Baby Redbirds

The Brewers play the Cardinals this weekend in Busch Light Stadium, and you know what that means! Let the crybaby, hypocritical-ness begin!

Exhibit A (for 2009) - this story is actually on the Cardinals website as the preview to the Brewers series. Lordy, lordy, are they seriously still concerned about the shirt un-tucking?

But first it's the Milwaukee Brewers, who are tied with St. Louis atop the National League Central. And who, honestly, are a little bit more fun to beat because of their flamboyant ways.

They sure are flamboyant - did you see Cameron with that blue feathered boa on during the game yesterday?

"Well, they've got a little flair about them that some people don't care for," said closer Ryan Franklin. "But that's just the way they are. So yeah, I think it would be more fun to beat them than it would be the Padres or something, just because of what they do after they beat you."

Actually, each Milwaukee Brewer is required to wear at least 30 pieces of flair on their jerseys. We're not in Kansas anymore. And do wins against the Padres count in the standings this year?

It's not that the Brewers are bad guys. It's not that this is the Red Sox and Yankees in the 1970s, when players were at one another's throats. But the Brewers are well known around the league to be a little showier about things than some other teams are. And dating back to late 2007, St. Louis and Milwaukee have had the occasional dustup.

Not bad guys? Well, that's a relief. I mean, when I saw them un-tucking their shirts after clubbing the Cardinals last year, I figured they were all pederasts and drug dealers!

The solution, of course, is to beat them. And that's something the Cardinals had some trouble doing in 2008. For the first meeting in '09, they'll send Kyle Lohse to the mound. Lohse is looking to snap a mini-slump that has seen him post his two worst starts of the year since the beginning of May.

"They are what they are," Lohse said. "That's how they choose to present themselves and play the game. A lot of people don't like it. We're not the only ones."

As opposed to, say Statute Albert Pujols, who watches a meaningless home run longer than Tony LaRussa spends passed out behind the wheel of his SUV on an average Friday evening?

My God. Anyone have Bernie Miklasz's take on the series?