Brewers Disappoint, Nationals Surprise in Playoffs

It's been the trendy pick for the Nationals to win a World Series pretty much since they signed Max Scherzer in 2015, and every year up until this one they have disappointed.  It's been well chronicled how they have never won a playoff series in the entire franchise's existence, even dating back to their days as the Expos.  There has not been a championship in the city of Washington for over 80 years.  But even despite (or perhaps because of?) losing Bryce Harper in the offseason, the Nats defied all odds to stun the Astros and the world by winning the title on Wednesday.  In addition to being the extreme underdog, and pretty much making it through the entire playoffs primarily using only 6 pitchers, they also did so by winning all 4 games in the World Series on the road.  In fact, it was the first championship series in any sport ever in which the road team won all 7 games.

Their first win in their improbable run was, of course, sneaking past the Brewers in late-inning fashion in the Wild Card game.  The Brewers could not have scripted it better.  They jumped out to an early lead in the 1st and followed it up with 4 phenomenal innings from all-star Brandon Woodruff.  Brent Suter then threw a gutsy scoreless 5th and Drew Pomeranz shut down the Nats for two more innings.  It was all set up for arguably the best reliever in baseball, Josh Hader, to shut the door in the 8th and 9th.  In fact just this past week he took home his 2nd consecutive Reliever of the Year Award.  However, as baseball is prone to do, things did not fall perfectly into place, and Juan Soto knocked in 3 runs in the 8th off of a big error by Trent Grisham to come back and win the game.  It was a disappointing end to a season, but objectively speaking, not many people outside of Wisconsin expected this team to even make it as far as they did.  The Brewers outpaced their Pythagorean Expectation by 8 wins, due in large part to another amazing September led by the best manager in baseball.  It's that kind of month and finish to the season that makes any Brewers fan optimistic for next year.  No matter who is re-signed or on the roster, with Counsell at the helm, Stearns in the front office, and an MVP in the outfield, this team always has a chance to prove people wrong, just like the Nationals did this year.

That's a wrap on the 2019 season, and only 146 days until Opening Day 2020!  To my one regular reader out there and whoever else stumbles across this, be sure to check back in during the winter.  Erik and I are planning a spring trip this year, the Brewers are rumored to be changing their uniforms for their 50th Anniversary season, and MLB/MiLB are potentially negotiating a historic change to the player development system, so it will certainly be a busy offseason.

PS - I'd also like to point out that I perhaps had my best year of predictions ever.  I correctly picked 7 of the 10 playoff teams, and I actually picked the Astros to beat the Nationals in 6 in the World Series, so I'm pretty proud of myself.

FINAL STANDINGS AND SERIES:

Brewers 89-73; lost NL Wild Card

Twins 101-61; lost ALDS

FINAL 2019 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 8

Peter - 22

2019 MLB Postseason

(photo courtesy of CBSSports.com)

When you talk about the history of the Milwaukee Brewers, it's hard not to compare everything to the 1982 pennant-winning team, and this year's club was no different.  For the first time since that magical '82 season, the Brewers have clinched playoff births in back-to-back years.  The Brewers managed to go 20-7 for the second straight September en route to an 89-73 season and make it to the Wild Card Game against the Washington Nationals.  Unlike last year where the September run really was just to overtake the Cubs in the division, this year's club truly had to scratch and claw just to get into the playoffs.  As early as September 6th, they were 7.5 back of the division lead and 5.5 games out of the playoffs entirely.  They proceeded to win 18 of their next 23 games and, with a little help from the faltering Cubs, managed to sneak into the Wild Card.  Even going into Game 162 they had a chance to at least tie for the division, but I'm sure Brewer Nation is more than satisfied that this team, which has overcome injuries and long stretches of mediocrity all season, even has this opportunity.  Manager Craig Counsell perhaps said it best when he mentioned to reporters that this club has only played one meaningless game in the last 3 years, which is in reference of course to the playoff race coming down the wire in each of those years.  Two of those three teams had no business even getting that far, so if Craigers does not finally win Manager of the Year this year, something is wrong.

My last sentence implies that I don't really think the Brewers are as good as last year's team, which I think most would agree is a fair statement.  We cobbled together 89 wins with a patchwork starting rotation and 2/3rds of our dominant back end of the bullpen injured and/or terrible most of the year.  It's not a coincidence that the emergence of Brent Suter and Drew Pomeranz to essentially replace Jeremy Jeffress and Corey Knebel led to the successful September (in fact, Suter was honored with the MLB Reliever of the Month Award for September).  But while the team may not be as good on paper, with Counsell's ability to manage the bullpen and every game like it's his last, and the amount of big games this team has had to endure just to get to this point, I don't think there is a team in baseball better equipped to win a winner-take-all game than the Brewers.  And if they can get past the Nationals, who knows how far they can go.  The American League seems vastly superior than just about every National League team - 3 of the 5 playoff teams in the AL won over 100 games - but in terms of their own conference, the Brewers can surprise a lot of people.  The Wild Card Game format certainly has its critics and rightfully so, but it doesn't make me any less excited or less proud to watch the game tonight.

This year I again went 7 of 10 in my postseason picks.  So far the hours and hours of baseball podcasts I listen too have not translated into better prediction abilities.

PLAYOFFS START 10/1/19
NL Wild Card - #4 Nationals v. #5 Brewers
NLDS - #1 Dodgers v. WC Winner
#2 Braves v. #3 Cardinals

AL Wild Card - #4 Athletics v. #5 Rays
ALDS - #1 Astros v. WC Winner
#2 Yankees v. #3 Twins

World Series Prediction: Astros defeat Cardinals in 6
Rooting for:  Twins v. Brewers

Preseason Predictions
#1 Nationals
#2 Dodgers
#3 Brewers
#4 Phillies
#5 Cardinals

#1 Astros

#2 Red Sox
#3 Indians
#4 Yankees
#5 Rays

Astros defeat Nationals in 6

FINAL STANDINGS AND SERIES:

Brewers 89-73; 2nd place NL Central, #5 seed, 2nd Wild Card v. Nationals

Twins 101-61; 1st place AL Central, #3 seed, ALDS v. Yankees

2019 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 8

Peter - 22

Brewers Having Another September Surge

Brewers fans have come to expect exciting Septembers in the Craig Counsell era, and this September has been no different.  As of this post, the Brewers own the best record in baseball this month at 17-4 to go along with the best staff ERA at 2.81.  They have won 4 in a row, 15 of their last 17, and are 19-5 dating back to a series win against the Cubs on Labor Day weekend.  In fact, their last series loss was the series prior to that against the Cardinals in late August.  This magical September also follows a 19-7 final month last year, and a 15-12 month of September 2017, which doesn't sound too impressive but when you consider that they went 14-8 following the season ending injury to Jimmy Nelson and were not even expected to compete that year, it's quite remarkable.  The 2017 season is worth bringing up because the Crew is going through a similar devastating injury this year with their reigning MVP Christian Yelich.  They have been playing their hearts out and are 11-2 since he went down 2 weeks ago, in Miami of all places.  

This team is really exciting to watch right now, and when you think about where they have come since Opening Day, it's really unbelieveable they are even in this position.  This team has played all year with a completely decimated and underperforming pitching staff, pieced together by sheer will and saavy deals.  Corey Knebel, Jeremy Jeffress, Brent Suter, and Bobby Wahl have all missed significant chunks if not all of the season.  Jeffress, Jhoulys Chacin, and Jacob Barnes are three major pieces from last year that have been released.  The year started with the aforementioned Chacin, Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, and Zach Davies in the rotation.  Of those 5, only Davies has really been consistently good all year.  Peralta and Burnes were demoted to the bullpen and even AAA for stints very early, and Woodruff had an outstanding first half before missing the last 2 months with injury.  The lineup has had its share of adversity as well, with Jesus Aguilar being released and Travis Shaw hitting well below .200 for most of the year, with a couple of stints in the minors.  Lorenzo Cain has been beat up the entire season.  And of course the Yelich injury.  To take a team that everybody had counted out when they were only a game over .500 in August to 86-70 with a week to play, it says a lot about the clubhouse culture that Counsell puts forth.  It's nice to know as a fan that, regardless of how the team is doing in the standings, there is going to be an exciting and competitive product on the field in the final month of the season.  It will certainly be interesting to see how things change next year when expanded rosters go down to 28 guys.

The magic number to make the playoffs currently sits at 3.  It would take a pretty epic collapse at this point to not make the playoffs, which is weird even to type out.  The Brewres are currently tied with the Nationals for the top playoff spot and 3 back of the Cardinals for the division.  It will be weird to root for the Cubs this weekend against the Cardinals, but I'll do my best.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 9/23/19:

Brewers 86-70, -3.0, -- WC, Magic Number 3; 3 @ Reds, 3 @ Rockies

Twins 96-60, +4.0, Magic Number 3; 3 @ Tigers, 3 @ Royals

2019 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 8

Peter - 22

Which MLB Team will Open the Next New Ballpark?

(rendering courtesy of Ballpark Digest, HKS, and Texas Rangers)

With the Texas Rangers getting ready to play their final series at Globe Life Park and move into Globe Life Field in 2020, it's hard not to speculate on who could be next to build a new stadium.  Oakland and Tampa are the obvious choices, but there are actually more teams than you might think that could be more viable options to move sooner.

Assuming that the A's and Rays are both tied up in political battles for the foreseeable future, if I was a betting man I would say the Angels are the first to break ground.  They have until the end of this year to decide if they want to opt out of their current lease (which would likely signal a move), negotiate a new deal with Anaheim (which would likely involve either a major renovation or a new ballpark on the same site), or just continue status quo with their current lease through the 2028 season.  The last option seems unlikely seeing as the Angels have already extended their opt-out deadline by a year, and if they were to opt out, Long Beach has been the biggest suitor.  Given their relationship with the city and the amount of land they already have available on the site, I would guess that they will stay on the same site.  Whether that is another major renovation or a new ballpark, I can't say.  However, it is worth noting that Angel Stadium is over 50 years old and now the 4th oldest ballpark in the league, and it has not aged as well as say Dodger Stadium or Fenway Park - one of my lasting memories from the O.G. Tour was that some of the concessions stands were shut down due to a rat infestation on our visit there.  The Angels ownership certainly has the money and clout to build a new ballpark wherever they want if they so choose.

The Diamondbacks are another major contender and have pretty much the same options as the Angels.  They currently lease their ballpark from the county and have had a contentious relationship with them regarding building maintenance over the years, which included a lawsuit in 2017.  As a result of that lawsuit, their lease now has a clause which allows the D-Backs to move to a different location within Maricopa County as early as 2022, or somewhere outside of Arizona for a penalty.  In fact, there are already municipalities trying to steal the D-Backs, as evidenced by this leaked proposal from Henderson, Nevada last month.  By 2022, I would expect the Diamondbacks to have a deal to take over Chase Field and somehow fund a major renovation.  Their downtown location in a booming city with a ballpark barely over 20 years old seems to be incentive enough to stay, but that's just my own speculation.

Another interesting candidate that has recently emerged is the Kansas City Royals.  Despite a gorgeous quarter-billion dollar renovation (which I visited in 2013), the team was recently sold to a businessman with strong ties to downtown Kansas City, who has made it no secret in the past of his desire for the Royals to be downtown.  It is certainly more the norm for ballparks to be downtown these days, but the overwhelming success of the Braves' new suburban park could be a template for the Royals to continue investing in their current site.

Erik and I are eager to start planning our Rangers trip next year, but beyond 2020, I think we can safely say we'll be well into our 40s whenever the next new MLB park opens up.  But, as always, we will be on whichever team's website the minute those new ballpark tickets go on sale.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 9/9/19:

Brewers 74-68, -6.5, -2.0 WC; 4 @ Marlins, 3 @ Cardinals, 4 v. Padres, 3 v. Pirates

Twins 88-55, +5.5; 3 v. Nationals, 3 @ Indians, 3 v. White Sox, 4 v. Royals

2019 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 8

Peter - 22

Routine Field

All photos of Routine Field available on Flickr.

It took me until the 2nd to last week of the season to finally make it to a new ballpark practically in my own city - Routine Field in Franklin, Wisconsin, home of the new independent Milwaukee Milkmen.  Franklin is a suburb of about 35,000 people to the southwest of Milwaukee and the stadium is located within The Rock Sports Complex - more on that in a bit.  The Milkmen are hoping to copy the blueprint of the new Chicago Dogs and St. Paul Saints parks in the same league - build a small ballpark on the outskirts of a major metropolitan area that already has a major league team, and hope the baseball fandom is rabid enough to draw a couple thousand fans a night.  With the Brewers annually appearing in the top 10 for league attendance over the last decade plus, it was a safe bet by the Milkmen ownership.

What was not a safe bet was just about everything else on this project.  This site, this town, and this ballpark have had a long and tumultuous relationship that dates back to The Rock's inception as a year-round sports complex built over a former garbage landfill, starting with a complex of 6 baseball fields used by various community leagues.  Mike Zimmerman and his group certainly had good enough intentions, just as they did with their other ventures in Jamestown, New York and Kokomo, Indiana - build up a sports complex to serve as the financial and social anchor of a community.  His group "ROC Ventures" does stand for "Return on Community," after all.  However, it has not looked promising so far for any of these endeavors.  The Jamestown Jammers have switched leagues twice and ceased operations for the 2019 season, and the Jackrabbits are about 5 years in and the verdict is still out, but the town is not exactly bustling right now.  As for the Milkmen, it took years of negotiations with the city to set up various financing structures and TIF districts and involved ROC eventually buying the landfill as a sign of good faith.  Even after all of that, the ballpark still opened over a month late, and no signs of progress have been made on the rest of the supposed "mixed use development" on the site, other than ROC's own headquarters.  It's debatable what a ballpark that draws 100,000 fans a year will bring to a mixed-use complex essentially in the middle of nowhere with poor access, but hopefully with the nearby Oak Creek Towne Center serving as a model, it will be a boon for the town.

Putting the politics of the project aside, just logistically building a stadium over a landfill provided many physical challenges.  To account for what is essentially an organic site full of unknown materials, the stadium's structural system had to compensate for constant shifting and settling of the ground below.  The entire stadium is essentially a slab floating on grade beams to allow it to move as one piece, with a network of vent piping to allow the composting materials below to off-gas methane.  Because of the costs put into just preparing the site, the stadium itself is quite simple and also environmentally friendly.  The entire field is of the 100% turf variety to mediate water and reduce maintenance.  There is a "Leinenkugel's Hop Yard" party area in left field made entirely of shipping containers.  The physical structure of the stadium is also understated, consisting just of a couple of masonry concession buildings with a couple of suites and the press box above.  The choice of materials and colors take what would otherwise be a boring and simple ballpark and make it quite visually interesting.  Again much like the St. Paul and Chicago ballparks, the use of black painted steel contrasted with faux-wood siding and soffits, beautifully formed concrete walls, and a colorful array of seats make the design appear intentionally minimalist.  I think that knowing the history of the site and the ballpark, it made me appreciate what I was seeing, but for anybody just coming into the park blind, it might seem rather unimpressive.  As an architect I also tend to lean towards the minimalist side of design, so I appreciated how the stadium stands out over the typical brick structures we see in most parks.  There was certainly a ton of between-inning entertainment, but I wish there was just a little bit more to the ballpark.  It's really just a small seating bowl, two concessions stands, and a shipping container team store in the corner.  The money in this ballpark is certainly tied up in the infrastructure and land costs, the design details, and the branding, with no fluff and not one extra space or inch that does not serve a purpose.

Between the simplicity of the ballpark, the last-place team on the field, and trying to get my daughter to fall asleep, it was a difficult game to focus on.  The one guy I recognized on the Milkmen and the one player who was any decent was the cleanup hitter, Adam Brett Walker.  He is from Milwaukee and got as high as AAA for 4 different organizations during the 2016-17 seasons, but never broke through to the bigs.  He was hitting about .250 with 21 homers at the time of this game and knocked in the team's only run in the 7th.  The visiting RedHawks had a guy who had a cup of coffee with the Orioles last year, but other than that I didn't really recognize anyone else in the game.  If a guy isn't good enough to play for an O's farm club, that should clue you in to the quality of talent in this league.  The Milkmen starter Joey Wagner was serviceable, allowing 2 runs over 5.  Catcher Wilfredo Gimenez was the star of the game, going 2-3 out of the 9-spot for Fargo including a homerun in the 6th.

The UW-Milwaukee Panther baseball team will also playing in this ballpark starting next spring and I will certainly be returning for one of those games.  Just about anything is a recruiting improvement over playing in what is basically just a county park right now, so I am excited for my alma mater to make a name for themselves as a Midwest collegiate baseball powerhouse.

park rankings and statistics: 

aesthetics - 6 (modern but very simple)

views from park - 3 (The ROC mountain aka big trash pile)

view to field - 8 (not much netting but far from field)

surrounding area - 2

food variety - 3 (major points deducted for not serving milk!  how is that possible?!)

nachos - 5

beer - 8 (good variety but only 1 stand)

vendor price - 8

ticket price - 10 (ours were free)

atmosphere - 6

walk to park - 2

parking price/proximity - 3 (really hard to access)

concourses - 5

team shop - 4 (shipping container in outfield)

best food - cheesesteak

most unique stadium feature - cabana seating areas at the top of every section

best jumbotron feature - goofy photos of opposing players while batting

best between-inning feature - assortment of trashy moms dance on dugout for money

field dimensions - 336/400/330 

starters - Bret Helton (FM) v. Joey Wagner (MKE)

opponent - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks

time of game - 3:01

attendance - 1550

score - 4-1 L

Brewers score that day - off

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 8/26/19:

Brewers 67-63, -4.5, -2.0 WC; 3 v. Cardinals, 3 @ Cubs, 2 v. Astros, 4 v. Cubs

Twins 79-51, +3.5; 3 @ White Sox, 4 @ Tigers, 3 @ Red Sox, 3 v. Indians

2019 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 8

Peter - 21