6. Brewers At The Break

Today when you watched the All Star Game and see that your Milwaukee Brewers have the two corner outfielders starting for the National League, you have to figure the team has to be at least be .500 or maybe even better.  Nope. They are nine games under .500 and need a remarkable second half to get to the playoffs.

It has been a frustrating season but there are some bright spots like Corey Hart. A player whose jersey I had in 2007 and loved him as a player because he could pretty much do it all. In addition, I tried my best not to give up on him but I did take a lot of shit to the point, I couldn't wear my jersey out in public. I didn't feel like having to defend and I really couldn't say anything positive about him. I am glad I can now wear it with pride and glory. 

Another player that has a great season is John Axford. A guy everyone seemed to fall in love with because of his tremendous mustache including myself because I understand a good stache.  Then when the Crew was losing 10 straight games, Ken Macha decided to throw out Axford for shits and giggles in the 9th inning to close out a game against the Pirates. Now, he is our closer and has been a great one since that time. I hope the Ax man can keep it up for the rest of the season. 

I mean sure it's great Prince Fielder has a bunch of homers, Rickie Weeks is doing well, before the DL Yovani Gallardo made a name for himself, and Casey McGehee isn't suffering the sophomore slump.  Notice, most has been about the offense, the pitching has been the cause for concern and the reason why ball games have been lost at an alarming rate.

Pitching was a problem last season as well when the Brewers finished a disappointing .500.  This led to Doug Melvin busting out the wallet to get Doug Davis and Randy Wolf, which worked out about as good as the Bay of Pigs. Wolf has been alright but he hasn't been a game changer for the Brewers, which I thought he would be. But it's the classic thing about getting excited about a signing your team makes when you probably should just take it for what it is. I was never excited about Davis, I felt we could have done better like the time you see your buddy dating a 4. Granted, he did pitch well in his last start and hopefully he will showcase his talents in the coming weeks for the trade deadline because I would rather see Manny Parra/Chris Narveson than Davis. 

The back end of the bullpen is the reason why we are nine games under .500. If we had cut the cord with Trevor Hoffman earlier in the year, we might not be where we are today.  The Crew have a stunning 11 blown saves already, which is extremely high for this time of the year. I expect about five or six games by now to go wrong in the 9th or later but eleven? They could be right in the thick of things if they stayed the course. I mean when people at the Clubhouse and Twitter joked about how Trevor Hoffman could have cost the National League the game tonight.

I have no idea what will happened in the months of July, August, and September yet I am guessing it will not be how we all want it.  Either Hart or Fielder will be gone by July 31st plus the Brewers will keep hanging around third through fifth unless of an amazing second half run.

-Charlie.

Wearing My Sunglasses At Night Again

Nothing bothers me more than at a professional sporting event where people wear jerseys of guys who aren't on the team or they suck that bad, almost like it's embarrassing to wear the jersey.  After the month of April, I thought that was going to happen to my retro Corey Hart jersey.  Like the LeBron thing, I finally bought in that maybe Hart wasn't the same player as the guy who got to the All Star Game.  Now, the last three weeks have been awesome for all the Hart fans as he has went off like never before.

He is currently leading the National League in home runs with 13 and he is doing it in ways to assist his team such as the walk-off he had Friday night and the first inning Grand Slam on Saturday night. As my buddy Doz texts me "Your jersey keeps looker better and better by each day."  I couldn't agree more and the next chance I get I am wearing my Hart jersey out to show support for him. The guy deserves it from his believers.

Let me take you back to April where everyone wanted him to be shipped out of Milwaukee after a horrendous Spring Training and people were already pissed at him for winning 5 million in arbitration.  The fans jumped on him faster than three fat girls fighting for the last couple Twinkies.  Now, Hart got a standing ovation from the fans on Saturday night before hitting his grand slam. It's fair to say that everyone is on his bandwagon again and hoping for big results from him the rest of the year.

I still think that the jersey might get retired either in July or December.  I mean right now Hart could be a valuable assist to trade if the Brewers are still struggling and it appears they will not make the playoffs.  Then I believe he is a free agent, and if the Crew inks Prince Fielder then there will likely be no money left for Hart. This worries me as a fan but I understand that baseball is a business, sometimes your favorite player will not be back to the team. But I hope that Hart stays as long as he can so I can keep wearing that #1 proudly.

-Charlie.