The Milwaukee Brewers will win the World Series.
See how easy that is to say?
Yep. Grown men will cry and The Champagne of Beers will flow. A baseball hero or three will mount a Harley and ride it across Miller Park. And the groundskeepers won’t mind one bit.
Because this will, quite simply, be the greatest sporting moment Milwaukee has ever seen. Even the Packers will take a backseat. For a day or two, anyway. And books will be written and documentaries filmed and T-shirts printed and banners designed.
The hottest gift of the Christmas season will be Sports Illustrated subscriptions, because everyone will want that Brewers commemorative gift. Unless, of course, Nyjer Morgan puts out an album of Tony Plush’s Greatest Hits.
And babies will be christened Ryan and Prince and Axe and Shaun and Zack. And, yes, maybe even Yovani and Yuniesky, too.
Now this is the part where you laugh and say I’m crazier than Sideshow Bob. And not just because Yuniesky is a once-in-a-century name. But because over the past week, the Brewers lost five games to the Cardinals and Phillies, and fans are leaving the Brew Crew bandwagon like it’s being driven by Charlie Sheen.
Suddenly, people are calling this whole Brewers season a mirage. And it’s not just pessimistic fans, but also Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci, who does so at the end of this column.
My favorite argument against the Brewers goes something like this: Milwaukee can’t beat winning teams and is only making the playoffs by beating up on losing teams. Therefore, when it comes to the playoffs, the Brewers will stink like Limburger cheese.
But let’s break it down.
A) Part of the reason those clubs have losing records is because the Brewers beat up on them. Why are the Pirates 67-80? Because they’re 2-10 against the Brewers. If the Pirates were 10-2 vs. Milwaukee, they’d be 75-72. Of course, then the Pirates would only be good because they beat up on the Brewers.
B) Only five other National League teams have winning records. The Brewers are 21-25 against them (3-4 vs. Philadelphia, 3-5 vs. Atlanta, 9-9 vs. St. Louis, 3-4 vs. Arizona and 3-3 vs. San Francisco). So the theory that the Brewers can’t beat good NL teams is based on three games. Because if the Brewers were 4-3 vs. Philly, 4-3 vs. Arizona and 10-8 vs. the Cardinals, they’d be 24-22 against NL winners. Much more worthy of cracking open the bubbly, right? Or at least one of those Champagne of Beers.
C) How have those other five NL teams fared against the NL elite? Well, only three of them – Philly (22-18), Atlanta (21-20) and St. Louis (23-20) – have winning records against winning NL teams. And only St. Louis has winning records against Philly and Atlanta. Therefore, St. Louis should clearly reach the World Series. Except for that whole not-making-the-playoffs thing.
Look, the bottom line is, none of this stuff matters. Frankly, the Brewers could be 0-for-46 against NL winners, 86-16 vs. everyone else, and it still wouldn’t matter. Because all that matters is going 3-2 in one playoff series and 4-3 in two others. Because then they’ll be World Series champs.
Is it so hard to picture the Brewers doing that? They’re a team with three of the league’s best starting pitchers in Shaun Marcum, Zack Greinke and Yovani Gallardo. A team with one of the league’s best bullpens, anchored by one of the league’s best closers in John Axford. A team with two of the league’s top three MVP candidates – Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder – and with a supporting cast that includes Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, Nyjer Morgan and Jonathan Lucroy. And a team that’s reached this point despite some defensive issues that would make Morris Buttermaker feel at home.
I was out in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and picked up an MGM Sports Book futures sheet. It listed the preseason odds on a Brewers World Series title at 60-1. It listed the updated odds at 5-1, putting Milwaukee behind only the Phillies (9-5), Boston (5-2) and the Yankees (4-1). On Tuesday, Bodog had the Brewers at 7-1, still the fourth favorite.
So Vegas wiseguys don’t think the Brewers are such a terrible proposition. But I’ve placed no bets, because I prefer that type of thing be for entertainment purposes only.
And frankly, a Brewers World Series run would be entertainment enough.
Call me crazy.
Unless it happens.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter, where I tweet as howiemag. And listen to me chat sports with Mitch Teich once a month on WUWM’s “Lake Effect.”
