Is "Wild Card Champions" worthy of hanging a banner at Miller Park?

[JJHardy7]

Oh...and just one more thing: I really do think there's a good chance that decades could go by without making the playoffs: small market, lack of tradition, inability to produce another "wave" of players from the minors, etc., etc., etc.

 

So should they just fold the team then? This is one problem I do have with some Brewers fans. We do something special and it's never enough. Come on... IMO that's just flat out wrong. There have been teams that have won the world series as a wild card. I think ideas like ripping on putting up a wild card banner are right in line with booing former Brewers players...both idea make zero sense IMO and give Brewers fans a bad name. I'll always look back at 2008 as a great year and the banner is a nice touch. I say we keep this going on put up some more...that is if we don't fold the team!

[berniebrewer4life]

How about we put up a Wild Card banner for now and then paint it over when we win the division this year.

We could do what Houston does, and have a different color pennant for each kind, one for WC champs, One for division champs, one for NL/AL champs, and one for WS champs. I have always thought that looked cool.

[RightFieldCoder]

A single wild card accomplishment in 26 years -- that's like putting a D+ test on the refridgerator door. Just something else for people from bigger cities to point and laugh at.

I think it's more like putting up a B+ test on the door when you've carried a 1.02 GPA for the last 27 years.

[dlk9s]

So let me get this straight:

 

Brewers: 3rd best record in the NL, 6th best in MLB, Wild Card berth, and being proud of it = sad and embarrassing

 

Dodgers: t7th best record in the NL, t14th best in MLB, Division Champions, won a variance-riddled 5-game series = umpteen degrees more banner and praise-worthy than the Brewers

 

 

Makes sense.

[dlk9s]

We could do what Houston does, and have a different color pennant for each kind, one for WC champs, One for division champs, one for NL/AL champs, and one for WS champs. I have always thought that looked cool.

Yeah, I mentioned that the Braves do that earlier in the thread (with photo evidence!). I like it.

[BuckyBrewer61]

I have a hard time understanding why people don't want to commemorate the most memorable Brewers season in over a quarter century. I'm 24 years old, and 2008 was the first time in my entire life the Brewers accomplished something tangible. I was watching every day with a sense of hope I'd never felt during baseball season...riding high with the winning streaks and low with the slumps. I was at the 2nd-to-last regular season game and was absolutely heartbroken. I was at the final regular season game and witnessed something I sometimes felt I never would, holding back tears I didn't think a sporting event could provoke. I was at game 3 and have never been so proud of my team and it's fans. Regardless of what happens in the future, 2008 will always be special to me. I don't care how it looks, and I certainly don't care what other teams' fans think, I want to remember that feeling every single time I step into Miller Park, whether it's in 2 weeks or 20 years. I want to look into the rafters and say "I remember. I was there."

[patrickgpe]

for those who have a huge problem with a 2008 wild card banner, would you have a problem if we just had a banner that said playoff appearances and listed the 3 years we made it. Last season should be commemorated somehow. I like doing what the braves and astros do.

[davego]

I like that idea. Also points out the success of the 1981 team.

[jjkoestler]

Its up per TH's blog this morning. "* There also is a new pennant up in the left-field area marking the team's 2008 Wild Card playoff entry."

[gbush2004]

The Wild Card pennant is a different color than the other ones. There are three pennants (one for the 81 season, one for the 82 season, right below the bleacher sections 234 and 235, and the wild card one.) There are actually two 1982 pennants, one with the other two below those bleacher sections and a much bigger one near the top of the roof in the left field area.

[Invader3K]

Wait, they put up a pennant for the '81 playoff too? That's weird that they'd suddenly decide to commemorate that.

[hawing]

Wait, they put up a pennant for the '81 playoff too? That's weird that they'd suddenly decide to commemorate that.

In the NLDS Gameday program available at the park last October, I noticed they included 1981 in a "Division Series History" section. So a stadium acknowledgment is not fully without precedent. Why they waited this long to consider it worthy, I wouldn't know.

[BrewCrewForever]

Its about time they make note of the 1981 playoff appearance. Im really glad they finally did that. I think a lot of casual fans probably don't even know that the Brewers were in the playoffs that year they just know about the beaten to death 82' season.

[Invader3K]

I know I asked earlier, but I'd really love to see pics of these new banners.

 

But yeah...plus it will probably just look nicer having three banners instead of two.

[valpocrewsader]

Seeing it in person yesterday, I have to say I was much less bothered by what they did than I expected. I pictured something prominently displayed up around the top perimeter where the '82 pennant has always been. The addition of three smaller flags, subtly placed much lower beyond left field actually looked pretty good. I still don't like the blatant reminder that the Brewers were irrelevant for 27 years, and it still seems like we're advertising that fact when we should be hiding it, but oh well....

[Invader3K]

I thought the three new pennants looked sharp, personally. Not sure if I like that they still have the '82 banner up high or not.

[JJHardy7]

I still don't like the blatant reminder that the Brewers were irrelevant for 27 years, and it still seems like we're advertising that fact when we should be hiding it, but oh well....

 

So if we won the World Series last year should we not put anything up? I don't get your view at all on how there shouldn't be anything. We should celebrate it and hopefully it won't be 25+ years until the next one goes up. I do agree with you that it does look nice. I just think the fact that if the Brewers won the World Series as a WC there would be banners everywhere and if they lost the first series as a WC there shouldn't be anything is kind of a joke. Using that thought winning the division and losing the first series should equal zero banners. Baseball includes the fewest teams of the four 'major' sports...it means something in baseball. The Brewers also weren't irrelevant for 27 years...