Cole Hamels denies rivalry

[Austin Tatious]

After addressing his start and the game's outcome, Hamels was then asked about the "rivalry" between the Cubs and Brewers in the race for the NL Central and in turn, the 13-year MLB veteran absolutely owned Milwaukee fans.

 

"I mean, that's kinda tough. I know the rivalries I've had in the past - you can definitely feel it," Hamels said. "When you have majority Cubs fans in the stands, I don't know if that's a rivalry yet. I've been in rivalries. They're not gonna like me for the comment, but you can look at the ticket sales.

 

"I think when they start getting a little bit closer and their fans sell out, then I think that's kind of the understanding. But the Cubs fans travel well. They were representing us pretty well. I think it's just a matter of us going out there and playing hard.

 

He would find this thread predictable as he condescendingly announced that “they aren’t going to like this.” Must be great to be a superior human being.

 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.yahoo.com/amphtml/sports/boom-roasted-cole-hamels-absolutely-223328552.html

[homer]

Meh. That writer was a little too excited to write that article, IMO. I don't think Hamels said anything too crazy.

[CheezWizHed]

To be fair, its been far more of a rivalry from the Brewer's point of view than the Cubs. Kind of like the last 20 years of Packer/Bear football.

 

The Brewers start winning and taking the Central and all of that changes.

[Austin Tatious]

1. It’s a classless comment.

 

2. He should study market size and how well the Brewers do at the gate relative to market size.

 

3. Number of Cub fans at Miller Park is disconnected with whether it’s a rivalry.

 

4. There are many reasons for why Cub fans go to Milwaukee. He should study the reasons before being a JA.

 

5. He wanted to take a shot at Mikwaukee, an organization that didn’t pony up for him so he’s a bit hurt.

 

6. A little class by a millionaire ballplayer never hurt anyone.

[kestrel79]

How much larger is the Cubs fanbase than Brewers? Of course they travel well Chicago is how many times larger than Milwaukee? I think we do pretty darn good for our city size as a fan base I'm proud of it.

[homer]

If you go on Twitter, the same moron writer thinks this was said on purpose. What purpose I am not sure...to upset the Brewer players?

[jjfanec]

I don't think the Brewers have ever claimed their fanbase was bigger than the Cubs. I also think with the way the Cubs were whining today this game meant something to them

[Austin Tatious]

Of course it is. It’s out of the Madden playbook. He had Lackey do it about Thames last year.

[bigredrobbo]

I always wondered why they were called the "Lovable Losers". I mean, I get the losers part but I've generally found them to be enormous douchenozzles.

[Lathund]

Not really related to this specifically, but has anyone else noticed how salty Cubs fans are? Not talking about today, after losing a game like that we'd be pretty salty too. But I mean more in general. They ended a WS drought in 2016, they have been to the playoffs three years in a row and in all likelyhood will be there for a 4th. They have a good young position player core under team control for several more years. They have all the money in the world to get the pitching to complement that. They have a good front office. They have seemingly dedicated owners who are investing in the team, renovating Wrigley field and such. I mean as far as being a sports fan goes, being a Cubs fan right now should be pretty sweet I would think. Yet there is so much salt anywhere. Now as someone who lives nowhere near either Illinois or Wisconsin this is mainly based on their online presence, so perhaps it isn't reflective of the fanbase at large. Or is it? I'd be curious to know.

[jjfanec]

I am also really trying to figure out what calls they are whining about? Outside of the ball 4 to Braun which was borderline but looked high what were the bad calls? I mean they were missing by a ton most of the time

[bucks2281]

There are a ton of comments on Twitter from Cubs fans talking about how their fan base drives the Brewers overall attendance. Why is this so difficult for them to understand? If the Brewers were playing the Reds today, there'd still be 34-35k in attendance.

 

They may have won their World Series, but at least online, they are still as insecure as ever.

[homer]

I mean it's kind of jerk thing to say but I don't see how this affects the Brewers players. If this gets under their skin they aren't very well equipped mentally to play pro ball.

 

I'm guessing Cole thinks Milwaukee is like 500 miles from Chicago. He never struck me as that bright.

[Austin Tatious]

Fair enough. Hamels reportedly had a high SAT but signed out of high school, so while naturally bright I’m not sure if he went to college on the side. If you view college as a means to make money, you’d think he didn’t need college. If you view college as a way to become educated, learn how to think, observing and learning from others not just like you, etc, you would think college is an essential element in enriching your life. He might have learned about concepts like market size, how the Cubs built a large fan base through cable and their brand, etc.

[Ennder]

There are a ton of comments on Twitter from Cubs fans talking about how their fan base drives the Brewers overall attendance. Why is this so difficult for them to understand? If the Brewers were playing the Reds today, there'd still be 34-35k in attendance.

 

They may have won their World Series, but at least online, they are still as insecure as ever.

 

Yep this is exactly what I was going to say. The Brewers attendance today did not depend on the Cubs traveling well at all. Brewer fans just like to take a bunch of money from Cubs fans and the Cubs fans are desperate to see a game in a real stadium.

[gregmag]

Hamels' comment irritated me for the same reason MLB in general irritates me: It's become a celebration of the overdog, a moral argument that big and rich and arrogant equals virtuous. I'm very glad to have Austin Tatious on our team, because he's nailed it twice in this thread.

[bucks2281]

Hamels and Cubs fans seem to think that every Brewers fan that would have attended today's game if it were against another opponent was in attendance for today's game against the Cubs - and the Cubs fans are just filling in the rest of the seats. Not sure why Hamels and Cubs Twitter have had a problem understanding this for years. They can't seem to grasp that a lot of fans and/or season ticket holders actively avoid attending the Cubs games because they can sell the tickets for a profit and avoid the terrible environment.

[Austin Tatious]

Thanks, Greg. I appreciate the comment.

[MrTPlush]

Lets be honest here for a second. Market size is part of it, but really not the problem here. The problem is our stadium is more attractive to attend. It’s a nicer stadium and has a roof. It’s also easier to attend a game here. Cub fans are also used to paying higher prices for tickets so when the added demand increases ticket prices Brewer fans laugh it off as one of 81 games and refuse to go. To a Cubs fan it is a typical price they are used to paying at Wrigley.

 

Another HUGE problem is the fact we as a fanbase let it get this bad. Now that they buy all our tickets most people don’t even want to go because it is just an awful experience at that point. So we just allow it to get worse. Most rivalries aren’t this close and don’t involve entirely different demographic fanbases.

 

I think a postseason series would be a lot better, but I still am betting a massive amount of people would sell their tickets for a profit leading to a somewhat embarrassing playoff atmosphere.

 

It’s kinda our fault as a fanbase it is this way. We caused it to go from a team traveling nice to show up for their team to a total embarrassment. There is no reason it shouldn’t be 75% Brewers 25% Cubs. We get 25-30k a game any other day. Dollar is king I guess to most.

[Ennder]

Just to add a data point to all this, looking at highest attended games at Miller Park this season, the Cubs only have 1 game in the top 10, 2 in the top 15 and 3 in the top 20. They aren't driving sales at all.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Just to add a data point to all this, looking at highest attended games at Miller Park this season, the Cubs only have 1 game in the top 10, 2 in the top 15 and 3 in the top 20. They aren't driving sales at all.

 

Only way they really drive it is funding our season ticketholders' budgets to attend other games by paying through the nose for secondary market cub/brewer game tickets.

[jjfanec]

Just to add a data point to all this, looking at highest attended games at Miller Park this season, the Cubs only have 1 game in the top 10, 2 in the top 15 and 3 in the top 20. They aren't driving sales at all.

 

Dont try to confuse Cub's fans, players, or coaches by using facts. it is easier for them to whine or belittle. They are the Cubs and everyone should bow to them

[jerichoholicninja]

As someone said earlier, this is only a rivalry on the Brewers side. The Cubs rival is the Cardinals and probably always will be.

[StearnBrewliever]

Since Tom and Sophia etc won't ever grill a Brewer, I wish they would have absolytely laid into him. Especially like the point about our ticket sales compared to market size vs most teams.

[NYChez]

The big question is, what rivalries has Hamels had in the past? Rangers / Blue Jays? Phillies / Marlins?