1st place in NL central right now, attempting to sweep the previous division leader tonight, 17-5 since April 22nd, could the Brewers defy every prediction and beat the Cubs to win the division? Here are all the reasons why it could happen:

• Our hitters are actually showing plate discipline - much fewer 3-pitch strikeouts!
• Rickie Weeks FINALLY looking like he's going to hit above .230
• Hell's Bells posting a 0 ERA (as opposed to Gagne who was like 8.xx at this point)
• C.C. (Craig Counsell) hitting something like .350
• Jeff Suppan gets the victory in a 1-0 game vs. a team with Albert Pujols...huh?!
• Yovani Gallardo gets the victory in a 1-0 game in which HE belts out the deciding home run
• Mark DiFelice, who spent 11 years in the minors, is somehow posting an ERA below 1
• Racing sausages

What else do you need? There's gotta be other Brewers fans here! WORLD SERIES HERE WE COME!!

I still can't believe there aren't more Brewers fans on here!

The only thing more unbelievable is how many doubters don't think we will win the division. We pretty much have the division wrapped up. The only question is if we will win the World Series this year or next year.

It sucks that Weeks is out of the season. He was on his way to a career year and finally living up to his potential. Luckily we are still deep enough but need to stay healthy to make a true run at it.

Also, Hells Bells is the most popular song in Milwaukee right now. It gets played on every jukebox in every bar non-stop.

k

I could post the same thing about 100x times in any Cubs/Tigers/Cardinals/[your team here] thread. Bump this in October!

Is this true? I was in Milwaukee for one of the games where he got a save and the crowd was louder than I've ever seen them. The crowd erupted on every strike. Can't believe at 41 he's still got it, but the man's in ridiculous shape and seems to be able to outsmart most of the hitters he faces.

Sucks about Weeks though, I think it may have been my fault since I was wishing really hard he'd get injured last year (when he was hitting like .220 and grounding into double plays whenever we needed a hit). It sucks, but at least Gamel can hit (unlike you-know-who)

3rd best record in baseball right now and 3 games ahead in a division with 4 20-win teams (only the AL East has that right now - next closest is 2). Sportscenter finally paying attention - they got 20 seconds of coverage instead of the usual 10. Going up!!!

GO BREWERS!!!

There's not many of us from Wisconsin here, so this will probably be a pretty tame thread. Saying the division is wrapped up is obviously nonsense at this point, but they're playing well and running hot right now. Gamel is gonna be awesome, happy to see he's playing. Despite the fact that Weeks was playing well, I've never liked him, and I feel like just going off memory he often has hot starts followed by poor overall seasons, so his injury may be a blessing in disguise.

I remember an article comparing Weeks' fielding skills to the average little leaguer. I think he came out just barely ahead.

i think he picked it up this year. losing him has been bad. our infield is depleted. mcgehee is playing well, lets hope it can continue after he gets over his little injury.

hart and hardy's slumping looks like its coming to an end, theyve held onto first place even through their nasty hitless streaks.

they are looking good. hopefully they can shore up another pitcher. i dont think parra will be back.

anyways...

LETS GO BREW-ERS!!!!!!!!

I was born in Hartford... and visit WI on occasion to see relatives. Still pull for the Brew Crew whenever I'm not rooting for the Rangers.

Hope you guys can keep it up! Nice Avatar Shoe the Brewers should have never changed.

Yeah, this was supposed to be the year of the Rickie Weeks... infield is not great, but Gamel seems to be a decent 3rd baseman, and it looks like he can hit too (although his avg sucks now). I've heard talks of bringing up Escobar and moving JJ to 2nd, putting Gamel in the outfield and running McGehee at 3rd.

As far as pitching goes...our starters are on a bit of a cold streak, even Gallardo is scuffling a little (although he still doesn't give up many earned runs, still sitting below a 3 ERA). I know Bush can put it together, and I would really hope that Parra can get his **** together and become the guy who went on a 9-game winning streak in the middle of the last season. We really could use a lefty with a killer fastball. To replace him...no idea, but I have heard Tim Dillard could come up, or maybe Burns....McClung and Villanueva are good options, but they're valuable bullpen guys and haven't fared too well as starters yet.

Speaking of...how bout DiFelice and Stetter this year? Those guys have been nothing short of amazing lately. Four earned runs in 26 innings for Difelice. Lefies are hitting .091 against Stetter. They don't get talked about much but they are essential to this team at this moment. And of course, Trevor....

i think jj said that hed only play short

i like gamel, and i hope he turns it around quick so they dont end up sending him back down in another week, not everyone is braun, some guys need some time.

Wow:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Jeff-Suppan-For-...3%3A1|294%3A50

Funny but also a depressing realization of how our season is going right now...

If you're depressed about being in 1st place, I have no idea how you survived 1983-2007.

Prince Fielder is gooot.

Let's get the SWEEP tomorrow!!! I am bringing my broom to the ballpark!

Obviously I'm not depressed about that. Let me clarify. I actively started following the Crew around 1998 or so, when I started middle school. I know what it's like to be eliminated from playoff contention two weeks into the season. Now I am hopeful that the team is turning around in a permanent way, now that we have a great stadium and are setting attendance records which equals a bigger payroll, but I know that things can turn cold for a decade or more. In the last two years, we did have a great team, but things fell apart in the end (yes, we did make the playoffs in 2008, but the team just wasn't playing well, and nobody thought they could do anything to Philly) We saw in the second half of April and nearly all of May the potential this team had. I feel like if this team is gonna make a deep playoff run, this is the time. You don't know who's going to be around in a couple of years (I'm talking mostly about Prince, and it kills me when people suggest we trade him for pitching - he's too clutch, he averages an RBI PER GAME, he's won too many games by himself, he's too big an icon in Milwaukee already, and only Pujols really rivals him in the NL).

So yeah, when the starting rotation falls apart, when one of your highest paid players goes into a huge slump, half the lineup suddenly can't buy a hit, your top doesn't produce much and you start losing a lot of close games, yeah, it's depressing. I remember telling everyone that despite losing CC and Sheets, the team would be ok because we had a dominating righty (Gallardo), a dominating lefty (Parra), and a solid control pitcher who was improving every year (Bush). Gallardo's doing great, like almost Cy Young award great, but Parra lost his mind and got demoted, Bush got injured, and suddenly I'm left hoping the team can just keep it together. Maybe these things happen to every good team...I wouldn't know The whole being a fan of a good baseball team is new to me. Overall I'm really happy with the them. If Burns turns into a good starter (not losing it after giving up a walk and an HR in the first inning was nice) and McGehee really is a .300 hitter with power then I think they have enough depth to survive. If we have that and a good JJ Hardy I think the team rolls in July.

As for 1st place...it's largely meaningless at this point, but I do know that the Cards having great pitching and Pujols, that the Cubs could wake up at any time, and that with a 6 team division, you never know when a team can suddenly go on a ridiculous run (like the 2008 Astros did).

good post bill

well, im ready to call this season a bust.

lets prepare for the future. time to move hart, hardy, hoffman, and whoever else we can for pitching prospects or people we can sign after the seasons over.

QuotedForFourth. You can untuck your shirts now since it's all over.

On pace to make the playoffs again by 2034.

I will untuck my shirt in October. TY. There are a LOT of games left.

its good to be optimistic but when losing jeff suppan could be devastating to our rotation...thats saying we dont have what it takes to make the playoffs, i think.

Wait wait. First you said it was all wrapped up. Now there's a LOT of games left. Which is it?

Obviously I was just a fan shooting my mouth off for my home team. I think it happens a lot. Pretty much in any city that has a sports team. And also in threads dedicated to certain team that tend to attract fans of that team.

I don't care if you like the Brewers or not, but if you don't, why troll here? I don't go into my rivals threads and make fun of them whenever their teams are struggling.