My Summer of Baseball

A Few Things I Learned

With the Brewers' season ending on Sunday, my summer of baseball is over too. Here's a look back at a few things I learned in 188 days of 2008 baseball...

- There is nothing like Opening Day.

- Baseball is the ultimate connector. This summer I had more (and more interesting) conversations, with more people I barely knew, than ever before.

- A little indifference is an OK thing if it helps you keep your eye on the ball.

- Every team needs some old guys. They know the ropes; they calm the team; they save the day. Way to go Kendall, Kapler, Counsel.

- There really is such a thing as a game-changer. One amazing play can change the mood and the mojo of an entire series.

- Being there is great, but sometimes it's just as nice to have Jim Powell bring the game into your living room. You learn so much more.

- Most games are fun, and a game with family or friends is even better. 

- After 100+ games, I still think the intentional walk is the cowardly way out. And as often as not, it comes back to bite you in the ass.

- No one is more important than the pitcher. Except maybe the home plate ump.

- There are few things more thrilling than when Uecker shouts, "How about that one, folks?"

- A critical injury can mean everything to a team. The entire 2008 season shifted when Yovani took that bad leap. The same might be said about Braun's bad swing.

- Milwaukee is a place where former players like Geoff Jenkins are welcomed back with applause, and great pitching - like Chris Young's near no-hitter on September 6 - is honored with an ovation. Makes me proud to be a fan here.

- Most everybody plays better on their bobble-head day.

- Nobody has more stamina or grit than Jason Kendall.

- The All Star game is a mojo killer. Ask JJ Hardy last year or ask Corey Hart, Ben Sheets and Ryan Braun this year. Next year, I'm not voting for Brewers.

- A great trade makes a great difference. And it's not just about talent, it's about fit, too. CC brought both.

- Nobody wants to sit by a know-it-all, a loud drunk or a chatterbox. The best games have both roars and silences.

- It might not be rule one, but it's up there: Don't leave men stranded on base. It loses too many games and ticks off too many fans.

- It may feel good, but booing never seems to make anybody play better.

- Over six months, your views on players change. It's not an excuse to be fickle, but it's a fact of baseball that you may love Suppan in August and dread him in September.

- Leaving in the 7th or 8th is lame...especially when we're losing. It's the rats that desert the ship when it's sinking.

- Mood matters. The difference between the Yost and Sveum clubs was palpable in the players' quotes, the dugout attitude and the on-field play.

- No matter how many innings a game goes, that last out is still shockingly disappointing or joyful.

- On a great day, Miller Park can be so loud that you literally can't hear yourself think. And a grand slam will make you scream yourself silly.

- Writing 160+ posts was a challenge and a pleasure. I'm grateful to everyone who read...and really appreciate the notes and comments back.

- 83 games proved one thing above all: Even more important than whether they win, it's who you're with that makes the game great. Thanks, Pete.

- There's only one October. I'm so glad I got to see it this year. I'm so glad it comes along every year. April 2009 can't come soon enough. After all: There's nothing like Opening Day.

How Cool is This?

In a Bloomberg article from Friday, Attanasio talked about helping make sure fans can still enjoy baseball despite the economy...

"While the Brewers will raise ticket prices next season, Attanasio said the cost of a bleacher seat will remain $10, the same price when he bought the team three years ago. In addition, Attanasio said his preference is to drive revenue with sponsors, not ticket holders, especially in a challenging economic climate.

"'We know that people are feeling the pinch and we want to make sure that we can get families to come out to the ballpark who are otherwise hurting a little bit,' Attanasio said. 'We feel it's a bit of a social responsibility to do that.'"

Oh, yeah, also cool news: We beat the Phillies today.

Oh, YEAH. Game 83, here we come.

It's Not About the Blog

Over the past month or so, I haven't posted as much or as often as I once did. And I feel bad about that.

True, I've had a lot going on. And when I skipped it was usually because I opted for a few more minutes of desperately needed sleep.

Still, I feel bad that the last third of My Summer of Baseball appears somehow less heartfelt than the first third.

And it's such a wrong impression. In fact, baseball has become such a fundamental part of life now that it just doesn't always occur to me to write about it. I'm living it.

I spent a lot of the summer enjoying baseball as part of the grand blogging experiment. I loved the games, but I was also always putting everything through the blog filter:
- What was I seeing that I could use?
- How could I link baseball to what I really wanted to talk about that day?
- What was the perfect word to describe X, Y or Z?

And that was very fun, both as a writer and as a fan. But by September, I had turned a corner. I couldn't wax philosophical about the losses or think of clever quips about the wins. I was too busy feeling it all, deep down in my gut.

The fact is, these days when I get to a game, there's no computer at home, there's no Internet waiting.

There's just the ball, and the bat, and the glove. The roar and sigh of the crowd. And so many hopes, kept alive for another joyful week.

What a Game, What a Win

WILD CARD!

There's just no way I can describe the feeling in the park today. 

The closest I can come to summarizing the excitement is to say it's 10:24 p.m. and we just drove BACK to the ballpark because they said on the news that the store had more Wild Card hats. (It didn't.)

But the fact that the store was still open - and was full of people - proves everyone in Milwaukee is just as excited as we are.

Since I can't do it justice, I'll just give you the win in Pete's pictures from the day...

 
The Crew turns the winning double play, and the team storms the field.

 
The fans go wild. The team goes even wilder.

 
Somehow it's even more joyful when it's a win against the Cubs!

 
The party begins even as we wait for the Mets score.

 
And when the Marlins prevail, the streamers and confetti explode.

Happy Birthday, Mark Attanasio. Happy Playoffs, Brewers.

How will we wait for Saturday!?!

Talk About Stepping Up to the Plate

Rickie Weeks. Corey Hart. Seth McClung.

WOW.

W

A Grand Night

Tonight's game was incredible. Nail-bitingly painful, and then absolutely astounding.

I've never heard Miller Park as loud as when Ryan Braun banged that game-winning grand slam.

The first walk-off home run of his major league career.
The first grand slam of his major league career.
The first grand slam at all in the Brewers' 2008 season.

Incredible.

Pete was so excited, he was hysterically jumping up and down, and banging me against him in a rib-cracking hug. The only problem being, of course, that I already HAVE a cracked rib.

But even that was a hurts-so-good kind of agony.

Way to go Brewers. Way to go.

Go Yo, Go Cubs

I can't believe I just wrote "go Cubs."

Especially after I swore to a friend from Illinois that it didn't matter what happened, I couldn't, wouldn't, would never, ever root for the Cubs.

Go figure. They turn out to be keyto our success. And last night I actually spent much of the Brewer game watching the scorebord for our friends from Illinois.

How does that saying go? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Next thing you know we'll be inviting Zambrano over to borrow our mound. Oh, wait, we already did that.

Anyway, speaking of the mound, I'm looking forward to seeing Yovani on it today. A little worried, too...he's just got to be rusty, and I hope everyone won't leap to judgment if he is. But it's great to have him back.

So go Yo, go Cubs. Can't wait for the games.

We Still Believe

In the middle of tonight's game, the jumbotron camera focused on a woman holding up a sign that said: "We Still Believe."

I'm not sure who was coming up to bat, but I remember that I looked down at him, and watched him look up at the screen.

Maybe he got a little inspiration from that sign? I wish it had registered more clearly in my mind...who it was and what happened next.

But it doesn't really matter except that it was about hope.

That's one of the many things I've loved this season: No matter how bad it looks, no matter how painful the last loss -- there is always another inning, or another game, or another season.

Or tonight, another at-bat and a hope (fulfilled) for a walk-off home run.

True, if my hope has to stretch itself thin over the next seven months to carry me to the possibility of 2009, it won't feel good.

But it won't make me stop believing, either. Not completely.

Ask any Cubs fan and they'll tell you from 100 years of experience: Hope is what keeps the ball in play.