"I like being part of something that's bigger than me, than I. It's good for your soul to invest in something you can't control." - Ben, Fever Pitch, 2005.
I find it rather difficult to not get romantic about baseball. I don't want to live in a world where there's no baseball.
On April 8th, 1974, Hank Aaron launched his 715th home run, pushing him passed Babe Ruth. He swung at a fastball, 1-0 count, and lined it into left field. The first of October in the year 1932, the Great Bambino lifts his finger, directing it toward center field. Smack—the ball glided smoothly into the gestured area, down center field.
Milwaukee fans have only lived to see a single, lonely appearance in the big game. The St. Louis Cardinals walked out of that series with the trophy, leaving Milwaukee one game away of their first World Series. They lost the series 4-3. Countless fans have come and gone as the team yes yet to reach the same pinnacle.
Fast forward to 2017 and the arrival of "slingin" David Stearns to Milwaukee. Stearns graduated from Harvard University with a degree in political science, and it was there that he was a sports writer for The Harvard Crimson. Stearns worked his way into the position of Assistant General Manager with the Houston Astros before moving, at the age of 30, to becoming the youngest General Manager in baseball for the rebuilding Milwaukee Brewers.
He started off his tenure with a slew of transactions. He fired five of the Brewers' seven coaches, although he appointed and fully endorsed, former Brewers player, Craig Counsell as the Brewers' manager. He traded Closer Tyler Thornburg to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Mauricio Dubon, Josh Pennington, Travis Shaw and a player to be named later. In February of 2017, Stearns claimed Jesus Aguilar off of waivers from the Cleveland Indians. At the end of the first season under the Counsell/Stearns regime, the Crew ended with a record of 86-76, one game out of the second wild card spot held by the Colorado Rockies, and six games behind the division rival, Chicago Cubs.
The Milwaukee Brewers are 31-19, sitting alone atop the tough and gritty National League Central. The Cardinals, Cubs, and Pirates—all trailing only a couple of games behind. In 2017, Forbes ranked the Milwaukee Brewers dead last, out of 30 teams, for the lowest payroll in all of baseball. The small-market Brewers are competing, and they're looking good doing it with the likes of Tyler Saladino, Jesus Aguilar, and Jhoulys Chacin, All players whose names are practically unknown to the world. They are the first National League team this season to reach the benchmark of 30 wins.
Jimmy Nelson, the Crew's Ace, has been recovering from shoulder surgery since last season. Ryan Braun has been in and out of the lineup since the start of the season. Eric Thames has been sidelined for 6 weeks since his thumb surgery. All-Star Closer Corey Knebel is finally back after missing 4-6 weeks after injuring his hamstring against the Cubs earlier in the season. They've been hit an endless amount of times, so how are they continuing to put players on the field and win games?
The rag-tag group is headlined by second-year reliever, Josh Hader. Hader has struck out 58 batters in 29.1 innings, while sporting an impeccable 1.23 ERA. Jeremy Jeffress gets even crazier when the fact that he's pitching to a .35 ERA is brought up. Matt Albers is rocking with the rest with a 1.17 ERA. Knebel has nailed his last two saves with poise since his return from the disabled list. Part of the team's success is due to the reliability of maybe the best bullpen in the majors.
Starting pitching was a concern for fans and executives everywhere this off season. The cubs went out and signed Yu Darvish to the sweet-tune of a 6-year, $126 million contract. After settling down recently, Darvish's ERA still hangs high at 4.95. Instead of signing Darvish, the Crew settled for lesser signings, such as the one for Chacin, whom has been on a tear with a 2.29 ERA in the last 7 games, after starting off the season poorly. Junior Guerra was promoted from the Triple-A Colorado Sky-Sox after a few injuries occurred and has since shut down opposing teams. Once again, to an Earned Run Average of 2.98. Pitching has been a factor, again and again, in the success of this small ball club.
The hitting was slow to start, but the bats have heated up as of late. With Thames and Braun's injuries, Aguilar has been getting the bulk of the First Base starts, and he's hit four home runs in the last 7 games alone with 9 RBI's. Newly acquired outfielder's, Yelich and Cain, have been on-base machines. Cain's on-base-percentage has been .391, higher than any season prior. Yelich's OBP is also a respectable .349 as they've combined for 11 home runs. Travis Shaw launched his thirteenth home run of 2018 against the Diamondbacks today. Saladino, called up due to the combined struggles of Eric Sogard and Orlando Arcia, has hit with an average of .379 and hit three home runs, including one that stayed inside the park.
Being a fan, for as long as most of us have been, requires a certain sense of duty, loyalty, and obligation. We endure the cold winters of the off season, and the humid summers in order to watch our team grasp for gold. When all else falters, your team is their to nurture you through inescapable realities. Baseball teaches a person what losing feels like. It hurts, it stings, and it lingers much longer than we'd prefer. But this teaches us how to act when we win, to relish in it, and appreciate the glorious feat. It's a process. Through thick and thin, I am there for them and they are there for me, and if that ain't romantic, I'm not sure what is.
The Milwaukee Brewers are showing the world why baseball is still great. You just cannot "fake" baseball.
