brewers4eric

I saw my first live game at County Stadium in 1978. My Dad was a dairy farmer so we never took family vacations. But that year, he signed the two of us up for a Coop sponsored bus trip to Milwaukee. We rode a motor coach for four hours to the stadium. The smell of the burning coal from the tailgates hit me as soon as I got off the bus and I'll always remember the crowds in the parking lot. Mike Caldwell was on the mound. Paul Molitor was the rookie that ran wild on the bases and Robin Yount was a light hitting shortstop at the bottom of the lineup. Don Money was the favorite of the lady sitting in front of me with her grandkids. The Brewers won 2-1 and I was hooked. For years I poured over the box scores in the newspaper until the ink rubbed off on my elbows. The radio broadcasts were a fixture in the barn each night but it was rare to see a tv broadcast of a Brewers game in northeast Iowa. The strike in 1981 just about ruined baseball for me but the Brewers made the playoffs. Game 162 of the 1982 season was epic, as well as the comeback against the Angels to take the ALCS. But I was emotionally spent when the World Series ended. For decades, I had serious doubts that I would ever see the Brewers in another World Series in my lifetime. Seeking the support of other fans, I joined the discussion on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel site until someone suggested trading our top prospect, Prince Fielder, for a collection of role players headlined by Shea Hillenbrand. But the discussion on the MJS site led me to a link about Wes Helms on Brewerfan. I rarely post, but the minor league forum is my favorite source of information on our prospects. This site has made me a more informed, and better fan of the Brewers. I'm thankful to have seen allot of Brewer playoff games since 2008, but some of the losses have just about done me in. I describe my feeling after the Pete Alonso home run as "getting my heart ripped out of my chest while simultaneously getting kicked in the nuts". I still live in northeast Iowa and try to make an annual trip to Milwaukee for a tailgate with my wife and the kids. On my birthday last December, my daughter posted a picture of one of our past tailgate trips on Facebook and asked all of the viewers to "manifest a Brewers World Series". I'm not sure what manifesting entails, but the Brewers are in the World Series and I've been strangely calm throughout the entire playoffs. Go Brewers.

We protected the home turf. So far, Ohtani looks like a shadow of what he was last year. My Dodger fan buddy asked me if there was a batter in the Dodger lineup that we feared.

No one beats us with Tormund Giantsbane on the mound.

We should never lose with Tormund Giantsbane on the mound.

I wondered why we needed another lefty like Romero, but then I realized that we would need him if we started Ashby in every game of the playoffs.

I've hated the Cubs since 1984. My Dad jumped on the Cubs bandwagon that year. I never rooted for another team as much as I rooted for the San Diego Padres in the NLCS that year. I was at a graduation party yesterday and the guest of honor had a "W" flag on display near his picture boards and I told him it was a shame that he wouldn't be able to fly it very much. He had a couple of Cubs hats in his memorabilia display next to his high school baseball hats and I turned the Cubs hats over when I went through the line.

I drove to Cedar Rapids to see the Timber Rattlers firsthand. Payne's shot to open the game went to the opposite field. I was reminded of watching Tyler Black and Tristan Peters launch opposite field shots years ago. Bitonti is a big guy, my wife commented that she expected him to hit the ball out of the park. Fischer looks the part of a third baseman, his footwork is solid and he's got the arm for it. His swing is violent, he uses every part of his body to produce power. Castillo's shot in the last inning was a no doubter. The T Rats lineup is solid but the pitching is a bit suspect at this point, but they are a fun team to watch.

87-75, which should be enough to get a wild card. Freddy Peralta was a known quantity. They accumulated pitching depth with the moves they made this offseason but it will take several weeks to get the options for the starting rotation sorted out. We've got the market cornered on lefty relievers and we'll need the length that Ashby and Hall provide early in the season. With Uribe, Zerpa, Koenig and Megill we can play a five inning game. Garrett Mitchell didn't have a homerun when he was healthy last year. An injury to one of the middle infielders could expose our lack of depth if Jett Williams isn't ready. The lineup is similar to last year. I'm hopeful that Turang and Frelick will continue to develop. Time to wake up and smell the tailgate. Go Brewers.

The core pieces of the team are in place. The young pitchers performed well. We just need to find some guys that will help us win 8 more games next season. The sweep to the LA billionaires hurt, but a series loss to the Cubs would have been the equivalent of taking a punch to the sack while having my heart ripped out of my chest.

No one thought we could take 3 straight from the Angels back in 1982. Go Brewers.

In 2011 and 2018 we had bullpens that could cover four innings. If Megill is out it will be a challenge to get the ball to Uribe. Losing Woodruff puts additional pressure on Peralta and Priester and whoever opens game 3. Quintana is a question mark and Misiorowski has been inconsistent. Patrick might be an option but he seems like a guy that you deploy for two trips through the batting order. The offense runs hot and cold. We had a good stretch while Chourio was hurt but we'll need to string a walk and a couple of hits together to score against the best pitching staffs in the playoffs. I've been a Brewer fan since 1978. I've got some concerns but it beats getting eliminated from playoff contention before the all star break. Fire the coals and wake up and smell the tailgate. Go Brewers.

For a platoon to work, both sides of it have to produce. We weren't getting anything out of Dunn and Capra so it is time to give Durbin his shot. I like Dunn, but the amount of time that he missed last year may have really set him back.

I don't like this trade, but I'll trust the judgement of the Brewers' front office. We need a pitcher, so run him out to the bump and let it fly. It couldn't be any worse than the Bichette for Reimer trade back in 1992, could it?

There were allot of Brewer fans in Cedar Rapids last night for the T-Rats game. Kuehner was solid, he had a bit of trouble controlling his off-speed pitches but he was in control of the game. Manfredi was hitting 95 on the stadium gun and was filling up the strike zone, the Cedar Rapids batters looked outmatched against him. Rund has some deception in his delivery with the arm slot he uses but gave up allot of hard contact in his last inning. Hall was clutch at the plate, he split the outfield gaps twice. Arienamo has a ton of movement in his swing, he spins the bat like a Hideo Nomo windup as he gets ready and I'm not sure how he's going to time anything. Vargas went into the wall in the 9th trying to preserve the win and sprawled on the warning track for a few minutes before he was helped off the field. There was plenty of speculation that that ball had hit the top of the wall for a game tying homer.

My impression of the 2024 Brewers didn't change after the Phillies series. The patchwork rotation held together. The front office has found allot of solid arms for the bullpen and they've done a good job of deploying their relief options. Offensively, the team's identity seems to be about getting on base, putting pressure on their opponents with their speed and getting a key single with runners on base. The Brewers only drew five walks during the three game series and we never put much pressure on their starters. The Phillies are good. I think you win the division by taking two or three games each series against the bad teams. After the trade deadline, I think its even more important to take down the teams that were sellers. The Phillies and Dodgers will be adding the pieces that they need for the stretch run. Hopefully, we can get players off the injured list and make the moves that we need to stay on pace. This year's version of the Brewers has been fun to watch and I'd like to keep watching them in October.