The year is 1982; Michael Jackson sells more than 25 million album copies, John Belushi dies, a man is found not guilty of trying to assassinate the President, gas is at $1.30 a gallon and the Milwaukee Brewers win the pennant. Sounds like a crazy year, huh?

Holding the title for longest active playoff drought in Major League Baseball, the Brewers have not made the playoffs since their memorable trip to the World Series in 1982, capturing the American League pennant but ultimately falling to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

Barring another meltdown like last season that saw the Brew Crew blow an 8½ game lead and end their 133 day reign atop the National League Central, this could be the Brewers’ year to make it into October. But for that to happen the team needs to see consistency from its big name players as well as its bullpen, something that has been severely lacking.

Nevertheless, the Brewers will enter play against the Chicago Cubs with a 14-11 record, only two games behind the North-siders for the lead of the National League Central Division. Come the end of September, expect a three-team race in the Central with the Cardinals, Cubs and Brewers all vying for first.The Brewers, who won six of their first seven games, have been winning games with defense and timely play from some unlikely catalysts. Newly-signed catcher Jason Kendall is batting .308 with 24 hits in 23 games in his first year with the Brewers. Veteran and Whitefish Bay native Craig Counsel is off to an unexpected start as well, batting .306 and providing some clutch hitting.But what has been the feel-good story of the year to this point is the play of outfielder Gabe Kapler. The 32-year old retired after the 2006 season and spent last season managing the Boston Red Sox Class-A-affiliate in Greenville. Since coming out of retirement Kapler battled for a roster spot in spring training, made the team, and is now batting .288 with 13 RBIs.The value of Kapler’s play has been immeasurable as he has helped fill in for another outfielder, free-agent signee Mike Cameron, who was suspended 25 games by the MLB for testing positive for a banned stimulant. Cameron, who looked tremendous in spring training, will make his Brewer debut on Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs. To make room for Cameron the team traded outfielder Gabe Gross to Tampa Bay and in a surprising move optioned pitcher Dave Bush to Triple-A-affiliate Nashville.Also on Tuesday, Brewers ace Ben Sheets will make his return since leaving an April 18 game with tightness in his right triceps. So far the gold-medalist is 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA in four starts over 28 innings in this, a contract year.But what has been a reoccurring thorn in the side of the Brewers this year has been an inconsistent bullpen. The Crew retooled their pen during the off-season acquiring right-hand relievers David Riske, Salomon Torres and Guillermo Mota.Also, in an effort to offset the loss of last year’s closer Francisco Cordero to Cincinnati, the team signed closer Eric Gagne to a $10 million contract. But the 2003 NL Cy Young Award winner has been anything but stellar, blowing four saves in 11 opportunities. Put that together with set-up man Derrick Turn”blow”s 7.94 ERA and you would be convinced the Brewers could not close a door, let alone a game.Sunday night against the Florida Marlins, pitcher Seth McClung contributed to the team’s pitching woes by giving up a solo homerun to former Brewer Wes Helms in the top of the 10th inning, lifting the Marlins to a victory over the Brewers.

But the most ambivalent fact of the Brewers season is that none of its superstars have been playing up to par. Last year’s Rookie of the Year Ryan Braun is playing nowhere near his ability level but still is batting a respectable .255 average.

Moreover, the MLB’s youngest player to hit 50 homeruns, Prince Fielder has battled through an uncharacteristic stretch posting a slugging percentage .176 points lower than last season. Even worse, shortstop J.J. Hardy is batting .218 while second baseman Rickie Weeks is batting a morbid .191.With the team’s best players working to find their stride, the Brewers have been fortunate enough to fall back on the apt hitting of its role players and, notwithstanding its lapses in the bullpen, sound defense. The team has managed to keep nearly every single game to this point close (1/3 of the team’s games have gone into extra innings).Being only two games behind the Cubs, a forthcoming three-game series this week and 137 games for the team to play to its offensive potential, the Brewers have very little to worry about. In keeping with celebratory slide tradition, come October, Bernie the Brewer might just have a very sore bottom.

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In my debut column a few weeks ago, I predicted we were in for a spectacular baseball postseason. Four weeks later, a few days after the final out of the season has been recorded, I can say that I could not have been more wrong.

This was the worst first round since baseball added the Wildcard in 1995. Out of the four series, three of them were sweeps and the other went a measly four games. Poor starting pitching, even worse relief and an inability to move runners over were major themes for those teams who began their winter vacations early.

The Philadelphia Phillies, who had all the momentum in the world coming in and were picked by ESPN analysts Eric Young and Tim Kirkjian to make it to the World Series, were knocked out almost as soon as they started. Colorado’s starting pitching limited the Phillies triumvirate of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins to just seven hits on 32 at bats during the series, leaving the always vocal Philadelphia fans speechless.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim also had a tremendously disappointing postseason, manufacturing a mere four runs in three games. What was thought to be a high-powered offense, combining speed and the ability to hit the long ball, was shut down by veteran starting pitching from the Boston Red Sox.

The Chicago Cubs looked like the Cubs of May when the Arizona Diamondbacks eliminated them. The big three of Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez manufactured only six hits in 36 at bats.

Last but not least were my beloved New York Yankees. Twenty-two-year-old rookie phenom Joba Chamberlain, who only allowed one earned run in 24 innings of work during the regular season, allowed two in just three and two-thirds innings in the postseason. Nineteen game winner Chien-Ming Wang, who had a 3.70 ERA in the regular season, had a whopping 19.06 ERA in his two starts. Finally, “Mr. Postseason” himself, Derek Jeter, had just three hits in the four game series, grounding into three double plays in the process.

While the American League Championship Series did go to a game seven, it was a series full of tremendously disappointing starting pitching for the Cleveland Indians. Nineteen game winner C.C. Sabathia had a 10.45 ERA in two starts. Fausto Carmona, who threw nine-innings of three hit ball against the Yankees allowed 11 earned runs in just six innings in two starts in the Championship Series. If this was not bad enough, the other series was even worse. The Colorado Rockies made quick work of the Arizona Diamondbacks, eliminating them in four games, advancing to the first World Series in franchise history.

Going into the World Series, it seemed as if the Colorado Rockies were unstoppable. They had won 21 of their last 22 games, winning seven in a row in the postseason. I guess Boston hadn’t received the news. They put up 29 runs in the four games, while holding Colorado to only 10. As much as it pains this Yankees fan to say it, the curse is over in Boston.

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The 2007 baseball season will forever be remembered as the year that saw one team become the first franchise in professional sports to lose 10,000 games, arguably the greatest pitcher in history come out of retirement to reinvigorate the most famous franchise in sports and perhaps the most controversial figure in sports history break the most famous record.

It was the year in which the New York Mets blew what seemed like an insurmountable seven game lead with 17 games left to play. That cataclysmic collapse left all of New York wondering if perhaps this was the price they had to pay for being given Bill Buckner’s error in game six of the 1986 World Series.

The Philadelphia Phillies proved that injury, age and the toughest town to play in throughout the entire country mean nothing when a team is determined. Before the year began, Phillies veteran shortstop Jimmy Rollins proclaimed the Phillies “were the team to beat” in the National League East. While questioned by fans, analysts and reporters, Rollins did everything to back up his claim. He put together an MVP caliber season in which he became just the fourth player ever to record twenty doubles, twenty triples, twenty home runs and twenty stolen bases in one season.

It was the year in which Craig Biggio joined the likes of Ty Cobb, Roberto Clemente and Tony Gwynn by notching his 3000th hit. The overshadowed Biggio will retire in the coming weeks, but his career was truly one for the ages. He broke in as a catcher, before switching to second base and eventually to the outfield, finally finishing his career back at second. While the World Series ring managed to elude him, Biggio will forever be remembered as a gutsy, hardnosed player who played the game the right way. No one has been hit by more pitches than Biggio. More significantly, Biggio played an entire career with one team, something Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. cannot claim.

It was the year in which Sammy Sosa silenced the critics by belting his 600th home run against the team he became famous with, the Chicago Cubs. While corked bats and steroid allegations will always surround “Slammin’ Sammy,” Sosa showed that reporters, fans and most importantly general managers were wrong in saying that he had nothing left. Although this controversy may prevent him from making it to Cooperstown, Sosa’s hard work and determination should be admired.

More important than any hit or any strikeout, 2007 was the year in which the supposed underdogs rose up. It was the year in which Commissioner Bud Selig came off as if he actually knew something about the national pastime. The Philadelphia Phillies are in the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Amidst a manager kicking dirt and punches being thrown in the dugout and on the field, the Chicago Cubs prevailed to take the National League Central. The Arizona Diamondbacks, led by names unfamiliar to most including Cy Young candidate Brandon Webb and hard swinging outfielder Chris Young, won the National League West, something manager Bob Melvin himself would have deemed unlikely at the beginning of the season. The Colorado Rockies showed that the thinness of the air means nothing. Matt Holliday put together an MVP caliber season and Troy Tulowitzki emerged as one of the bright young stars of today’s game. If the playoffs are anything like the regular season, we are in for quite the treat.
Last Updated ( Friday, 02 November 2007 )

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