(In honor of opening day at Miller Park, we’re switching things up at Sports Nut central this week, providing updates throughout the afternoon and evening. Enjoy the sights and sounds.)
8:30 p.m.
Walking past the parking-lot remnants of Miller Park’s home opener – empty bottles, the drunks who drained those bottles, the last, lingering wafts of cookout cuisine – I could only imagine the conversations that ensued immediately after Monday’s 2-1 loss.
Milwaukee, much like Patton’s America, loves a winner and will not tolerate a loser. At least they won’t tolerate a loser for long. And when you’ve been told all winter long to expect a winner, four games of losing seems longer than winter itself.
This may not quite be a nightmare start for the Brewers, but it sure looks like the trailer for a Wes Craven flick. There have been losses both close and crushing, and it’s enough to make fans forget why folks were so excited about this team in the first place.
“The Brewers are done,” said the first caller on SportsRadio 1250’s postgame show.
So much for tolerance.
But I wanted to help. Not by spinning an 0-4 record that couldn’t be spun by Curly Neal. I simply wanted to remind folks why they were so excited about this team in the first place.
So I cracked open the Maple Street Press Brewers Annual 2011, the most comprehensive preseason guide you’ll find on the market. And I flipped through some of the articles.
“The new, revamped starting rotation can now combine with a strong, homegrown lineup to make Milwaukee a likely contender for the NL Central title this season and perhaps in 2012 and beyond.” – Brew Crew Ball editor Kyle Lobner.
“With (Zack) Greinke, not only are the Brewers contenders in the NL Central, but dreams of pennants and World Series titles are dancing in fans’ heads.” – The Brewers Bar blogger James Langrehr.
“In just four seasons with the Brewers, (Ryan) Braun has reached a level of personal success and popularity that has not been achieved in Milwaukee since the glory years of Yount, Molitor and Harvey’s Wallbangers in the 1980s.” – MLB.com associate reporter Jordan Schelling.
“In fact, Greinke, (Yovani) Gallardo and (Shaun) Marcum all started on Opening Day in 2010.” – Maple Street Press editor Brian Carriveau.
“If this promise is realized, the Brewers could be looking at an above-average offense, better than 2010’s, to go with their potentially dominant rotation.” – Bernie’s Crew blogger Nicholas Zettel.
“By the time he got around to talking about his playing career, the Hall of Famers on the stage behind him were convulsing with laughter and dabbing their eyes with handkerchiefs.” – ESPNMilwaukee.com senior editor Drew Olsen.
OK, so Olsen’s line wasn’t about the Brewers, but pulled from a feature about team broadcaster Bob Uecker. But I thought that might help cheer folks up, too.
The bottom line is, a whole bunch of smart baseball people spent a whole lot of time explaining why the Brewers would be good this season. And they believed that for good reasons. To discount it all after 2.5 percent of the season seems about as short-sighted as Mr. Magoo.
No, Milwaukee may not tolerate a loser. But it takes a lot more than four games to make one of those.
4:47 p.m.
So by now, you know. That late rally never came, and four games into the most anticipated Brewers season in recent memory, the club has yet to win a single one.
What exactly will the players and managers do about this troubling turn of events?
Quite simply, ignore it.
“It’s definitely the message,” said first-year manager Ron Roenicke, who was hired in part for his notoriously positive outlook and didn’t need long to test the quality.
“We’re obviously going to win a game. Hopefully it’s tomorrow,” he continued. “And I think as long as the guys stay positive, I still feel like every day that we go out there that we’re gonna win.”
Yes, Brewers fans can panic all they want – and judging by those screaming obscenities in the concourse, plenty will do just that. But the team itself can’t afford to, even when it looks like they’re alone against the world.
Nobody is taking a more defiant stance against the woe-is-me tide than Prince Fielder, who promised nothing but positive vibes this year and backed it up with a perma-grin. The approach stems directly from his 2010 experience, when he was bothered by any number of things, including trade talk, contract speculation and a poor relationship with former manager Ken Macha.
“Last year was terrible. I’m never gonna be like that again. I refuse,” Fielder said. “I wasn’t positive at all. … I’m not being negative.”
So should we just start calling him Smilin’ Prince Fielder? “Believe it,” he said. And did so through a smile.
Lest you confuse this with acceptance of their fate, stand in front of Craig Counsell’s locker. The two-time World Series champ said he couldn’t remember a season with such high expectations starting on such a low note. And while he’s not necessarily screaming obscenities in public, he was clearly bugged by it.
“If you’re on a good team and you lose four in a row, you’re frustrated,” Counsell said. “That’s how it works. You should be a little upset you lost four in a row.”
The fans have that market covered. All you had to do was listen to the boos rain down on Takashi Saito when he gave up the lead built by Chris Narveson’s six shutout innings and Rickie Weeks’ solo home run. Or you could always check a message board at Brew Crew Ball or tune into talk radio.
Yes, a day that began with all the hope you’d expect from a home opener couldn’t quite carry the sentiment into the evening.
The fans won’t want to hear that it’s early, but it is. They won’t want to hear that teams will go through rough stretches, but they will. And they most definitely won’t want to hear excuses.
On that point, at least, the Brewers can oblige.
“Sometimes we look for solutions this game,” Counsell said, “and the solution is us getting the job done. It’s as simple as that.”
Simple to say, anyway. But the proof is in the doing.
3:35 p.m.
Safe to say that the patience of Brewers fans is wearing thin.
In his first appearance at Miller Park, Takashi Saito gave up a game-tying homer. A handful of fans booed. Then he gave up a go-ahead homer, and the handful got a lot bigger. Then he gave up another hit, and we were way past handfuls.
Saito’s been through a lot. The impact of the Japanese earthquake/tsunami on his family has been well-documented. But on the field, there’s a vocal segment of Brewers fans who have no room for sympathy. Just wins and losses.
It’s 2-1 Braves heading into the ninth, and the Brewers have three outs to avoid starting the season 0-4.
3:19 p.m.
Chris Narveson, ace?
While most of Brewers fandom frets about the Zack Greinke’s broken rib and Randy Wolf’s broken ERA, there was Narveson, pitching six shutout innings.
The man who was supposed to be the weakest link in the starting rotation turned out to be the strongest the first time through. Even Yovani Gallardo gave up a couple runs to Cincinnati in the season-opener, but Narveson’s ERA is nothing but goose eggs.
One of the forgotten stories from last season was how strong Narveson looked over the last month of 2010. He posted a 3.13 ERA in September, and that’s part of the reason the Brewers felt comfortable handing him the fifth starter’s job this year.
Maybe that slot is too low.
2:51 p.m.
Because I know you care, Bratwurst wins the year’s first Klement’s Sausage Race. Personally, I think it was fixed. Hot Dog looked like he was, um… doggin’ it.
2:10 p.m.
If you’re a fantasy baseball player, and you weren’t prescient enough to draft Rickie Weeks, go trade for him. Now.
Weeks just hit his third home run in four games, and it was the kind that made you thankful that baseball feel no pain. He ripped it to left-center field, and the Brewers’ bullpen barely had time to duck.
Nobody has ever doubted Weeks’ raw talent, just whether he’d stay healthy enough to put it all together. He did that last year. And so far, the surgery he had on both wrists looks built to last.
Milwaukee’s last big offseason move was to sign Weeks to a contract extension that could pay him $50 million over five years. With all due respect to Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, it might turn out to be the best move of all.
1:30 p.m.
Say one thing for the Brewers. They sure know how to guarantee a rousing ovation to kick things off.
The Brewers started the Miller Park home opener with not one ceremonial first pitch, but 11 of them. And they were all thrown by members of the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers.
One by one, guys like John Kuhn, Nick Collins and Bryan Bulaga trotted onto the field, and they were greeted with roars from the sellout crowd. No, that Lombardi Trophy fever hasn’t left town just yet. If the Brewers get roars like that today, they’ll have done something pretty darn spiffy.
But the star-watching wasn’t limited to Miller Park fans. When the Packers left the field, they did so via the Atlanta Braves dugout. And there on the top step was Braves utility man Erik Hinske – a native of Menasha, Wis. – to shake each hand. His mission accomplished, he went back in the dugout and jogged its length, one arm raised in the air.
Yep, players can be fans too. Even opposing ones.
12:26 p.m.
Greetings from Miller Park. And if you’re not already here, you may not arrive till next week.
Maybe by then, the Brewers might even have a few wins.
Opening day at Miller Park is always a doubleheader, and traffic always wins the first game. This is my fifth Brewers home opener, and one thing I’ve learned is you can never leave home too early. In fact, I don’t doubt the Brewers could make some serious money if they offered overnight tailgating. Find 2,500 people who’ll pay $200 to beat traffic, and you’ve bought a backup shortstop.
But no matter how long you have to wait in on the roads, you’re doing so for a worthy cause. Fans seem get it. The only horns I heard honking were vuvuzelas being blown out of car windows. Miller Park’s opener is the closest you can get to a statewide holiday without involving the Legislature. Which is a good thing, considering how it has its hands full.
The party’s in force when I park around 10 a.m. Smoke pours from the grills, saliva pours into my mouth, and it’s like baseball never left.
On my way into the stadium, I pass my first batch of Klement’s Racing Sausages. If you’re looking for wagering racing insight, Hot Dog was first, Bratwurst was last.
Everything about the park feels fresh and new, just like it does every year. Familiar faces line the concourses. Friendly greetings are the norm. A couple fans stand in front of the home plate gate, just waiting for the doors to open so they can say they were the first ones in.
Up in the press box, Bob Uecker arrives with a leather jacket and sunglasses. Wouldn’t you?
And out on the field, looming above the players taking batting practice, is the creation that would make Philo T. Pharnsworth blush with pride. Pick an adjective –humongous, gigantic, gigantimongous – and it won’t be enough to describe the Brewers new big-screen TV. No pictures will do it true justice. You’ll just have to see it for yourself.
These are all just little appetizers for an all-day feast. The Brewers still have a game to be played. And, ideally, won.
But for fans, this is more than just a game. It’s an annual reunion, one that never seems to arrive soon enough.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter, where I tweet as howiemag. And tune in every Tuesday morning at 6:30 when I join Doug Russell and Mike Wickett on SportsRadio 1250 AM for Tuesdays with Howie.
