04/18/2006 Brewers (Davis) @ Astros (Oswalt) 7:05 PM, CST

[JenksFan5]

I agree with you rluz.

 

Hall had a good at bat down 0-2. You can't come up with the clutch hit every time and Lidge made a great pitch. A belly high 96 MPH fastball is not that easy to catch up to.

 

I was more disappointed with Koskie, Weeks and Miller in the last inning not making Lidge throw a few more pitches.

[wisconsinfan47]

Let's just get to Pettitte tomorrow and then go home.

 

A 7 game home-stand never sounded so good. Ever.

[CportBadger]

Exactly, when I posed the question in March, everyone said they would be very happy if they were above .500 at the end of the month.

 

The Brewers are 7-7 right now. If they can win tomorrow, and take 2 of the first 3 in the CIN series, they will be 10-8 in their first 18 games. If they go 10-8 in each 18 game stretch, they will win 90 games. And if they only have 7-9 wins after 18 games, they will still be alright They are a young team, and the window isn't really open until 2007-8, IMO. They might not get as hot, but the Indians and A's were not very good teams last year until after Memorial Day last year. Prince is starting to really drive the ball, and if Rickie can get it going, they will make us very happy in the coming months.

[markwitx]

most of your comments, the last few days are quit silly. stick to basetball. a few more loses we should be seeing those bandwagon jumpers jumping off.

[DougJones43]

Jesus man, can't you be happy about ANYTHING? Good lord!

 

i can't possibly imagine why it should matter to you what makes him happy and what makes him sad.

 

tonight's game was difficult. we scored 12 runs and lost. that hurts. people should be able to be critical of something like this in the IGT without being told they should be happy we made it close.

[valpocrewsader]

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How is calling this team horrible, the same old Brewers, and that they'll never be any good reasonable pessimism? Give me a break.

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I never saw any posts where BadgerFan said the team was horrible. If I missed it, sorry. I did see posts where he said things to the effect of, "now that the score is close, will the team respond well?" (implying that they won't) and he also implied the game was over ("moral victory") before it was oficially over. That's just pessimism, and the way the whole season has gone, it's warranted.

 

"Same old Brewers" ... what's wrong with that? The board's been littered with threads that have pointed out weakness in this year's team that have existed since 2004 (RISP hitting, strikeouts, baserunning blunders). Just 'cos the team looks better on paper this year, and lots of posters here are convinced that the team will get better, there's nothing wrong with a handful of other posters offering the counter opinion of, "man, this is just the same ol' not-getting-it-done Brewers as '05 and '04".

 

No matter what the subject, some people are going to have inherrently positive/optimistic attitudes while others have inherently negative/pessimistic attitudes. I'm really sensing a vibe in these IGTs that condemns people sharing their negative opinions about what they're OBSERVING in these early games and what they're FEARING about the team as the season goes forward. It's reasonable for folks to comment on these things, in my opinion. I just don't think you're a better fan for being constantly optimistic. In fact, I think there's more thought behind the negative posts than there is behind the positive ones.

[True CryM]

I am really starting to hate the attitude that "it's only April". When the wildcard race comes down to 1.5 games, we're going to be begging for a longer schedule. The mentality that early in the season it's all about getting timing down and getting into the groove is extremely played out.

 

Jim Leyland was completely right when he went off on his team the other day for "tanking it". Every game matters. Dismissing a game due to early season jitters is asinine.

 

Preemptive: I realize there are 162 games.

[Ralph Wiggum]

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Hey mark, I know you want to join Ralph in piling on my comments but that one about Miller didn't belong to me. FWIW, losing tonight had nothing to do with Miller coming up with 2 outs in the ninth.

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I'm done piling on.

 

This loss falls soley on the shoulders of who is supposed to be our #2 pitcher, Doug Davis. He flat out sucked tonight. Demaria and Adams I can expect suckiness from because they, well, suck. But I don't expect that kind of crap from Davis. Like someone pointed out during the game, I hope Melvin keeps a tape of this game when it comes time for arbitration with Doug. In all honesty, Davis is nothing more than a #4 or #5 pitcher on a playoff team. The whole staff is Sheets, who is probably a good #2, and a bunch of #4-5 guys. If this team is going to get over the hump, they need a successful starter that is a sure bet for 18 legitimate wins (not 18 Capuano wins).

[undertow67]

Brewers are just starting to round out into mid-season form. They have Sheets back, the Bats are heating up, and we're currently in the process of weeding out the weak links in the pen and settling into what will be our usual solid relief corps.

 

I understand people being frustrated by ugly losses, and I have no problem with people venting . But why give up on the Brewers in mid April ? I don't care how bad or ugly the Brewers struggle, I refuse to give up on them because I honestly believe this will be a special season. Regardless of the bumps along the way. I love Baseball. I'm excited for the season ! If I'm delusional, then so be it !

[rluzinski]

Same old Brewers" ... what's wrong with that?

 

It get's old after the millionth time.

 

In fact, I think there's more thought behind the negative posts than there is behind the positive ones.

 

Yeh, takes a lot of brain cells to write "Typical Brewers" over and over.

[Ralph Wiggum]

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I just don't think you're a better fan for being constantly optimistic. In fact, I think there's more thought behind the negative posts than there is behind the positive ones.

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I never said that negativity wasn't allowed. It's just tough to read negative posts when the team is making a huge comeback.

 

The truth is that this team played like crap tonight. No, it's not a moral victory. Moral victories are hollow victories. I saw many individual positives out of the Brewers, but they in no way played like a playoff team tonight. That doesn't mean they will look that crappy the rest of the season.

 

I'd feel so much better if Sheets was followed by Rich Harden instead of Doug Davis. Sheets is the only Brewers starter that I have confidence in.

[valpocrewsader]

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or just a case of guys hitting when the pressure is off and we're down 9 runs?

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That's such a good point and a fine example of how stats will never paint the whole picture.

 

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I think this has to be the toughest road trip of the year.

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To me, this makes the losses harder to swallow! The games we get man-handled, fine. But Sunday's game? There's no way we should have lost. Tonight's game?

 

The scary thing is that if we don't find a way to win one or two extra games a month, we're right back where we were last year. Lotta games left, but a loss is a loss. And many losses are many losses. Regardless of the month....

[UeckerAddict]

I know it sounds like I'm saying this in hindsight, but was I the only one who was hoping that Yost was going to pinch hit Hardy for Miller?

[valpocrewsader]

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It's just tough to read negative posts when the team is making a huge comeback.

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Yeah, I definitely see it from your point of view. In a sense, it's like someone's intentionally trying to rain on your parade. Just shows how people are different. From my point of view, I *want* people to be negative and cautious to keep me from getting all jacked up and foolishly happy about a comeback that never happened. I like being grounded by the realists....

[Ralph Wiggum]

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But Sunday's game? There's no way we should have lost. Tonight's game?

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Yeah, the Brewers should have lost tonight's game. Our #2 starter, a guy who get accolades for supposedly being about to keep his team in every game, was absolutely dreadful tonight. He may as well have been putting it on a tee for the 'Stros.

 

The sheer fact that the offense finally came alive and scored a load of runs is what makes this loss really crappy to take. You almost wonder if they used up all their offense tonight, and will get shut out by the junkballing lefty tomorrow.

 

I've never once made the argument that its only April, because I know danged well that these games count just as much as games in September. The only thing that the Brewers showed tonight is that they can score runs when they want to, which, while being a positive, also means that this team is maddingly inconsistent. That, and Doug Davis proved that he cannot be counted on under any circumstances.

[Sheets4theHOF]

Wow, i never thought a team could put this many runs in back to back games against this staff. Starting to think i had this team all wrong.

 

I stopped watching after the 2nd inning. Then my friend made me watch the 8th starting at the cirrilo bat. Then i turned it off again. Then he made me watch again after the Lee homer in the 9th.

 

So I don't have much insight to give. I don't even know if i wanna watch tomorrow. This team is such a tease.

[valpocrewsader]

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Same old Brewers" ... what's wrong with that?

 

It get's old after the millionth time.

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I can see that, but then can you see how others feel like they're seeing "it's still early" for the millionth time? Honsetly, I think I've seen comments of the "it's still early" variety *more* than I've see the "same old Brewers" comments.

 

To someone on one side of the fence, the "Brewers still can't get it done!" posts are nauseating. The thing is, those posts are CORRECT. Correct based on what we've seen so far this year, at least ... and that's all we can go on in evaluating this year's team. Barely squeaking out wins over bad teams at home, winning just 2 of 8 on the road with one of those being an 11-innings squeaker ... can't fault someone for saying "same old Brewers" right now.

 

To people on the other side of the fence, the "it's only April" posts are equally nauseating. Of course, those posts are 100% correct, too.

[Ralph Wiggum]

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From my point of view, I *want* people to be negative and cautious to keep me from getting all jacked up and foolishly happy about a comeback that never happened. I like being grounded by the realists....

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I guess it bugs me because I think all fans of this team have a little pessimist in them. If I was an eternal optimist, I would have gave up following this team out of frustration long ago. I guess I want to read positive posts because it helps calm the negative thoughts I have running through my head. I have confidence in very few players on this team, and even those I do have confidence in (Jenks, Lee, Sheets) are crappy once in a while. There isn't an Albert Pujols on this team who's consistently good.

 

I guess in reality what upsets me is that these posters write out this stuff that is in my mind, but I'm trying to block it out. If it's in print, it seems more real, and I don't want to see that.

[Iron Chef Napalm]

I am not sure if I should be happy that I decided to watch King Kong when it was 9-2 or not.

 

Deleting my HTPC recording of the game before I saw the score does not help either.

 

13-12?

[Ralph Wiggum]

Yeah, you didn't miss much. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[nullbyte]

OMG. Just saw the box score. I'm not sure if I'm glad I went to bed early or not...

 

Either way... 7am start times blow. Hehe.

[davego]

While I too am fustrated with this road trip, I would like to point out that the season is only 8.64% complete, so might be a tad early to assess this team as "The same old Brewers."

[brewmann04]

wow lee value is going up with every AB

looks like we are going to be a 500 all year

[endaround]

Same old Brewers! As in all those old Brewers teams with .500 records. Remember them all?

 

The Brewers have a better record than the Yankees. Give it a rest.

[davemakovec]

My thoughts, having not watched after the fourth:

 

This was a tremendous effort to come from behind, and remember, the Astros are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now. What's their record? 9-5? 10-5? They're tearing up opposing pitchers, and they're renowned, not for their bats, but for their arms. To run up the score against them twice gives us some good indications that our bats may yet start to win some games instead of just hold the innings while our pitching staff does all the work.

 

This road trip is MURDER. Ask any manager if they want to take a road trip against Albert "I hit home runs faster than Preston Wilson strikes out" Pujols, the Mets, who are hitting .320 as a team, and the Astros, who are tearing it up on both sides of the ball, and they wouldn't be able to respond - they'd just start shaking on the ground and crying for mommy. You're looking at the defending NL Central winners, the defending NL Champs (who got significantly better in the off-season), and the hottest team in baseball and likely future NL Champs. So far, we've come up with one win each against two of them. Pull out tomorrow's game, and we could be alright.

 

The criticism of hitters is starting to get to me a little bit. Not that we're criticising hitters, but the way in which we're doing it. One post it's that they're watching too many early pitches, and in the next they shouldn't be swinging at the first pitch. Which is it? You can't knock Bill Hall for not swinging at pitches that make it 0-1 and 0-2 and then knock Damian Miller for swinging at the first pitch which would, in all honesty, be 0-1, both against Lidge. There's a real double standard there, and it's frustrating me to see it. I like going pitcher by pitcher. Guys like Brad Lidge and Roy Oswalt are too good to let any good strike just go by. They'll drop you into an 0-2 hole and then you're chasing nasty sliders and curveballs and you're catching up the whole time. Guys that wear down or are mistake-prone, let 'em throw a few more pitches.

 

I think we can take tomorrow. The bats are getting hot, and we're still brutalising opposing relievers. If Cappy can get a quality start tomorrow, I feel good about it.

 

This team has holes, sure. The bullpen has been dying lately, and the starters haven't been doing a heck of a lot lately. RISP is still a problem. I think they can work through some of these things.

 

I've never been happier to see a road trip end.