Cool Hand Lucroy

As a naturally neurotic individual, this is one of the things I feel most happy about. It's freeing for me (fully recognizing it won't be for everyone). Nothing will mean as much BECAUSE this is so so good. This is the peak, and it's not that I won't get to come back here. It's that I won't have to. It'll always be there to remember. It feels kind of like getting into my 40s and realizing (slowly) that you don't have to chase things the way you thought. You can appreciate them for what they are and take some pressure off yourself. I am not sad exactly but certainly aware that this team can't be re-created exactly. It's fleeting. I will sure miss these guys all together after tomorrow. But it being temporary is maybe part of why it's so special. Yin and yang. Bitter and sweet reinforce each other, and that's why this is the best thing in sports!

I have so many moments to hang on from this WS run, but Sal's Game 2 homer is right up there. Want it side by side with Wild Bill taking forever to get around the bases and on loop.

And just to add on, you could talk about massive moments from Hamilton all playoffs, massive moments from Frelick and Mitchell, massive moments from Bauers and Yelich. Luis Lara had an RBI hit! Contributions all across the roster, mirroring how they won all year.

It's so crazy the difference between watching playoff baseball and having a temporary (even if often genuine) rooting interest and watching it with your own team front and center. I remember the 2014 and 2015 Royals runs and being really attached to that team because of its Brewers connections and Midwestern vibes, and those tense, tense games were FUN and memorable. It was the right mix of adrenaline and small jeopardy (I wanted them to win, but not to the point that it was going to impact my day). Whereas watching your true team? It's just a lot of waiting for dread. I don't need to same more about that. We all know it. It's exhausting. One of the great things about winning it is that we all get to fully enjoy this in retrospect forever. That's hard to do in the moment. I'm also excited about future Brewers teams. They may never get back here, but that will just be sports. It will just be baseball. And it'll mean something no matter what, but for the game to be what it is at its best, a source of mostly joy? I'm so looking forward to that. I'm with all the posters here, and with Robin Yount. They got the monkey off a lot of our backs last night. I love this team. I loved hugging a Venezuelan colleague today because they saw my shirt and wanted to talk about Chourio and Contreras. I loved just knowingly pointing at the Brewers diaspora wearing their gear around town. This fanbase is bonded, and it's awesome.

Going to do the same thing. For all the (mostly deserved, especially compared to what Benetti and a few others might bring to the table) guff the Fox crew gets, I have to say that Joe Davis' call of the final out was excellent. It felt properly big without being synthetic. Hats off there! Between that and Levering's pennant clincher, we've got all we need to keep us happy and nostalgic for a long, long time.

Okay, I can actually compose some baseball-related thoughts. 1) This game seemed to turn for me in the bottom of the 4th, with Bauers saving Hamilton from another bad throw and stranding Rays' runners at second and third. We added the second run the next half inning, and things began to feel real. 2) Every time during the postseason when things could have turned against us...they just didn't. Tonight, there were two more instances, after William's throwing error and the ball hitting the bag in ninth. It's wild that this was a relatively low stress game, but we were two balls to Palacios away from seeing the tying run at the plate. Time and again, the vibes just never got bad. It wasn't like "here we go again." It was, "okay, next play." When we did have those moments as fans, they came after losses, and everyone on the team had time to regroup. They just responded all postseason. 3) This feels like one of the most team World Series ever. Our mid-leverage bullpen arms pitched like elite lockdown closers. Our lockdown closers pitched like borderline superhumans. The bottom of our order just kept getting on base. We saw a million pitches. William suddenly became a challenge God. Yelich put up a .400 OBP in the playoffs. Pratt turned in one of the wildest ride anyone has seen and ended up getting 6 straight hits and then a massive sacrifice fly. Imagine the nerves if it's 3-1 in the ninth instead of 4-1. 4) Murph knew what his guys had to give. He had Megill in the perfect spot and Ashby ready for one batter if needed. This was a well-managed series and playoff run, despite the inevitable suboptimal decision-making on one or two occasions. Even those occasions, things usually worked out. The only real error was leaving Abner in in LA in Game 3, but we won anyway. Like William said, "We are that team." 5) Underrated aspect of this win is the Trop's fly ball suppression. Mis was great, but I wonder if some of the deeper drives sneak out at the keg or elsewhere. Took away some homers from us too over the course of the series, but it was absolutely a net benefit. And Mis pitching to contact was so cool. Just nobody could square him up, and that should terrify the league. 6) I said it earlies, and I'll say it again. San Diego is now in the position we've been in. It's "Man, if it weren't for that team standing in our way, we really could've done it." That series, like this run as a whole, took everything. A little luck, a little magic, and a lot of great pressure ABs. Gary Sanchez walk alone might be deserving of a statue. I am now in the wonderfully human position of hoping Padres fans and Rays fans and Mariners fans get to experience this too, hopefully not at our expense, because they deserve this joy too. 7) I can't wait to watch every interview and highlight. This is everything my sports fan heart has ever wanted, and it only took decades. I'm genuinely not sure sports feels the same after this for me, but that's a good thing. We did it! And now we get to be reminded of it in planned and unexpected moments forever. So happy for the city and for all of us! Go Crew!

I'm legit agoraphobic and consider going to the victory parade is how ***** good this feels. I have thoughts on the actual game I'll share at some point. Right now, it's all just tears and a massive relief. Postseason baseball is such a uniquely intense emotional experience for fans. At times, the anxiety is almost unbearable. The best team loses a lot. This year, we were the best team, and we won. We might win the Central the next ten years and never get to see this again. That's baseball. I feel like I've entered a door into a world where baseball can be forever joyful and forever dread free because no longer will I have to fear never getting to see this. I am so happy, I want EVERY SINGLE TEAM to be able to experience this. Man, every fanbase should get to do it at least once. The world is so intense, and when a new team wins, it increases the overall joy on the planet. Give me more joy. I'm going to be feeling it forever. Legendary team. I'm basically incoherent with happiness. I need sleep, but only so I can wake up and be ecstatically happy all month and all year.

I love this. Just saw some of the neighborhood kids playing catch and asked who they thought would win tonight. The Cardinals fan said, "Milwaukee! I want Milwaukee to win the whole thing!" That has nothing to do with how this series turns out, but it did help restore a little joy. The joy along the way is the whole point. Go Crew! If we win, I'll be back after the game. If not, we'll soldier on, finding the joy in being part of October 28th baseball, and hoping it turns out better back at home. Here's to all of you!

Running on about 4 hours sleep and feeling like I went through all the stages of grief with this team after one World Series loss, which is obviously not the appropriate or emotionally healthy response. Yesterday, before the game, I posted about the dark part of me that I think will always exist until we win a World Series. Today I'm thinking about John Candy's great line in Cool Runnings: "A gold medal is wonderful thing, but if you're not enough without it, you'll never be enough with it." Gotta remember that. This means a lot, but it can't mean everything. I'm also trying to remind myself that this is supposed to be fun. That was a great baseball game last night. The Rays did enough to win. Both teams made mistakes. They punished us just a little bit more. I like that team, I like their fans, and they deserved it. I don't know what tonight holds. Nobody does. I'm going to try not to think at all about baseball until first pitch. Hope we take care of business, but, if not, that's life.

Hard to put into words how I'm feeling right now. On the one hand, the rational part of me knows that I have no control over the outcome. It also knows that sports belong to the category of the mostly unimportant things in life. That said, I really believe that sports are the most important least important thing. Of all those things that don't really matter, sports are the most consequential. Emotionally, I want this win to be able to say we've experienced everything there is to experience in baseball. I want the freedom that comes with watching your team win it all. I want the release from the fear that it will never happen and the ability to enjoy these games for what they are: games. Without finishing this off, there will always be a dark corner inside me that will be unable to stop putting existential meaning onto this. I have tried to fight that dark corner. I know it's silly that it exists. But it's there. And winning one more game can shine a light all over it and banish it forever. I don't care how stupid it sounds. Seeing this team win the World Series will make me a better, healthier person, even if it's only in smallish ways. Is it wrong that I've let myself get to this point? Probably. But, at this point, and without help from this team, I don't know if I can control it. If we can pull this off, I won't stop caring. I won't stop loving. But sports will never be the same, and I want to enter the world where they mean something with less pressure, something more joyful, something without the possibility of abject, torturous failure. This is my last post until after the game. May it also be my last post from this side of title-less reality. Go Crew!

In these 7-game situations, every game is a new series. The good news is, I trust these guys are locked in and focus and want to both finish the job and do it in a historic way. Jax struggled in his Game 3 ALCS start against Cleveland, but he did manage 4 innings. He pitched 2 out of the bullpen against NYY. We'll see how patient Cash is with him. I'm especially interested to see whether Rasmussen or Martinez get a look out of the bullpen, although I hope the Brewers are up by so much I don't get to see that dilemma resolved. You'd have to think Baker gets at least an inning at some point. We'll see if his velocity is back, if he's rusty, or if the rest has helped him get back to the lockdown they relied on all year. One of the strange things about our bullpen games is that they can look really different. Unlike a lot of teams, we don't have a lot of low-leverage arms. We have high-leverage and mid-leverage ones. I really want this one tonight. Even one loss will have me nervous about Rasmussen and Peralta coming up again.

Feels like a Drohan-May or May-Drohan situation. You've got Hall-Romero-Ashby available for at least 4 if you need it, not to mention Megill.

One more win. These guys won't get complacent. But baseball is weird. We're THIS close. Thoughts (I have almost none): 1) I feel like Gasser WANTED Simpson to run in the first. He uses the two disengagements right away. Simpson takes off. Overslides. Set up the game nicely. 2) Woodruff looked fine, and I'm SO happy he got out there. That said, I'm not sure that was WS roster stuff. Still, what a way to get that guy on the hill. 3) That 5th inning was excellent. And one of the best parts is, okay, the Rays didn't use Kelley. But we did that against Booser. Just broke him. Turang and Mitchell left on left. Pratt HUGE two-run double. 4) If this gets back to MKE, you have to think the Rays will need to use Martinez and maybe Rasmussen. Even Peralta out of the pen in Game 5. Our pitching staff is SO deep, and it really matters in this exact situation. If the Rays do manage a win tomorrow, you have to make them pay the pitching tax. 5) Caminero has to throw to first there. That really opened the door. 6) I love Sal laying out for that. That's the level of focus it's going to take. Let's finish this.

Yandy Diaz is a concern too. .812 career OPS. 130 wRC+. He's even better against lefties. He's completely terrifying, even if he hasn't had a hit yet this series.

Given Tampa's lineup choices, I wonder if maybe Drohan gets a shot at some point to try and delay Aranda's entry. I know he's been low on the depth chart, but they trusted him enough to start and pitch into the 2nd in LA.

Ben Williamson hitting 5th for the Rays is a choice that an outsider like me has a tough time understanding. I imagine they expect to pinch-hit early, so maybe it doesn't matter. On our side, I still think Yelich third isn't great. Just go with Contreras there even if it gives you three lefties in a row. Or hit Turang there. Yelich is better out of the top 4. I hope I'm right on the first one and forced to eat my words on the second.

Totally defensible. It's a tough call. We've been on the Cooper Coaster so far, with enough highs and lows that you can justify everything from "He must play" to "he must sit." It's pretty fascinating, honestly. I would be shocked if Ortiz got a start. But maybe the fast grass changes minds on that. The hard part is, Gasser is a fly ball pitcher, even more than Freddy. Still, with the Rays put it in play, you could certainly justify a superior defensive alignment.

On the lineup front: I'd like Yelich not to hit third. Other than that, I'm happy to stick with our lefty-heavy lineup. Freddy doesn't have crazy platoon splits, but he's definitely more prone to walking LHB over his career. Chourio, Bauers (showing great eye), Contreras, Turang, Yelich, Mitchell, Pratt, Frelick, Hamilton

Pretty nervous for this one. Something about the road games, and I expect Tampa to be able to reset and bring their best game, even if the crowd situation is more pro-Brewers than it's been in other series. On paper, it looks like the Rays have the pitching edge, though by how much, who knows? Emotionally, it could go either way. There are factors that might give the Brewers an edge, but it would surprise no one if Freddy turns in a fantastic start. The thing I do know is that the Rays need Freddy not just to be very good, but they need him to be in low-pressure situations. The higher it gets, the more they have to turn to a bullpen they've used more than they've wanted to. I know there's a lot of talk about the Brewers having relied heavily on Uribe and Ashby especially, but the Rays had to throw everyone (except for Jax, Baker, and Peralta), in two games where they only had to get a total of 48 outs. They also only have 12 pitchers to our 13, so it's not like their bullpen is fresh, and we know they trust it a lot less than we do ours. Ideally, Cash wants to go Freddy to Booser and Baker. That requires at least 6 from Peralta, which is feasible. Again, first inning is big for us. Just keep dragging the starter the way we do. This is a full reset to the series. Forget about the 2-0 lead. I expect us to have the pitching edge in Game 4 (bullpen game) and Game 5 (Mis vs. Martinez, both on shorter rest), so a win tonight really goes a long way, especially since it maybe forces the Rays to throw Ras and Freddy out of the pen even if they do manage to get it back to MKE. I'm alternating between abject terror and calm, quiet confidence depending on the minute. I guess that's World Series gameday for you. Go Crew!

This is a good point, and it's not something I thought of. I STILL think I would disagree with introducing automated swing technology. It just take something that isn't (and has never been) objective and forces it into being so. I like my sports with more nuance than that. It feels a little like shoveling your driveway with dynamite. Sometimes, the instrument is just too blunt. But I recognize that's a personal preference that has held serve in maybe one other instance in sports over the last 25 years. I just feel like check swing tech is going to be challenging PI in the NFL. The rules are unclear, making them clear creates an arbitrary standard, and the confusion and weirdness it generates will have us longing to go back to the old way.

I don't think the check swing was egregiously anything. It looked like a lot of check swings. In real time, I thought no way. On the replay, maybe. I think there's something to Contreras amping it up. Tough to be the ump in that moment, having to choose between Wild Bill and 40,000 rabid Brewers fans who haven't had a check swing call go their way all playoffs practically on the one one hand and a guy who pounds tomahawk steak like it's water on the other. Generally, my take is that it's very, very hard to live with uncertainty. I really don't think we need to be introducing false certainty as a coping mechanism. Nobody knows what constitutes a swing. It's subjective, it probably should be, and you live with the randomness it invites. There are some obvious bad calls that you'd like the umps to get right, and a whole lot more 50-50 ones. I'm very much against the "we have the technology, let's fix it" idea because, well, we don't "have the technology" because we don't know what the definition of a swing is! And "fixing" it implies there's a problem and that the technology solves it. What we'd actually be doing is creating a solution to fit what the technology can do, and I'm not sure that's the same thing as solving a problem. I hope all the talk about this doesn't take away credit from ANOTHER true team win. Literally everyone who played contributed. I have no idea what's coming in Tampa, but if these guys keep playing like this, they'll deserve a ton of credit.

Postseason baseball is a helluva drug. It bathes you fear and terror and then, when it ends well, you feel this slow spread of exhilarated relief. There's a long way to go in this series, but it feels really, really good to win a game where the Rays threw their best punch in the first inning and trotted out their ace pitcher. I don't have many thoughts tonight because my head is fried, but here are some: 1) Aranda has to catch that pop up in the first. That might have been the biggest play of the game. It's criminal that the Rays were only charged with one error. Simpson should've had one on the Yelich play. Aranda should have had one there. 2) We didn't play very clean or crisp, but we had so many baserunners it didn't matter. Still. I'd like to see the break-it-open hit one of these games! For my nerves! On the Rays side, the were kings of stranding guys at third. I think they played too much small ball. They gave us outs twice on sac bunts and ended up stranding those runners. Then, they fail to sacrifice after the leadoff double in the ninth. Neither team played perfect baseball, but I think they did make more mistakes. We only made them pay for a few, but it was exactly enough of a toll. 3) The Frelick AB should be talked about forever. He was awesome tonight. I know Bauers has been the king of legendary ABs, but put Sal's on the Mt. Rushmore of that category. Amazing that we can fill a whole one with what we've done so far in the playoffs. And kudos to Bauers too for taking his walks. 4) Loved leaving Ashby in. Right call, Murphy. Doubt he pitches Game 3, but it's worth it. On the check swing, I think it was borderline. There is no answer on those calls. People have to live with it. It went our way, as it sometimes does. 5) Underrated innings from Romero and May. That trade paid off tonight. They didn't need to do a lot, but what they did was important. Brewers baseball. Ashby is beyond words, so credit to his understudies, including Hall. And to Ashby for handling the long layoff after a lengthy bottom of the 8th. 6) Murphy's biggest error, for me, wasn't even letting Yelich hit in the 4th. Vaughn there makes sense, but then you're vulnerable to the (larger) stable of righties the Rays have later. Plus, Murph's just decided to sick with his guys. I like that generally. Don't mess around too much and strive for every little platoon split. Just roll it out and play. Where I didn't like that tonight was Hamilton staying in at third in the ninth. Ortiz should come in there. We're all lucky Mesa couldn't bunt to Hamilton after the double. Hearts in throats on that hypothetical throw. 7) Seeing 184 pitches is freaking insane. It's crazy. Seymour, I think, pitched to four batters in the 6th and threw over 30 pitches. Incredible. 8) Cash left Kelly in a LONG time. Didn't even go to Baker in a jam in the 8th. He's just decided that guy is only pitching with a lead or in a tie game, it appears. Maybe that's something that's been the case all year? I know you don't want to chase, but that's twice in two days he's stayed with a lower-tier reliever with a one-run deficit rather than let a better guy pitch to one hitter. Maybe the Rays wear down our very used bullpen, but Ashby has done this kind of thing all year, and now all our guys get a day off. 9) Finally, this. *****. Team. What else can you say? I actually texted my wife (I'm with my daughter visiting my parents in the Fox Cities) after the first that we were going to "chase all night and then walk it off in the 9th." She thought I was being overly optimistic. Turns out, it wasn't optimistic enough. We didn't even need the ninth. I guess I had more to say than I thought. What a win. Two games is still an eternity. Let's not get overconfident. But, boy, these guys are doing everything anyone could ask of them, and they only have to keep it up for a little bit longer. Let's see another 180 pitches on Monday (and do damage on 5 or 10 more).

Aranda is going to make an out at some point, right?

Given Henderson's struggles on throwing to first against the Dodgers, I fully expect the Rays to go full bore on trying to steal bases. Contreras' current form might damper that somewhat, but I don't expect it to be the case. The Rays feel like a commit to the bit team. Hoping Logan can stay within himself and remember that old baseball truism: you can't steal first base.

This is such the key point. To play aggressive, for the Rays, meant using Booser for one hitter. Three at most. That's one reliever. For one batter. To give your team its best shot. That they didn't even really consider that tells you something about their strategy (there's a parallel here in that, even in the playoffs, the Rays basically refuse to let their hitters challenge until late in the game--they want to keep the challenges for run prevention). I think it's admirable to operate on principle, like the Rays do. I genuinely respect their willingness to stick to their process. I also think (and this is something the Brewers of the last decade have been GREAT at), choosing when to depart from your principles, when to be flexible and not get locked into a philosophy, is the biggest thing that helps smaller-budget teams win baseball games. I also think the "reliever fatigue" narrative is both real and overrated. It's real in Games 4, 5, and 7. But the off days in the playoffs are helpful, and it really doesn't make sense to go from "These guys haven't pitched in over a week!!" to "These guys are now overworked" in the span of 9 innings. It doesn't happen that quickly. Maybe the Rays feel good about trading a WS win for 20 pitches from Megill, 20 from Ashby, and 0 from their top leverage arms. If so, it's a trade everyone's happy with, because the Brewers are fine with it too. I doubt Tampa makes that trade again at any point this series, but, like certain sacrifice bunts, I'll absolutely welcome it if they do.