If you’re a fan of a great baseball team, congratulations! You’re part of the elite minority that will truly enjoy August/September baseball.
If you happen to love a team wallowing in the sewers of their respective division, at least you knew the team wasn’t going to sniff 82 wins and they’re not going anywhere but up.
If you’re favorite team happens to fall into baseball’s purgatory, like the Milwaukee Brewers, you’ve been let down the most this season thanks to underachieving, mediocre baseball.
However, the day-in and day-out Jeckle and Hyde performances are actually part of the reason it’s still worth paying attention to Milwaukee Brewers baseball as September rolls in.
By Jake McCormick
I won’t lie: I’m much more interested in running the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2010-11 NBA regular season schedule through my head like its a trade machine over and over again, the Green Bay Packers ultimately meaningless preseason schedule, and the Wisconsin Badgers high hopes for a Big Ten title, than I am in watching Brewer pitching look good for four innings before allowing four or more runs in the fifth, sixth, or seventh.
Part of the problem with watching a team toil in average joe land is that there has to be talent to just be considered average. As bad as the starting pitching has been, and with an offense streakier than a baby’s diaper, the Brewers have a good amount of young talent already playing at an MLB level.
But the fact that the Brewers are cashed out on the 2010 season doesn’t mean it isn’t worth watching for the last month. In fact, Milwaukee’s underwhelming descension into baseball’s limbo is a good reason to stay tuned, albeit at a more casual rate than in the months before the All-Star Break.
1. September call ups
Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, Lorenzo Cain, Rickie Weeks, Alcides Escobar, Jonathan Lucroy, George Kottaras, Joe Inglett, Casey McGehee, Yovani Gallardo, John Axford, Zack Braddock, Kameron Loe, and Todd Coffey are all under 30 and stuck utilizing their talents in a Brewers uniform for at least another two to three years apiece.
The upside of mediocrity is having enough talent to get to the edge, but not enough to push you over. If Cain and righty pitcher Mike McClendon’s call-ups are any harbinger of performances to come, Brewers fans could be enjoying some positive developments towards a bright future.
2. Enjoy Prince Fielder while you can
All the talent listed above really makes it that much easier to let Prince Fielder go to a team willing to pay him this winter, so get out to Miller Park for one last towering, off balance home run. It’ll be hard to duplicate Prince’s interesting attitude towards the game, but pitching is needed much more than his bat.
There will always be a CC Sabathia sized place in my heart for Prince, but baseball is a business and the team simply can’t expect to finish above third place if they refuse to trade him for some young pitching.
3. Tickets are cheap
I have recently vowed to never buy tickets straight from the MIlwaukee Brewers’ box office again, and that was two months ago. Now, with the departure of Jim Edmonds yielding the floor to the Milwaukee kids and thus officially waving the white flag on a season that can only be described as an utter disappointment, tickets are cheaper than ever.
I’d also be willing to bet the Brewers play their best baseball in months now that the pressure is completely off their shoulders, so why not catch a few games for $6 a pop?
Milwaukee Brewers tickets are still cheaper than Milwaukee Bucks, Green Bay Packers, or Wisconsin Badgers tickets, so why not pay the price you would for a combo meal at Five Guys for the chance to watch the future of Brewers baseball?
You may not be as enthusiastic about baseball as you were in April and May, but that doesn’t mean the games are going to be any less exciting, thanks to the Brewers’ unpredictability on a day-to-day basis.
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Admittedly, my interest was already waning, but the Brewers’ schedule in the past 9 days makes it so MUCH easier to disengage: Three day games, three off days and a bizarre mix of games against Colorado, St. Louis and San Diego.