All photos of the Brewers' 2018 Postseason run available on Flickr.
Now that I've taken some time to reflect and step back from the season, it was a wild ride and a fantastic season for the Milwaukee Brewers, and I could not be more proud of them. For the team in the smallest media market, who most gave no chance to the entire postseason, to push the Los Angeles Dodgers to a Game 7 in the NLCS, was remarkable. Critics will say that the way Craig Counsell pushed his bullpen the final 6 weeks of the season was what did them in, but at the end of the day we just didn't hit very well in the postseason outside of a couple of games. The likely NL MVP Christian Yelich was barely a factor after his Game 1 homer, Jesus Aguilar was limited to 2 homeruns in their two blowout wins, and Lorenzo Cain turned it on just a little too late. The bottom of the order and the historic run of success by our pitching staff carried them to within a few runs of clinching their first ever National League pennant, and to their highest win total in franchise history.
Unlike 2008 and 2011 where we sort of went all in on one season just to taste the playoffs, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic for this team's future. Outside of Wade Miley and Mike Moustakas, nearly every player will be returning for next year, and quite honestly I wouldn't be surprised if we resigned both of them. Christian Yelich is just 26 years old and is only going to get better. Top prospect Keston Hiura has been tearing up the minor leagues and should be our starting 2nd baseman before next summer. Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff will be moved back to the rotation to give us some depth along with a returning Jimmy Nelson. Mark Attanasio will likely go into this offseason with pretty much an open checkbook given their performance this year. Not to mention all of the hardware this team will be getting as a confidence boost - Counsell was named co-Manager of the Year, we have 4 Gold Glove finalists, and I already talked about Yelich's MVP candidacy. This team is poised to compete for another 3-5 years and it is an exciting time to be a Brewers fan. I'm sad and disappointed that it's the Dodgers getting pummeled by the Red Sox instead of us, but I already can't wait for Spring Training.
FINAL 2018 STANDINGS:
Brewers 102-67 (including playoffs), NL Central Champions, lost to Dodgers in NLCS
Reds 67-95, -28.5, last in NL Central
Twins 78-84, -13.0, 2nd in AL Central
FINAL 2018 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 16 (+19 worked)
Peter - 24
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.