First of all: GREAT speech. Take it from someone who regularly takes 5 minutes to make a point that nobody cared about anyway, to sum up the whole month of September, and how many pieces it took to make this run happen, in 65 seconds is remarkable. But my favorite part is when ol' Craig had to get bleeped out! The s-word! He said the s-word! And the collective gasp from the gallery when he did was laugh out loud funny. Craig does kind of seem like the sort of guy who doesn't go much beyond, 'frick,' or 'dang,' to express anger. But certain times, certain moments call for more colorful language, and last night certainly applies.
So, the extraordinary run continues. I've seen a lot of conversation among Brewer fans, comparing this year to last year, which was more fun, which was more improbable, etc. I realize it's probably easier to say because we're in the middle of it, having fun, and we know how last season ultimately ended, but I'd say this current September run is, at the very least, the more unexpected. Last year's team was talented, they were pretty much always occupying a Wild Card spot, the question was did they have enough juice to catch the Cubs for the division. And they did. But they were healthy and had the 2nd or 3rd best record in the National League for much of the year.
In my opinion, this year's team has faced FAR more adversity. Four KEY players from last year's team completely fell off of a cliff. I don't think it's a stretch to say that without Chacin/Jeffress/Aguilar/Shaw, last season doesn't even come close to being as successful as it was. Those were critical pieces to a 96 win team. Well two of those four played so poorly this year that they were outright released in August. Another one regressed so much that he was traded, and the other has been in a season of misery and likely won't make the postseason roster. If you would have told me on Opening Day that that's what would happen to those four players, I would have guessed we'd be a 73 win team and in 4th place.
And not only that, but this team has been plagued by injuries all season. And not injuries to utility infielders or backup outfielders, injuries to your best players. It started in Spring Training losing Corey Knebel for the season, continued with Keston Hiura going down, Moustakas' wrist injury, then Brandon Woodruff, and finally Christian Yelich, the best player in baseball. To overcome all of that, and still win 88 games (and counting), and clinch a playoff spot, is hard to wrap your brain around.
But as Counsell said, it's the sum of a lot of parts. Eric Thames has had a bounceback season to cover the Aguilar loss, Zach Davies put together a solid season after missing (or being ineffective) most of last season. Chase Anderson has been reliable every 5 days, Yasmani Grandal has been as advertised and an on-base machine, Arcia's defense has been sparkling, as has Lo Cain's, despite a down year from him offensively. And I think the biggest part to this specific month, Ryan Braun has loaded his game from 2011/12 and been an MVP caliber player for this stretch.
Then there's David Stearns. I'll admit, I've been a, 'In Stearns We Trust' guy pretty much since day one. As the youths would say, I've been a Stearns, 'Stan.' But even I had a raised eyebrow at the trade deadline. Jordan Lyles? Drew Pomeranz? Ray Black? These were the moves that were supposed to keep an injury ravaged team in contention? Jon, you ignorant slut. Jordan Lyles has been borderline CC Sabathia. He's 7-1 with an ERA of 2.45. The team is 10-1 in his 11 starts. Pomeranz has looked like Hader out of the bullpen, Black has been throwing 100 mph in high leverage innings. Just incredible.
So what's next? The division! Honestly this couldn't feel more like last September. Just about a totally different cast of characters, but the same narrative. Last season the Brewers clinched a Wild Card spot around this time in St. Louis. They were within striking distance of the Cubs, but we weren't sure if they had enough steam. They did. This year, they clinch in Cincy, and find themselves just a game back in the loss column of the Cardinals with 4 games left (3 for them). Astounding.
PS: Bob Uecker forever:
He's Milwaukee's cool uncle.
