1 Down - Fear the Beer

Brewers up 1 in the NLCS.....some random thoughts and hoping that some blog posts keep it going.

Prince Fielder's HR traveled at a speed of 119.2 MPH off his bat. That is the highest speed for any HR hit in the year 2011.--ESPN They keep stats on that? (Al's Ramblings)

I've heard fans (easy Kais) talking about the lady in the front row at all the home games. The only thing I noticed is that she obviously keeps the book! Anyway.....fame is upon her - now referred to online as Front Row Amy!
http://onmilwaukee.com/sports/articles/frontrowamytalks.html

Greinke looked much better throwing with a lead didn't he? Must be still working through the playoffs mentally. Definately a guy getting run support!

JS Online is reporting that Axfords forearm is OK. X-Rays came back negative. Hopefully they don't have to use him tonight so he can rest it for a couple days. Maybe see KRod in 9th?

The Brewers are scary good at home. Hopefully they are the 2nd half Brewers on the road, not the one that showed up in Az.

Hat tip SI.com. In a Milwaukee Brewers clubhouse filled with oversized personalities, the first shot at the rival St. Louis Cardinals going into Game 1 of the NLCS came from a surprising source: Starting pitcher Zack Greinke, whose bout with social anxiety disorder typically makes him one of the least likely players to pop off. Speaking to reporters at Miller Park on Saturday, Greinke said some of his Brewers teammates don't like Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter when he shouts at batters from the mound. "They think his presence, his attitude out there sometimes is like a phony attitude," Greinke said. "And then he yells at people. He just stares people down and stuff. And most pitchers just don't do that. And when guys do, I guess some hitters get mad. Some hitters do it to pitchers. But when you do that some people will get mad. "There's other pitchers in the league that do it, but, I don't know," Greinke said, "a lot of guys on our team don't like Carpenter."

ESPN.....When Cardinals manager Tony La Russa later met the media, a reporter read Greinke's comments to the manager and asked him to respond. "I'm very disappointed," La Russa said. "I just praised him a little bit ago. I always thought he was a high character, classy guy." "Our attitude is we look at ourselves and we grade ourselves," he said. "I think the Brewers should take care of their players and their comments and not be concerned about other players and comments. I'm disappointed. If you knew him, none of that stuff is true. He doesn't give bull----. He doesn't take it. That's the way it's supposed to be." Of course, it was La Russa who offered his opinion on Milwaukee's Nyjer Morgan after a Sept. 7 dustup with Carpenter, saying "I hope he gets a clue. And he's probably going to get upset that I give advice, but if it's the truth, it's the truth. He can be the player he is without instigating."

This series will get ugly yet....

Which brings us to Prince getting plunked first pitch after the Braun homer. "I certainly can't fault the umpire," said La Russa. "But you know, you can't go out and argue those things, or you get thrown out. I didn't say anything. What I would have said is, 'If you watched the way Jaime pitched that whole inning, every fastball he threw was in that same area -- out away from the [right-handed hitter] or in on Fielder.' They just looked bad, but he was just trying to get the ball somewhere near the glove. But I don't fault the umpire." HMMMMM?

A full article on the hate.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2011/story/_/id/7078129/no-shortage-drama-cardinals-brewers-nlcs

Tony La Russa. "Three straight pitches right in the middle of the plate, and they didn't miss any of them, just went like that," said La Russa. "It was a weird thing. [Garcia] was really good, then three pitches -- bam, bam, bam." "Bam, bam, bam," he would repeat later. "It was unusual."

Seemed to me Tony finally made a tactical error in this inning.

Betancourt, who had the go-ahead RBI single in the Brewers' Game 5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, pounded out a two-run homer and a double on Sunday. The native Cuban typically doesn't speak with the media, but when he does, he needs a translator. He had one up on the stage in the Brewers' media auditorium, and provided the laugh of the night when the final question posed to him had to do with how he deals with all the criticism he's had lobbed his way over the years. "I don't really understand English very well," Betancourt said through the translator. "So that being said, I don't really pay attention to what the critics say. Since I don't understand, I don't get mad. I just try and do my job."

Braun has hit safely in five of the Brewers’ six postseason games this October, batting .500 (11-for-22) with five doubles, two home runs, eight RBIs and seven runs scored. Overall in his career he has hit safely in eight of his 10 postseason games, batting .421 (16-for-38) with seven doubles, two homers, 10 RBIs and seven runs scored. Some kind of MVP honor buried in those numbers......

Of the last four teams in the playoffs, none have top-tier payrolls. The Tigers, at No. 10, spent about $106 million on players this season. The Cardinals are No. 11 at a little more than $105. The Rangers are No. 13 at about $92 million. The Brewers are No. 17 out of 30 at a little more than $85 million.

Hat tip Adam Rubin ESPN. Jose Reyes has said Ryan Braun gave him a recruiting pitch for the Milwaukee Brewers at the All-Star Game. And Milwaukee's interest apparently is sincere. Ryan Braun tells the Post: "I think there's a better chance we sign (Reyes) than we re-sign Prince (Fielder)." Braun continued about Reyes: "(Reyes) is dynamic, man. He is one of the most exciting players in the game. He plays with a lot of energy and a lot of emotion and I enjoy watching him play. He's one of my favorite players to watch. Whenever their games are on, I love watching him, man. He always plays the game the right way. He always plays hard. He runs everything out." One of Reyes' agents, Chris Leible, recently tweeted that Braun texted congratulations to Reyes after the shortstop won the batting title with his bunt-and-depart finale.

How about that defensive play by Fielder....not known for his defensive skills. Seems like a bigger play now than maybe it did at the time!

Game ON!

Here's hoping that the much anticipated return of Palms Hot Stove blog will get the Brewers out of the doldrums and into the NLCS!

1) I need to know what you guys think will happen tonight? W or L
2) Hat tip Michael Hunt at JS.
Crunch time for Brewers
After blowing a 2-0 series lead, team's talented players must find a way to live up to their fans' great expectations
It's your move, Brewers.

The Green Bay Packers are defending Super Bowl champions and might repeat. The Wisconsin football team is coming off a Rose Bowl appearance and might win a national title.

Yet for the moment, the onus is on the Brewers to uphold their part of what has been viewed locally and nationally as an athletic renaissance in an improbable area to be considered the center of the sporting universe.

If that's a lot of pressure for the baseball team, so be it. With a deciding Game 5 against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS, the Brewers have placed themselves in a situation where a special season could continue or be considered a big disappointment. If they can't get past this barrier, the historical mantle remains tragically stuck in the past, with Yount and Molitor, Simmons and Cooper.

If that's a little harsh for an organization that has made the playoffs three times in the last 29 years, it's time to apply the adage that much is expected from those to whom much has been given.

The Brewers have said it themselves. This isn't 2008, when they were just happy to be there and had no real anticipation of beating the eventual World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies in the first round. They won a game and learned how to spray champagne as a city and a region and a state adored them unconditionally.

That feeling hasn't gone away, even if it has been supplemented with a certain level of angst for an elimination game in which the home team faces becoming the first NL team ever to lose a divisional series after gaining a 2-0 lead. But the good and sophisticated fans at Miller Park could be stunned into silence, say, if the D'backs launch a third grand slam in three games against a suddenly shaken pitching staff.

At the very least, the people who again spun the turnstiles 3 million times in baseball's smallest market should no longer be satisfied that their team has showed up in October. The whole idea is to advance, and anything less would be a letdown at the back end of a 96-victory regular season.

The Brewers were built for this moment to do nothing but move on to the NLCS. They upgraded their pitching for this moment. Just as important, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart and Yovani Gallardo - especially Gallardo on the mound for a Game 5 - have grown up since '08 to the point that performance and grace under pressure should not be an issue.

So, it's time to hold them accountable. It's time for Weeks, even coming off the ankle injury, to finally do something in this series. It's time for Hart to stop flailing at out-of-the-zone pitches like he did in '08.

And the moment of truth has finally come for Fielder and Braun - it's their team, after all - to carry the Brewers on their shoulders when it matters most, regardless of what they've accomplished in the past. The cruel what-have-you-done-for-me-lately-standard will be solidly in play on a Friday afternoon in Milwaukee.

The Brewers were not a good baseball team for two games in Phoenix. Starting pitching failed them. Timely hitting took leave. The bullpen was no help, not that it really mattered. The D'backs made better decisions from the dugout. The Brewers didn't catch the ball like they're capable.

If this were Boston, the critical gloves would've come off after two such performances. People would have been held responsible. It's true that this portion of the country is more forgiving of its sports teams, which is not always a bad thing in such reactionary times.

But realistic expectations being what they are, it is time for the well-paid professionals to be held accountable. Gallardo, who was superb late in the season, must find the game of his brief career.

The Brewers should win with home-field advantage. If not, little will have been gained from an otherwise memorable season.