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