John Axford wins one for the Reds

John Axford took the ball in the bottom of the 9th today, holding a very comfortable 6-3 lead.  After a hit, a walk, a questionable fielding decision by Casey McGehee, and some piss poor pitch placement, the Brewers lost by the final score of 7-6 in the season opener.  These are the Cliff’s Notes……

If you do not want to read me going on a rant, this is your official notcie to stop reading.  The following several paragraphs are the fan in me lashing out.  My apologies to any and all who might not like what I have to say.  You have been warned.

To say that I am disappointeed would be an understatement.  You might be wondering if I am angry, sadly anger does not do it justice either.  This is an absolute OUTRAGE!!  Nothing about the bottom of the 9th was acceptable.  How on earth can you play 81/2 innings of superior baseball, then turn around and give it all back!!!  You DOMINATED the entire game!!!!

What bugs me the most, is Casey McGehee’s decision making.  WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO TAG A RUNNER WHEN YOU COULD JUST THROW IT TO 2ND BASE AND TRY TO TURN A DOUBLE PLAY!!!!!!!!  This is not beer league softball, this is the major leagues.  Field the ball, make the easy play at 2nd and then the second baseman will throw to first.  That leads to a two outs situation.  You know what, Phillips may have run out of the base path, but who cares.  What on earth were you thinking McGehee.  Tell me!!  I am dying to know.

Ax-man, I don’t know what you were doing out there today.  I really have no idea.  Your job as the closer is to throw strikes and record outs.  As far as I can tell, you did neither of those today.  Plus you gave up the game winner…..to the least powerful hitter on the Reds roster!!  Worse even still, he hit it to the opposite field.  If you were trying to do your best Trevor Hoffman impression, it was a tremendous success.  Saito is more than capable of closing games out.  This CAN NOT happen.

Rant Concluded

     Let’s all keep in mind (mostly me) that today’s game only makes up about .06% of the season, but it is still a dagger right in the genitals. 

Game Points

• Rickie Weeks lead of the game with a solo home run.  It was the first time in Brewers history that a batter lead off the season with a home run.  Then Carlos Gomez followed Weeks with another solo home run.  This game could not have started any better for Brew Crew, or for Weeks and Gomez.  I almost pooped my dress slacks.   
• Yovani Gallardo, did not have a great outing statistically.  He gave up 2 runs in 6 innings of work.  That is the most important statistic to me.  By the time Yo left the game, the Brewers had a 5-2 lead.  This game should have been a W for him, not a ND. 
• I still stand by my belief that Mark Kotsay should not be on this team. (0 for 3 at the plate, eventually got pulled)
• Reds Catcher, Ramon Hernandez, was without question the best player on the field today.  His final line is 4 for 5 with a home run and 3 RBI’s.  Plus he kept the game within reach early on.  The first inning could have gotten much uglier for Volquez. 
• If you have not heard how John Axford’s day went, please see above.
• Ryan Braun drew two walks, had a single, and a really long line drive home run to dead center.  Off the bat, I thought it was just a low line-drive that would get caught.  That thing was pulverized.  Braun is so much stronger this year.  Braun could be a one man wrecking ball.
• The teams have tomorrow off, that way the Brewers can stew about this for a full 48 hours.  Nothing get’s a team pumped up quite like a day off after a heart-wrenching loss.

     I would like to apologize for my rant above.  You see, I wrote the “Rant” section of today’s article not more than 4 seconds after I listened to Bob Uecker’s soul explode on live radio.  He was not the only one with broken soul syndrome.  This was some 4 hours before I wrote what you are reading now.

     My passion is something that you will be seeing more of, so I thought I would share this window into my psyche about the Brewers.  My love for them is true…. and probably unhealthy.  I love John Axford and Casey McGehee, and I believe in them as players.  If you are a true fan of this team, then I know you feel as I feel.  It was a hard loss.  Not one to be taken lightly.  Being a fan is embracing the hard times with the good times.  I rant because I love.  My hopes are still very high for this season.  This does put a lump in my throat, but if Marcum goes out and has a good game on Saturday and they get a win……it will hurt a little less.  Then when Randy Wolf goes out there on Sunday………well……….at least we can look forward to Marcum on Satruday. 

     This team is going to score a lot of runs and that is really exciting.  Games will be exciting all year, because our lineup can score a lot of runs….all the time. 

     Mark Kotsay is going to be my whipping boy this year.  Hope everyone like’s Mark Kotsay jokes.  Sorry Mark, it is not personal…..but every team has one. 

     Goodnight everyone.  Tomorrow is April Fools’s Day.  So here is my favorite picture of all time