Thursday, September 11, 2008

I'm Officially Pressing the Panic Button

It's official. The button has been pressed.

All season long, I've tried to keep my cool whenever I would become frustrated with the Brewers. I've tried to keep in mind that every team loses 60, every team wins 60. I've tried to remember that this is a 162 game season, and there is always plenty of baseball left.

Not anymore.

The Brewers only have 15 games left to play, and their Wild Card lead is down to just three games. Three games is still a comfortable lead, but not the way this Brewers team is playing. Sabathia has become the only reliable pitcher, and the offense has been missing for the last two weeks.

Meanwhile, you have the Phillies with their chance to take the Brewers down, and they are playing good baseball. The Cardinals are never out of it, either. And of course, you also have the Houston Astros, who have suddenly become baseball's hottest team. Sometimes it's easier to be the hunter than the hunted, and the Brewers are definitely buckling under the pressure.

What about the veterans that are supposed to provide their leadership? You know, the ones that have been there before? What about the fact the young Brewers are supposed already know what it's like to take part in the playoff race? Why aren't these things happening?

It may be Ned, it may be the team. But the question is, as fans, what can we do? Do we sit here and watch all the money we've pumped into following this team this year go down the toilet? Do we hold out hope that things will get better? Or do we relax, noting that we are still three games up? These are questions I'm not sure if I want to know the answers too.

As for Thursday night's game against the Phillies, it was a 6-3 result, with the Brewers failing to come out on top. Sheets was throwing meat all night, and looked terrible. Prince Fielder finally his a home run, his first since August 13th (not a typo). That's about it.

Box Score.

TBC's Player of the Game: Prince Fielder

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brewer fans:

Today: "hey we still have a three game lead"

Tomorrow: "well, we're still up two.."

Saturday: "well, we still have the upper hand"

Sunday: "FUCK SHIT FUCK"

Monday: *sounds of crying brewer fans*

Anonymous said...

This is the way things go in baseball. The team has really struggled in September, while in August they were great. Just the baseball gods evening things out. Now hopefully soon we catch one more hot streak that can carry us deep into October. The only thing I think fans can do is get behind this team. No more booing, and no more negative attitudes. The glass is still half full.

Anonymous said...

Same old stoy year in and year out - Brewers buckle under pressure. Coaches and management are to blame for not providing enough motivation/punishment for failure. Ben Sheets sucks, first he is hurt, then he forgets everything about how to pitch. There are NO RELIABLE base hitters on the team. Nobody is a threat in that line up. They are sinking...

Anonymous said...

Yeah that Sheets guy sucks. 29 starts 194 IP 2.97 ERA, Just think if we a a 5 man rotation of Ben Sheets' how bad we would be.

Two weeks ago the fan base thought we couldnt be beat, now we suck and are sinking. I guess this is what happens when the casual fans jump on the band wagon.

Winks said...

I don't think of myself as a casual fan at all (would I do this if I was?), and I don't think that comment was directed at me.

But casual fan or not, you can't disagree that if the Brewers keep playing like they have been this month they won't make the playoffs.

Whether they have it end them to avoid the collapse and end the season on a hot streak remains to be seen.

I'm just officially "panicking", because I'm not sure if that will happen at this point.

Anonymous said...

No winks not directed at you. It was directed at the person who said Sheets sucks after a bad start. I agree with you that they need to play better to make the playoffs, but I believe they still have the upper hand with a 3 game lead. I say 60/40 they make the playoffs.

Anonymous said...

This was not the ONLY start in which Ben Sheets (Shits) sucked... Stop being a homer and look at what is actually happening on the field. If Ben Sheets is not hurt, he isn't pitching well. Why can't he step up and pitch well UNDER PRESSURE, when we need him to win, as a #2 ace?

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