Carlos Gomez: I think I’m in love. (Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)

You were enduring the calm before the storm. The referee had all but sounded the gun for the 162-leg marathon. Your winter jacket was probably still prominently displayed on the coat rack. Francisco Rodriguez was not a Brewer.

Now, imagine yourself on March 31, listing off the, say, fifty players that would lead the league in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) come two-plus months from the date.

Miguel Cabrera? Awesome then and awesome now. Mike Trout? Same. Joey Votto? Yup.

Now raise your hand if you would have not only had Carlos Gomez in that list, but at the top of it.

Contrary to the odds, Gomez leads Major League Baseball with a WAR of 4.2. Repeated: Gomez leads all of baseball with a WAR of 4.2. Damn right the man deserves his own bobblehead!

Through 63 games, Gomez has ascended to the top of the league and into my girlfriend’s heart (I’m sometimes convinced she likes him more than me, but it’s justified, probably) not only on the defensive and base running side, but also at the plate. The speedy center fielder leads the team in homers, runs, slugging, isolated power, and swings that lose his helmet.

Gomez’s bat and speed often come into play when he gaps one and legs out a triple (Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports)

What’s truly incredible about Gomez’s feats is his long-awaited fulfillment of the dreaded “p-word”: potential.

For years, since his days with as a prospect with the Mets through his time with the Twins, Gomez has shown signs of brilliance and raw ability to go along with signs of, bluntly, bad baseball. Questionable base running, poor at-bats, and terrible hacks plagued Gomez for years. Years.

A few minor swing adjustments and a .960 OPS later, Gomez has ascended to becoming the most valuable player in all of baseball. For Gomez, it has been a mixture of stellar defense (his 11.6 fielding runs above average are tops in baseball), stealthy base running and speed (13 steals, eight triples), and an offensive outbreak (.326/.366/.594). All three phases considered, you’d be hard-pressed to find any player who’s been more productive to their team through the first one-third of the season.

Granted, there are still just under two-thirds of the season left. Expecting MVP-level production from Gomez for one hundred more games may be a bit far-fetched, but this Carlos Gomez is here, and here to stay. He’s one of few players in the game that contributes at a high level in every possible facet of the game. Gomez brings an energy to the club that doesn’t translate to his WAR–a sense of high intensity to each at-bat and hustle to chase down each fly ball. His play, along with that of Jean Segura, have been the consistent bright spots in what has been predominantly a rough start for the Brewers.

In the field, Gomez has been even better than in years past in which he was already considered on of the game’s top center fielders. His Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) of 11.6 leads all players. His RngR (runs above average based on range) is the highest in the game at 11.3. The only player to make more plays out of his “zone” than Gomez is Hunter Pence (Milwaukee’s Jean Segura and Ryan Braun rank tied for second and fourth, respectively). His robbing of a Carlos Gonzalez would-be home run still ranks as one of the top plays made this season.

Gomez has undoubtedly asserted himself as a deserving All Star and has made sure that, next year on March 31, his name is include in that list among the top players in baseball.

The smile of a true leader. (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)

2010 was also the season that Hernandez won the American League Cy Young Award.

With 13 wins.

The case of King Felix provides a proper transition into digressing upon the subjectivity and, to put in bluntly, the uselessness of wins as a stat for pitchers.

Within the confines of the 2013 Milwaukee Brewers, Kyle Lohse examples this notion to its full extent. Lohse has been the Brewers’ top starting pitcher, posting a 3.53 earned run average and 3.77 FIP, both tops among Milwaukee starters.

Yet, the first stat shown following the score in the game recap, one of the pitching triple crown categories, and the number by which the careers of most pitchers are assessed shows that Lohse really hasn’t been worthy of much praise.

Kyle Lohse has one win.

Through seven weeks, does this void the value of signing Kyle Lohse? I mean, he won 16 games last season and has one this year, right? Start the mob! Incite the riot! Send Kyle Lohse back to St. Louis where he’ll throw complete game shutouts!

Or come to grips that using wins as a primary way to assess a pitcher’s value makes less sense than asking Bob Uecker to run a marathon.

Wins are not only dependent on how well/poor the starting pitcher pitches on any given day, but also subject to the opposing starter’s performance, the offensive production, any defensive miscues behind the starter, pitch count, managerial decisions, and the bullpen performances of both teams.

For Lohse in 2013, seemingly all of these have gone the wrong way for Lohse.

Lohse holds a 1-4 record, but his ERA would indicate anything but that (Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)

On April 12 at Busch Stadium, he surrendered only six baserunners and two runs in seven innings, yet the Cardinals limited Milwaukee to two hits and no runs over nine innings as Lohse took his first loss as a starter. At the time, it was arguably the top start for any Brewers starter to that point…yet Lohse lost.

Furthermore, Lohse has posted career-high LOB% and BB/9 through seven starts (entering Tuesday night’s start in Pittsburgh) in addition to his highest K/9 rate since 2006. These, along with a FIP that ranks among the top 50 in Major League Baseball, are far more effective in assessing Lohse’s value.

Rather simply, Lohse has just been unlucky this season–arguably the unluckiest pitcher in all of baseball. Repeatedly he has been “squeezed” by home plate umpires, seemingly more so than other starters(on May 3, what should have been an inning-ended strike three according to Pitch F/X and Lohse himself was called a ball, and Matt Holliday took advantage of the new life by blasting a two-run homer off the scoreboard).

In his four losses, Lohse has been the recipient of three runs of support. Outside of a seven-run outburst against San Diego, the offense has provided Lohse with seven runs in six starts.

Good news for Lohse and the Brewers is that, over the course of 162 games, this pattern won’t stay the same. He won’t face Shelby Miller or Adam Wainwright or Clayton Kershaw every fifth day. There’s a Barry Zito or Edwin Jackson in there somewhere. The offense won’t average 2.0 runs per game for him all season. The #LohseLeadership is just too strong.

Once the wins begin to balance out the losses, though, it still won’t even serve as the determining factor for Lohse and for pitchers in general. While it’s nice to register as the winning pitcher, the game of baseball is just so crazy, so unpredictable that they serve far down on the register of ways to evaluate a pitcher.

Just ask Felix Hernandez and his mantelpiece.

Good job, good effort, David Freese. (Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)

Major League Baseball did not take to any league-wide celebrations as is done on Jackie Robinson Day, Independence Day, and September 11.

But just because the head honchos didn’t mandate each team to wear off-colored jerseys with the team’s nickname plastered across the chest in Spanish, there was nothing to hold back those players passionately influenced by the cultural movement of Cinco de Mayo.

Let’s take a look at which players celebrated Cinco de Mayo this season by arriving at the ballpark, playing baseball, and leaving donning a sombrero, whether it be the regular, value menu sombrero (three strikeouts), the golden sombrero (four strikeouts), or the platinum sombrero (five whiffs).

Sombreros!

Daniel Nava (BOS): 0-4, 3 SO

Stephen Drew (BOS): 1-4, 3 SO

Chris Parmelee (MIN): 0-3, 3 SO, 1 BB, 1 R

Oswaldo Arcia (MIN): 1-4, 3 SO

Tyler Moore, jack of all trades. (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)

Tyler Moore (WAS): 1-4, 3 SO, 1 HR, 3 RBI

David Freese (STL) (!!!!!): 0-5 (!!), 3 SO, 6 LOB (!!!), retribution for Shaun Marcum’s hung changeups.

Dexter Fowler (COL): 0-5, 3 SO

Jason Castro (HOU): 0-3, 3 SO, 1 BB, #Verlanderd

Golden Sombreros!

AJ Pierzynski: 0-4, 4 SO

Platinum Sombreros!

Congratulations! Nobody sucked that much today!

Two of the three pictured (Segura and Betancourt) appear in the upper levels of the power rankings, while Rickie Weeks slumps toward the bottom. Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

consecutive scoreless innings on offense, immediately rebounded and started a nine-game winning streak, and, pending the outcome of the month’s final game, are 13-11 through the month of April.

Here at Reviewing the Brew, I’ll be power ranking the individual Brewers based on overall performance over the course of the month–offense, defense, base running, pitching, big hits, and so on. This past month was April. So here is April’s edition of Reviewing the Brewers!

(Stats not including game on April 30)

1. Jean Segura

2. Carlos Gomez

3. Kyle Lohse

4. Jim Henderson

5. Ryan Braun

6. Yovani Gallardo

Folk hero, Yuni B. (Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports)

7. Yuniesky Betancourt

8. Norichika Aoki

9. Brandon Kintzler

10. Marco Estrada

11. Tom Gorzellany

12. Marco Estrada

13. Jonathan Lucroy

14. Hiram Burgos

15. Wily Peralta

16. John Axford

17. Burke Badenhop

18. Martin Maldonado

19. Alfredo Figaro

20. Khris Davis

Blake Lalli has one hit with the Brewers, but it was pretty well-timed. (Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports)

21. Michael Gonzalez

22. Logan Schafer

23. Alex Gonzalez

24. Blake Lalli

25. Rickie Weeks

26. Josh Prince

27. Mike Fiers

Victor Roache: The Legend Begins (MLB.com)

turned out to be Sunday night, and the Brewers may be lucky that it was made as a member of their organization.

Moments before Milwaukee drafted Roache with the 28th overall selection in the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft, the 21-year-old was set to announce he was going to the Boston Red Sox three picks later.

“I ran into the kitchen to tell my mom, thinking I was going to Boston,” Roache said, “just to find out right after that Milwaukee actually took me.”

After a hamstring injury kept the Brewers first round selection in extended spring training in Arizona, Roache joined the Timber Rattlers three weeks into the season; unable to play  last summer and fall because of a wrist injury that held him out for seven months, it made Sunday the professional debut for Roache.

On the second pitch he saw in his first at-bat, the 6-foot-2, 230 lb. outfielder launched a pitch well over the fence in left-center for a home run.

Welcome to the Brewers organization, Victor Roache.

Roache (right) celebrates his first career home run. (Ron Page/Post-Crescent)

“It was definitely not the thing I expected. I was just trying to put the barrel on the ball and get that first hit out of the way. Luckily, I was able to catch it pretty good and it went out.”

Thus, the legend was born, I guess.

Three innings later, he made the play of the game on defense, flipping over the wall in foul territory at full-bore while holding onto the ball. Known for his power bat, it showed another dimension of Roache’s game he’s been steadily working on.

“I thought I had more room than I did,” Roache said.

Well, the fact of the matter is that Victor Roache made room on that play. He landed hard on the concrete path on the opposite side of the fencing, saying after the game that his knee was still hurting “a little bit”.

He also walked and scored a run on a Clint Coulter sacrifice fly in the third inning to punctuate his debut.

There was much buzz around the Brewers organization upon hearing the news of Roache’s #AbsoluteBomb in the first inning, as expected. MLB.com ranked him as the Brewers seventh overall prospect before even appearing in a professional game. Much of this buzz was drawn from his achievements at Georgia Southern University; as a sophomore, he won Southern Conference Player of the Year after batting .326 and slugging 30 homers.

Any concerns over any possible loss of power in his swing after the surgery were put down by Roache, who doubles quick hands with impressive bat speed. His wrist, along with the hamstring that was banged up in late-March are “100 percent”, said the top power-hitting prospect in the 2012 draft.

Not only did Milwaukee add an elite prospect to the mix, but a consummate professional. At 21 years, Roache carries himself like a seasoned veteran, instantly bonding with teammates and fielding all questions with a upbeat vibe and a wide smile upon arrival to Wisconsin. Roache made a concerted effort to introduce himself to this 17-year-old reporter post-game, before fielding all questions. The first of many post-game interviews for The Legend to come, hopefully.

Roache joined a low class-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers team featuring fellow 2012 first round picks Clint Coulter (27th overall) and Mitch Haniger (38th overall).

“Sitting out is tough when you want to play with these guys. You hate being injured, but it’s great playing again. It’s a great group of guys.”

The young group of Timber Rattlers have hopes of climbing up the organizational ladder together, with the ultimate goal in mind. Roache asserted that the only way to achieve these goals is to stay on the field and remain healthy.

Returning from those nagging injuries, Roache began his promising career in grand fashion on Sunday in Appleton.

Let’s be glad that his promising career will be for Milwaukee. And not Boston.

Brewers management introduces Coulter (left) and Roache (right) last summer.

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

18 of the 25 players on the Timber Rattlers active roster are members of the Brewers’ 2012 MLB Amateur Draft class, including each of their first four picks. Through just 13 games, they are showing exactly why there are high hopes for the group of first-year pros.

Among these names are the team’s three first round draft picks, Victor Roache, Clint Coulter, and Mitch Haniger; Tyrone Taylor, taken in the second round; fourth-rounder Tyler Wagner, fifth-rounder Damien Magnifico, and twelfth-round selection and Oak Creek native Eric Semmelhack.

In front of 2,487 at Time Warner Cable Field on Sunday night, outfielder Roache–taken with the 28th overall selection last summer–had a profound professional debut. In the bottom of the first, he lined the second pitch he saw off the scoreboard in left-center for a two-run home run.

Roache, along with fellow 2012 draftee Adam Giacalone, was activated and joined the team Sunday morning after remaining in Arizona for extended camp for a hamstring injury that set him back a few weeks.

Roache (right) celebrates his first professional homer with Michael Reed (17). (Ron Page/Post Crescent Media)

Coulter + Haniger = Absolute bombs.

“Sitting, being injured is tough when you want to play with these guys,” Roache said after the game, “You hate being injured, but it’s great playing again. It’s a great group of guys.”

After a period of trading away prospects for major league talent and draft picks that never panned out, seeing the future take the field every day provides for a refreshing scene.

“What Milwaukee’s doing in their low and high A-ball clubs is great. Maybe three, four guys in the lineup today will be playing in the bigs in four years,” one scout told me minutes before Roache’s home run.

You have to look no further than the outfield for manager Matt Erickson’s Timber Rattlers to see what’s taking shape in the lower levels. Roache, Haniger, Taylor, and 2011 fifth-rounder Michael Reed comprise an outfield ripe with talent.

Erickson noted the boost that the returns of Roache and Giacalone bring to the lineup.

“[They] add more of a threat to our offense, definitely. Victor gives us four guys in the outfield that could hit at the top of any lineup at this level.”

The return of Roache is, indeed, not only a large boost to the Rattlers, but also to those keeping tabs on the Brewers farm system.

Ranked as the seventh prospect in the organization prior to even playing a game, Roache missed seven months with a wrist injury. He asserts that he hasn’t lost any of his power. There were worries when he didn’t make the trip to Appleton with the rest of the team at the outset of the season because of a nagging hamstring, but all setbacks are behind him now.

Much like how the early-to-mid 2000′s core of the Brewers came up together–names like Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, and JJ Hardy–that is much of what is in place now.

“Having everyone here now is awesome. We’ve all had time to gel and now actually being on the same team brings us closer together,” said Coulter, who has exclusively been working at catcher, though there remains questions as to if the Brewers will move him or not with Jonathan Lucroy’s success.

“It’s hard to predict the future,” he added, “so the key is to try to stay healthy. When you’re not playing, you’re not getting better.”

Many of the team’s picks from the 2012 draft stayed in touch in the off-season through social media, texting, and team events.

“Me, Clint, Mitch, Tyrone, all the rest of the guys are all good friends now. Hopefully that’s something we can carry through for a while,” Roache said of the team chemistry. As did Coulter, he also noted the importance of remaining healthy.

The Brewers organization should pray for them to stay healthy because, if they do, expect a lot more moments like Roache’s dramatic entrance Sunday and for the rest of the future faces of the Brewers.

The Yuni B grand slam owns the top spot on the “WHAT THE **** JUST HAPPENED” leaderboard through 14 games.

Quite possibly the most harshly-critiqued Brewer not named John Axford in the last three seasons, Betancourt has been the spark plug behind the team’s current four-game win streak, which including a three-game sweep of the reigning World Champs.

Over those four games, Betancourt had a base hit and an RBI in each game, all-in-all going 5-for-11 at the plate and driving in eight runs.

Though Ryan Braun’s two-run homer end the club-record 32 inning scoreless streak and captured all the magic and headlines and glamour, his feat would have merely been the only salvaging moment in a gut-wrenching sweep. Instead, Betancourt tied the game up in the top of the ninth with an RBI double, plating Carlos Gomez. The Brewers pulled out the win in extra innings, and the  rest was, err, history(?).

For those accustomed to Yuni B’s first-pitch swinging antics and ground ball-botching, his rope to score Gomez would have been WAR-y enough (Related: I’m getting incredibly analytic into sabermetrics and stuff here).

But nope. Yuni must have been paying attention in physics to the unit of circuits and electricity and was, thus, motivated into becoming a week-long spark plug for his team.

Apr 14, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Yuniesky Betancourt (3) hits an rbi double that ties the game against the St. Louis Cardinals during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. The Brewers defeated the Cardinals 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

His grand slam off of Barry Zito on Tuesday was, evidently, the determining factor in a 10-8 Brewers victory over San Francisco; his wall-scraping homer got the Brewers on the board on Wednesday in addition to a fifth inning sacrifice fly propelled Milwaukee to a 4-3 victory; and he drove in yet another run with a single in the series rubber match.

So what I’m saying is this: Betancourt–the ever-so-maligned Yuniesky Betancourt–came up as the most consistent contributor during the team’s four-game win streak. His defense has been respectable at first base, even. Two homers, eight RBI, a grand slam, an incredibly clutch intentional base on balls require credit to be given where credit is due.

I’m pickin’ up good vibrations, Yuni B. Well done, kid.

#FreeWily (David Banks-USA TODAY Sports)

Peralta.

Peralta baffled Cubs hitters through six and two-thirds innings, striking out five. He surrendered two earned runs after exiting the game in the seventh after throwing only 94 pitches when noted LOOGy Michael Gonzalez came in to face left-hander Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs and threw three pitches: two erratic balls and a flat slider that fell for a two-run double.

Arguably, it was the best start of the season for any Brewers pitcher, even with the trouble Peralta fell into in the seventh. Why? Let’s take a glance.

Command & Delivery

Peralta didn’t fall into any trouble getting behind batters, throwing 18 of 29 first-pitch strikes. He walked Rizzo twice (the only two free passes issued), but was missing low and, for the most part, it was a case of Rizzo not chasing close pitches.

On a cold night, Peralta relied primarily on his fastball (we’ll touch on this later), which he attacked batters with. He commanded the inner half all night. He made three to four “mistake” pitches, though none were completely awful, and only one of which was turned around for a base hit.

Peralta’s large frame isn’t the only reason for his exceptional velocity. He works out of a three-quarter arm slot and puts his whole body into each pitch. That, mixed with an effective, heavy two-seamer, created a 6:1 GB/FB rate on Tuesday.

Grade: B

After letting two runners on in the third and a talk from Lucroy, Peralta got an easy grounder off the bat of Alfonso Soriano to avoid any runs. (David Banks-USA TODAY Sports)

Fastball

With the temperatures so cold that the Ninja Brewers came out at Wrigley, Peralta kept the fastball buzzing. He opened up around 92-93 mph, topping out at 94 in the first inning. From the second inning forward, he lived between 93-96, not losing any of the velocity as the game went deeper.

The two-seam/sinker was Peralta’s best pitch on Tuesday. It was the main inducer of those 12 grounders and Yuniesky Betancourt’s 12 related nightmares after the game. Usually buzzing in around 95 mph, batters never got full extension on it. In the second inning, he threw four consecutive two-seamers to Nate Schierholtz–all strikes–and got the fourth one in on Schierholtz’s hands that led to a lazy fly ball.

Over 29 innings last season, Peralta threw fastballs just over 70 percent of the time. Last night, 37 of his first 40 pitches (93%) were heaters.

The movement on both Peralta’s two-seam and four-seam was incredible. The two-seam tailed in and dove right at the hands of right handers. It was heavy and effective.

In full counts, Peralta went to the two-seamer most of the time. Missed close on a 3-2 offering to Rizzo, but froze Brent Lillbridge on a 96 mph pitch that painted the black. Got into trouble when he left the four-seam over the middle to outer half of the plate.

Grade: A

Off-Speed

The off speed arsenal includes a diving slider and a changeup.

Possibly due to the cold, Peralta’s use of the change was limited, but effective. He didn’t throw one until the second time through the order, and it wasn’t put in play until Schierholtz was way out in front of one, grounding out to third to start the fourth.

Peralta’s slider wasn’t as sharp as we’ve seen, but didn’t get him into big trouble. Kept it down in the zone and starting mixing it in more

Ron Roenicke took Peralta out after 6 2/3, after which the game went downhill for Milwaukee. (David Banks-USA TODAY Sports)

in the fourth and fifth innings. In the seventh, nearly 33% of his pitches were sliders. Stayed in the mid-80′s, a good drop off from the hard fastball he was featuring.

Possibly his best at-bat of the day came against Wellington Castillo in the second. He touched 96 on three consecutive fastballs before putting Castillo away with a slider just out of the zone that drew a weak, protective swing and a miss.

After getting ahead with the fastball, Peralta could go to work with the slider.

Grade: B+

Summary: 

Wily Peralta deserved a win on Tuesday night. His defense turned a would-be double play grounder into an error that put runners on second and third, which led to an unearned run scoring on a weak grounder. He didn’t get the chance to finish the seventh, as Gonzalez determined that Peralta would get a no-decision for the night. Had a good feel for the game and pitch sequencing. Worked the two-seam in on right handers effectively.

Overall Grade: B+

HE’S BACK. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

Today, the Brewers announced they called up Prince to join the team.

Josh Prince, that is.

Don’t tell that to the guy–we’ll call him “Ned”–at the Milwaukee County Zoo today.

While at the humble abode of the reptiles, Ned was scrolling through his Twitter feed on his phone, when something caught his eye. I have no sixth sense, but I have a feeling he read something along the lines of “Brewers call up Prince after the injury to Aramis Ramirez”.

This made Ned very excitable.

“Holy crap, Prince is back on the Brewers!?!?” He exclaimed to his presumed significant other.

“Prince…?”

“Fielder!” He replied.

She probably should have dumped him on the spot.

Ain’t that a beauty? (Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports)

This made me sad.

I do not think that baseball is the worst and so the article was, thus, not my favorite baseball column I read that day–though the clever use of sarcasm by King helped to not completely ruin my mood.

With the season opening up for Milwaukee tomorrow, below are 20 reasons why Brewers baseball is the best.

20. Tailgating

When you can see the smoke rising from the grills while cruising down I-94, it’s a good sign. Why? Because that signifies that it’s baseball season.

19. Khris Davis

Forget about his long swing and raw power, the Brewers are lucky to have Khris Davis on the Opening Day roster because they have a guy named Khris on the team. TAKE THAT, 1927 YANKEES.

18. Live Tweeting Brewers Baseball

Because there are jokes to be made about a five pitch Yuniesky Betancourt at bat.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a fanbase on Twitter with more educated, quick-witted, and funny fans than Milwaukee’s. If you need some baseball humor in your life, take a trip to see some of the folks I follow for entertainment during games. It will be worth it.

RUN, WIENERS, RUN. (Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports)

17. Racing Sausages

I mean, people dressed up as edible meat run around the warning track in a competitive race. Never change, Milwaukee baseball. Never change.

16. The Dramatics

One of the pure joys of baseball is its twists and turns, the ability for any single pitch to impact the outcome of the game. Especially with last year’s bullpen, the Brewers had more than their fair share of dramatics, both for and against the team. You gotta love it.

15. The Prospects

See all those guys on the Opening Day roster? Yeah. They were prospects once.

14. Opening Day

Opening Day is the most magical day of the year. Every team is in first. Even the Cubs. There’s hope, and bratwurst, and real-life, actually important Brewers baseball being played. It’s pretty awesome, you should check it out.

13. Bob Uecker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5uam1sm4dU

I love you, Bob.

12. (Friendly?) Bonding

Because giving random strangers high fives after hitting a homer or winning a game is epic.

11. The New Dew Deck Rock Climbing Wall

Wait, nevermind. Don’t get excited over this. It’s really not the best.

10. Pregame Funnies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZYUUs6oGJ0

And this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IimDpk09wpc

And this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_YK9wVK6IQ

9. Sabermetrics

I DECLARE WAR.

8. Brewers-Cardinals and Brewers-Cubs

The kind folks at Miller Park have made a concerted effort this off-season to fix the ribbon lights to exact specifications when the Cardinals come to town.

Hello to you, Ryan. (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

7. Ryan Braun

Enjoy, Brewers fans. We get to watch one of the best in the game do what he does best every day. It’s something that shouldn’t be taken for granted. OPS’s like that don’t come around too often! #HebrewHammer

6. Yuniesky Betancourt

Guess who’s back, back again. Yuni’s back, tell a friend.

You’re my friend (I’d hope). Yuni’s back!!!!

5. Bobble, Baby, Bobble

This year, the Brewers announced eight bobblehead games–two more than the usual six they have. The all-fan bobbles this year feature Norichika Aoki, George Scott, Corey Hart, Ryan Braun, Carlos Gomez, Polish sausage, Hank Aaron, Harvey Kuenn, Gorman Thomas, and Ben Oglivie.

4. #Fundamentals

Ron Roenicke is the manager, which means lots of sac bunting! Woohoo!

3. Roll Out the Barrel

As of Monday during the middle of the seventh, it’s back! Rejoice, Milwaukee, and sing a song that reflects the brewing industry around which our city makes money!

2. Five County, Five Day

I’m not sure if anyone gets as excited for the 5 county, 5 day promotion that sells half-priced tickets to residents of the five local counties (that pay for Miller Park in tax form), but it’s great. It’s even better when the Brewers win. I like that, too.

1. It’s Baseball. 

90 wins and a division title or 60 wins and lousy play, it’s still baseball. And baseball is awesome. It’s the best. Which, I guess, makes Brewers baseball the best, too.