6 walks and a high pitch count) but he went 6 innings and gave up only 2 runs. Not ace-like, but you should win that game. Except for when they only score... 1 run? That's all we got? 1 GD RUN? Get used to it. In a year where I said the offense was going to be just fine it isn't and I'll admit I was wrong. Wouldn't be the first time. So another quality start wasted, but the real travesty here is that I wasn't aware of the #WheresChorizo promo that started at 5am this morning. I knew about it, just not that it happened today and I am without a Chorizo lawn statue. Imagine that, me, the sombrero guy, without a mini Chorizo. Have I lost touch with my inner Mexican? Have I grown up? Or do I just not give a S about them anymore? I don't know. Mets 3, Brewers 1.
Wednesday May 16. Milwaukee Brewers vs Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Game 37 of 162. I find this year so far to be a little puzzling. How is it that me, self proclaimed #1, just stops watching games? Me who has sat through years and years of bad baseball and stays until the end of the game even if we are down by 8 runs. I didn't even watch this game. Not 1 inning. I was too busy doing something else. The Brewers are no longer a top priority. Plain and simple. But it helps me to make that decision when I hear Randy Wolf is serving up 84mph fastballs on a sterling silver platter while wearing white gloves. What the hell happened to him? Where's the primal instinct? Where's the fire? Where's the beast mode? Where's the energy, the life, the fun? Sure times are tough, but at the root of it all you're playing a game and games are supposed to be fun. And what happened to the offense that scored 8 runs yesterday and the pitching staff that gave up 0 runs? I know I'm sounding like a broken record here, but inconsistency is going to kill this team. We're 7 days away until Judgement Day. Astros 8, Brewers 3.
Thursday May 17. Milwaukee Brewers vs Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Game 38 of 162. The clock is ticking. Sit back and listen. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. (I think I've proved my point). But that seems like what the Brewers are doing. Just sitting back and doing nothing. I'm sure that they are trying because they are professionals, but something is wrong here. Is it a lack of talent? I don't think so because on the backs of their baseball cards they are not this bad. Is it a lack of leadership? Could be. Roenicke hasn't had to deal with much adversity as a head coach. And who are the leaders in the clubhouse? Is it injury/bad luck/bad years? How can everyone except for Braun, Lucroy, Greinke and Marcum be having a bad year? I don't have the answers. That's why I only make $13 an hour. Now Houston is a scrappy young team, but they are still a bad team. Which begs the question - are we a bad team too? How else do we get swept in a 2 game series and get outscored 12-3? It may be time to face the facts that this team just isn't that good. 6 days until Judgement Day. Astros 4, Brewers 0.
That was another long week in what has already started to feel like a long season. We went 3-4 in this weekly stretch which doesn't help the chances of getting back to .500 and respectability. Up next is a 6-game homestand with 3 against the Minnesota Twins and 3 against the San Francisco Giants. And more important than that I have labeled Wednesday, May 23 as Judgement Day when I have decided to make my call on this season. I need the Brewers to do something that sways me from calling their season "done". Now's the time to make a statement. Just make sure you don't do the wrong one because you can't take that shit back. Be loud. Be proud. And kick some ass.
- pookon -
www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman
That was another long week in what has already started to feel like a long season. We went 3-4 in this weekly stretch which doesn't help the chances of getting back to .500 and respectability. Up next is a 6-game homestand with 3 against the Minnesota Twins and 3 against the San Francisco Giants. And more important than that I have labeled Wednesday, May 23 as Judgement Day when I have decided to make my call on this season. I need the Brewers to do something that sways me from calling their season "done". Now's the time to make a statement. Just make sure you don't do the wrong one because you can't take that shit back. Be loud. Be proud. And kick some ass.
- pookon -
www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/MilwaukeeIceman
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