Cool Hand Lucroy

That extra inning game is definitely one I want back. But, of course, my memories of 2018 are, on balance, more fond than not. Keon Broxton catching that fly ball in Wrigley is one of the most beautiful things of all.

Yeah, it's just different modes of fandom. I LOVED following the 2016 Brewers. Knew it was a rebuild, took a lot of pure baseball joy in just watching players play and monitoring the direction of the org. 2017 was surprisingly competitive and tons of fun despite a second-to-last day of the season elimination. That's a steadier kind of hobby. You don't expect it to deliver ecstasy or pain. It's like a gorgeous walk in the fall woods outside your house. What we've got is full of thrills like Game 2 and losses like last night. It's like the Grand Canyon. The scenery! The rush! But sometimes you look down and your guts fall out. Neither is better or worse. Part of the natural cycle. But I'll sure appreciate the opportunity of being in one of these October stretches, even if it includes October failure. You gotta have some risk every now and then. Keeps things spicy. The Royals (and Tigers) definitely feel on a free-roll. I'll be pulling for KC because they've always felt like the Brewers sibling team. And I enjoyed those 2014-2015 WS teams as much as I ever have as a neutral.

Re: Devin last night, I don't blame the guy, necessarily. He had a bad night. He pitched poorly. It was at the worst possible time. But that happens even to great closers. I'm really, really bothered by the leadoff walk and the 0-2, third changeup in a row to Nimmo. The Alonso homer? Bad pitch, hit well. But if it's hit ten more feet toward center? Frelick probably catches it. The most frustrating part of last night is just that an important guy didn't have his best stuff, we didn't hit with RISP, and we got some bad breaks. Whatever "magic" exists in October, it just was only there for us in the bottom of the 7th, and that wasn't enough to win. This HURT as much as about any Brewer loss of my lifetime (I'd put it top 3 for sure), but I don't wish I could do it over like I do the Mark Kotsay game. I wish it had gone different, but there's nothing really to regret. No bad decisions or shooting ourselves in the foot. That's part of what makes it painful, but what can you do as a fan but just hope the team gives their best effort. Honestly, I'd love the 5th inning of Game 1 back more than I care about anything that happened in last night's 9th.

I can remember feeling like I feel now two other times in Brewer history. One was 2011, after Game 5 in Saint Louis. You can count Game 6 too. The other was 2018, after Games 4 and 5 in LA. I was pretty zen after Game 7 because Game 4's sleepless extra-inning loss followed by Kershaw's Game 5, afternoon dominance just drained me completely. Obviously, the stakes were lower this time, but I just really felt like I'd be able to genuinely ENJOY a postseason series if we ended up pure underdogs, with a young roster, against the Phillies. Losing that hurt. But I also realized at some point during the insomnia that I mostly wanted this series for other people. The folks on this board. Ueck. Jackson. Murph and Matt Arnold. Even the daily writing/coverage crew. I just appreciate this organization and want those folks rewarded for their work. I know, in a few days, this won't matter much. It'll be another scar in a collection of Brewers scars, but that's the great thing about sports. They let us experience deep, collective emotion in a way that's basically safe. I'll actually miss the terror of these last three days (not to mention the comfort of an MLB season), but not having it in my life until March/April will not really impact anything important. Plus, I have you all to talk hot stove with. I love this quote (I think it's from John Green) about soccer being the most important least important thing. I think that applies to all sports, or any sport anyone cares about. They matter because they mostly don't. And that trivial foundation opens up all sorts of pathways for genuine emotional power. Murph said last night that losing "feels like a tragedy." That's it, isn't it? It FEELS LIKE one, but it isn't, and it's that combination that makes the playoffs so compelling. One of these days (soon), we'll come out on the soaring side of the human drama. For now, I'm happy this place exists. Without others to experience this with (the highs of the division title, the lows of last night's 9th), there would be no point. Let the NL Central title defense begin!

Honestly, I'd rather play these three-game series on the road. Too much pressure when you're at home.

Oof. That Badger loss still rankles. We've been through the wringer fairly often this last decade. Thank goodness for Giannis. Baseball always feels like it hurts the most. Nature of the sport. I take some small solace in this: there's really no avoiding October pain. Even the teams that win the World Series often lose some soul-crushing game in the playoffs. This hurt me more than I though, I have to say. I'll get over it relatively quickly, but man. Mostly, it's about how much I liked this team. Last year and in 2021, we just couldn't hit, and it wasn't fun. These guys, though? You wanted to keep watching them. The good news is we get to. I'm going to enjoy watching the AL playoffs and rooting for KC because, after that, it's a long, long winter. Be nice to have some exciting, lower-stress baseball to still look forward to. And the Brewers are still the best-run team in the biz. Glad I get to follow it up close and personal all through the year.

Yeah, and the risk of this feeling is also why we love them.

Great post. That's what's great about this game. It always delivers something. I was literally too nervous to even watch the 8th and 9th innings, but that feeling of being utterly wrapped in something you can't control matters. It's meaningful and worthwhile. I don't have the words to describe how, but there isn't another feeling like it.

Went back and watched the top of the ninth after skipping it. The walk to Lindor, no excuse. I also thought Devin should have gone fastball to Nimmo after getting up 0-2. Alonso's was kind of a wall-scraper, but a terribly located changeup just floating there. Honestly? We played a pretty damn good baseball game. Didn't hit with RISP. Pitched great. Got the ball into our best guy's hands, and he was poor. What are you gonna do? Baseball is the best mirror of life I know. You fail a lot. You hope you don't, but you can't outrun it forever. Sometimes, the end is sudden, sometimes it's slow, but it shows up and you have to deal with it. We will. Proud of this team and had more fun watching it than the last four or five editions. Here's to more team speed and more NL Central titles. We won the grind. The sprint is mostly just a lie (even though we want to believe it).

I'd say I'd have no heart left, but if we find ourselves in this spot next year, I'll be feeling the same. We'll always have the Chuorio game (and the many more to follow)! I don't know quite know how to feel. On the one hand, what a season. On the other, what an awful ending. It feels worse when you feel like you have something to lose. But, well, it always hurts to end it. Glad to be here with you all all year. Baseball is never about the end. It goes round and round. Learn from it, and we'll be back.

I took a looooooooooong walk after the bottom of the 7th. Checked Gameday a few times. It feels better when you don't have to watch it. We got three outs left. Mets probably bring in Stanek? This has been a really exciting baseball game if you're a neutral. It's been evil if you're a Brewer fan.

Hoskins has seen a TON of Quintana. I posted the numbers earlier. The six walks made my eyes bug out. Hopefully he is patient and hits it in the air. Like everyone, I have no idea what happens tonight. Deep down, my hope is immense, but not enough to outweigh my self-protective instinct to mentally prepare for the end tonight. Last night was a beautiful thing. I'm so glad we all got that moment. All I can do is hope for one more tonight, hopefully with a little (or a lot) less drama. Here's my only ask: If this team goes down, may it be because the Mets were just better. No errors. No outsized luck. Let's give it our cleanest game and make every AB tough and the results will be the results. Rickie, if you can, conjour the ghost of Tony Plush, and let's get movin' on!

SSS, as always, but my subjective fears of Quintana from 2018 definitely contrast with the numerical reality. He failed to get through 5 (though only giving up 2 runs each time) in a couple of starts against us this year, including in his last start. Both Mets losses. Here's the batter/pitcher breakdown. Willy and William with good career numbers. Hoskins low BA, but a HR and SIX walks. EDIT: Point is, I'm terrified because it's an elimination game. Anything can happen. But Quintana is not a bad draw as far as these things go. Mets will surely think the same about Tobias. Been a high-scoring series relative to the playoffs. Over/Under is 7.5. I'd definitely expect it to take at least four to win, but this stuff is not really predictable. Pitcher AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K AVG OBP SLG OPS Willy Adames 14 5 2 0 1 2 1 3 .357 .400 .714 1.114 Jake Bauers 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 Jackson Chourio 5 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 .600 .667 .800 1.467 Isaac Collins 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 William Contreras 8 3 1 0 1 2 0 4 .375 .333 .875 1.208 Eric Haase 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 Rhys Hoskins 15 3 0 0 1 2 6 3 .200 .429 .400 .829 Garrett Mitchell 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000 Andruw Monasterio 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .250 .000 .250 Joey Ortiz 4 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 .500 .500 .500 1.000 Blake Perkins 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .500 .500 .500 1.000 Joe Ross 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 Gary Sanchez 7 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 .000 .125 .000 .125 Totals 66 20 4 0 3 9 11 20 .303 .403 .500 .903

Koenig threw 7 pitches. Ross threw 12. Devin threw 10. All those guys, plus Ashby, should be good for two innings as needed. Maybe you're more careful with Ross since he's not used to the role. Devin only having like 25 innings means this is the time to push. Between that and Myers, plus Megill, who threw 22 pitches but should have at least an out or two in him, it should give you enough. On the Mets side, Stanek has thrown a lot. Butto should be available after a day off. Diaz has had two days off, but still threw 66 pitches over the last four days. Matton obviously gave it up tonight. They've got more fresh arms in Ottavino, Brazoban, Peterson, and Young. Plus Garrett who only threw one tonight. The question is how much they trust them. Ottavino and Brazoban seem to be low on the list. I'd bet you see shortish leash for Quintana, hope he gets through 4 or 5 two times through, and then you book Diaz for an inning plus (maybe two) on the back end. In between, it'll be matchups, matchups, matchups.

Padres win. 6:08 it is.

I think we get something very similar to today. The only change I'd contemplate is Mitchell for Sal. One thing I'm really curious about is whether our approach changes with Quintana. I know there was frustration with the lack of walks (and for some good reasons), but it seemed obvious to me that attacking early in the count was a plan for the Crew these first two games. Quintana is a different kind of pitcher, so we'll see if we see more of those grinding ABs.

Lol. I committed to volunteering at my kid's school from 2:45-3:30 tomorrow. Here's hoping the Padres hang on.

Just regarding luck in the playoffs: Mitchell smoked that ball, but a little lower and it's MAYBE an RBI double. Or maybe not. Pete Alonso tripping on a bat in the first might have been a huge play. You just never know the weird things that turn these crazy games.

By the way, if Jackson wants to get on a full Arozarena, I'd be down with that.

Perkins is my underrated hero of the night. He needs to start tomorrow (and probably will against Quintana, who terrifies me from the Cubs days). Devin being efficient means he should be good to go for 30 pitches. Two innings if you have to. Megill and Payamps get credit for putting up some big zeroes. Koenig and Ross too. Props to the bullpen. You'll be needed again tomorrow. I'll be staying away from the game thread again, at least until after the game. My biggest hope is twofold: 1) That the Mets start to feel the pressure a little. AND 2) More importantly, that we play loose. The Mets were the more relaxed team in Game 1 and early on today. We need to cut out the silly mistakes. Play good defense! Get more aggressive on the base paths. Speed and assertiveness are who we are. Let's be ourselves and at least go out on our terms if that's what's in the cards. I know it's tough against the lefties, but I want to see more SB attempts and more speed on display. This one feels good.

Murph said it'll be Tobias.

Loving this Royals team. They've been my second-favorite since the early LoCain days, and it's great to see Salvy having such a great year. I like the Orioles too. Baltimore's had a hard enough time as a city, it's tough to want bad things for them. Safe to say I'll be rooting for whoever wins this against the Yankees. Royals are closest thing to small-market solidarity, though, and Bobby Witt has been awesome today. Legging out hits and making key defensive plays. Fun team.

I missed the Mets! Never happened in the AL. I think 2020 was such a different format (16 team tournament) that I start at 2022. Well, then, let's hope the Crew are the first team to win the SERIES after falling behind 1-0. It's going to happen someday.

Astros on the verge of losing. Still no series has gone to third game in now the third year of this format. We will see if a miracle Houston comeback or a Baltimore awakening changes that. If not, the Brewers will have to lose their seventh game in a row to make it nine straight elimination game losses for the team that loses Game 1. That's my way of being optimistic. Two unlikely things will need to happen for us to lose tonight!!! In all seriousness, let's get this done and play one more game. Go Brewers!

Not going to disagree with your perspective because I get it. If WS championships are the measuring stick for a successful organization, this isn't one. It's just not my measuring stick because, if it were, this would be a miserable experience. The Brewers have been around for 55 years? What are the odds a team wins a WS entering the season? 2% for the Brewers? Some years a little higher? Some years lower? At 3 percent, you'd expect to win 1 in every 33 years, but it wouldn't be at all unusual to not see one for 100 years or more, especially if you simulate seasons out to huge sample sizes. That's how variance works. At 2 percent, you'd expect one WS every 50 years. I'll say this, having been around for the mid-90s and early 2000s, those teams were probably clocking under 2 percent.... Point is, it's really not that weird to not have a WS. We're not the only team that doesn't! I understand the emotional truth of "you'd think we'd have won one!" (I feel it too), but it doesn't line up with the mathematical truth, even for the best-run team in baseball, especially in a sport with an unequal economic structure.