Althouse: "The Brewers may have fallen one game short of the World Series, but they're set up for big things."

October 21, 2018

"The Brewers may have fallen one game short of the World Series, but they're set up for big things."

"The rebuild orchestrated by general manager David Stearns and manager Craig Counsell not only turned them into contenders a few years before anyone suspected, it left them in a position to sustain that success. Outfielder Lorenzo Cain played for the Royals when they lost Game 7 of the World Series in 2014, then went back and won the World Series the following year. He sees some parallels between those Royals and these Brewers. 'We made it to the World Series and lost in game seven, but everybody showed up ready to go that next year and we ended up going back to the World Series and we won,' Cain said. 'We can definitely go out there and do the same thing with this team. We have a great group of guys that can really play.'... [T]he core of this team will be together next season and for several more after that. This isn't like the 2011 Brewers team that lost to St. Louis in the NLCS. Back then, everyone knew slugger Prince Fielder was leaving in free agency.... 'So there's a lot of reasons for hope and optimism[,' said Ryan Braun. ']But at the same time we were one game away from the World Series and we had an opportunity to play that game at home. We all know that no matter how good you are, those opportunities don't come around every year...'"

From "Despite difficult end to dream season, Brewers prove they're built for success" by Tom Oates (Wisconsin State Journal).

36 comments:

Birkel said...: I cannot help thinking "they did not build that."
Are we done pre-missing Obama yet?; 10/21/18, 1:44 PM
Drago said...: Wait till next year!; 10/21/18, 1:46 PM
Rob said...: I like the "one game short" figure of speech. I once found myself with the owner of a team during the last out of his team being swept in the World Series. So what do you say at that moment? I shook his hand and said, "Thanks for a great season." It was so perfect a comment that everyone around us said the same. And it was a great season.; 10/21/18, 1:47 PM
rcocean said...: Surprised how many Brewers were a tad overweight.

Too many Milwaukee Brewski's?; 10/21/18, 1:50 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: I wanna like the Brewers, but I still need a few more years to forget about Bud Selig, before I really like them.; 10/21/18, 1:58 PM
Dave Dexter III said...: Thank God the Brewers lost so we don't have to watch indoor baseball during the World Series.; 10/21/18, 1:59 PM
Mark said...: "they're set up for big things"

Yeah, I remember how in Strasburg's rookie season in 2010, the Nationals were set up for big things, a dynasty for years to come, so no need to show any urgency right away.; 10/21/18, 2:09 PM
eddie willers said...: Surprised how many Brewers were a tad overweight.

I was surprised at how skinny Yelich was.; 10/21/18, 2:13 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Surprised how many Brewers were a tad overweight."

Every time I mention it, I am informed that is "all muscle."; 10/21/18, 2:21 PM
Elliott A said...: The wonderful thing about a professional team's success is that many people gain an interest in the sport, watch the game and get to know the players. My daughter was that way once she moved to Houston. Professional sports is an underappreciated asset to a community; 10/21/18, 2:31 PM
Birkel said...: Why do people spend so much time rooting for people who didn't even build their own successes?
Did Meade build his own gardening success?
Did Althouse build her own professing success?

If you believe the answer is yes, you disagree with Obama.
And that means you are racist.

#LeftistLogic; 10/21/18, 2:32 PM
rcocean said...: Every time I mention it, I am informed that is "all muscle."

Ha. John Kruk was dissed for being fat and responded:

"Lady, I'm not an athlete. I'm a ball player"; 10/21/18, 3:01 PM
rehajm said...: Winning the whole thing is hard. Keeping a great team together is hard. If you keep the core together it might not be good enough to beat the other teams that improve.

Winning the whole thing is hard.; 10/21/18, 3:02 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Well, that hurt, especially after the euphoria of Game 6.

But the Crew went much further than anybody expected them to. This was a team that was projected on Opening Day to have a 2.5 percent chance of winning the Division. And David Stearns will not be sitting on his hands during the off season. He appears to be a genius at spotting solid, but unremarkable players who shine when they put on Brewers uniforms. (Schoop being an unfortunate exception.)

I wish I could be excited about the WS. It's not only that the Crew won't be in it - there is no compelling storyline, as there was in previous years. In 2017, it made me happy to see the underdog Astros win their first WS and give the people of battered Houston something to cheer. In 2016, both teams were underdogs. In 2015, the Royals were lovable.

This year's matchup pits East Coast moneybags against West Coast moneybags. It's like watching two trust fund brats fight over who gets the keys to the Ferrari.; 10/21/18, 3:13 PM
Limited blogger said...: Kershaw closing the game out was awesome.; 10/21/18, 3:22 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Blogger Limited blogger said...

Kershaw closing the game out was awesome.

10/21/18, 3:22 PM

I do like Kershaw.

The Dodgers are going to get slaughtered by the Red Sox. I don't think the Crew would have won against them either.; 10/21/18, 3:43 PM
Big Mike said...: We all know that no matter how good you are, those opportunities don't come around every year.

True that. A couple key injuries, a power hitter that goes into a season-long slump, a pitcher in the starting rotation who suddenly couldn’t find the strike zone with a laser pointer, and suddenly the same team is .500; 10/21/18, 4:53 PM
Curious George said...: I think the unknown is how well the bullpen will play next year. A lot of innings. Cleveland had a similar team in 2016 but couldnt duplicate since. Seldom do you a bullpen produce back to back. Injuries and performance fall off is the norm. Great year where it all came together. Be thankful brewer fans.; 10/21/18, 5:15 PM
robother said...: I'll be interested in seeing the long term effects of Counsell's analytics-based quick hook on his starting rotation. Will they have much sense of owning the game? Even really good starters are being denied win opportunities, which go almost randomly to middle relievers who happen to be in when the offense goes ahead. If starters come to see themselves as just one more chess piece on a manager's board, likely to be pulled after one bad pitch (or even one other player's error on a good pitch) will they have the same intensity of focus, the determination to get out of bad situations they get into that characterized the great pitchers of every previous era?

We've already witnessed the Moneyball analytics' negative effect on offensive play, with the 3 True outcomes producing record strikeouts and declining batting averages (and fan interest). Will pitching rotations become a collection of faceless situation specialists? Brewers will be an interesting test case.; 10/21/18, 6:23 PM
Titus said...: Sure. Tell yourself that cheeseheads.; 10/21/18, 6:46 PM
mccullough said...: The Brewers had a good season last year as well. I think the Cubs will pay Machado, so the Brewers will have their hands full again with the Cubs.

If they can improve their starting pitching a bit that would make the difference.; 10/21/18, 6:56 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Titus said...

Sure. Tell yourself that cheeseheads. "

You have your areas of expertise, but I doubt baseball is one of them.; 10/21/18, 7:21 PM
MikeR said...: My condolences.
Go Dodgers!; 10/21/18, 7:30 PM
victoria said...: Go Dodger Blue!!!!

Vicki from (Where else),Pasadena

and a true Dodger fan; 10/21/18, 7:34 PM
Be said...: Dodgers can go to Hell, just like the Damned Yankees.; 10/21/18, 7:38 PM
gemma said...: I'm from Boston and so naturally - Go Sox but everyone in my house was rooting for the Brewers cuz we Hate LA ... I think you will be joining us in our all time favorite rant "Beat LA!!! Beat LA!!"; 10/21/18, 7:38 PM
eddie willers said...: We've already witnessed the Moneyball analytics' negative effect on offensive play, with the 3 True outcomes producing record strikeouts and declining batting averages (and fan interest).

Tell it Brother!

My Braves decided to rebuild and traded away the whole team excepting Freddie Freeman. Since they were so awful, I didn't watch baseball during that period.

When I got back to watching them again this year, I was SHOCKED at how the game had changed! Relievers all over the place with all of them having a 98+ mph fastballs and that silly three true outcomes boringness. I try to read the box scores and all these new sabermetric statistics (WAR, what the hell?) are so confusing and worthless to me I just scroll down to see who won.

I want little ball and the DEATH of the Designate Hitter. (I hates it, I hates it, I hates it!); 10/21/18, 7:56 PM
robother said...: eddie willers: Totally agree on the designated hitter; I find the AL games unwatchable mostly because of that.

And when I think of the Brave's starting pitcher legacy: Spahn and Burdette, Glavine, Maddux and Neikro. Would any of those guys develop in today's game?; 10/21/18, 8:07 PM
Butkus51 said...: Ah yes, the 85 Bears were built for success. Youngest team in the league that year, blah blah blah...........until Charles Martin (a Packer) decided to have a bounty list and body-slammed McMahon to the ground effectively ending his Bears career.

One strength of the Brewers was/is their bullpen. Bullpens are fickle. Unless Mariano Rivera is in it.

The Central should be interesting next year. Imagine if the Cubs got Machado? I'm a Cub fan and I hope they don't. But if they do, the rivalry is upped a couple of notches.; 10/21/18, 8:14 PM
Josephbleau said...: What does any team do after spending their all in a quest to win? First decide who are the ones who deserve to stay. Then heal the damage. Then take a month off. Then go back to a deeper understanding of the fundamentals. Focus on response by instinct and then later on response by intellect. How do you do it? Like you do with a team that just lost a major project bid.; 10/21/18, 9:40 PM
eddie willers said...: Spahn and Burdette, Glavine, Maddux and Neikro. Would any of those guys develop in today's game?

Maddux looked soooo hitable. He just wasn't.; 10/21/18, 10:56 PM
eddie willers said...: That made me think of Pete Rose and the guy who stopped his 44 game hitting streak.

A sidewinding/submarine junk ball pitcher name Gene Garber.

He was almost as fun to watch as Luis Tiant.; 10/21/18, 11:03 PM
dwick said...: "...Brewers prove they're built for success"

Ya... we thought that about my Reds when they dominated the Giants in SF to go up 2-0 in the 2012 NLDS - the Giants swept them 3 games straight in Cincinnati and it's been all downhill ever since. Despite having an experienced manager in Dusty Baker with a relatively young core of players like 2010 NL MVP Joey Votto, Gold Glove/All-Star 2B Brandon Phillips, Gold Glove SS Zach Cozart, a perennial 30 HR/100 RBI guy in RF Jay Bruce, a Gold Glove-caliber CF Billy Hamilton good for 50 stolen bases, a decent bullpen with MLB's best closer Aroldis Chapman plus five solid starting pitchers - (Arroyo/Bailey/Cueto/Latos/Leake) - none of whom missed a start in 2013.
I'm sure I could dig up a similar "...Reds prove they're built for success" article in the Cincinnati Enquirer archives headed into the 2013 season.

Don't assume the Brewers making the post-season in 2019 is a sure thing.
Braun will be 35 - Cain will be 33. Yelich could get hurt and miss 100 games like Votto did in 2014. Aguilar could regress after a break-out season (remember the 2017 version of Eric Thames?) Arcia could turn out to be the Brewers' Addison Russell rather than the next Javier Baez. Do you sign Moustakas and/or Schoop? And don't even get me started on all the things that can go wrong with the pitching. In 50+ years of following the Reds, I've seen it all.; 10/22/18, 12:30 AM
Bricap said...: R Taylor said...

...One strength of the Brewers was/is their bullpen. Bullpens are fickle. Unless Mariano Rivera is in it....

10/21/18, 8:14 PM

This is so true. That said, Hader is the real deal. A lot of that pen is guys who have been in and out of closer jobs in their careers. I've played enough FBB to know how agonizing relievers can be.

Aguilar is 28, and this was his breakout year. This is not a common story. Contrast this with Yelich, who will be entering his age 27 season after a relatively standard development trajectory. Yelich might regress a bit from his .327 BA, but he might also get an uptick in walks, just looking at his past stats.

Looking at the Brewers' payroll, I'm seeing very few veterans with significant term left. A lot of the current roster is rentals with either expiring contracts or options that are too expensive to exercise. That means they have a lot of flexibility in how to move forward. Should be interesting.

The Brewers went 19-7 in September. That's a .731 winning percentage. Obviously this is not sustainable, but that doesn't mean they aren't going to compete. I hope they can develop a solid starting rotation that can endure a full season, because as was already said, bullpens are fickle. To pin the future entirely on the bullpen is asking for it. That's not to say starting pitching isn't fickle, either, but it's about having more paths to winning.; 10/22/18, 11:06 AM
PM said...: Sox mgr Alex Cora played for the Dodgers; Dave Roberts for the Red Sox. They love DR in Boston. Those two should put on their old uniforms and throw the first pitch to each other. Then, game on.; 10/22/18, 11:36 AM
Jim at said...: Alex Cora played for the Dodgers; Dave Roberts for the Red Sox.

Cora and Roberts were teammates in LA from 2002-04.; 10/22/18, 5:30 PM