The Eve of the Brewers 2011 Playoff run

First, lets start with real news.  The Brewers set their playoff roster earlier this afternoon.  There are no real surprises, Roenicke chose rookie Taylor Green over veteran Josh Wilson off the bench and took Marco Estrada over Tim Dillard.  If you ask me, these were no brainers.  Josh Wilson hadn’t hat a hit since August and Tim Dillard is nothing special.  Taylor Green provides the team with a little pop off the bench and a nice defensive option.  Marco Estrada earned his spot on this roster months ago, when he came out of no where in Spring Training to make several spot starts this season.  While Estrada has not been terrific in the pen, he would probably only be used in long-relief situations anyway.  Let’s all hope we see very little Marco Estrada this October.

Yovani Gallardo has been really good over the past three games.  His ERA was 1.77 and he had 36 K’s, so he looked pretty good.  The truth is (and I wrote an article titled this), I don’t trust Yovani Gallardo right now.  I think that he will prevail tomorrow because of his prowess at Miller Park.  We must also remember that even though he took the lose in Game 1 of the 2008 NLDS, he did not allow an earned run.  We (by which I mean me) have to keep in mind that Gallardo can hit.  Yo had a .221 batting average this year, which is only 2 points less than Casey McGehee.  Gallardo has won games by himself in the past, so if ever there was a time for that, it will be tomorrow.

My biggest fear for this team is tightness.  If they play tight and don’t have fun, they are as good as doomed.  Tonight I already watched a stiff Rangers team get blown out of their own park 9-0.  They need to go out and have fun and I know the crowd will help ease any tension.  Our boys are a completely different team in Miller Park and I do not foresee that changing now.  However, they are their own worst enemies.  You know that what I say is true…

Ron Roenicke has been very tight lipped about who sill start at 3rd base tomorrow.  Not sure why.  Jerry Hairston Jr. is the obvious choice.  Until he cools down, you keep playing the hot bat.  Casey McGehee has had a terrible season and he knows it.  The decision should not be surprising to him, so why wait to decide?  I want to see JHJ.  I think he gives this team more consistency and is a very solid glove on the hot corner.  We are trying to win a World Series and McGehee has shown me nothing this season that would lead me to believe he is the best option for the playoffs.  I have said this since about the middle of June, McGehee has regressed and we all need to accept that.  The guy is still one hell of a pinch-hitter though.  He is still an asset, just not…of the everyday variety.

Zack Greinke is going to pitch on Sunday.  I know, I was surprised too.  However, it did not look like he really labored through those innings  on Wednesday.  Four days rest is not an unreasonable amount of time to have to start again.  This week it was made pretty clear that Greinke is calling the shots with Roenicke.  I assume it went something like this:

Zack:  I want to pitch on Sunday.

Ron:  Ok.

This has been “Brewers NLDS Theatre” and their production of The Clubhouse. 

Let’s see, what else?  Oh, Bob Uecker will be throwing out the first pitch tomorrow.  That will be cool for all of us to watch.  It only seems fair that we give Mr. Baseball a World Championship right?  Let’s all hope that Bob throwing out the first pitch is a sign of things to come.  Can’t imagine Brewers baseball without him.  Why doesn’t TBS let each teams radio announcers do the home games?  How sweet would that be?  I mean I do get to listen to Brain Anderson, so that is nice.  Thank you TBS, but I would love to hear Uecker do the game on TV.  It would be like watching Major League, but better.

Ok Brew Crew nation, go get some rest.  Dream of sweet swings and nustachioed things.  Slumber off to a land of walk-offs and a large Bavarian going down a slide.  Prep the Miller Lite in the fridge and get some shut eye.  Tomorrow the real game begins.

Go Brewers!!!!