The "We Couldn't Have Done It Without..." Thread

[splitterpfj]

In a race that comes to the final day, you can look back and see so many pivotal moments, great plays, good decisions, etc - there's a long list of things we couldn't have done without.

 

What's yours? Is there a player, a game, an at-bat, a coach, whatever, that stands out for you?

 

I'll start the list with my own personal choice.

 

We couldn't have done it without....the Pittsburgh Pirates. For the first time in years, the Brewers really had their number...and boy did they show up in Miller Park at the right time!

[PrimeTime955]

http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/images/2007/09/12/xzv2la4A.jpg

Not only did he bring the man to his left in, which got us Sabathia, but almost every other home grown player on our roster right now.

 

[Patrick425]

Pirates - Nice pick.

There are so many. CC and Braun are obvious choices.

I'm going to say...drum roll.....Bud Selig. Yes, that's right, Bud Selig. Without Bud, no Miller Park. Without Miller Park, no Attanosio (or at least no Attanasio that keeps the Brewers in Milwaukee) or 3million fans, without Attanasio, No CC and no Braun LT contract, and no playoffs...and probably no Brewers.

[dadofandrew]

Bud Selig deserves all the kudos, a fine choice Patrick. I will also throw out the name of George Petak, who lost his job when he voted for MP, as shortsighted voters wondered why County Stadium would not work...seriously.

 

The irony is, if you read coverage about the Bradley Center, you see almost duplicates of the County Stadium discussion. Some folks cannot see the forest for the trees.

[secondsith]

Matt LaPorta..... He is the reason the CC deal could get done. I shutter to think how the team would have done with someone other than CC in all those starts.

[uwisfan]

"..firing Yost"

[giffted1]

There are just so many people that have had a part in this.

 

I think it would be easier to find a few people that we could have done it without.

 

Julian Tavarez comes to mind. Julian gave up about a run an inning when he was here. Julian, we could have done it without you.

[Hate those Rodents]

Chris Spurling

[wisconsinfan47]

It's been said many times, but much of our pitching success is due to Jason Kendall.

 

 

[chrisisoutrunning]

There's the obvious answers in CC, Prince, Braun, Sheets... etc. We couldn't have done it obviously without all of them. But the one guy down the stretch to me that we couldn't have done it without is Craig Counsell.

 

The one thing the team needed badly when Yost was fired was someone who could get on base. After the firing, per my quick calculations, Craig only batted .185, but had an OBP of.450! In just the last 7 games, when every game was needed, that OBP jumps to .556.

 

As for a moment, Braun calling out the team after Boston would be the single moment that stood out to me. The team was basically in a tail spin, and for the next 3 1/2 months the team played unbelievably.

[Menotti80]

wes helms!!!!!

[DonMoney4Mgr]

Hurricane Ike

[rluzinski]

Those middle relievers sure came in handy over that final week...

[TSack27]

The 3+ million fans, including the bandwagoners, that allowed MA to open up his checkbook for CC... who brought both MVP-caliber performance on the field and energy in the stands & dugout.

[FidoMcCokefiend]

Eric Gagne could have given up, mailed it in, use whatever term you like; at many points throughout the year. He was booed unmercifully, he had to have had his confidence shot many times.

 

He didn't give up, he did deliver some significant innings all year, and his buying those 5K tix I thought showed what a class guy he is.

 

I'm pulling hard for him to have a huge moment during the playoffs.

[liveforoctober]

Solomon Torres...

 

He has been shady as of late... but he was a savior for the middle 3 months of the season...

[drezdn]

Seth McClung stepped up when we needed him to.

[dlk9s]

I think Ben Sheets put it will in a post-game interview when he said we won by 1 game and everybody on the team contributed to at least 1 win. So, we couldn't have done it without each guy on the team.

[rm121978]

The Cubs, for doing well enough that these last 3 games didn't matter much to them. With how awful we are hitting, it's doubtful we win 2 out of 3 against the Cubs full A-team.

[naivin]

George Petak

[Brian the Automator]

Haiku Night, of course.

[RU Rah Rah]

Seth McClung stepped up when we needed him to.

I think McClung and Kapler were the two unsung heroes.

[JohnBriggs12]

Mike Rivera:

 

Started just 15 games all season, yet was directly responsible for one win (8/10), hit safely in 11, had the same number of RBI as Craig Counsell, and the highest ratio of RBI/hits than anyone on the team (14/19).

 

Virtually only guy on team at least not partially responsible for near collapse.

 

Carlos Villanueva: 2.12 ERA in 38 relief appearences covering 59 1/3 innings during which he posted a sparkling 4.4/1 K/BB ratio. Day in day out, was most reliable reliever on team since mid May.

[Nottso]

Gabe Kapler

 

Craig Counsell

 

Jason Kendall

[Legacy25GT]

We couldn't have done it without late inning heroics by Bill Hall and Ryan Braun in St. Louis!

We couldn't have done it without CC Sabathia being acquired a full week before the all-star break.

We couldn't have done it without early success against Chicago (winning 4 of 6 in Chicago in April and May)

We couldn't have done it without Solomon Torres deciding not to retire.

We couldn't have done it without Gabe Kapler coming out of retirement.

We couldn't have done it without sweeping Pittsburgh not once, not twice, not three times, but FOUR TIMES.

We couldn't have done it without winning the first 7 games after the all-star break.