BruisedCrew

I think I could strike Yelich out right now. Just toss the ball up there around the plate and watch him flail away. Darvish might strike out 15 in 5 innings tomorrow.

The MLB Network fan poll had Yelich at 61%. Brewers fans must have been working hard to stuff the ballot box.

Never thought I would see a series with the road team winning the first six games, much less all seven. Crazy.

I’ve been traveling, and when I checked this board I was surprised that there was no thread on this. Maybe it was addressed in another thread. This seemed to be a no brainer for someone who led the league in BA, OBP, and SLG, while also being one of the leaders in HR and SB, but it still is quite an accomplishment to win this award two years in a row. I still think Yelich should be the MVP, but expect him to be second or third.

That one falls in the same category as the Lions fans who aren’t satisfied saying that the bad calls on Monday cost their team the game. They have to go on to say that the Lions get screwed more than any team in the league and it’s because of a deep conspiracy in the NFL to help popular teams like the Packers at the expense of teams like the Lions. This is said in every sport by every fan when their team loses on bad calls. Even fans of the "popular" teams. Fans of all teams think they get screwed by officials, but only some take the next step to the conspiracy theory. Although I will admit that I stopped paying attention to the NBA about 30 years ago when I became convinced that the referees tilted games heavily to get a few favored teams into the finals.

That one falls in the same category as the Lions fans who aren’t satisfied saying that the bad calls on Monday cost their team the game. They have to go on to say that the Lions get screwed more than any team in the league and it’s because of a deep conspiracy in the NFL to help popular teams like the Packers at the expense of teams like the Lions.

If you look at the injuries the Nats had early in the year, and then look at how they played the last 4 months and their personnel, they are absolutely a World Series Champion caliber team. On May 23 they were 19-31 and 10 games out of first place in the division. After that, they went 74-38 (!), the same record as the Dodgers over that span. They did (and do) have some bullpen issues that were exacerbated when Scherzer was hurt and Strasburg sometimes has to miss starts. But with Scherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin all healthy and Sanchez as a fourth starter, their pitching is well positioned to compete with the Astros or Yankees. While the Brewers were within 4 outs of eliminating the Nats in the Wild Card game, the Nats are much better structured than the Brewers to beat a strong team in a 5 or 7 game series. The Nats and Astros are really showing the value of having multiple strong starters who can go deep into games. The Dodgers have that too. I hope the Nats can take the Series now.

Do you think Cardinal fans are second guessing whether they left Wainwright in one hitter too long with Miller up and ready in the bullpen?

In other words, it matters to play basically .500 ball for 5 months. It makes it easier to advance in the playoffs when you win the division, or even get the home field in the wild card game. “Every game matters” is more than a slogan.

Kershaw in relief didn’t work out like the Dodgers planned.

Can you imagine going to a decisive game 5, being all revved up, and having the game be over before your team comes to bat? I’m not sure I would be able to stay and watch the rest.

I was looking forward to seeing two decisive Game 5’s today. Now after a half inning I’m looking forward to just one.

That was my point. Because they don’t trust their bullpen they had to use starters in unfamiliar roles and it wasn’t working. Now their starters might be out of whack, though Scherzer fought through for 7 innings to tie up the series.

The Nats bullpen woes may be their undoing. Using two of their big starters might work for a game or two, but not every day.

It really irks me to hear so many commentators just declaring Bellinger to be the MVP. It’s like they gave him the award at the All Star break and then stopped watching. You could make a very strong case that Yelich deserves the award and shouldn’t be punished for getting hurt. If nothing else, Yelich should get the Hank Aaron Award, since Bellinger’s superior defense shouldn’t be a factor there. I would seriously think about Rendon or Acuna over Bellinger for MVP.

Not me. I wish the Brewers had the Astros players. Hard to imagine having an ace starting pitcher almost every day and a lineup loaded with All Stars. They had a lot of significant injuries this year to their best players and still waltzed to 100 wins.

I don’t think this is going to be the year for the Twins to win a playoff series. Maybe not a game.

Huge pinch hit HR from Adam Duvall. If I were a Braves fan I wouldn’t be too comfortable trusting Melancon in the ninth with a 1 run lead. Looks like Max Fried is going to be a key bullpen piece for the Braves.

The Rays probably kicked away their slim chance of coming back against Verlander with an Alphonse-Gaston routine on a simple pop up. Teams I’m rooting for in playoff games are 0-4 so far and going on 0-5.

In this age of fireballers it’s hard to imagine a playoff team having to use Mark Melancon as a closer.

the days of the 25-man roster are gone next year. there's room. The roster is only going up one to 26, and who knows if that extra spot will go to a position player or a pitcher. I don’t know if they finalized the proposal to increasing the IL for pitchers from 10 days to 15. Same for pitchers optioned to the minors. If implemented, those changes would put a speed bump in the way of the Albuquerque shuttle, and might force the Brewers to keep an extra pitcher as long as they won’t let starters face a lineup for a third time.

I think Braun has to prepare again to play first base so he can serve as a backup and platoon option for Thames. I wonder if there will be room on the roster for both Gamel and Grisham, who are about as similar as they can be. It’s nice having two guys who can fill in at any of the three outfield positions, but it’s too bad they are both left handed. With their various ailments, Braun, Cain, and Yelich all need occasional time off so the Brewers need flexible backups, and can’t afford one dimensional players like Aguilar and Santana. My guess is that Moustakas will be back and Shaw will be the subject of a change in scenery trade. I feel bad about that because I like Shaw, but I’m afraid he may turn out to be the second coming of Chris Davis. He might have a better chance of bouncing back somewhere else. As much as I’d like to see him in the lineup again I don’t see Grandal coming back. I think there will be an active market for one of the best hitting catchers in MLB who I don’t think was anywhere near as bad defensively as he looked in last year’s playoffs.

Thankfully, Buckner got his forgiveness from the Red Sox before he passed away.

I resigned myself years ago to the fact that the Brewers were unlikely to win a World Series in my lifetime. I know what it's like to root for a team that wins a World Series because in my early years I rooted for my Dad's favorite team, the Yankees, even when the played the Braves (my other favorite team) in the 57 World Series when I was 5 years old. My Dad grew up on Staten Island and was headed to a Yankees minor league spring training when Uncle Sam called him to WW2. By the time he got out of the service he was married and on the old side to start a professional baseball career. But he starred in the industrial leagues that were around in the Milwaukee area those days, and his name is on a plaque at Miller Park as a member of the Milwaukee Sandlot Hall of Fame. Anyway, I have rooted for teams that have won World Series, an NBA title, NCAA basketball titles, a mythical college football title (pre playoff days), and four Super Bowls. So, I've learned that having your favorite teams win championships is great, but they don't change your life. The chase is an important part of the fun. Once you celebrate the title, there is an empty feeling because there are no more games to look forward to, and thoughts move on to the next season. Once your team wins one, you want two, and so on. Packers fans know how that works. Bottom line, I'm going to root for teams with which I have some affinity (geography or alma mater), even if their chances of winning ultimate championships are limited. With the Brewers, I enjoy being able to go to the games with my daughters (my wife doesn't care to go) and hoping that the Brewers will be in contention for a title, and maybe win one some day. But, I wouldn't and couldn't arbitrarily pick another team to root for just because that phony adopted team has a better chance of winning a title.

If you had told me in May that Hader would enter a game in the 8th inning with a 2 run lead and a win would send to the Brewers to the DS, I would have liked their chances. But, like a lot of others here, tonight there was a lot of apprehension. My biggest disappointment will be getting a refund for the tickets I bought for Game 3 against the Dodgers on Sunday. Even if they had been down 2-0 I was looking forward to experiencing playoff baseball in person again. We don’t get that many chances around here. Losing the way they lost tonight really hurts, but not even 10% as much as the loss in Game 7 last year. With Yelich out and Cain, Braun, and Moose impaired, it was hard for me to convince myself that the Brewers could go very far.