There's No Place Like Home

So it would seem for the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brew Crew beat the spit out of the Pittsburgh Pirates last night, 12-8, in front of 30,252 fans, myself included. (I hadn't been to a game since July 5th, and was in desperate need of a fix!) It looked like the game would be more of a blow out early on, but some sloppy defense in the 6th allowed the Pirates to come within six. It had to feel good for the team to come home after that dismal road trip and get a win in front of that huge crowd of screaming fans.

For the most part, the fans were screaming in excitement, but quite a few boo birds rained down on Chris Barnwell after he took over for Rickie Weeks at second base. I hate to say it, but his "defense" last night makes Rickie look like a Golden Glover. He ran into shallow center and flubbed a pop-up that could have been handled easily (or so it appeared) by Tony Gwynn or Geoff Jenkins, and collided with Prince Fielder behind first base on another pop-up that Prince or Jenkins could have pulled down with no problem. Didn't anyone ever tell this guy to call the ball? Or get out of the way when someone else does?

Luckily it all worked out for the Brewers, even though the inning was severely extended and the Pirates scored three runs. Hard luck pitcher Doug Davis finally scored his 6th win, even though he had been very effective in his last few outings, (he had fallen victim to the bullpen more times than I want to count), and my attendance record climbed back to .500, at 10-10.

Matt Wise appeared to have much better control over his change up last night, after struggling with that pitch for a while. He was throwing it too hard, and getting the speed up into the mid-80's. Last night it looked very effective, ranging in the mid to high 70's, and Matt breezed through his two innings of work, giving up only one run and striking out three. It was quite a relief to see some effective relief coming out of the bullpen.

Speaking of pitching, as you all know, Big Ben Sheets makes his return to the mound tonight. I'm cautiously optimistic about Ben's comeback. The stabilization of the starting rotation has been so hyped over the last 11-12 weeks, but I really don't want to get my hopes up. The guys still have to play effective defense, and they still have to produce some offense. The starters can't do it all. The stars will not magically align and rain losses down on the Cardinals and Reds just because we got our starting rotation in order. We still have to win. A lot. Especially on the road.

I cautiously submit that the Brewers' second half schedule shouldn't be as challenging as the first half, but with their propensity to lose against bad teams, you just never know. They have several matchups with the Cubs (and God knows they have to redeem themselves for losing three of four earlier this month), Pittsburgh and Houston. If they can play up to their ability consistently, they could legitimately make a run for the post season.

Of course a lot of this depends on how they play over the next six days. The trade deadline is rapidly approaching, and the Brewers are still somewhat in contention. As you all know, this is relevant in deciding whether the team will keep Carlos Lee or trade him away. Personally, I want to keep Carlos, but from what I've heard, he's looking for big payday. Rumor has it that the Brewers have offered $10 million per year for four years, but Carlos wants $15 million for five years. That's a $35 million dollar difference and I honestly don't think the Crew can absorb that kind of salary. Ultimately, it's going to come down to how greedy Carlos wants to be.

I know that sounds crappy, but it's the truth. Seriously, how much money does one person really need? Can he not feed his family on $10 mil per year? Does he really need that extra $5 mil to run his cattle ranch, or gas up his big old truck? He's banking $8.5 million for this season, so $10 mil for next year would be $1.5 million raise. That's more than twice what Matt Wise is making for the whole season, and that's just how much Carlos's salary would increase. So it all boils down to how greedy he's going to be. He keeps saying how much he likes Milwaukee, and how much he wants to stay here, blah blah blah. Well Carlos, this is your chance to prove it. Until next time, go Brewers!