The American Film Institute says The Godfather is the second-best movie in the whole history of movies. Personally, I might even rank it No. 1. But I’m pretty sure there are 12.95 minutes of it that are none too special.
“Seinfeld” is roundly considered one of the best, if not the best, sitcom to ever grace our TV screens. But they could probably cut 12 episodes from the rerun rotation, pretend the finale was just a bad dream, and you wouldn’t shed a tear.
The Godfather’s runtime is 2 hours, 55 minutes, and 7.4 percent of that is 12.95 minutes. “Seinfeld” made 180 episodes, and 7.4 percent of that is roughly 13 episodes.
And 7.4 percent of a 162-game season is 12 games.
Still, only 12 games into the latest voyage of the S.S. Brewers, hordes of fans are already streaming toward the lifeboats.
Prince Fielder has yet to hit a homer and isn’t even batting .250. Corey Hart can finally buy a few hits, but only because he’s apparently pawned his glove. And the pitching? Please. Doug Davis looks like he’s hired Jason Marquis as his personal pitching coach. LaTroy Hawkins treated his last two inherited leads more like house money in Vegas. Even the uber-reliable Trevor Hoffman seems to have stubbed several toes on his steady march to 600 saves.
So what’s our record, Larry? Five and seven. How’d we ever win five? It’s a miracle.
But we interrupt this baseball apocalypse for a tiny bit of perspective.
In the context of a full season, how does 12 Major League Baseball games compare to other sports? Well, it’s the equivalent of six NBA contests. In the NFL, it covers one full game and not even the first quarter of the next one. Anyone jumping ship during Game 2 of the Packers season?
More perspective, this time with regards to individual players. No player has been more disappointing than Davis, the free-agent pitcher who was supposed to be Milwaukee’s No. 3 starter and solidify the rotation. But so far, he’s got an 11.25 ERA in three starts and couldn’t even notch a win when staked to Sunday’s 10-0 first-inning lead. What’s not to panic about?
Well, so far Davis has thrown 12 total innings. If you figure him for 175 this season, He’s completed 6.8 percent of his expected workload. Keeping with the football theme, that equates to 37 of the 541 passes Aaron Rodgers threw last season. Think Rodgers threw 37 bad passes he’d like to have back? Probably closer to 74, right?
Now look, I’m not saying Davis has a ceiling as high as Rodgers, only that the math works exactly the same for both of them. Just like the math works equally well for the Brewers and the Boston Red Sox, (who were 4-8 through 12 games, and thus staring up at Milwaukee).
Yes, Brewers fans are surely sick of hearing “it’s early,” especially in the face of poor results. But it really, truly is quite early. Should the Brewers be playing better? Absolutely. Should fans start throwing dirt on the season? Absolutely not.
If you believed in the Brewers before the season, and 12 games constitute enough evidence to change your mind, then the belief wasn’t too strong in the first place. And while nobody can guarantee the Brewers will perform better, you can guarantee they’ll get another 150 games to try.
Stick around and watch a few before you stick a fork in them.
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