BruisedCrew

I'm seeing projections for the Brewers at around .500, but exceeding those projections have become a pleasnt annual tradition. There are a lot of question marks this year in the rotation and bullpen and with the offense replacing Adames' production. I see about 86-76 and in the playoff battle until the final week.

The Packers have looked great against mediocre or bad teams playing backup QBs. Against teams with a pulse (and the Bears) not so much. Probably should have benched the starters today. Maybe the backups would have played to win.

The most frustrating thing about that game was how the Bears and their supposedly inept offense made significant advances on every possession, even when they started deep in their own territory. Looking at the play by play summary, the Bears shortest drive in their 7 possessions was their first that went 8 plays for 34 yards and a long FG. They were 9 for 16 on third down conversions and 3 for 3 on 4th downs. In other words, they had 16 third downs and eventually picked up a first down on 12 of them. The Packers were lucky the Bears didn’t try to move the ball closer in the last minute instead of running down the clock and settling tfor the longer FG attempt. Not counting the kneel down at the end of the half the Packers only had 6 possessions and either scored a TD or moved inside the Bears 10 on all but one of them. But, because they moved quickly and only got to third down 5 times, it seemed like the Bears had the ball most of the game.

The defense hasn’t been able to get off the field all day. Why expect it now.

Cue the 99 yard, 8 minute scoring drive to put the game away.

They are nowhere near in Detroit’s league, but getting a wild card spot didn’t seem like asking too much. Now I think it is asking too much for a team getting shredded by the Bears offense.

Packers are trying to firmly establish themselves as the worst team in the division. As long as Love keeps making huge mistakes they aren’t winning many.

Skubal did toss 17 scoreless innings before that fateful fifth inning .today. The Brewers might have won a couple more playoff games, and maybe a series,if Burnes or Woodruff could have delivered that when they had the opportunity.

The Guardians might pay the price for draining their bullpen early.

Must be nice to have a lockdown SP who actually performs in the playoffs. Skubal is almost single-handedly taking the Tigers to the ALCS. ETA- the ultimate hex

The Yankees, Dodgers, and Phillies, have won 20 World Series in my lifetime and 11 since the Brewers came into existence. So, I’m not going to feel sorry for them or their fans when they whine about not having won a WS in 10 or 15 years.

If you compare it to the wild card era, yes.. But not if you compare it to the 2 league, and then 4 division format that existed for many years.

For one thing, I didn't say the Brewers will absolutely never win a World Series. I just said that I think it is less than a 50% probability that they'll do it in my lifetime after failing for the first 55 years that I have followed them. The 20 somethings who have a lot longer timeline might have a better chance of seeing one. But, more importantly, there is entertainment to be had in following a team even if its chances of winning the ultimate championship are very slim. If everyone took your attitude, Wisconsin Badger football would have no followers at all. I am not a fan of theirs, but I would say their chances of winning the college football championship in my lifetime are lower than the Brewers chances of winning a World Series. Yet people get upset when they get steamrolled by Alabama, as if there were any reason to expect anything different.

I noted that in the second sentence of my original post in this thread as one of the reasons why I don't expect the Brewers to win a World Series in my lifetime.

“Faux competing” is not a description I would use, but before divisions and wild card teams winning 90 plus games would often mean that a team was not even all that close to competing in the World Series or LCS. There were no champagne celebrations for being the third best team in the league. Instead of talking about bites at the apple fans of those teams would be talking about how their teams need to win more games. Just getting in and hoping to get hot at the right time was not a strategy for winning a championship.

You have a very narrow view of the “history of the game“

If Yelich is physically capable of playing LF no worse than he has played the last few years, I would like to see him there at least a few times a week. I think the Brewers need the DH to give Contreras and others occasional days off. I am also not thrilled with the prospect of having an OF of Mitchell, Frelick, and Perkins to go with Chourio. Although Mitchell has some nice potential upside, he hasn't shown the consistency or durability to be a near every day solution. And putting Perkins and Frelick in the OF makes for a pretty weak offense from some spots where more is needed, especially for a team that already has offensive question marks at 3B, SS, 2B, and 1B. If Yelich could play 1B that would be an intriguing option. But I wonder if that would be more physically demanding for someone with a bad back than LF.

My "big picture" view of the Brewers' current situation comes from following baseball for almost 70 years, following the Brewers from their first game in 1970, and a conclusion that I reached about 30 years ago. That conclusion was that, given the economic structure of MLB, the probability that the Brewers would win a World Series in my lifetime is less than 50%. I don't think there was just one thing that drove me to that conclusion, but the Brewers' inability to sign Paul Molitor after the 1992 season was a significant factor. Because I don't expect the Brewers to win the World Series, I don't have the attitude that any season that falls short of a Series title is a failure. The expansion of the playoffs over the years to include 2, then 4, then 8, then 10, and now 12 teams has made winning the Series even more difficult for a team that has an outstanding regular season. I hold out the hope that some year the Brewers might catch lightning in a bottle like the Royals in 2015.. But, I realize I'm in a small minority on this, but I wouldn't trade the Brewers performance since 2007 for what the Royals have done. Winning a World Series wouldn't be exciting enough for me to make up for the number of absolutely abysmal seasons they had before and after. I have had my favorite professional teams win titles in the NFL and NBA, and my alma maters and favorite teams win NCAA basketball and college football titles. While those championships create great moments and memories, the glow from them does wear off and the lust for "just one" is soon replaced by "one more". Packers fans should understand that feeling. Last week's loss was exceptionally heartbreaking, not because I had any real hope that this team would be the one to catch fire and win four series, including against teams that are pretty clearly superior on paper. But, after getting paired against the team that I thought they had the best chance to beat of the playoff contenders, and overcoming some serious misplays to get tantalizingly close to advancing, watching Williams surrender the lead was like a swift blow to the heart. It was also a reminder that a 95% probability of something happening in baseball is not a guarantee of a positive result. Let's see what next year brings.

That's a significant part of the reason I feel that way. I haven't had any direct contact with him but I have seen some things at public events and heard things from others that have had contact with him that are not very flattering.

I feel a lot worse for the fans who have invested time, money, and emotional energy into the franchise for over half a century than for someone who has made millions of dollars performing a dream job.

My consolation is that I really think the Brewers would have been overmatched by the Phillies with their strong SP and All Star batting order. But, after the most improbable back to back HRs you’ll ever see I was dreaming about another week of games and the chance for an upset.

Probably the most heartbreaking loss in franchise history. Network execs are celebrating.

The way he’s been swinging. I’ve had a feeling all night that Lindor was going to hit a home run in this game. If he does it hopefully it will be with two outs and nobody on base.

If they bring Peralta in here, I’m going to pause the game and pray for 10 minutes before I look to see what happens.

Selling tickets for $10 seems to be helping.