I know, I know, the NFL is in full swing…who cares about the Milwaukee Brewers, right? But c’mon, admit it. You’ve taken a glance, if not a momentary one, at the standings over the past two weeks. It doesn’t make you weak. It doesn’t diminish your love for the Green Bay Packers. Shocking as it may be to some, the two entities are not mutually exclusive. One can actually be a fan of both teams and simultaneously root for each.
Now, I get it. For many fans, over multiple decades, the Brewers existed only to bridge the gap between the NFL draft and the start of training camp. Zoom out and examine the Milwaukee Brewers franchise as a whole, from start to present, and it’s a pretty sad evaluation. But this is not your 1984 or ’94 or ‘04 Milwaukee Brewers. Despite the fact that this year’s squad performed like those aforementioned well into August, there is a new reality in Brew City, and it’s got everyone taking notice. Well, almost everyone.
It appears T-Plush wasn’t out of his mind when, on July 31st, he Tweeted: “Where’s my Plush Nation? I’m thinking we make a run for the playoffs! Gotta Go!”
20 games remaining and the Crew is a shocking 4 games back of a post-season berth. Much work remains, some help must be secured. But I believe our boys of summer can be around in early fall, and that’s not just my heart talking. In this ultimate game of numbers, there is some statistical sanity to my faith.
I tickled the calculator on yesterday’s show and outlined the following scenario (keep in mind this was yesterday morning):
For the Brewers to win the second Wild Card outright:
Milwaukee: 16-5
Los Angeles: 11-10
St. Louis: 10-11
Pittsburgh: 13-9
Philadelphia: 15-6
I didn’t think, still don’t, that it’s silly to believe that LA and the Cards will play .500 down the stretch; I don’t think Pittsburgh will make it to 85 wins; I’m more certain that Philly won’t win 15 of their final 21.
So why so confident the Brewers can win 16 of their final 21? After all, this entire scenario is predicated on Milwaukee’s ability to play .762 baseball to close out the regular season. That’s tough. That, as stated by e-mailer Jeff, is crazy:
“Nick, quit shoving the Milwaukee Brewers down our throats. The Packers have a huge game against Chicago in two days and you just wasted 5 minutes on a waste of a team. You’re (expletive) crazy if you think those losers will win 16 games.”
But here’s the thing. Rewind the clock to the Crew’s low point of the season: Sunday, August 19, 2012 – an 8-0 loss to Philadelphia droped the team to 54-66. Entering play last night, 21 games had been played. Take a stab at their record after those 21. Yep…16-5.
I’m not (expletive) crazy. But this team just might be.
Go Brewers!
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