Go Brewers! [View all]

Seven weeks ago (June 16), after starting the season 0-4 and almost literally getting the snot beat out of them by the Yankees, the Brewers had climbed over .500, yet were 5 1/2 games behind the Cubs, who were 16 games over .500 at the time and the consensus pick to run away with the NL Central. Today, the Cubs have improved a bit to 18 games over .500… and yet are now 4 games behind the Crew, who just finished a 6-0 road trip. Yeah, against the lowly Nats and Braves, but good teams are supposed to beat poor teams, right? The Brewers are also 6-0 against the Dodgers this year, so it’s

On May 19, the Crew was a muddling 23-25; entering play today, 70-44. So they’ve won 47 of their last 66 games, and they’re still getting very little attention from the baseball media on a day-to-day basis (although they did get a shout out for their hot streak). Still… Oddsmakers in Vegas even had them as underdogs for their last game against the Braves. Hah!!

How do they do it? Great defense, good starting and relief pitching, batters who usually put the ball in play, good speed, smart base running… and few home runs, but just enough from surprising players not known for being sluggers. And when a player is hurt, they have someone who is just as good (or maybe better!) ready to fill in. Isaac Collins (who?), a minor league rule 5 dump from the Rockies, was NL player of the month in July, and is the best defensive LF in the NL and has perhaps the most rookie RBIs in the NL, or is close to it. Overall, none of their players is having a spectacular season; Yelich is having a good year, with about 21 (?) HRs, but this isn’t comparable to his MVP period. (although Andrew Vaughn, acquired from the White Sox where he was having a miserable season and had been sent down to AAA prior to the trade, is currently hitting like the second coming of Mickey Mantle… but he’s only been here for 4 weeks.)

‘Tis a great summer if you’re a Brewers fan!

So go ahead and ignore them. See ya in October.