Bob Skube Snacks

Great topic. I’ve been on both sides of it. In 2007-08? I was a basket case. It had been 26 years since the last playoff spot by 2008. That last game of the regular season against the Cubs was the most nervous I’ve ever been watching a Brewers game because it felt like the whole legitimacy of the franchise was on the line. This wasn’t like near-misses in the late 70s, 80s or 1992 when it was much harder to get in the playoffs. The Brewers needed something tangible to mark progress with their then-young team. And, to shut down the (many) naysayers in and outside the fanbase who said it could never be done. So when Ryan Braun hit the HR on the final day? I lost it. Twenty-six years of frustration over? Yes, but it was also a release of all of the angst built up. I still think that’s one of the most important moments in franchise history. Since then, I’ve been sort of calmer, but also, more likely to be sad when it’s done. In 2011? It was a glorious year, but losing to the Cardinals stung and brought back ghosts of 1982. I was 11 in 1982 and at that age, you think you’ve got a bunch more World Series to come. At 40 in 2011? You realize you don’t. The 2014 fade was disappointing. But 2017 was a pleasant surprise all around. This season? All of the “stress” was positive. The Brewers had stupid odds against them of winning the division in September, but got the postseason more or less locked up mid-month. Had they fallen short of the division? No big deal, it wasn’t expected anyway. So to pull off the greatest late-season surge in franchise history? And one of the best closing stretches in MLB history? I feel very little stress. Oh, maybe a little in the game at Wrigley, and in appropriate times during the first two Colorado games (when you should feel stress anyway), but riding with a team of destiny is FUN! Hope there’s a lot more fun to come, but if the Brewers fall short? It will be sad in that moment, but I will have nothing but positive feelings about 2018. This has been the greatest year since ‘82 already in my mind.

OG’s. (Out Getters)

Loved Nyjer. He was weird in a great way. Living down in Cardinal land, they HATED him precisely for that reason, but then, they treat baseball like church where no fun is allowed. He was fun as hell and he had the most impactful one-year wonder season in Brewers history.

You know? I kinda want to clinch at Wrigley again!

Yount ‘82 is the gold standard, but Yelich is really close. Yelich had the best final week of any Brewer ever though. Let us not forget Sabathia ‘08 either.

Greatest week I’ve ever had as a Brewers fan. Let’s top it in October!

I’ve been following the Brewers since ‘78 when I was 6. Don’t think I’ve ever had a September like this. Brewers had several late-season surges that came up short (87 and 92 come to mind). In ‘82, the Brewers barely held on. In ‘11, the Brewers peaked in August and wasn’t playing their best at seasons’ end. This is so much fun. I was in St. Louis last night and the nervous energy from both sets of fans was such that I haven’t felt in a game I attended in a long, long time. Sharing it with fellow Brewers fans, chanting “MVP!”, etc., and then having it end in a win was the absolute best. Go get it Brewers. Go get it ALL!

I’ve been following the Brewers since ‘78 when I was 6. Don’t think I’ve ever had a September like this. Brewers had several late-season surges that came up short (87 and 92 come to mind). In ‘82, the Brewers barely held on. In ‘11, the Brewers peaked in August and wasn’t playing their best at seasons’ end. This is so much fun. I was in St. Louis last night and the nervous energy from both sets of fans was such that I haven’t felt in a game I attended in a long, long time. Sharing it with fellow Brewers fans, chanting “MVP!”, etc., and then having it end in a win was the absolute best. Go get it Brewers. Go get it ALL!

Not odd at all. Zobrist for me too.

I mostly agree with this. Though I don’t agree at all with the notion that Villar’s bone-headedness is somehow on Counsell for not reaching him or some such silliness. Villar had two-plus years to get better and he did so only marginally. Even if Villar and Schoop were “equal” (I think Schoop is better), the kinds of mistakes Villar made either killed in innings offensively or extended them for opponent defensively. I’ll take Schoop’s steadiness with the glove and on the basepaths over Villar’s peaks and valleys in the same departments any day of the week. And while Schoop has undeniably struggled, some patience is in order too. I’ll bet your recollection of Ted Simmons’ Brewers’ career isn’t about his 1981 season in which he batted .216 and had a 0.3 WAR. He started an entire season slow, but reverted back to career norm for two years afterwards. My point is that Schoop needs more than a month-plus for a fair assessment. Villar had two-and-a-half years which is plenty of time to assess that he was expendable, especially with Hiura coming soon.

Bears Twitter - and keep in mind, I live in Bears territory far more so than Packers territory - was absolutely insufferable just a quarter into the game. Glad the Packers bumped off the #& First Half Super Bowl champions. What an epic game! Between that and the Schoop grand slam? It was an epic day!

Brewers are going to play the Benny Hill theme during the 7th inning stretch instead of Beer Barrel Polka in honor of the Cubs.

As much as I bashed above, I’ve never had an issue when I saw the Brewers at Wrigley either, although I went in 2011 and 2014 when the Cubs sucked. (Haven’t seen the Cubs in Milwaukee since ‘98.) Only issue was afterwards when I got on the El. Brewers lost. I’m in the train and a Cubs fan on the platform banged on the window to tell me and the Brewers to #$ off followed by several flip-offs. Boorish and chicken #$$&? Yeah, but whatever.

I’m a Milwaukee native who has lived the majority of my adult life in Cubs territory, and for the last 14 years, in a mixed Cubs-Cardinals territory. Moreover, both of my parents grew up within 15 miles of the Illinois-Wisconsin border and grew up with the rivalries. There’s always been a mix of fans of Chicago and Wisconsin-based fans in southeast Wisconsin. Cubs fans used to come to County Stadium in the Braves days and vice versa. I grew up in the late 70s and 80s and Brewers-White Sox games could be, ahem, interesting. Saw a lot of fights. Add other rivalries into it too. Packers-Bears was intense when I was young with the Bears dominant. Most Cubs fans are also Bears fans. Don’t think that doesn’t carry over. My read on the outsized egotism from Chicago fans is that comes from an insecurity based on the fact that a city of their size, in nearly all sports, has won comparatively little. They get bagged on by cities they compare themselves too, NYC in particular, who look at them as little brothers they would never think of themselves to be. So they take their insecurity out on other Midwestern cities, but in particular, Wisconsin’s two pro cities. And understand the demographic differences in Cubs fans too. Many are surface-level fans who jumped on at various points from 1984 on. They’re there for the party. They’re vapid and their knowledge of anything is inch-deep. Then there’s the rural Cubs fans around the Midwest, primarily in Indiana, Iowa and downstate Illinois. They’re different, and generally less aggressive, than Cubs fans from Chicagoland itself. Those rural fans are also the backbone of the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry, because they’re on the front lines of it. Seething St. Louis hate doesn’t exist in Chicago anywhere near like it does for Milwaukee and Wisconsin. Chicago plays St. Louis in baseball and hockey. Chicago plays Wisconsin teams in everything but hockey. And for the last generation, Wisconsin teams, particularly the Packers, have had the upper hand, or at least, an even hand and that drives them crazy because they can’t exercise their superiority complex. So they grasp hard at any straw they feel gives them the upper hand, like the Cubs right now. Cubs fans from Chicagoland are no different than White Sox or Bears fans from Chicagoland. Outsize aggression because of deep-seated insecurity both about the quality of their city and their cities’ teams. And not only that? With a history of failure? They fear dropping back into the abyss they only recently emerged from. I tell my Cubs fans friends around here, all of whom fit into the “rural” Lower Midwest category, that watch out for a Cubs-Brewers playoff series, because it will be intense on a level they don’t understand. They say, “yeah right, Cubs-Cardinals is way bigger.” And historically? They’d be right, but I don’t think anyone outside of Chicago and Wisconsin, particularly SE Wisconsin, understands the level of enmity one region has for the other. We don’t like them and they repay in kind. A part of me would love it. A part of me hopes it never happens as it would be obnoxious beyond reason.

Could use Gio Gonzalez.

Gotta “love” these hindsight 20/20 posts. Why stop at Khris Davis? Why not moan about Chris Carter too?

To add to that, the Brewers were - what? - 2 1/2 games out of the 2008 Wild Card on the second-last Sunday of the season? To quote a famous Green Bay athlete, “relax”.

You say realist, I say panicking. This week sucked, but it ain’t over for damn sight. In 2011 at this point? The Brewers were red-hot and the many Cardinal fans I live around were throwing in the towel. We all know how that turned out. It’s a 162-game season. Stick it out.

Que? He got hurt in Pittsburgh running into an out at third base.

Man. There’s some folks on this thread that got immediate amnesia about the mental errors that were chronic with Villar. Baserunning stupidity that killed rallies. Ill-timed errors, etc. If he was in the doghouse, he earned it.

Braun for Harper.

You play Shaw at 2B three turns through the lineup, put in a defensive replacement, hope the offense generated makes up for the defense lost before then. That’s how I hope it works.

I would have to assume that any employer who forcibly “checks, monitors, and clears” their employees social media is in violation of a ton of privacy laws and would face some pretty serious First Amendment challenges in court. That being said he obviously should have never posted this/voluntarily erased these himself. It’s amazing how many people think this is true. Your social media account is grounds for firing, libel, you name it.

Horrifying from Hader. No excuses for it. So disappointed and angry right now. To me? This is worse than Braun’s controversy. Racism is so much worse than HGH abuse in the grand scheme of things. I don’t care if he was 17 or quoting lyrics or whatever. I knew at 17 never to *say* those things much less write them out. I hate the black eye it brings to the franchise, even though it’s not their fault. The embarassment for the Brewers and the city, the perception of this team, the potential performance of the team? This crap storm will do harm. It just pisses me off to no end.

For those of you who keep saying, "no one outside of Milwaukee remembers the details"? Being a Milwaukee transplant who lives elsewhere, as in, right in the heart of Cubs-Cardinals country? I can assure you that opposing fans definitely remember many of the details. What they damn him for is being is liar more so than being a cheat. Being a liar to cover up being a cheat is unforgivable in their eyes. And frankly? I don't blame them. I'm like many who supports the jersey over the man, any man, really, I'm past the point of hero worship, but particularly Braun. I hope Braun hits 40 home runs, but not for him, but for the Brewers. Once he's done? See ya. And, yes, I do think he could have been the greatest Brewer of all-time, better than St. Robin. (I don't mean to be derogatory towards Yount, whom I love, but that's the pedestal he's put on.) Yount, fans conveniently forget, mixed in plenty of average seasons with his great ones. Through to 2012, Braun projected as far better player than Yount. People use injuries as the reason for Braun's drop in production since. Don't forget that PED use can exacerbate injuries. Of course, we'll never really know if that's the case. Retired number? I think that remains to be seen and a lot of it will have to do with how he cements or doesn't cement his legacy with the current crop of Brewers. If the Brewers ascend to a NL pennant or a World Series and Braun is viewed as a significant contributor? Then, yes, he'll have established himself as a cog in two different winning eras and will deserve that honor even with the public relations backlash outside of Milwaukee. If the Brewers don't win, or, he just kind of fades away? I think it's going to be hard to retire his No. 8. The public relations hit will be significant and it will be perceived outside of the Brewers bubble as rewarding a player for PED use during his peak years of prodcution, even if he wasn't a user for the entire period.