Home Sweet Home Field Advantage

For the first time in my lifetime, the Milwaukee Brewers have won a playoff series. And, wow, was it intense. As we knew going in, the homefield advantage was huge! I've been watching highlights and interviews all day. Kudos to MLB.com for their extensive highlight and interview videos. Almost 24 hours later I still cannot compose a coherent post, still too excited, so we'll go to the blogger's best friend, bullet points.
Here are a few thoughts and observations about the amazing game:

- It was not easy tonight for the pitchers. Gallardo battled hard, bent but not broken. Nice work by Saito. K-Rod was usual K-Rod. Runners at the corners with one out in the 8th and he gets the HUGE strikeout. And I haven't heard much about Axford's great pitching in the 9th after blowing the save. 1st and 2nd with the score tied and nobody out. We had to keep it 2-2 there. Axford gets the strikeout then two groundouts. Then 1,2,3 in the 10th.

- Chris Young's catch on that drive by Hairston. Man, there is no way I thought he was going to get that. Gotta love Hairston's reaction.

- I know I'm probably saying this because I'm a Brewers fan, but I sensed a Diamondback bias from TBS. Anyone else notice this? Lots of Dbacks highlights and promising stats. Chris Young's homer in game 1, sure show that. Ryan Roberts grand slams, sure, show them. How about some Goldschmidt highlights? Thanks TBS. John Axford comes in for the 9th why not show his last blown save from April 18th! Way to find Justin Upton's Mom and focus on the 6 Dbacks fans in the entire stadium. I'm sure some Brewers players had family in the audience. Gosh. But we won, so I can't hate too much.

- Gotta love T-Plush. His two previous at bats before his game winning hit - 2 strikeouts, 1 bat broken over the knee, 1 bat flown down the 1st base line.

- Carlos Gomez was one of my keys to the game when I wrote on Thursday. I guess if you throw enough darts you're gonna hit the bullseye at some point. But Gomez was huge. Loved to see him jacked up when he got that single. He's got confidence, despite his bench role.

- On the same note, I will stop tweeting about the Brewers. I'm pretty sure I'm jinxing them and making myself look foolish. Case in point: "I don't know why, but I got a good feeling about Randy Wolf tonight" and "Rickie Weeks, starting the trending now cuz he's about to get BIG in a few hours!" Wow.

- Rickie Weeks, please show up for the NLCS!

- There was still a lack of clutch hitting for the Crew overall. We had good chances and didn't necessarily make the most of them. Thank you Betancourt bloop single!

- Can't get enough of that last play? Check it out here. My favorite part is Ed Sedar at about the 1:36 mark. Waive 'em in, waive 'em and celebrate! Also, watch the reaction of JJ Putz. What a bitch!

- My viewing environment was a bit interesting. I watched at 6 Nellie's in DC which is called the World's Best Gay Sports Bar. They definitely had the gay part right. My crew of 6 people were literally the only people watching the game. And we were VERY into the game. The bar was packed by the latter stages of the game, and there were lots of gay men watching us react to the game. Pretty funny stuff. And we went Beast Mode once Gomez crossed the plate. Great night.

- I have to admit I was worried that Lyle Overbay might comeback to haunt us, or even worse, Henry Blanco (how is he still in the league?).

- I kept mentioning to my friend that we needed someone to step up. This was a legend making game. It did not matter who it was. These players had a chance to be remembered forever in Milwaukee. Just look at Yount to Cooper to win the '82 ALCS. I saw that play countless times growing up in Milwaukee. We finally have a new one to add to the highlight reel. Nyjer Morgan, Milwaukee Legend!

- Gotta love this moment for the City of Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin. Great crowd last night! I can't yet compare it to the Packers Superbowl win yet, but my connection to the Brewers makes this one so sweet, so satisfying. Growing up in Milwaukee you go to Brewers games. I remember sitting in those County Stadium bleachers with my family, bringing in jugs of Kool-Aid, grilling out in the parking lot, loving Rob Deer, sitting in Vaughn's Valley, watching Daryl Hamilton make amazing diving catches, thinking every April that this year was going to be "our year" only to endure 14 straight non-winning seasons. Still it was our team. New stadium, same results, but no matter what, Bob Uecker will always be on the radio. The Brewers are my team and represent my city. I love the Packers, and I have lots of memories of them, but not as personal as my Brewers memories. So take it in Milwaukee. We don't know what next year will bring, but right now that doesn't matter. We are in the National League Championship! We'll have home field advantage for as long as we keep it. 2011 Brewers, let's keep it rolling!