So in case you missed it last night, Christian Yelich continued to bury the Cardinals franchise by cranking 3 home runs and driving in 7 in a 10-7 Brewer win. I love every call in the above video, but by far my favorite was the FSN Midwest call after his third bomb. Total exasperation. Literally doing mental gymnastics on the air trying to figure out how Yelich is doing what he's doing, specifically against the Cardinals.
And the reason I love that call so much, is because I remember a time not so long ago where we all felt the same way about the Cardinals. For YEARS, nay, DECADES, it seemed like we couldn't get those guys out. I remember watching Brewer/Cardinal games in college and feeling the same way those broadcasters felt last night when I watched guys Ruben Quevedo* try to run the Pujols/Edmonds/Rolen gambit in the middle of the Cardinals order. Every pitch you held your breath. If it was anywhere near the zone, it was toast. So to have the reverse happening during the Cain/Yelich era is quite an about face. The poor are now rich. I feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.
Related: How about Christian Yelich buying a puppy for this family before the game yesterday:
Apparently at a game earlier this year that little girl had a sign that said 'if Yelich hits a home run daddy will buy us a puppy.' The story went semi-viral and Yelich delivered a puppy that looks strikingly like Hank the Dog (Hank #4? #5?) to the family yesterday. Buy a family a dog, go out and hit three home runs a few hours later. Got to gift another family a dog again tonight, doesn't he?
Unrelated: What a bizarre day for Marquette yesterday. Last Friday, reigning Big East player of the year, Markus Howard, announced he's coming back for his senior season. That meant that almost every key cog from last year's team was set to be back. Granted, it was a disappointing end to the season last year. They had the Big East title essentially wrapped up before losing 6 of their last 7 and getting railroaded by Ja Morant and Murray State in the NCAA Tournament.
Still, because they had so many players coming back (Howard, Anim, Theo John, Hauser brothers), almost every 'way too early top 25' had them top 10. ESPN had them at #2. Then the bomb dropped yesterday that both Hauser brothers are transferring. Sam averaged 15 points, 7.5 rebounds per game last year, and shot 40% from beyond the arc. Joey was a shade under 10 points and 6 rebounds per game while starting 31 games as a freshman. I'm not sure what happened, but it can't be as casual as everyone was trying to make it seem. When your 2nd and 3rd leading scorers decide to leave the university about 72 hours after it's best player decides to stay, that's pretty bizarre. Is Howard not a great locker room guy? Everything I've seen or read portrays him as pretty humble and a team player, but I guess that can be contrived to an extent. I seem like a pretty good teammate on the surface too, but make no mistake, I will throw a fellow staff member under the bus to save myself. I just haven't had to do that yet because I don't have a staff.
Maybe it's Howard, maybe it's Wojo, who knows. I can see where playing with a bulk-shooter like Howard could be a tad annoying. And there were PLENTY of games I watched last season where Howard would run all willy nilly into a triple team and turn the ball over. So if this is purely a 'we want to play a different style in a different system' I guess I kind of get it? Still, they're leaving a very good shot at a Big East title and a tournament run on the table to go somewhere else. Something stinks.
Both will have to sit out next season, it sounds like the front runner to land their services is Virginia. Michigan State is also in the mix, as is Wisconsin, apparently. Now if they end up at Wisconsin, we're going to know for sure something was going on behind the scenes. That wouldn't just be a 'we don't like the style of play at Marquette but wish them the best' move. That's a shot across Wojo's bow. That first game they would play for Wisconsin against Marquette in Milwaukee would be a SCENE.
*Alternative crappy early 2000's Brewer pitchers I was going to go with there before landing on Quevedo: Jimmy Haynes, Glendon Rusch, Jamey Wright, Wes Obermueller.
PS: Between the NBA playoffs, Tiger, Marquette, and Yelich, sports Twitter has been a DRUG the last 48 hours. I can't get enough. I'm like Tony Montana in Scarface:
