That’s what I’m talkin’ about!!!

The last nine days have been educational to say the least.  Who knew that the Brewers could hit with runner’s in scoring position?  Certainly not this guy.  People say that you learn something new everyday and the Brewers have made those people accredited fortune teller’s.  I am going to share with you a few things that I learned dating back to last Friday night’s epic walk-off by Prince.

First, the facts:

• The Brewers won 8 of the last 9 home games
• They swept the Rockies and the Nationals
• The Crew scored 51 runs while only allowing 27 in the nine game home stand
• We saw two walk-off wins after not having seen one all season long (Prince Fielder’s two-run home run and Jon Lucroy’s suicide squeeze bunt)
• Zack Greinke hit his first home run as a Brewer
• Yovani Gallardo is now tied for the NL lead in wins, at 7  (7-2 on the season)
• The Brewers are now 5 games over .500 and are just 2.5 games behind the Cardinals

Now, what did I learn:

• The Brewers think that Brandon Boggs is expendable- Very rarely in life are you able to play with fire 3 times and live to tell the tale.  Yet the Brewers continue to proclaim that they would rather let Craig Counsell and Mark Kotsay roll their walkers out onto the field.  Boggs gives us another speedy outfielder with some power and big play potential.  Boggs has two more home runs than Kotsay and Counsell combined, plus his legs are about a decade fresher.  I just can not figure it out.  That kid is a major leaguer who needs some game time.  For whatever reason though, Roenicke just can not get enough Mark Kotsay in that lineup.  To Boggs’ credit, he has accepted all three of his assignements.  Hopefully the kid can see that there is a future for him with this ball club.

• If we could play every game in Miller Park,  the World Series would be in the bag- That is a fact.  We are 21-7 at home.  What are they putting in the bats?  Is it MGD 64 Lemonade (saw an add for that today, thought it was an SNL sketch…jokes on me)?  Because when this team plays in other people’s park’s, they can not drive in runs.  If they can just figure that piece out, we might really have something special boys and girls.  When this pitching staff is on point, they are on of the best in all of baseball.  Watching them play over the last week has been surreal, like reverse deja vu.  I envisioned them being this good the day we traded for Greinke and now I can see it unfolding, you see…reverse deja vu.  I dreamed of this.  Baseball is one of those sports where home field advantage can be non-existent, but the Brewers seem to have figured it out.  Just in time to, because I will be in Miller Park on Thursday June 9th when they take on the Mets.

• If you leave Marcum in for too long, he can self-destruct–  This was a tough lesson to learn.  After 6 solid innings on Friday, Marcum started to loose some velocity on his fastball.  Which can be problematic when your fastball tops out around 89mph.  Shaun was still holding his own into the 7th, but when things got a little shaky Roenicke left Marcum in there and it cost everyone the win.  Giving up a Grand Slam to a kid who was getting his first major league start, is a really tough way to end your day.  This incident was not Marcum’s fault it was just a mismanagement on Roenicke’s part.  Once the bases were loaded, they should have brought in the reliever, but Ron had faith in his guy.  Normally I would applaud such devotion, but in this case…it was the wrong call.  This was really the only blemish of this entire home stand and the team almost won this game anyway.  That is a perfect lead in for the next thing I learned…

• I don’t trust Ed Sedar’s judgement– On Friday night, he made two extra questionable calls at third base.  This was the same game we referenced above, a Brewers lose to the tune of 5-4.  The only loss of the 9 game road trip could have easily been avoided.  In the bottom of the 5th inning, Rickie Weeks is on 2nd base and Ryan Braun hits a fly ball to left field.  Now, even in little league they tell you not to make the third out at third base.  This scenario is even more bizarre when you consider that the fly ball was hit to left field…which is not very far away from third base.  When I saw Rickie take off on the catch, it was pretty obvious that he was going to be thrown out, and indeed he was.  That killed a rally with Prince Fielder stepping up to the plate.  Sedar made the call for Rickie to tag up and it was a huge mistake, but it is weak in comparison to blunder number two.  In the bottom of the 8th inning the bases were loaded when Jon Lucroy knocked a hard single by the shortstop.  Braun scored easily from third base, but Sedar decided he was going to waive Fielder around to score too.  Now, even a blind house cat who knew nothing of the game of baseball coud tell that there was not a chance that Prince was going to beat ANY throw.  This was just a horrible judgement call by Sedar.  If it was Gomez, Weeks, or Morgan… then yeah maybe you try and push your luck a little bit.  When Giants outfielder Cody Ross fielded the ball, Fielder had not even touched third base yet.  Then Fielder has no other choice but to come crashing into the catcher, which could have injured Prince and then what?  This out at the plate killed another rally in a one run game.  Aggressive does not mean stupid Ed.

• Nyjer Morgan should be the everyday center fielder and bat 2nd–  This is not anything new if you read this blog regularly.  I have never really been confident in Carlos Gomez as an everyday player.  The kid has amazing skills in the outfield, but is just not adequate with the bat in his hand.  T. Plush gives us all of the same options that Gomez does; bunting, legging out infield hits, and stealing bases.  Morgan seems to act as a spark plug for this team and to ignore that would be foolish.  Nyjer has started two of three games since being activated from the DL.  This is a no-brainer.  The only time Nyjer should be pulled in favor of Gomez is against left-handed pitching.  Let’s all put this experiment to bed.  You know what happens when you don’t cut off experiments when you should?  Zombie invasions.  Carlos Gomez = Zombie Invasions

Tomorrow could be a very scary day.  This team got man-handled the last time they played at Great American Ball Park.  There is no need to re-hash those first horrible days of this season.  So, let’s leave it alone.  Let’s just try and keep our expectations realistic.  Narveson is pitching tomorrow, so things could get ugly.  At least we have a 2.5 game lead on the Reds in the division.  This could be the perfect time to play Cincy though, they have been in a tailspin the last 10 days or so going 2-8.  Meanwhile, the Brewers have gone 8-2 in the last 10 games, and that can only increase our confidence going into this series.

Colin better have put at least $10 on the Brewers while he was in Vegas this week.  On second thought, I should have called him and had him put down $20 for me.  Poop.

If you have not already submitted your caption for the “Brewers Closed Caption Contest”, click here and allow the comedian in you to win you some free Brewers schwag.  Just make a good joke about Jon Lucroy touching Zack Greinke’s a–, and you could get something for free.  Sounds like a no-brainer to me Brewers faithful.

To everyone who reads this, have a safe and Happy Memorial Day.  A special thank you to all of our service men and women, especially my grandfather’s; Louis V. Olsen and Ronald Selvick.  Both gone, but always remembered for their service and dedication to all that we hold dear.  This country only exists because of the bravery of so many, and the least that the government can do is give every one a day off in your honor.  So I thank you again, for the free day off from work.  U-S-A!!  U-S-A!!  U-S-A!!