Thursday, December 11, 2008

Buster Olney Essentially Writes Brewers Eulogy

Man, this is almost a tear-jerker. For the record, I like Buster. One of the non-donkeys at the Four Letter.


The intensity of the crowds at Milwaukee's Miller Park, in the last half of the regular season, was striking. The place was mostly filled, especially on the days when CC Sabathia pitched, and with every pitch, with every turn of the ball-strike count, you could hear the murmuring -- the sound of concern or hope growing, the sound of anticipation. In the biggest moments, when Ryan Braun or Prince Fielder slammed a decisive home run, or at the instant that the Brewers clinched a playoff spot and CC pumped his fist, the response was overwhelming. The Brewers fans were able to experience something they hadn't experienced in 26 years.

And now, just like that, their window is probably closed, it seems, so quickly. Too quickly. Sabathia is gone and Ben Sheets is gone Mike Cameron is reportedly gone, in a trade to the Yankees, and Milwaukee again needs a closer. The Brewers are now left to rebuild again -- with some good and great pieces, for sure...

...When they win, the salaries ascend and the breakdown must come quickly, which is why the '08 Brewers seem destined to join the '01 Athletics and the '94 Expos and the '07 Indians and some Minnesota teams among the small-market teams that seemed on the verge of postseason greatness, but couldn't quite get there.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

well said...exactly what is wrong with baseball today!!

- Sanchez

Anonymous said...

Didn't we all pretty much know this was going to happen during last season?

Even if CC decided to stay, it would have likely meant trading most of the younger guys before they made too much and we wouldn't have won anything anyway.

I pretty much have always said this would happen, which is why I soaked in the whole playoff thing this past year, went to all the big games, etc... because it could be quite a while (not 26 years, but still very possibly 4-6 years) before we get close to the playoffs again.

Anonymous said...

Buster Olney knows his stuff. He's dead on again with this article, unfortunately.

Anon: We did know this was going to happen last season, but it still sucks when it actually happens.

Clown said...

He's not dead on... CC pumping his fist was not the playoff clinching moment. As we all know we had to watch the end of the Met's game...

Yes, I'm making excuses to not believe the truth. It hurts to much.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous you are so wise; you saw his coming and told us all last year this would happen. So (a) you are a downer who couldn’t enjoy the moment and (b) I apologize I didn’t thank you personally for being so wise. I just didn’t know who to thank since you are Anonymous.