Is this team worth getting excited about?

[moofnelson]

I've been following the Brewers since Robin Yount was a rookie. That is a lot of years. For most of those years the team was pretty crappy. I stuck with them for some reason. Maybe it is because I like listening to Bob Uecker. I don't know, I like baseball. I really love Brewer baseball. Yet, I cannot get excited about this team.

Please tell me why I should be excited about Brewer baseball in 2009. I need some positive reinforcement. Thanks.

[TooLiveBrew]

Prince Fielder

Ryan Braun

Rickie Weeks

J.J. Hardy

Corey Hart

Mike Cameron

Yovani Gallardo

Manny Parra

Dave Bush

Mat Gamel

Alcides Escobar

Angel Salome

Jeremy Jeffress

Matt Lucroy

Brett Lawrie...

[Fatter than Joey]

You forgot Jeff Suppan and Jason Kendall...

[JohnBriggs12]

Please tell me why I should be excited about Brewer baseball in 2009. I need some positive reinforcement. Thanks.

So many people bought tickets before the season that by June they'll be unloading them for well under face value!

 

Seriously, it would be nice to see what the offense would look like if the 3-4-5 hitters actually started hitting before guys like Hart, Hall, Cameron and Weeks cool off. For some reason this team allows seems to rest after getting 4-5 runs. That's not enough with this pitching staff.

[Ennder]

OMG THE SKY IS FALLING!

 

This is a team with a lot of good young players and with a decent farm system. It isn't one of the best 8 teams in baseball but it is good enough to stick around .500 all year and hopefully get a big hot streak and sneak into the playoffs.

[DougJones43]

OMG THE SKY IS FALLING!

 

*sigh*

 

The original poster didn't use all-caps, say OMG, use anytype of AOL speak, or write in a troll-like manner whatsoever.

 

I know you and TLB think it's hilarious to go around and accuse everybody of saying "OMG" but I can assure you, it's really not that funny. I'm begging now, please let people voice their concerns, ask for positive reinforcement, or whatever -- without throwing out the uber-cliche "the sky is falling." Is it that hard for some of you to just stay out of a thread if you don't agree with the premise? And again, please leave to comedic routine to the people who can pull it off...

[Ennder]

It wasn't supposed to be funny, it is the truth. Freaking out over the first 2 weeks of the season just isn't worth it. If you honestly have been following baseball since Yount was a rookie you would know that a less than 2 week period really means nothing in the big picture. You would also know that the team has plenty of players to be excited about.

 

I read this as just another vent by a frustrated fan and we have plenty of other threads doing exactly the same thing.

[DougJones43]

I read this as just another vent by a frustrated fan and we have plenty of other threads doing exactly the same thing.

 

Actually, he specifically requested some "positive reinforcement" from his fellow Brewer fans, for support during this tough stretch (now 3-8). He didn't say one vent or negative thing, other than the fact that he's finding it hard to get excited about this team.

 

It seems to somehow make you upset that not everyone can "keep things in perspective" the way you can. Well, guess what -- following baseball is an emotional sport for many people, and they don't always follow it as though it is some kind of computer simulation in which the longterm result has already been approximately decided by projections.

 

So, instead of offering any positive reinforcement, your began your response by acting like a condescending jerk. Seriously, I know you like to leave your mark in every single thread on this entire board, but would it have been that difficult to just offer support or not comment at all?

[Ennder]

So, instead of offering any positive reinforcement, your began your response by acting like a condescending jerk. Seriously, I know you like to leave your mark in every single thread on this entire board, but would it have been that difficult to just offer support or not comment at all?

 

This coming from someone who had to add... "And again, please leave to comedic routine to the people who can pull it off... " and "Seriously, I know you like to leave your mark in every single thread on this entire board" to there posts? You probably should have taken the high road to this argument. The only condescending attitude I am seeing here is yours.

[trwi7]

So, "OMG THE SKY IS FALLING!" isn't condescending?

[Ennder]

Certainly not as much as personal attacks on another poster~.

 

Sure the first line of my post is condescending and was meant as a reply to the title of the thread. The teams record really shouldn't be what does and doesn't get someone excited. Would this post have been made had we started 8-3 with the same players? I highly doubt it. I stand by what I said before, this just seems like another vent post to me and nothing else.

[brains and braun]

Seems to be a lot of bickering on BF.net lately. I know losing doesn't help, but this gets old too.

[markedman5]

" The teams record really shouldn't be what does and doesn't get someone excited. "

 

Actually at the major league level the team record is what makes people excited. In the minor leagues all we care about is how our are prospects developing.

 

If a team loses alot its not all that exciting....if they win a bunch and stay in the race it is.

 

So far this season has been a snooze. I certainly understand that its a long season and every team has its ups and downs but off to a 3-8 start certainly isn't "exciting".

 

Lets hope they turn it around soon because getting buried in April and then rallying to .500 when you are already out of the playoff picture certainly wouldn't be "exciting" for me............

 

Nice to see Gallardo pitch great today but unfortunately it went to waste.

[Invader3K]

It was a good game today, at least. Disappointing finish, but it was a good pitching match up.

 

You never know, something could finally "click" with this team and they could go on a four or five game win streak. At some point they'll get a couple wins to rub together, at the least. I doubt they're going to finish the season 3-159.

[markedman5]

"I doubt they're going to finish the season 3-159"

 

I can say without a doubt this would not be exciting........=).

[logan82]

"I doubt they're going to finish the season 3-159"

 

I can say without a doubt this would not be exciting........=).

I disagree. That level of futility would have a certain amount of train wreck attraction to it.

[theavrock]

Anytime I read a thread title and my immediate reaction is a sarcastic one word answer it really makes it hard for me to take the poster seriously. Of course there are reasons to get excited about this team. The thread title in and of itself was begging for someone to make a sky is falling response, Ennder just got there before anyone else.

 

We have some of the best young players in the game at their positions (JJ, Yo, Prince and Braun). The fact that we get to watch them and see if they can develop into some of the best players at their positions period is reason enough for me to be excited to watch Brewers baseball. Mat Gamel and Alcides Escobar are across the board considered to be among the top 25 players in the minor leagues. We have a great ownership group that has shown a consistent desire to make this team better. Our ballpark is the best value in MLB and a true gem.

 

It was a knee jerk post and thats fine, we have seen a lot of them lately but don't dress it up as anything else. The Brewers have quite a bit going for them and we are lucky to have this organization.

[Ennder]

"I doubt they're going to finish the season 3-159"

 

I can say without a doubt this would not be exciting........=).

I think I'd almost rather go 3-159 than like 61-101. At least the one would be record setting and logic defying.

[moofnelson]

My original post wasn't a response to how bad the team is playing, but a general ambivalence I've had for this team since spring training started. Brewer fans bought over 3 million tickets last year and rewarded with a mediocre offseason.

 

I don't view Braden Looper as the missing piece of the puzzle.

 

Or Duffy.

 

Or Julio.

 

I can't figure out why Jason Kendall is allowed to play so many games.

 

Jeff Suppan makes my eyes bleed.

 

Put Hardy in the second spot in the order and leave him there.

[PrinceEatMeat]

It's impossible to get excited about a team that obviously got worse on paper. Losing CC was expected, but still a letdown. Obviously Gallardo is as good, or better, than Sheets, and the rest of the rotation is pretty much the same. I think the bullpen will be better once Hoffmann comes back and everyone moves to a more natural role. The problem is that our starters are not even close to consistent enough to expect anything out of them. Suppan sucks, Looper is a .500 pitcher, Bush is a .500 pitcher, Parra is nothing but a question mark at this point, and Gallardo is the lone bright spot. Our offense is the same as last year, although I think Kendall has gotten worse, Hall still isn't as good as he used to be, and Hardy is suffering from batting 5th. We came in expecting to be worse than last year, but I came in expecting this team to at least be entertaining. So far, it's been hard to watch. Obviously, our bullpen will improve, and our bats will wake up, so we will win some close games, but I don't see this team being above .500 this year. What I am excited about is the future. Maybe we will get a glimpse of that still this year in Mat Gamel and Alcides Escobar. Now that would excite me!

[TooLiveBrew]

I know you and TLB think it's hilarious to go around and accuse everybody of saying "OMG" but I can assure you, it's really not that funny

 

I can admit to doing that... and hadn't realized I did it enough to carry it as a label. But what's really not funny to me is the same negative overreactions posted time & time again... often by the same people... sample size be damned. If the tradeoff for pointing out the absurdity of negative overreactions is to get called the OMG guy, I guess that's that.

 

I took moofnelson's thread as simply a frustrated cry for some kind of positive juju, so I posted what I did... note that 'OMG' is nowhere to be found, and furthermore I think I took him very seriously. I didn't & don't think of his post in any negative light. Did it really deserve its own thread? Maybe not, but with no vent thread where is something like this supposed to go?

 

I completely understand fans being frustrated at this point, and I think it's cool that moofnelson didn't just go off on some ignorant rant. He posted what was driving him crazy & asked for others to give him some positive thoughts. Honestly with all the crazy bad luck breaks the Crew has had so far, a thread like this should really bring out some constructive discussion at this point in the season.

[theavrock]

It's impossible to get excited about a team that obviously got worse on paper. Losing CC was expected, but still a letdown. Obviously Gallardo is as good, or better, than Sheets, and the rest of the rotation is pretty much the same. I think the bullpen will be better once Hoffmann comes back and everyone moves to a more natural role. The problem is that our starters are not even close to consistent enough to expect anything out of them. Suppan sucks, Looper is a .500 pitcher, Bush is a .500 pitcher, Parra is nothing but a question mark at this point, and Gallardo is the lone bright spot. Our offense is the same as last year, although I think Kendall has gotten worse, Hall still isn't as good as he used to be, and Hardy is suffering from batting 5th. We came in expecting to be worse than last year, but I came in expecting this team to at least be entertaining. So far, it's been hard to watch. Obviously, our bullpen will improve, and our bats will wake up, so we will win some close games, but I don't see this team being above .500 this year. What I am excited about is the future. Maybe we will get a glimpse of that still this year in Mat Gamel and Alcides Escobar. Now that would excite me!

 

Huh? In your post you say that the rotation is pretty much the same and the offense is pretty much the same as last year. Were you not excited about the team last year? If the team is the pretty much the same and they made the playoffs, isn't that something to be excited about? I'm not sure what you are getting at, because you contradicted yourself a bunch in your post.

[Fatter than Joey]

I can admit to doing that... and hadn't realized I did it enough to carry it as a label.

 

Much too frequently you go to the OMG well young jedi, Mmmmm /yoda

 

sample size be damned.

 

I would like to use the mighty roller coaster as an illustration.

 

http://www.funonthenet.in/images/stories/forwards/Roller-Coaster/roller-coaster-2.jpg

 

Now, any segment of track of a roller coaster can be considered a small sample of the overall experience -- yet you clearly see different reactions to said sample. Perhaps the young lady in the front is overreacting, or perhaps she has a better grip on the principles of roller coaster construction than the morons in the back, and realizes that due to shoddy assembly they are all about to go hurtling to their deaths through the stock pavilion.

 

At the end of the day, or roller coaster crash, all these people are riding the same wagon, and paid the same ticket price.

 

I took moofnelson's thread as simply a frustrated cry for some kind of positive juju, so I posted what I did... note that 'OMG' is nowhere to be found, and furthermore I think I took him very seriously.

 

I think you did well in this thread -- I think others were referring to past transgressions... I think your point was valid, we still have Prince and Braun and Yo, and those guys should be able to get us on track hopefully.

 

If the tradeoff for pointing out the absurdity of negative overreactions is to get called the OMG guy, I guess that's that.

 

Dude, you are too well-rounded of a poster, and top-shelf quality of a guy, to anchor yourself with being the board OMG guy. A board probably only needs one OMG guy, and frankly Ennder does a much better job of being the condescending OMG guy than you. Please rethink this.

 

Once you start down the OMG path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.

-- Yoda

[untuckem]

If you are any kind of fan, it's always worth getting excited for Brewer's games. On the other hand, if you have been a Wisconsin sports fan long enough, none of this should really surprise you.

 

A budding superstar does not a superstar make. That's the unfortunate reality.

[rluzinski]

I'm unhappy about the record but I think it tells us little about the overall talent of the team. I am becoming apathetic because a good but not great team like the Crew probably doesn't have enough talent to big themselves out of a big hole. Their current hole isn't big but it's getting close.

 

And I thought moof really wanted reasons to be excited but his followup post makes me not so sure.