Wait 'Til Next Year

With just 36 hours since the double collapse of the Red Sox and Braves, the ax appears ready to fall in Boston. It is most likely that Terry Francona will NOT surpass Joe Cronin's franchise record for managerial wins. He could end up in Chicago with the White Sox. Chicago could be the new home of Theo Epstein as well. He may decide to end his second curse of the century and try to coax a title for the Wrigley Faithful. Here's a brief list of thoughts on the seasons of some of the non-playoff teams:
Red Sox Worst case scenario for us? Not at all, we've got massive re-writes in store which could only become worse if Yankees win it all. My guess is Papelbon will be gone and Sox might try to trade Crawford. Does he even want to show his face in Boston this winter?
Braves Last in all the buzz of Bosox collapse is how epically bad the Braves were down the stretch. Good thing they won in 1995 otherwise everyone's take on this team would be tremendously different. Whatever happened to Jason Heyward?
Giants San Fran truly shows what it means to "catch lightning in a bottle." Their win last year gives Brewers fans like myself hope that they could pull it off. I bet they wish they could re-do Beltran trade. Posey sparked debate about catcher protection, while Miguel Tejada may have played his last game.
Angels They hung around until the last week, but it was an uphill battle all season. Cy Young effort from Jered Weaver who has signed long term. A likely landing spot for Prince Fielder? They've lost out many times on free agent sweepstakes maybe it's finally their time.
Dodgers 82 wins for snake-bitten Don Mattingly. This guy can't catch a break.Two great seasons from Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp. Kershaw favorite to win Cy, Kemp almost wins Triple Crown and 40-40 season. If Braun and Prince split votes he could win an undeserving MVP.
Blue Jays Life in the AL East can't be fun for this 81-win team. Bautista seemed to fade after first half onslaught. A force to be reckoned with in years to come?!
Nationals All signs point up for the former Expos! Strasburg, Harper, Pujols or Prince?!? Davey Johnson at the helm in the nation's capital...a second place finish in 2012...hmmmm.
Indians In it for most of the season until injuries (read lack of depth) and acquisition of Ubaldo Jimenez sabotaged season. Franchise feels it will only get better in always winnable ALC.

Quiet Before the Playoff Storm

Inside Miller Park before Game Three of 2008 NLDS

Talk about a great advertisement before the playoffs...if the country isn't ready for some playoff baseball after Wednesday night they never will be. Just hours away from the start of the 2011 baseball season. There are many reasons that fall is my favorite season and this is one of them! This picture is from my 2008 playoff visit to Milwaukee. The Brewers have clinched home field for the NLDS. They 57-24 at Miller Park including Zach Greinke's 11-0. However, he won't pitch until Game 3 in Arizona when hopefully the Brew Crew has at least one win. In '08 Milwaukee was just happy to be there. This time around there are high expectations. Of course, Johnathan Axford hasn't blown a save since April, so I'm prepared for the law of averages and the worst. GM Doug Melvin was on the radio yesterday, I never realized the 1982 Brewers were the fourth highest paid team in the league. I won't let my Yankee friends in on that piece of info. USA Today ranks Milwaukee #2 out of the eight playoff teams. Yikes. Another kiss of death. Here are my thoughts on the teams involved using the newspapers ratings:
1. Phillies- From perennial doormats to five-time NLE champs. I've long stated this team goes as Rollins goes. However, late season acquisition Hunter Pence could be the breakout player of the playoffs now that he is the main cog in the Phils lineup. Mayberry kind of reminds me of Jayson Werth's first few Phillie seasons. If the rotation performs the way they have all season, it's hard to disagree with the experts that it's their World Series to lose.
2. Brewers- Ryan Braun ranks #10 all-time on the list of most homeruns in first five seasons. Prince Fielder is #11. It would be great to see the Crew take it in Prince's walk year. Braun is signed through 2020 and the rotation is solid so hopefully there are a few more chances for me to fly out to Milwaukee for some playoff baseball. Weeks, Hart, Betancourt will need to provide some fireworks on a steady basis. K-Rod to Axford...fingers crossed!?!
3. Rangers- No Cliff Lee, no MVP-type season from Josh Hamilton, No Vlad Guerrero. But Rangers are back in the playoffs. They won't sneak up on anybody this season. They have a remade pen, Mike Napoli, Kinsler, Cruz, and Nolan Ryan's pitching philosophy. Don't mess with Texas!
4. Rays- The Legend of Longo. I traded Verlander in fantasy for Longoria and Prince. My team was in last place and remained out of it. Longoria's home run was straight out of fantasy, now if only Rays fans would show up for some playoff games. Maddon is a genius! A-rod payroll = $32 mil. Rays payroll = $42 mil. While Manny and Sox watch, Damon adds to his Cooperstown plaque.
5. Yankees- When the Bombers won in '09 we all knew they were the best team, but most agree they are not the best this year. However, they are the Yanks and have won it all with less than 90 win teams.  If they should outslug everyone and win another, I like many Yankee haters will be disappointed. Another Yankee title will lead to massive rewrites of this book. A Diamondbacks-Yankees ten year reunion will be unwatchable for me. Unless Kirk Gibson can pinch hit and homer off of Mariano.
6. Cardinals- Damn you Tony Larussa, Damn you Albert Pujols, Damn you Willie Mcgee! If the Brewers and Cards meet in NLCS it won't be there first playoff battle. The two teams met in the 1982 when I watched Gorman Thomas foul off about hundred balls before succumbing to Whitey Herzog's Cards. A team that should get swept in first round but will most likely be a hard out.
7. Tigers- I'm glad Verlander goes into playoffs with a recent loss. I'm convinced he will lose twice to Yankees. Would love to see him dominate while 2003 Marlin Miguel Cabrera goes wild on Yankees sorry staff. Valverde is another reliever without a blown save, I'm sure the Yankees will him at least once.
8. Diamondbacks- A wonderful worst to first story. But they are playing my favorite team so they won't get any fan interest from me. Built on pitching and D they will most likely beat Brewers or take them to five.

A "Nation" Mourns

Well it appears the Red Sox fortunes have gone full circle. As a matter of fact one could probably say they have a head start on last century. After early century dominance in the 1900's we all know the Sox went into a tailspin after trading the Bambino. A wretched 9-20 September has overshadowed the Atlanta Braves equally bad collapse. With each ending like this Gene Mauch and/or the 2007 Mets move further from memory. This certainly doesn't make writing our book any easier. Just submitted some fun sidebars and glad we did so before Epic fail because I'm not sure I would've had the energy to do. In a strange coincidence our book has been posted on Amazon! We are in the editing stage but it's awesome to see the release date of March 1, 2012. Cyrus knows I wrote a book and can't wait for him to see it. As for the Sox, maybe they'll make a run for CC Sabathia?! He will option out of his contract. As we were watching it unfold I mentioned that this was the best regular season day and Tim Kurkjan went a step further by saying it on TV afterwards. This is undoubtedly the greatest day in MLB regular season history. Would love to pitch the book for this day and the events leading up to it...

Epic Fail.

When the Brewers visited Boston back in June I considered the thought that this could be a World Series preview. After all, in 2009 we saw Phils-Yanks in regular season only to view them in the Fall Classic in October. Well who would've thought the Brew Crew would make the playoffs and not the Sox. It looks like Yovani will be starting Game 1 of LDS vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks. I'm hoping for Rays-Tigers and Brews-Phils in LCS...it'll probably be a ten year anniversary of D'backs and Yanks. In 2009, Shira was pregnant with Cyrus and we drove down to Philly to catch Game 1 of LDS on Yom Kippur. This time around lots of the excitement took place on Rosh Hasanah. Shira has been learning how to use her iPad while Cyrus is now in his big boy bed. We are so proud of him! At the deli last night he was saying, "Go Phillies"!

Wild Card Wednesday

Here come the LDS! But not after the most thrilling day of regular season baseball ever. With 8 games of significance and two dramatic endings on the final day I'm almost ready to forgive Selig for the steroid era. As the Red Sox entered a rain delay they did so knowing the Rays trailed the Yanks 7-0. However, the Rays chipped away as the Triple-A Yanks played. Dan Johnson entered the game to Safety Dance but proceeded to hit a home run to send it to extra innings. As has been the case for much of this summer of book writing, Jon, Rich and I followed the game on our FB page. So we were not stunned when play resumed in Baltimore and the Red Sox choked the season away. In what will most likely be his final game with Boston, Papelbon struck out the first two before pitching Orioles batting practice. Carl Crawford, there's irony for you, failed to make the catch or throw to keep the game tied. Less than ten minutes later, Evan Longoria capped off the comeback with an Epic homer for the ages. Too bad the stadium wasn't packed. With zero playoff match ups set for the ALDS at the start of the night  we now know the Rays will play Texas and Yanks will host Verlander and Tigers. Meanwhile, in the N.L. to much less fanfare from us, the Phillies finished an unnecessary comeback to eliminate the Braves. Atlanta and Boston are now brothers in 2011 misery. Of course, the Brewers made life easier for themselves by winning against the Pirates. They didn't waste the game 162 start by Zack Greinke and prevailed to earn home field advantage over the Diamondbacks and avoid Phils,who get the Cards, in first round. Ryan Braun  played on Rosh Hasanah and Jose Reyes didn't, but anyone who wastes a moment on that story tomorrow is missing the point of this unheard night of baseball. Somebody needs to write a book about this night. of night in baseball. Hmmmmmm....

Clinched!

The Brewers became the first team in MLB history to win a division in both leagues (AL East in '82 & NL Central '11). It's a real thrill to have followed them through both. 29 years...wow that's some wait. From Yount to Braun I've seen it all. Braun came up huge again tonight with leaping catch for double play then clutch homerun. Matt Kemp might have near triple crown and 40-40 but Braun is going to playoffs with Prince, Plush, Weeks, Yovani, Grienke, Axford, and K-Rod! It was very cool how the team watched the Cards-Cubs game with the fans then celebrated afterwards. I felt a wave of nostalgia listening to them in '82 at the bowling alley comeback vs. Angels. I went to Milwaukee in '08, but this time around I'm more hopeful because of the pitching. All right Brewers fans get out your goggles! When I was ten they made it to the World Series can't wait to see how this turns out.

Magic Number?!?

Who would've thought the Brew Crew would have the lowest magic number (11) at this point. only this weekend did I come to the realization that it's looking pretty good for the Brewers. Ryan Braun has taken the batting average lead. He's closing in on 30-30 (27 hrs) and 100 runs and RBI. Here's hoping the pitching, health, and hitting can keep up for some more...