Worst Homestand in 25 years?

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

Its unfortunate when a team becomes the victim of increased expectations, but with the homestand heading to a likely 1-6 record in front of seven sellout crowds one has to wonder if the awesome momentum from last week has been turned on its head. We could easily be 0-7 if not for Braun's heroics and have shown little signs of life against the Cubs after being bloodied by the Astros. This series is starting to remind me of the "Sweep Suits" series in Pittsburgh a few years back. Our offense simply looks pathetic.

 

Given the massive hype heading into this series, and our massive flop thus far, could this carry over into the rest of the season? If we lose today, we're 5 games back and I doubt we have any chance of catching the Cubs. In most cases, i'd be uber excited to be 12 games above .500, but considering we were 16 games over heading into the homestand within a game of first and riding the emotional wave of acquiring Ray Durham and CC, i thought the sky was the limit, but that enthusiasm has been crushed and i worry about the emotional state of the team

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

That's a little drastic. I'm sure we've had a homestand where we lost every single game and nobody cared. I'd consider that one worse than this one.

[yfinn6]

If no one cared then it obviously wasn't as important. If we got swept in 2002 at a home series it wouldn't have made a difference in the final standings. This homestand could.

[ninja33]

That's a little drastic. I'm sure we've had a homestand where we lost every single game and nobody cared. I'd consider that one worse than this one.

That's why this homestand would be worse. Its one thing to lay an egg when people dont care, its totally different to lay one in the biggest series of the season when just about the whole city is getting behind you.

 

[joepepsi]

They really aren't playing much different than they did in St. Louis. Difference at Busch was the Cardinals have a terrible bullpen that let the Brewers back into the games.

[holybannana]

Yup. If you want to consider overall disappointment, every game has been sold out and TV viewing ios breaking records and they do this.

 

SAME OLD BREWERS

[I Heart Brewers]

If 2nd place at the end of July is the SAME OLD BREWERS then I'm not sure if I've been watching the same team as you for the last 20 or so years.

 

Tough homestand based on expectations, but take those out of the equations and they have had much worse. Depends how you want to look at it.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

The fact that we actually have expectations makes it not as bad as we all think.

[holybannana]

If 2nd place at the end of July is the SAME OLD BREWERS then I'm not sure if I've been watching the same team as you for the last 20 or so years.

 

Tough homestand based on expectations, but take those out of the equations and they have had much worse. Depends how you want to look at it.

Second and slipping. They might not be 2nd place at the end of July depending on St. Louis.

SAME OLD BREWERS was meant as a team that never fails to disappoint you. I don't really believe that, just frustrated.

 

[joshjs]

The big picture isn't bad, but the series has been a HUGE disappointment. I want to cry, but I have no tears left.

[RyDogg66]

I believe the thread is about the homestand and the results of it, not the totality of the season. Yes, being in second is great. So are having expectations for a change, but this homestand has to be the worst in 25 years. Never has so much been on the line and this franchise performed this poorly, unless there was a homestand where we went from first to second this late in the season and went 0-7 or worse.

[JohnBriggs12]

I pointed out in the vent thread, that back in 1979, the Brewers started a huge homestand by sweeping the Yankees in 3 emotionally charged games, then had the two teams in front of them coming in, Baltimore and Boston for 8 games. With all that momentum and huge crowds every game, they lost 7 of 8, including 4 of 5 to Boston where they were outscored 47-19 (Reggie Cleveland in particular got lit up about as bad as any Brewer pitcher ever did).

 

Once they got back on the road, they righted themselves quickly but essentially that week ruined any chance they had for playoffs that year despite a 95 win season.

[pitchleague]

I do have to say, after last week's "high" that I was feeling, I NEVER, EVER, EVER saw this coming. A 1-6 homestand. Wow. Just Wow.

 

thankfully, A LOT of season left but jiminy Christmas, even ONE win against the Cubs would have been great.

[MaxJ72]

This has to be similar to that homestand in 1979. I was so excited to watch the Cubs and Brewers this week. I got together with friends to watch the first two games. It seemed that it would be a lot of fun. Then they got it handed to them 3 out the 4 games.

 

This has to be the worst in 25 years for several reasons. One is that they lost 4 games to the Cubs. With all the Cubs fans up here that is especially embarrassing. Second, we had a ton of momentum going after the All-star break. That is now gone. Third, when was the last time we sold out a home stand? Fourth, it really made some of the Brewers weaknesses stick out such as Defense and timely hitting. lastly, because of how poorly the Brewers played I actually had to pay attention to the Packers and their Brett Farve problem. I really wanted to ignore that until it was settled.

 

Still hoping for a playoff berth for the first time since I was 4 years old.

[PilprinBuddha]

This team did a complete choke job during the homestand, but I am really impressed with the Cubs pitching and offense.

 

We have become the HR or bust group. There needs to be more balance in teh line up regarding BA.

 

The offseason acquisitions have largely been a bust.

Cameron plays good Defense, but sucks offensively. Gagne...nuff said. Riske...hopefully he returns to form...someday.

 

Weeks needs to find teh bench and Hart needs some rest.

 

Offseason offensive wish list - better on base guys to replace Hall, Cameron, and Weeks.

 

Can they turn it around? Sure they can, but I think it's a pipe dream to think we can catch the Cubs.

[bucks2281]

The Cubs series, at the least, the worst home series in 25 years. They held a lead for less than a half inning (maybe 15 minutes on Monday?). The total offensive meltdown, the way the starting pitching collapsed, and the maddening presence of the Cubs fans made this series just intolerable.

 

I can't think of a worse 4 days in Brewers history.

[holybannana]

I can't think of a worse 4 days in Brewers history.

Don't worry, we're going to always remember it because this will also be the week Favre gets traded to the Bears. The Cubs will have burned Milwaukee to the ground and kidnapped Brett Favre!!

 

[rotoherb]

The late August/September collapse in 1983 was pretty bad, though that one started with a 3-6 west coast road trip and led into a 10 game losing streak after they returned home. That's really the last time that I can remember this much widespread disappointment over a week's worth of games. That was much later in the season, though, and there was no wild card to play for at the time. The Brewers have a much better chance to right the ship this time around.

[Ennder]

You could have made this post a week ago and talked about the great road trip vaulting us into a strong finish and the playoffs and look how that turned out. Momentum is mostly a myth in major league baseball, teams go hot/cold constantly and when one team stays hot for a long time people try to dig up some reason for it when it generally is just random.

[rluzinski]

Given the massive hype heading into this series, and our massive flop thus far, could this carry over into the rest of the season?

 

That's what many said in the "will the Brewers ever be over .500 again" thread. Then, it was said optimistically after the Brewers won 8 in a row. I propose that these streaks are almost completely random and we should instead be concentrating on the real question. Looking at the season as a WHOLE, have the Brewers shown enough talent to make the playoffs? I'm not sure yet but it looks like they still have a decent shot.

 

Stop looking at the results of the last week and extrapolating that out over the balance of the season. It doesn't work. All it does is make the same person say that the Brewers are the best team in the NL one week and that their season is over the next.

[thablingster]

I would have to go with yes, based on the fact the only worse homestand would have been 0-7. I'm sure we've gone 0-7 on a homestand before, but I doubt we had the type of talent this team does on the team that went 0-7.