2011: A Brewers Odyssey

Happy New Year Brewskies and Brewskettes!!  It’s a new year, which means it is time to let go of the pain last year brought us and look to tomorrow.  This is a Brewers team that could do some major damage, in a relatively weak NL Central.  Our mission, if we choose to accept, too embrace the promise of this team.  If you are not excited, you need to check your pills.

This morning, while taking my first shower of 2011, I thought about the Brewers.  Don’t judge me 2011, sometimes I think about the Brewers in the shower.  How dare you judge me, we hardly know each other.  Anyways, here were my first shower thoughts of the new year.

Could Cliff Lee’s decision to go back to Philly help the Brewers keep Prince Fielder and maybe Greinke down the road?  

     It certainly is not out of the realm of possibilities.  Lee’s choice to play where he thought he had the best chance to win, instead of taking the most money, may have helped the Crew in their quest to keep Prince Fielder.  Let’s say the Brewers make it to the NLCS and lose in 6 or 7 games, is Prince really going to want to take a 130 millions dollar deal to play in Baltimore?  Maybe that 5 year 100 million initial offer,  turns into 115-120 million at the end of this season.  Then it is a matter of a few million dollars and playing on a World Series caliber team.  Come on Prince.  The same could be true when Greinke’s contract is up.  He likes the smaller market and he likes winning, so maybe he would stay for a little bit of a home discount.  Now Cliff Lee is in his 30’s, so time is of the essence.  I still would like to think that playing on a contender is worth giving up a little money to play for a garbage team. 

Can Corey Hart and Casey McGehee be the same guys they were last season?

     We sure need them to be!!  Corey Hart has always been sort of streaky, but last year he was more in the hot zone than the cold.  Casey has been pretty solid since the day he showed up on the roster.  Everyone seems to be waiting for him to hit a speed bump, but he just keeps steam rolling along.  If they can match what they did last year, with this new pitching staff, we can win 90 to 100 games.  Prince, Braun, and Weeks will hit many home runs.  If these two can pick up a batonand join in on the bashing parade, the team is going to have no problem winning games this summer.  I predict Hart hits about .275 with 24 HR’s and 90RBI’s and McGehee will clock in at .270, 27 HR’s, and 86 RBI’s.  Sure hope I am right, could be the champagne talking.

Will I find a way to make it to a game this season?

     I am pretty nervous about this.  As many of you know I live in Seattle, which is an American league city so the Brewers play here very infrequently.  My best bet would be to visit my parents in August, or to take a trip to San Fransisco in late July.  Do not despair, I will be able to watch every game, but that is not the same.  This was very troubling to me during shower thinking time. 

What if Roenicke is the re-incarnation of Harvey Kuenn?

     How sweet would that be, right?  “Harvey’s Wallbangers” are a part of Brewers folklore.  Now, of course Harvey was made the manager mid-season and Ron get’s to start fresh, but it’s their personalities that are so similar to me.  Harvey was known for being a no non-sense type of guy, he told you what he thought when he thought it.  Too me, Roenincke strikes that same type of chord.  RR is never going to give us the Ken Macha tap dance, if things are going badly he is going to let us know about it. 

     This is going to be an amazing year for the team we love so well.  It is hard to predict what will happen over the next few months, but barring any major injuries, this is going to be one electric team. 

     In other Wisconsin sports, Let’s Go Badgers!!  Let’s Go Packers!! 

     Until next time, don’t resolve anything to 2011 until 2010 apologizes to you.