Remember at the beginning of the season when you doubted whether we'd be good enough to win the central? Are you starting to believe?
Our owner realizes we only have a four year window, and he said this weekend "WE WIN NOW". He's willing to open the pocket book to put us over the top if we need.
But the truth is, this club is the best balanced team we've EVER had. This is a better club than the 82 Brewers. That's not just fan enthusiasm, it really is.
Up and down the lineup we're potent. We don't just rely on the homer like in 82.
The pitching staff just completed a full turn in which none of the five starters gave up a run in the first five innings of their start.
Our onlly weakness is third base, and Ryan Braun is the next rookie of the year. That kid can hit 300 and hit 50 homers, he'll be up by mid-season.
You are absolutely right about that comment I made earlier in the season, I remember I actually picked what teams I liked in the National League, and I had no idea that the Brewer's were in contention this year.
Its' the same old thing year after year in the National League; St. Louis, and Atlanta.
but I am sure you feel the same way about the American League, always, the NY Yankees Red Sox and the either Oakland or Aneheim.
Brewers' great start inspiring fans 05/07/2007 7:36 PM ET By Mike Bauman
MILWAUKEE -- It is frequently "Miller Time" in Milwaukee. But now, it is also "Miller Park Time." Three events in the last week indicated clearly to me that the corner had been turned for the Milwaukee franchise. This statement cannot be made lightly, because it has been 15 years since the Brewers had a winning season, and 25 years since they reached the postseason.
It hasn't been all beer and brats around here from the baseball standpoint. There have been many seasons when the local entry had the small-market blues, from their caps down to their shoes.
But the 2007 Brewers finished the weekend 21-10, which was the best record in baseball. That was different. Let's do it again.
The 2007 Brewers finished the weekend 21-10, which was the best record in baseball. Wow. There might be an impulse to take a nice photo of the standings, frame it, and go home. But this is about what has changed in the baseball environment around Cream City, so we proceed.
First, the three-game weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates drew more than 118,000 people. There have been recent seasons in which the Saturday night crowd of 40,361 would have been the total draw for the entire series. The Pirates and the Brewers in May? No, it wouldn't sell. But now, it's a must-see at Miller Park.
But it's not just the number of people who attend these events. I was on hand as a regular ticket-buying taxpayer over the weekend, and I was struck by the way people were dressed.
In recent years, if people went to a Milwaukee baseball game and the weather required a jacket or a sweatshirt or both, they wore Green Bay Packers gear. They were going to an athletic event, they figured they'd wear something along those lines, and they had plenty of Packers stuff in the closet. Wearing Brewers attire was largely an activity limited to members of the actual team.
It sounds a little weird, but there it always was. One of the things that sets Wisconsin apart is that the Packers are like the state religion. It does not matter here if you are Protestant or Catholic, Jew or Gentile, because everybody worships at the altar of the Green Bay Packers.
But this weekend I saw one guy wearing Packers stuff, and untold thousands wearing various Brewers items. This demonstrated clearly that these Wisconsin citizens were not only willing and able to show up at the ballpark, they had been laying out their hard-earned dollars to happily advertise their support for this baseball team. This was very different, but this is apparently a very different year.
The third thing that happened was that while I was in Atlanta covering the Braves and the Phillies, I received a message from my wife. The message said:
"Why haven't you written a column saying that J.J. Hardy is one of the most dependable and productive players in the game?"
It must be noted that this was the same individual, who three years earlier, when the youngest son, then 11, was obsessing again about the Brewers' distant chances of getting much better, asked him:
"How can you spend this much time and emotion on a team that is always so bad?"
The 11-year-old's answer -- "Because they're my team, Mom" -- was the correct response. But that's not the issue. The issue is my spouse, who not that long ago was wondering how one of the offspring could possibly care so much about this baseball team, is now demanding comprehensive and glowing coverage about this same team's shortstop.
"I'm going to be one of the biggest baseball fans in Milwaukee this year," my wife announced. This was a huge deal for her, a native Chicagoan whose first baseball allegiance was to the White Sox. For many years when we went to Brewers games, she would take the Sunday New York Times to read. "You're embarrassing the entire family [by] reading a newspaper at the ballgame," the youngest son would tell her, and she would chuckle and go on reading.
(It must be said, however, that she is absolutely correct about J.J. Hardy. And I say this not because the intelligent husband generally understands that he should find a way to agree with his wife. Hardy is a superior defensive player, who at the end of the weekend was hitting .339, with eight home runs and 26 RBIs. He is genuinely dependable and productive. Maybe later, with the whole column on him.)
People in Milwaukee are smiling and nodding about the Brewers these days. That's a big change from frowning and shaking their heads, or ignoring the entire operation.
But the change in the public perspective reflects the change in the team. This Milwaukee team, to date, has a solidified rotation, legitimate young talent in the field and a lights-out closer. It is the product of a solid organization, with a sound manager and coaching staff. Nobody has said anything like this in this millennium, but OK, why not, there is a winning baseball team in Milwaukee.
Yeah, I can't stress enough how different this year is.
I'm enthusiastic every year, but deep down you know you're not a contender. In past years it's always "well, if these guys have huge years, and if everyone stays healthy, we could surprise people".
This year, all we need is for the players to do what they're capable of. Average years from most would be acceptable. We have the depth that if we suffer an injury or two ANYWHERE we should be fine.
Even back in 1992 when the crew was 91-71, there wasn't enthusiasm here. People knew we were doing it with trickery (Phil Garner was having EVERYONE steal at any time) and luck. There wasn't a sense we were built to last.
Now, we know we have something special. This is a group of kids that will play together for four years and do some great things.
Are you as SICK as I am of hearing about ROger Clemens?
My goodness, I think 45 minutes of the one hour Baseball tonight was about him the day he signed, and even last night half the show was about him.
WHO CARES!
I can't stand the guy. Only showing up on days he pitches, some team-mate.
That's Steinbrenner for you.. he's paying him to be a "all about me" player, my brother was a bat boy in the 1980's for the Boston Red Sox, he said when he met Roger Clemen's as a ROOKIE, (a rookie I may add) he demanded my brother to pick up his bag at the end of the game and carry it for him. He's been arrogant since even then!
Red Sox and the either Oakland or Aneheim.
