2007 Vent Thread, Part 6

[moofnelson]

I'm starting to think that the Brewers have a keg in the dugout and that by the time the 4th inning rolls around they are all to buzzed up to play baseball anymore. After watching their at-bats in the 6th inning last night against that "89-mph-straight-as-a-string-right-down-the-middle-of-the-plate-fastball" bum the Giants rolled out there, I can only assume this team was drunk. Getting shut out for the last 6 innings of a game is an all to often occurence for this team. It must be the beer.

[Fatter than Joey]

I don't know whats worse...that Vargas couldn't make it through the first inning or that Capuano can't even be trusted as a mop up guy anymore.

 

Vargas is Vargas -- Capuano getting shelled in a mop-up is very unsettling.

[TeeJayh1980]

For the first time this season....I'm putting a ton of blame on Maddux. I think our pitchers have way more talent than is being displayed, and it's his job to unleash that.

 

If Estrada is a Brewer next year I'll throw up

[Ennder]

For the first time this season....I'm putting a ton of blame on Maddux. I think our pitchers have way more talent than is being displayed, and it's his job to unleash that.

 

If Estrada is a Brewer next year I'll throw up

 

I cannot imagine a scenario where he isn't a Brewer through his entire contract.

[trwi7]

JohnBriggs12 wrote:

 

Seriously is there anyone on this team just stealing money more than Capuano?

Suppan.

 

[Invader3K]

At least Suppan usually gives the team a chance to win, even if he is extremely mediocre. Capuano has just been downright bad for most of this season.

[RU Rah Rah]

Suppan hasn't exactly been Tom Seaver lately, but Cappy has been just brutal. In his 0-11 streak, his ERA is 6.73.

 

Of course, Soup's ERA over that same stretch (since mid-May) has been 5.77. So we're really talking about relative badness here. Same thing with Vargas.

[PeaveyFury]

At what point do we finally acknowledge that Gallardo is absolute crap right now?

 

This pitching staff is a trainwreck, and it's absolutely embarrassing. I mean, they're seriously giving up 5+ runs in like 8 of every 10 games!

[jason21nl]

this team is pathetic right now. some how something needs to change

[pebadger]

.500 on the line tomorrow against a guy who simply dominated the Crew last time out, while the Brewers pitching would have trouble getting outs against a good A-ball roster right now.

 

What could posibly go wrong?

[clancyphile]

A lot. Face it, if they don't sweep the Cubs in Wrigley, then kiss the playoffs good-bye. I think they're out of miracles. Why other teams get all of `em is beyond me.

[PrinceFielder28]

Why put yourseld thru the torture fo watching the games i quit caring about 2 weeks ago...right about the time the team gave up

[brewmann04]

well it all looks like everyone prediction of them being a 500 ballclub might just be true.

it very very hard watching this play on the road and i agree they need to sweep the Cubs ,but if the Cubs sweep us this team is finished.

[owbc]

Everything about this team is fine, except the starting pitching. It is junk.

 

At this point, we may as well start Zach Jackson, Manny Parra, and CV. It can't get any worse.

 

I watched the first inning tonight and turned the game off, already well aware of the result. Our only hope is if we sweep the Cubs series, and I can't see how that possibly could happen.

[SeriesFinale]

I was down in the tunnel right after the game ended tonight, watching the Brewers walk from the dugout to the clubhouse, and I literally felt a lump in my throat watching them make the walk. They all looked so down in the dumps and cooked and defeated and slumped over. I don't buy for a second that they've given up, but their mental state is depressing to say the least, not even taking into account the actual on-field action and standings.

 

Anyway, I'm not even angry anymore, just sad. Like the Brewers, I guess.

[brewmann04]

i take the nashville staff

[bklynbrewcrew]

How much longer can this collapse continue? This inept excuse for baseball has gotten beyond ridiculous. Fire Yost now so we can make some sort of attempt to salvage what was once a promising season.

[Bruce Ciskie]

After seeing Gabe Gross hitting cleanup, I have to think it's just a matter of time before things get so bad that it makes sense to have Estrada hit leadoff. http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/eyes.gif

[Fatter than Joey]

This pitching staff is a trainwreck, and it's absolutely embarrassing. I mean, they're seriously giving up 5+ runs in like 8 of every 10 games!

 

I don't want to argue your vent, rather add to it. The pitching should not be absolved, but the team defense is a joke as well. It seems like every throw from the OF is up the line. Estrada refuses to do anything but backhand pitches., etc...

 

At this point, we may as well start Zach Jackson, Manny Parra, and CV. It can't get any worse.

 

With this defense I dont think "it" can get any better. I think that the only pitcher that could get wins in front of this defense, is a pitcher that can strike out 12-15 batters per start.

[pebadger]

Just how bad has this really been? A survey of the carnage:

 

At the end of business on June 30, the Brewers sat at 46-32--- the best record in the National League and one of the top 3 records in the major leagues. They led the Cubs by 7.5 games and the Cards by 10.5 games.

 

Since that date the Brewers are 19-32. Where the Brewers once stood atop the National League, there are now more opposing NL teams with better records than the Crew there are worse.

 

They now trail the Cubs by 1.5 games, a net swing of 9 games in the standings. The Cards have also gained exactly 9 games in the standings. In fact, every team in the Central division has gained ground on the Brewers, including the Pirates who have picked up over 4 games on the Brewers.

 

It is, at present, now more appropriate to compare the Brewersto the Devil Rays and Marlins than the top teams in baseball. Since June 30, Tampa Bay is 17-35. Congratulations Brewers, someone has won even less game than you in the past 7 weeks. But that's it, that's the list. The Marlins have a better record at 20-29. The Nats have played have played .500 ball since then, and the Rangers and Royals have played just one game under that mark. Even the free-falling White Sox, who play in a much better division in the better AL, have only gone 22-30 in that time.

 

The Brewers have only had two extended streaks of really good baseball this season: the 24-10 start and the 9-1 homestand which propelled them back to 14 games over .500 for a second time this season. When they haven't been "hot", they've been 32-53. I'm not arguing that we ignore the hot streaks, but I am arguing that perhaps it is the hot streaks that are farther from the 'norm' than the baseball we've seen in much of the rest of the season.

 

I'm still a die-hard, and I'll still have the TV tuned to FSN or the radio to the BRN every night (as my wife will attest), but the time when I start missing games is rapidly approaching as the kids' school year and at least the hope of a more interesting football season approach. I'm praying that somehow, some way, the Brewers can find a way to rekindle the excitement and carry me into October, but hard-headed realism is giving skepticism a real edge in the battle with faith right now.

 

It will be very interesting to see the fan reaction when the Brewers open their next homestand. Even with the nosedive they've taken, all the Crew needs to do is put on a good push over the next four games, and I beleive Brewer fans will still out in positive force when Pittsburgh comes to town. If the boys fall flat on thier faces today and in Chicago, it could be ugly the first time Pittsburgh takes a lead on Friday night. The ultimate insult, though, will be if people actually start just not going, despite having bought tickets for what was expected, not so long ago, to be a September coronation.

 

No matter what happens, it appears that Miller Park will host some meaningful games in late September. I just hope they're as meaningful to the Brewers as they are to the Cards and Padres.

[adamb100]

Honestly this team is the worst garbage I've ever seen. How the hell do you go from 7 game division lead to trailing the Cubs by 1.5 games in a month an half? This has to be one of the biggest collapses in professional sports. We'd be lucky be to finish the season over .500 at this point.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Put Corey Hart in the lineup each and every day. I dont care why Ned Yost hates him but enough is enough. Hart has done more than enough to show that he is more than a platoon player. Enough is enough.

[RU Rah Rah]

How the hell do you go from 7 game division lead to trailing the Cubs by 1.5 games in a month an half? This has to be one of the biggest collapses in professional sports.

It's probably not even in the Top 20 in baseball alone. Here's a good article on collapses:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=4498

Still, it's been a debacle. No question about that.

 

[Ennder]

Put Corey Hart in the lineup each and every day. I dont care why Ned Yost hates him but enough is enough. Hart has done more than enough to show that he is more than a platoon player. Enough is enough.

 

Hart has been injured...

[DirtyFranksBrewCrew]

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/bf3354d59738841d65eea968d454623bc9cb389.jpg

 

One more loss away from .500 (which will come today vs Lincecum), one more month away from ANOTHER losing season. Assuming that plays out, it will be a travesty if Ned keeps his job. He is an awful manager, and his team's 2nd half collapse (again) once again proves this. His inability to right this ship should be the final nail in his coffin. I'm looking forward to next season when we have a re-vamped starting rotation (good-bye Capuano & Vargas, and good riddance), a new manager, and a new attitude. I'd like to think they could trade the brittle one (Sheets) and get something for him, but coming off another killer 10 win, injury-riddled season my guess is they wouldn't get anywhere near fair value, thus they're stuck with him for one more year. That might actually be a good thing in the short term as we can probably expect a miraculously healthy 2008 campaign from him given that it's a contract year (funny how that happens, isn't it?). It sucks he has to go because he's a great team guy and a helluva competitor, but the Brewers simply can't rely on this guy anymore. Next season will be the last one in which Brewers fans will have to qualify the upcoming season's expectations with the opening statement, "If Ben Sheets can stay healthy.....", though it's really going to suck when he wins a Cy Young in a Yankee uniform.

 

Sure, we're only 1.5 games out!!! There's still a chance, right? Mathematically, yes. Realistically, they might as well be 11.5 games out. Anybody paying attention the past three months will surely know what I'm talking about. The only good that will come out of this huge tease of a season is the firing of the consistently inept manager. Yost defenders, the floor is yours.