Climbing up on the Anxiety Meter

[pitchleague]

Good Lord, I do NOT want to face the Cardinals in the NLCS. Sure, it would make for good stories and media hype etc. But I could not imagine the indignation that we'd have to put up with if the Brewers would lose such a series, not to mention all the garbage we'd have to put with before and during the series that "we're not worthy of even being in the same sentence as the St. Louis Cardinals" etc. etc. ad nauseum.

 

Sure, it'd be great if we won a series like that, but $1000 bucks says we'd still be considered "lucky" and whatever heaps of trash the Cards would toss at us.

[ELCABALLO45]

I would love to face the Cardinals in the NLCS if that would mean we wouldn't ever have to face the Phillies. And for the fact that we would be in the LCS would be awesome.

[brwrsfan]

Anyone?

 

Go up 2-0 only to get destroyed in games 3 and 4. Coming home for game 5 against Kennedy. All the momentum on their side now. Seems like we already blew the series and we still have a game to play.

[liveforoctober]

Best team in baseball at home. Yovani starts the leap from Brewers pitcher to Brewers legend on Friday.

 

I'm frustrated ... but confident.

[RockCoCougars]

Obviously, I'm starting to get nervous, but I kind of expected this because I didn't like the Marcum/Wolf turn in the rotation. That said, I think that Ian Kennedy is hittable. Braun and Fielder need to show up a la the first two games though, big time players need to come up big in spots like this. Bottom line, the Brewers have been money at home all year, and they need to get the job done Friday. Anxiety is what the post-season is about- it's rarely a cakewalk.

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

Anyone?

 

Go up 2-0 only to get destroyed in games 3 and 4. Coming home for game 5 against Kennedy. All the momentum on their side now. Seems like we already blew the series and we still have a game to play.

Yup. I will be shocked if the Brewers win this series. At least they can make history with a loss.

[brwrsfan]

I just don't have all that much confidence in Yo. I know he's been great lately but he just seems to too many inconsistent games for me to feel really confident in him. All the pressure is on us right now. I'm not at all confident in us to do anything.

[SeriesFinale]

I'm chillaxed. Cautiously chillaxed.

[TracyThom]

My stomach is all knotted up in nervousness about Friday. I'm confident, though. Best team in baseball at home with our ace on the mound. Let's not forget that just a few days ago we pounded Kennedy for 8H and 4ER in 6 2/3rd. Brewers can do this. They have to.

[Baldkin]

I'm going to be there on Friday, but I almost don't want to be.

 

That is how anxious I am.

[TooLiveBrew]

This season comes down to Yovani Gallardo. Is there honestly anyone else you'd rather see?

 

I'm trying to fake confidence about Game 5 until it's legit confidence.

[Samurai Bucky]

I was at the last game that Yo pitched against the Cardinals at home. He looked terrible. I know that the DBacks are not the Cardinals, but I am not sure that Yo is a lock to do well.

[jeffy]

In September I figured if the Brewers got Atlanta they would probably win it in 3-4 games, but if it were the D'backs there was a good chance that it would go 5.

 

The Yankees and Phillies, two teams that are much better than the Brewers, are going to game 5 also. The path that the Brewers took to game 5, winning 2 then losing 2 just makes it seem worse.

[Outlander]

Why anyone would be shocked with a 96 win team winning a game at home with their ace on the mound is beyond me.

[bucksman4]

Why anyone would be shocked with a 96 win team winning a game at home with their ace on the mound is beyond me.

 

 

I wouldn't be "shocked" if the Brewers win. I'm not confident in this game because Arizona has their 21 game winner on the mound and seem to be hitting the snot out of the ball. With the Brewers success at home, I'd like to believe they will come out ready to play, but I'm 50-50 on who will win this game. Whether they win or lose, either outcome will not shock me.

[hawing]

I was at the last game that Yo pitched against the Cardinals at home. He looked terrible. I know that the DBacks are not the Cardinals, but I am not sure that Yo is a lock to do well.

I was at the last game that Yo pitched against the Diamondbacks at home. He looked great. It's no lock by any means, but of the available starters, I think having Yo start an elimination game at home ensures the best chance of there being future elimination games in 2011.

[dlk9s]

I was at the last game that Yo pitched against the Cardinals at home. He looked terrible. I know that the DBacks are not the Cardinals, but I am not sure that Yo is a lock to do well.

I remember that game he pitched against the Rockies two or three years ago when he got shellacked. I know that the DBacks are not the Cardinals, but I am not sure that Yo is a lock to do well.

[owbc]

I think all the stats get thrown out the window for winner-take-all games. How can you possibly predict how the starters are going to perform under these circumstances? Game 1 doesn't even come close to comparing to the pressure in this game.

 

With these offenses, it has wild and crazy written all over it. I expect the Brewers to win with some sort of late inning heroics, probably a walkoff.

[JohnBriggs12]

Maybe Roenicke will wake up and finally start to manage like it's a playoff game instead of a game in the middle of May. Any sign that Yo is having one of those bad starts that he has a few times a season, and he needs to get Greinke up. They cannot afford to fall 4 or more runs down.

[fondybrewfan]

My anxiety meter is through the roof. Its not like I was just assuming that they would sweep the Dbacks but I thought they would put up a better showing on the road. Gallardo>>>>>>>>>>>>> Wolf/Marcum but Gallardo can have the occasional blow up game. I am not expecting to score 4+ runs off of Kennedy so Gallardo better be on his game. I just hope Miller Park is rocking and the Crew can grab an early lead so they can relax a bit. I don't think they will press from the get go but they will if they fall behind again.

 

The Dbacks and Brewers seem to be mirror images of each other; both awesome at home and both can pitch or RISP on the road to save their lives. I suppose that bodes well for the Brewers.

 

If the Brewers do lose I can almost gaurantee myself that I will not watch another minute of baseball the rest of the year; way to painful

[Ennder]

Anyone?

 

Go up 2-0 only to get destroyed in games 3 and 4. Coming home for game 5 against Kennedy. All the momentum on their side now. Seems like we already blew the series and we still have a game to play.

If I believed momentum had anything to do with baseball I might agree with you but time and time again it is shown that it is a bunch of hooey. I expect the team who gets a better start from their pitcher to win, momentum doesn't have anything to do with it or we would have automatically won game 3 since we had 'all the momentum'.

 

As for anxiety, yeah it is high since there is only one game left so it is more or less a coin flip at this point. There is never a sure thing in the playoffs though, the series are just too short.

[NievesNoNO]

The Yankees and Phillies, two teams that are much better than the Brewers, are going to game 5 also. The path that the Brewers took to game 5, winning 2 then losing 2 just makes it seem worse.

Indeed. It's not like this is some sort of oddity. It took the entire season to establish home field against the D-Backs. It shouldn't really be surprising we're at this point. If you take a step back and look at things this is actually really cool!.... That said, I think we need to score first in this game and crush their spirit early as they do have the momentum going in and the pressure is squarely on the Brewers to defend their home field. There will be no doubt in my mind that Miller Park will be the loudest it's been ever on Friday (crappy start time and all) but if the D-Backs put up a 5 spot in first again they'll have neutralized a lot of the energy in the park.

[fondybrewfan]

Miller Park definitely will be crazy.

 

Sometimes I believe in momentum sometimes I don't. The Crew was riding high going into ARI and that momentum lasted all of 2 outs before it was squashes. In-game momentum is much more real to me than his game to game momentum. Thats why Yo going out in the 1st and shutting them down is going to be key.

 

I am stuck at work until 5 so it will be Gameday up until then. Hopefully when I get home I can watch the Crew cruise to a nice win and then I can watch STL and PHI duke it out for the chance to play us. There is a certain appeal to STL winning because we would probably get to face Kyle Lohse and Jaime Garcia at home in Games #1 & #2. I like the Brewers chances against those guys. Otherwise it is Lee & Hamels on the road in PHI

[joepepsi]

I was at the last game that Yo pitched against the Cardinals at home. He looked terrible. I know that the DBacks are not the Cardinals, but I am not sure that Yo is a lock to do well.

I was at the last game that Yo pitched against the Diamondbacks at home. He looked great. It's no lock by any means, but of the available starters, I think having Yo start an elimination game at home ensures the best chance of there being future elimination games in 2011.

I agree. The other 3 starters haven't been very good in this series.

[Ennder]

In-game momentum is much more real to me than his game to game momentum. Thats why Yo going out in the 1st and shutting them down is going to be key.

 

Yeah I can buy into in game momentum, it is thinking that momentum plays a role when you have a day off between games, switch venues and have different players on the field that I think is really stretching things.