I have been writing my sports column off and on for five years now on this website. In those five years, I have NEVER experienced a sports weekend like this as a Wisconsin sports fan. It’s one of those weekends that I will look back on years from now and think to myself, did I truly enjoy it!
Let’s start the recap of the weekend with the unlikeliest of teams to be talked about in the month of October, the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers are making their fourth playoff appearance not this decade, but in my lifetime (or another words four decades). In my opinion, they are one of the worst professional sports franchises in the history of American professional sports.
So here are the Brewers in the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and the second time since 1982. And unlike three years ago, they are actually winning. Saturday they got an incredible outing from Yovanni Gallardo in a 4-1 win. And then Sunday, the offense took over in a 9-4 victory. And suddenly the Brewers are one win away from their first trip to the League Championship Series in 29 years.
But as we all know, football is the #1 sport in this country now. So even though the Brewer post-season victories are nice and refreshing, we are mainly concerned with our football teams. And boy, did they come through this past weekend.
The Wisconsin Badgers were 4-0 and playing incredible football but even I would admit that they hadn’t really played anyone yet. That all changed Saturday night when Nebraska came to town in the Huskers‘ first ever Big Ten game. With Wisconsin #7 and Nebraska #8, the nation was awaiting which team was the real deal. After toying with the Huskers for most of the first half, Heisman Trophy candidate Russell Wilson and the rest of the Badgers took control and demolished Nebraska 48-17.
The Badgers rose to #4 in the poll on Sunday placing them in National Championship contention. That same day, the world champion Packers took the field and did to Denver the same thing Wisconsin did to Nebraska. After a slow start, the Packers completely dominated the second half in a 49-23 victory. Aaron Rodgers threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more. The other touchdown was just your standard Charles Woodson pick six. The Packers remained one of two undefeated teams in the NFL.
All in all, an incredible weekend. And although the Brewers, Badgers and Packers still have a ways to go this season, this will be a weekend we will never forget as Wisconsin sports fans.
Showing posts with label Brewers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brewers. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Friday, August 14, 2009
Brewers Shake Up Wednesday
Shake Up Wednesday
On Wednesday night the Milwaukee Brewers lost their second consecutive game to the lowly San Diego Padres. This seemed to be the last straw for Brewer General Manger Doug Melvin who announced that they were firing pitching coach Bill Castro, sending JJ Hardy to Triple A and assigning Bill Hall for assignment, another words, releasing him.
I’m not sure if the move came out of frustration over how the team has played or frustration over how the ownership and management of this team has failed to take the next step from an average team to a World Series contender.
To address the latter first, it never seems to amaze me that I am the only one who seems to get this about Major League Baseball when it is so painfully obvious. YOU HAVE TO SPEND MONEY TO BE A CONTENDER YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT PEOPLE! Just because the Florida Marlins captured lightning in a bottle a couple of years and the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers made the playoffs a year ago, does not mean that every team can do that. And it ESPECIALLY doesn’t mean that teams can do it for an extended period of time. The Marlins stunk both years after their World Series championships and really haven’t done much above average in any of their other 15 seasons. The Rays and Brewers, although not terrible, will not be in contention come September this year.
Meanwhile, the teams that spend money like the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels and Braves are in contention for a championship every year. A bad year for them is finishing around .500 and missing the playoffs by a few games. That is a good year for the Brewers, Rays and Marlins amongst many other small market teams.
Brewer management, YOU HAVE TO SPEND DOUBLE WHAT YOU ARE SPENDING NOW IF YOU WANT TO CONTEND FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS! They don’t get it. They think they can be the team that bucks the system.
As for the moves, none of these moves will affect performance the remainder month and a half of the season, but I have a small take on each one. The firing of Castro is ridiculous. There is no pitching coach on this planet that could have succeeded with the hand dealt this year. He was obviously the fall guy. And I don’t see things improving just because Chris Bosio comes on board. Hardy going to the minors is probably good as long as he is not down there long. Let him try to work out of this year-long slump and then bring him back up in September to give him another shot at turning it around at this level before the end of the year. Releasing Hall should have happened last Winter. It was obvious at that time that this guy no longer had Major League stuff. It’s unfortunate. Bill Hall is a great guy and gave it a ton of effort. But it just didn’t work out.
Check out www.songerstudio.com weekly for more editorials on sports and much much more!
On Wednesday night the Milwaukee Brewers lost their second consecutive game to the lowly San Diego Padres. This seemed to be the last straw for Brewer General Manger Doug Melvin who announced that they were firing pitching coach Bill Castro, sending JJ Hardy to Triple A and assigning Bill Hall for assignment, another words, releasing him.
I’m not sure if the move came out of frustration over how the team has played or frustration over how the ownership and management of this team has failed to take the next step from an average team to a World Series contender.
To address the latter first, it never seems to amaze me that I am the only one who seems to get this about Major League Baseball when it is so painfully obvious. YOU HAVE TO SPEND MONEY TO BE A CONTENDER YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT PEOPLE! Just because the Florida Marlins captured lightning in a bottle a couple of years and the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers made the playoffs a year ago, does not mean that every team can do that. And it ESPECIALLY doesn’t mean that teams can do it for an extended period of time. The Marlins stunk both years after their World Series championships and really haven’t done much above average in any of their other 15 seasons. The Rays and Brewers, although not terrible, will not be in contention come September this year.
Meanwhile, the teams that spend money like the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels and Braves are in contention for a championship every year. A bad year for them is finishing around .500 and missing the playoffs by a few games. That is a good year for the Brewers, Rays and Marlins amongst many other small market teams.
Brewer management, YOU HAVE TO SPEND DOUBLE WHAT YOU ARE SPENDING NOW IF YOU WANT TO CONTEND FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS! They don’t get it. They think they can be the team that bucks the system.
As for the moves, none of these moves will affect performance the remainder month and a half of the season, but I have a small take on each one. The firing of Castro is ridiculous. There is no pitching coach on this planet that could have succeeded with the hand dealt this year. He was obviously the fall guy. And I don’t see things improving just because Chris Bosio comes on board. Hardy going to the minors is probably good as long as he is not down there long. Let him try to work out of this year-long slump and then bring him back up in September to give him another shot at turning it around at this level before the end of the year. Releasing Hall should have happened last Winter. It was obvious at that time that this guy no longer had Major League stuff. It’s unfortunate. Bill Hall is a great guy and gave it a ton of effort. But it just didn’t work out.
Check out www.songerstudio.com weekly for more editorials on sports and much much more!
Friday, July 3, 2009
New Manager, Same Lousy Concept
I am absolutely baffled by the Milwaukee Brewers. Last year they made a drastic move by firing manager Ned Yost with a few games left in the season. The move seemed to be simply to shake up the team, but later on we found out that ownership had some concerns about coaching decisions which I completely agreed with. I felt that Yost just let his hitters swing for the fences and never tried to manufacture runs. I felt that he did not work on defense enough with young players. I felt that he tried to ride pitchers for too long and didn’t analyze matchups carefully enough.
Now here we are with a new manager and well into the next season. And absolutely nothing has changed. This team still swings for the fences. They are near the top of the league in strikeouts and fly ball outs. They never bunt. They never steal bases. They never hit and run. This results in long offensive droughts where this team really struggles to score and win games.
Now I understand that power is a strength of this team and that you don’t want to run your way out of big innings because you end up hitting solo home runs because your guy got thrown out trying to steal second, but just hold up a second here. How many home runs do Craig Council and Jason Kendall hit. If you have a guy on first when these guys come up, why not try to move that runner up? And bat one of your faster guys like Corey Hart one spot before them in the lineup to set up that situation more often.
Defense continues to be an issue. And we seem to be content with our current pitching situation which in my opinion has already peaked. If we are going to rely on Suppan, Bush and Looper to be our 2-3-4 guys in a pennant race, we might as well do our usual Brewer salute to the better teams in our division and wish them well as we fall back into our usual position with the Pirates.
Now here we are with a new manager and well into the next season. And absolutely nothing has changed. This team still swings for the fences. They are near the top of the league in strikeouts and fly ball outs. They never bunt. They never steal bases. They never hit and run. This results in long offensive droughts where this team really struggles to score and win games.
Now I understand that power is a strength of this team and that you don’t want to run your way out of big innings because you end up hitting solo home runs because your guy got thrown out trying to steal second, but just hold up a second here. How many home runs do Craig Council and Jason Kendall hit. If you have a guy on first when these guys come up, why not try to move that runner up? And bat one of your faster guys like Corey Hart one spot before them in the lineup to set up that situation more often.
Defense continues to be an issue. And we seem to be content with our current pitching situation which in my opinion has already peaked. If we are going to rely on Suppan, Bush and Looper to be our 2-3-4 guys in a pennant race, we might as well do our usual Brewer salute to the better teams in our division and wish them well as we fall back into our usual position with the Pirates.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
What's Going On With The Brewers?
Four weeks ago when the Brewers had dropped to 3-8 I wrote a blog entry on the pathetic Brewers and how this team was destined for a terrible season.
And although there is a long way to go, I will admit this much: I didn’t think they would have a stretch like they have had over the past four weeks at any point in the season. The Brewers have gone 19-6 since that 3-8 start and find themselves in first place in the surprisingly competitive NL Central.
Here is what has impressed me during this run. First, they have won a number of different ways. They have won the way we all thought they would win games this year: by pounding the ball and putting up a lot of runs in spite of bad pitching outings. However, they have also won pitching battles including two 1-0 victories, one in which pitcher Yovanni Guiardo provided his own run support by hitting a home run for the lone score in the game. They have won by jumping out in front and not letting the other team come back and they have also won several games by coming from behind. They have won on the road and at home and against good teams and bad teams.
The second impressive things is the starting pitching. Manny Parra after a terrible start as equalized and kept the Brewers in the games he has pitched. Jeff Suppan has looked terrible against the Cubs and on Opening Day. But in his other five or six starts he has looked very sharp. Brandon Looper has had a couple shaky moments but has been very consistent. And Dave Bush and Yovanni Gallardo have been spectacular. I honestly don’t expect this to continue from all five of these guys but hopefully like my last blog entry, I can be proven wrong.
Most impressive has been the bullpen. How about DeFelice evolving into a heck of a setup guy with an ERA hovering around 1.00. And then the coolest thing is being a fan and knowing that if you have the lead after eight innings, you will win the game. That is the feeling I get when Trevor Hoffman comes into the game. It has been lights out. What a pleasant reversal from last year’s feelings as a fan going into the ninth inning!
And lastly, I’m impressed with the consistency and the winning attitude. It’s almost like this team has learned how to win. That isn’t something we have experienced in Milwaukee over the past 40 years. For the exception of Ryan Braun’s torrid stretch during this winning span and JJ Hardy’s ice cold start, there has not been a lot of inconsistency. A player might go a couple games without a hit or a few without a home run but then they break out of it. It’s been nice to know what you can expect.
Now we’ll see if this continues!
And although there is a long way to go, I will admit this much: I didn’t think they would have a stretch like they have had over the past four weeks at any point in the season. The Brewers have gone 19-6 since that 3-8 start and find themselves in first place in the surprisingly competitive NL Central.
Here is what has impressed me during this run. First, they have won a number of different ways. They have won the way we all thought they would win games this year: by pounding the ball and putting up a lot of runs in spite of bad pitching outings. However, they have also won pitching battles including two 1-0 victories, one in which pitcher Yovanni Guiardo provided his own run support by hitting a home run for the lone score in the game. They have won by jumping out in front and not letting the other team come back and they have also won several games by coming from behind. They have won on the road and at home and against good teams and bad teams.
The second impressive things is the starting pitching. Manny Parra after a terrible start as equalized and kept the Brewers in the games he has pitched. Jeff Suppan has looked terrible against the Cubs and on Opening Day. But in his other five or six starts he has looked very sharp. Brandon Looper has had a couple shaky moments but has been very consistent. And Dave Bush and Yovanni Gallardo have been spectacular. I honestly don’t expect this to continue from all five of these guys but hopefully like my last blog entry, I can be proven wrong.
Most impressive has been the bullpen. How about DeFelice evolving into a heck of a setup guy with an ERA hovering around 1.00. And then the coolest thing is being a fan and knowing that if you have the lead after eight innings, you will win the game. That is the feeling I get when Trevor Hoffman comes into the game. It has been lights out. What a pleasant reversal from last year’s feelings as a fan going into the ninth inning!
And lastly, I’m impressed with the consistency and the winning attitude. It’s almost like this team has learned how to win. That isn’t something we have experienced in Milwaukee over the past 40 years. For the exception of Ryan Braun’s torrid stretch during this winning span and JJ Hardy’s ice cold start, there has not been a lot of inconsistency. A player might go a couple games without a hit or a few without a home run but then they break out of it. It’s been nice to know what you can expect.
Now we’ll see if this continues!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Brewers
Okay Brewer fans, you still think this team is going to do anything this year? It's over everyone. Have you seen this pitching staff? Yovanni Guiardo is a good young pitcher. But he would be a #3 guy on a contender. There is no way this team contends. And didn't we find out last year that this offense which is supposed to be so good is no more than a power hitting team that can't get the big hit and couldn't manufacture a run if their lives depended on it.
Last year was a fluke. Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia carried this team. Without them, this team doesn't even have a winning season. And this year they will be lucky to win 70 games. Get used to it Milwaukee. Get used to many more years as a floor mat for the good teams. Get used to every good player to come up in your system ending up with the Yankees, Red Sox or any other championship franchise that can spend money.
This franchise will never win a championship in my lifetime.
The only thing more guaranteed is the Cubs never winning one either.
Last year was a fluke. Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia carried this team. Without them, this team doesn't even have a winning season. And this year they will be lucky to win 70 games. Get used to it Milwaukee. Get used to many more years as a floor mat for the good teams. Get used to every good player to come up in your system ending up with the Yankees, Red Sox or any other championship franchise that can spend money.
This franchise will never win a championship in my lifetime.
The only thing more guaranteed is the Cubs never winning one either.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Brewers
I have to admit I was giving up on the Brewers Friday afternoon. But I never should have for one major reasons: they were playing the Cubs. And the Cubs are one francshie that can relate to the Brewers futility over the past many decades. I am for at least one day very happy for Rickie Weeks. This guy gets unfairly slammed by Brewer fans for his lack of living up to potential. Granted he is a belwo average 2nd baseman but he is not terrible. And it's moments like this one where he gets a game-tying double in the bottom of the ninth and then goes to third on a wild pitch that many players would not have advance on and then scores the winning run on a hard hit fielders choice grounder. That's a great moment for Weeks. And maybe it's a sign of great things to come.
Weeks is one of many Brewers that must majorly step up their game this year if they are going to contend. With starting pitching taking a huge step back this year and the bullpen yet to prove themselves, these guy are going to have show a lot of improvement at the plate and in the field.
With that said, nice win Friday night. A character-buliding win. Maybe they can get two out of three this weekend.
Weeks is one of many Brewers that must majorly step up their game this year if they are going to contend. With starting pitching taking a huge step back this year and the bullpen yet to prove themselves, these guy are going to have show a lot of improvement at the plate and in the field.
With that said, nice win Friday night. A character-buliding win. Maybe they can get two out of three this weekend.
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