Brewers history of making up a lot of games

[NYChez]

1991: July 27th: 15 1/2 games out of first place, 15 games under .500 ... 4 weeks later: 7 1/2 games out of first place. I remember genuine excitement that we were going to make a miracle run - perhaps because of what took place the previous 2 seasons.

1990: August 26th: 11 games out. Ended season 2 games out.

1989: July 18th: 12 games out of first place, in 6th place ... August 18th: 1/2 game out of first place - had a chance to move into first but lost that day in 14 innings in a nationally televised game in front of 50,000 fans (a very rare occurrence in those days). They never recovered (or ran out of gas).

2010: July 21st: 11 1/2 games out of first place ... July 25th: 8 games out.

[Note to Brewer management - if you read this, do NOT let it stop you from making a trade for Fielder or Hart if the return is appropriate - these instances are very rare and they still didn't result in playoff berths].

[1992casey]

The slow start and hot finish pattern was something that was certainly noticeable during the Trebelhorn years. The pattern of slow starts likely contributed to his firing.

[RockCoCougars]

Off hand, I don't think the 1990 team finished only two games out, as I'm pretty sure that was the only losing season that Trebelhorn had.

[NYChez]

Off hand, I don't think the 1990 team finished only two games out, as I'm pretty sure that was the only losing season that Trebelhorn had.

You're right. It was 1988.

[wibadgers23]

Obviously I want the Brewers to win every game that they play, but my biggest fear is that they get on a roll playing against these bad teams only to start losing again when the schedule gets ugly starting in mid-August. Meanwhile, Melvin gets all excited and decides not to make any trades because he thinks we're still in it. Who knows though, he might not make any trades even if we get swept by the Reds.

[Oldcity]

Can we temporarily delete this thread for the sake of the organization?

[RockCoCougars]

If the Brewers could do what they did in '91, they have a reasonable chance. That team went 40-22 over the last 62 games. Still not enough to save Trebelhorn's job, but a heck of a run. I remember distinctly a Molitor walkoff against the 1st place Jays. I believe that was the first save that Tom Henke had blown in quite a while.

[logan82]

If the Brewers could do what they did in '91, they have a reasonable chance. That team went 40-22 over the last 62 games

 

Doubtful. The Cards and Reds would both have to go .500 for us to beat them even if we went 40-22. I won't even bother going into the WC stuff since there are 7 teams ahead of us that we would have to outplay. We just don't have the pitching for an extended run.

[igor67]

For what it's worth with the high number of games left between the Reds and the Cards. A really good Brewers record has a nice shift in the odds of those teams only playing .500. It also seems like they have both played .500 ball the last month or so. It's still a very low percentage bet.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I could see the Crew mounting a solid fake rally like the Astros did a couple years ago to finish at or above .500. There are some guys on this team that are having real solid years, namely Weeks and Hart. They've plugged some holes in the bullpen too. When we get quality starts, this team is in a good position to win. However, the starting pitching is still too erratic and bad. Outside of Yo, it's too much of a crap shoot. They can only go so far with this rotation.

[joepepsi]

Sice June 1:

Brews: 26-23

Cards: 25-22

Cincy:: 25-23

 

I expect the Cardinals to start pulling away from the pack any day. Maybe they already have.

 

I don't want the Brewers to fool themselves and make some stupid trades for veterans, but I'm excited to see if they can get back in this just by playing better ball. They're still paying for that 9 game losing streak in mid-May and haven't shown they are good enough to rattle off a 9 game winning streak.

 

Go ahead and listen to offers for Prince, Hart, Edmonds, and Bush, but if the only thing on the table are Haren type trades, don't do it.

[logan82]

For what it's worth with the high number of games left between the Reds and the Cards. A really good Brewers record has a nice shift in the odds of those teams only playing .500. It also seems like they have both played .500 ball the last month or so. It's still a very low percentage bet.

Except for the Cards are much better than we are and the Reds are at least our equal talent wise. Lots of chances for those teams to bury us.

[jeffy]

They only have 5 games remaining with the Cardinals, but they do have 12 against Cincinnati. So they could do a lot on their own to catch the Reds (not that I expect they will), but not all that much with the Cardinals.

[JohnBriggs12]

If the Brewers could do what they did in '91, they have a reasonable chance. That team went 40-22 over the last 62 games. Still not enough to save Trebelhorn's job, but a heck of a run. I remember distinctly a Molitor walkoff against the 1st place Jays. I believe that was the first save that Tom Henke had blown in quite a while.

Actually they went 40-19 over the last 59. Willie Randolph played a big role on that team. He was tremendous. It seemed he got a hit every time up with 2 out and a runner in scoring position (in fact, he hit .373 in those situations).

 

There's some similarities with this year's team. Doug Henry came out of nowhere as a 27 year old rookie to take over for the then fading Dan Plesac. Julio Machado (what a waste of talent) was that year's Kameron Loe. They didn't have a lot of starting pitching depth behind Bosio and Navarro, but Bill Wegman got on a tremendous hot streak out of nowhere going 9-1 in that stretch. Molitor made his next to last year one of his best as a Brewer. Overall though, this year's team seems more talented. Imagine that 91 team with Fielder at first instead of Franklin Stubbs?

 

To duplicate that team's run, one if not two pitchers among Narveson, Wolf, Bush and Parra, has to go on a two month tear like Wegman's in 1991. Wolf did that last year with the Dodgers going 6-1 in his last 11 starts (Dodgers won 9 of those), so he's done it. Whether he can again or not remains to be seen. We've all seen Bush have good stretches but never to the extent Wegman did, though nobody saw it coming from him either.

[joepepsi]

To duplicate that team's run, one if not two pitchers among Narveson, Wolf, Bush and Parra, has to go on a two month tear like Wegman's in 1991.

Well, since May 27th, basically two months, Bush has made 11 starts (12 appearances), posting a 3.32 ERA. He went 4-3 in that stretch. I don't know if he can pitch much better than that.