Storming the Friendly Confines

First of all, I'd like to offer my most sincere congratulations to the Chicago Bulls who will enjoy summa 'dis for the next few years. I reserve the right to repeatedly post that video over the course of the basketball season for no reason in particular. It brings me equal amounts of the good happy and the completely terrified.

The Milwaukee Brewers are expected to win the NL Central Division.

Read that back one more time to yourself. Say it out loud. Use it in a conversation with a friend or member of your family.

Certainly those words, stated in that particular order, sound alien and unfamiliar. To me, they sound horrifying.

In the course of months, the Brewers have gone from a team that has nothing to lose to a team that has everything to lose. Anything short of the a division title will be considered a profound disappointment and an abject failure.

When the Brewers played the Mets in mid-May, FSNY flashed a graphic indicating that the last team to lose their division after enjoying a 9.5 game lead over their nearest division opponent at that stage of the season was the 1951 Tigers (or something like that...this was 6 weeks ago and, quite frankly, I can't remember to wipe myself all the time). So either history is in the Brewers favor or they will experience a historically relevant collapse. My anxiety over the latter conclusion will not subside unless they play a strong series against the Cubs this weekend.

Over the past few seasons, the series of games immediately surrounding the All-Star break has given some indication of how the rest of the year would play out. On each of these occassions, the Brewers have been within a handful of games of the division and/or the wild card leads and, as we have come to expect, they've pissed the bed and left skid marks on the sheets.

The Brewers have an opportunity to define their identity this weekend and to numb the memories of disappointments of seasons past. They will have played exactly half of their games. They play their toughest rivals who are playing their best ball of the season. On the road. As the leaders of their division (albeit a very very bad division).

I like this team. They say all the right things and they appear to have what we would consider "the proper perspective". They like each other and put ego aside. They're young and experienced. Everyone contributes (including Craig Counsell and Tony Graffanino). Their pitching staff has solidified with the addition of Yovani Gallardo and the return of Chris and it is far better with Dave Bush in the bullpen rather than in the rotation.

If the Brewers take 2 of 3 or sweep in Wrigley, I will put my order in for Pee Your Pants for the Brewers gear (# 148) first thing Monday morning. If not, well, the last 3 months of the regular season will be quite a ride.