Episode 54 "David Riske Edition"

Breakdown of The Show:

Wild Card Mania Running Wild! 0:00-38:00
Break
NL MVP Race (Braun, Cutch, Posey) 38:00-58:00
Break
Preview/Chalet Award Winner 58:00-1:01:00

And Suddenly It Was Over

As I watched the last few innings of game 6 last night with no real hope of a Brewers comeback in sight I was upset. I wasn't quite fuming with rage, but I was about as pissed off as I could be without screaming expletives and throwing things at my TV. I would say it was more like bottled up rage. I was trying to play it cool and keep it inside as I was watching the game with my wife, who hates when I yell and scream at the game and my friend, who always plays it cool. The NLCS started with an exciting game 1 that the Brewers won at Miller Park and I felt about as high and confident in the team as I had all season, and that is saying something. But that high and confidence did not last long as the team played pretty awful the rest of the series save for Randy Wolf's outstanding game 4 performance at Busch Stadium.

Then Mark Kotsay was called upon one more time by Ron Roenicke to pinch hit in the 9th inning of game 6 and as I watched him strike out to end the game I came to the realization that I had watched the last out the Brewers would make in 2011 and it was going to be a long winter thinking about what happened in this series and what could have been. But maybe more importantly it was going to be another long, cold and snowy Wisconsin winter before I get to see the Brewers play baseball again. And that might be more depressing than losing the NLCS in 6 games at home to the hated St. Louis Cardinals.

When I went to bed after the game I figured I would wake up today still feeling angry about the way things ended. Specifically the starting pitching, the defense, Braun & Fielder's lack of hitting vs the Cardinals and of course Ron Roenicke's decision to start Shaun Marcum for a third time after he had been destroyed his previous two starts and clearly had NOTHING left. But to my surprise I woke up with a different outlook. I felt much more sad and disappointed in the way the season ended, but joy over the thought of the journey. The biggest reason is I remembered all the awesome things that happened to the Brewers in 2011. Of course years down the road when Brewers Nation talks about the 2011 team it will always be brought up how they lost the NLCS to the Cardinals.

But Brewers Nation will also talk about clinching the NL Central Division title at home, I was there and it was amazing. Brewers Nation will also talk about the thrilling game 5 victory in the NLDS, I was also at that game and it was an absolutely insane moment I won't ever forget. Sharing that with my wife our friends and a bunch of random strangers was incredible. Brewers Nation will also talk about the franchise record 96 wins, Braun and Fielder's MVP caliber seasons, all the great pitching performances from Gallardo/Greinke/Marcum/Wolf/Narveson, Fielder's All-Star MVP, Axford's amazing season, the K-Rod trade, the SI cover, all the highlight reel catches in CF from Gomez, Jerry Hairston's hot postseason, everything Nyjer Morgan/Tony Plush did, all the beast mode stuff and so many more things I can't think of now but when I hear them I will say "oh yeah! That was awesome!"

So while the ultimate goal for the Brewers was not reached, that should not take away from what was one of the best seasons in franchise history. It was an incredible ride and with Mark Attanasio, Doug Melvin, Gord Ash and even Ron Roenicke leading the charge I like the clubs chances of sustaining success and making more trips to the playoffs in the upcoming years.

-Jason

NLCS Game 4 Preview UPDATED

Who: Brewers (Randy Wolf) vs Cardinals (Kyle Lohse)
When: Thursday October 13th at 7:05 pm CST
Where: Busch Stadium St. Louis, MO
TV: TBS
Radio: 620 AM WTMJ/540 AM ESPN

Must win. Well, technically game 4 is not a must win for the Brewers in that if they don't, they won't be eliminated. However, if the Brewers can't pull out a game 4 win over the Cardinals they will find themselves down 3-1 and would have to win 3 in a row over a very hot Cardinals team to win this series. It wouldn't be impossible, but it sure is not something they would want to have to try. This series becomes a series again if they can pull it to 2-2 because it would guarantee that the series would head back to Miller Park for game 6 and possibly a game 7.

Randy Wolf pitched awful in his NLDS start vs the Dbacks. His start was on par with the two awful starts by Shaun Marcum in these playoffs. However, Wolf did have some pretty good success vs the Cardinals this season going 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA. Something positive the Brewers can hang their hats on going into game 4. I know it is a simple formula, but I think the two biggest keys to tonight's game, besides NOT starting Mark Kotsay in CF, is to score early vs Kyle Lohse. Get a lead and get some confidence going. Couple that with Wolf tossing a scoreless 1st inning. That has been hard for Brewers starters this postseason. If Randy can do that, maybe string together a few scoreless to start the game I think the Brewers will be in a great position to win tonight.

Roenicke rolled the dice on Wednesday night by making the ridiculous decision to start Mark Kotsay in CF. Now in fairness, Mark did walk twice and hit a solo HR. But his base running mistake and two misplayed balls in the 1st inning were unforgivable. Kotsay was not alone in misplaying a ball in the outfield though, Corey Hart misplayed a ball hit by David Freese that looked like a routine fly out. Hart is not playing well in the field, not hitting and he just looks very slow in everything he does. My hope is that if Roenicke was willing to put Kotsay in CF last night that he will be willing to bench Hart tonight in favor of Kotsay or play Gomez in CF and Morgan in RF. It at least makes the defense better and who knows, maybe brings more offense as neither of those three can hit any worse then Hart is right now.

Just get the series back to Miller Park and good things can and will happen.

-Jason

UPDATE: Just tweeted what I found on Baseball Reference, in Randy Wolf's last two starts at Busch Stadium: 2-0, 16 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 6 K, 2 BB, 0 HR. Comforting. Here is to another stellar outing at Busch for Randy!

NLCS Game 3 Preview

Who: Brewers (Yovani Gallardo) vs Cardinals (Chris Carpenter)
When: Wednesday October 12th at 7:05 pm CST
Where: Busch Stadium St. Louis, MO
TV: TBS
Radio: 620 AM WTMJ/540 AM ESPN

So we have it. The Brewers and Cardinals are split 1-1 going into the game tonight, just like how they split the season. The story today? Aces take the mound and try and get a huge advantage.

This game could not be more important for the Brewers after getting bowled over by St. Louis on Monday. Milwaukee has gotten beaten up on in the playoffs, even under the normally steady hands of the Shawn Marcum. It cannot help their confidence to lose as handedly as they did at home. The only good outcome from game 2 was that the Brewers didn’t give up a Grand Slam.

Now it is up to Yovani Gallardo, who has been outstanding so far in the post-season. However, much like how the Diamondbacks were a team the Yo saw his best success; the Cardinals are a team that has shown Gallardo the worst. In 11 starts, Yovani is 1-7 with a 5.66 ERA. Very uncharacteristic of the pitcher that led the team in wins. This year held true to form for Yovani as he went 1-4, getting his very first win against the Cards and a 5.70 ERA.

Yovani can succeed however. The pitcher is known to rise to the occasion in times of need, as proven when Yo has a 2.06 ERA during August, possibly the biggest month of the Brewers stretch and ended the season on an incredibly good note. Yovani showed against the D-Backs that even when he doesn’t have his best stuff he can succeed when the Brewers need him. (Oh and in 21 Post-Season Innings, Gallardo has a 0.86 ERA.)

On the other side we see Chris Carpenter. Carpenter’s numbers regressed this season but that does not make him any less dangerous as he proved in the NLDS. Carpenter had a very rough Game 1, where the Phillies were able to overcome a very early 3 run deficit in the first inning against the Cardinals ace. However, in Citizens Bank Park, facing the best team in the NL against a former Cy Young winner and strong candidate this year, Carpenter rose to the occasion throwing a shut out to lock the Cardinals in for a series against the Brewers.

Carpenter, life time has put up decent, but not ace like numbers against the Brewers since his major league debut. In 15 starts he has gone 6-6 with a 4.58 ERA. This year’s number was a little better, going .500 again with an ERA under 4.

The key to the Brewers winning? Score early. Gallardo works very well with a lead, as do most pitchers, but Gallardo will need everything he has to win this game. Time and time again St. Louis has proved it can handle what the Milwaukee Ace is delivering. If the Brewers can get to Carpenter, they can really do damage to a weak Cards bullpen.

Yovani will need to watch Pujols. It seems the normally dangerous Alberta has turned on his post-season magic yet again and is twice as dangerous as normal. Walk Pujols, or limit him with runners on.

This series is not over, and I suspect it to be an intense tug of war type of match up. As proven during the series, these teams can win against each other, any time, any place, any way.

-Brad

VFBC Podcast Episode 30 "Matt Mieske Edition"

This was recorded Thursday night. Should have been up for all to enjoy on Friday morning. Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties with the file, but it is all fixed and ready to play here or download on iTunes. Thanks again for the support. Go Brewers!




Breakdown of The Show:

Division Champs! :00-20:54
Break
ALDS Preview/Predictions 22:05-45:20
Break
NLDS Preview/Predictions 46:40-1:09:49
Break
Preview/Chalet Award Winner 1:10:44-1:18:56

VFBC Podcast Episode 29 "Chris Bosio Edition"

Breakdown of The Show:

Braun joins 30/30 Club, Batting Title/MVP Ahead? :00-16:17
Break
Lining Up Playoff Rotation 17:32-31:46
Break
Minor League Wrap 32:33-49:40
Break
Preview/Around NL Central/Chalet Award Winner 50:39-1:03:33

Just For The Record

My preseason predictions on the playoff teams was awful. I only got two teams correct that are currently in the playoffs. The Dodgers and the Red Sox. And I had the Red Sox in as AL East champs, of course they won the Wild Card. My World Series was the Red Sox over the Mets. Of course that Mets prediction didn't work out so well, but if the Red Sox win it all I can still hang my hat on that pick.

Here is the link to that preseason prediction post.

Giving Thanks

Well I have to say I am thankful for many things on this Thanksgiving version 2008. My fiancee who actually tolerates me and even wants to marry me, my friends, my family, a solid job in a shitty economy and the fact that gas prices have fallen to around $1.75 per gallon. But the thing this year in the sports world that was the thing I was by far most thankful for was that the Brewers traded for Carsten Charles Sabathia on my birthday July 6th and he was able to in my opinion become the MVP of the NL and lead the Brewers to the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. Since I was not even 1 year old the last time the Brewers played October baseball it was amazing to experience playoff baseball for the first time in my life. And although the team as a whole played good ball and had a good year I'm not sure it would have been possible without CC and of course Mark Attanasio for ponying up the money for him and Doug Melvin green lighting the deal with Cleveland. Thank you, and I hope in 2009 I have even more things to be thankful for because of the Brewers organization.

I Feel A Little Better

I don't feel as upset about the Brewers being down 0-2 heading back to Miller Park in their first playoff appearance in 26 years for two reasons. 1. We at least finally got to the playoffs and watching these couple of games as tough as they were beats not watching your favorite team play in October. 2. The Cubs are also down 0-2 and they are much worse off then us. They got killed both games against LA and they now have to travel to LA. The Brewers while their offense has been pathetic except Braun who has three hits (two of them doubles) we at least have been in both games against Philly. The Cubs have gotten bitch slapped by the Dodgers two straight games and can't hit to boot. We also now get to play at home which gives us a slightly better chance to crawl out of the hole and force a game 5. And if we do, we will have a CC Sabathia with revenge on his mind and a full 4 days of rest.

We all must just hope and pray the offense picks it up a bit and Dave Bush and Jeff Suppan can win us the next two at Miller Park. One of the few bright spots for the Crew has been the bullpen. They have not allowed any runs in the two games.

Your Dead To Me

I have been one of the biggest and most vocal supporters of Eric Gagne through his struggles this season. And the reason I had supported him was because A. I'm a fan, I have been a big fan of Gagne's for years B. Although he struggled he did have some very good outings. But after the Mets game earlier this week and then last nights outing in which he screwed up CC Sabathia's shot at a 10-0 record as a Brewer by giving up a HR ball to Brian Giles in the 8th inning to tie the game, I'm done with Eric Gagne. He is dead to me. If he didn't pitch another inning this season I would be more then okay with it.

The fact is, it is September. There are 21 games left and we are only 4 back of the Cubs and we have a 4 game lead on the Phillies for the Wild Card. We are very close to snapping a 26 year playoff draught. And with every game so important we can not continue to trout out a relief pitcher in the 8th inning of close games who has an ERA of 6.69, WHIP of 1.70 and an OBA of .289. Those awful stats have led to far to many blow ups in close games. I know we spent 10 mill on Gagne this season but it's time to cut our losses and only pitch him if the game is out of hand in either direction. Or we might suffer more losses that could cost us the postseason.

"Going For It" Working Well Thus Far

Carsten Charles Sabathia. A name that will forever be remembered in Brewers history. Even if he is only a Brewer for 3 months. When the Brewers traded for Sabathia GM Doug Melvin proclaimed: "Were going for it". Well so far Sabathia has been worth the price of Matt LaPorta and showed that going for it was the right choice. Four starts into his Brewers tenure he is 4-0 with 3 complete games (in a row) not to mention the Brewers have now taken the lead in the Wild Card and only trail the division leading Cubs by 1 game. That my friends is just sick. Some starting pitchers have a hell of a time pitching 1 complete game in an entire season. CC has gone three straight starts going all 9 innings. And he is doing it throwing all of his pitches very well; fastball, slider, change and cut fastball. All four of those pitches have been straight up nasty. His total season stats between Clevaland and Milwaukee now stand at: 10-8, 3.30 ERA, 154 K's (best in MLB), 42 BB and a WHIP of 1.15. Some people after last nights complete game shutout of the Cardinals have said if Sabathia continues close to this kind of success the rest of the season he could win the NL Cy Young in a half a season. Can you imagine if he would do that after winning the AL Cy Young last year? Back to back Cy Young's in different leagues? I don't expect CC to toss complete games every time out but if he can win just about everyone of his starts and continue to rack up the K's and keep that ERA low he has a chance against other NL contenders such as Webb, Lincecum, Volquez and his own teammate Sheets. Bottom line his CC has been a pleasure to watch and even though it seems likely he will not be back next season because he will get a HUGE free agent contract from some major market team, myself and all Brewers fans are just enjoying the ride with CC that we hope ends playing baseball in October. Heck I might even go get a CC jersey t-shirt just to remember this great time (they have been flying off shelves everywhere in Wisconsin).