I wanted to acknowledge Craig Counsell, since he's supposed to be in the FSN broadcast booth, at some point. I drew this in June, but it's got a nifty-looking border that looks sort of like an old portfolio...or some sort of sheet music folder. The picture of the cheese was in the original version, as well. Craig Counsell will be a GM, someday. One who won't spend a significant amount of money on a LOOGY right away.

Anyhow, here's hoping he shows up in the booth.

(Illustration - Craig Counsell, Future GM)

(Photo: FOX6Now.com)

On Tuesday, following his arrest for drunk driving, Yovani Gallardo briefly spoke to the media.  He admitted he made a mistake, and that it was something he shouldn’t have done.  Gallardo even went so far as to apologize to me – in the sense that he said he was sorry to Brewers fans and everyone else in the city, which obviously includes me.

Gallardo’s exact words were:

“I’m sure I’ve lost a lot of respect from a lot of fans, but I just want to apologize. I apologize to the fans, to my teammates, my family. […]

“Like I said, I just want to apologize to the whole organization and all the people in Milwaukee for my actions. It’s not very easy. It’s one of those things — I truly am sorry. I’m going to make sure something like this never happens again. Whatever circumstances, consequences, whatever I have to do so this won’t happen again, I’m going to do it.”

Since Gallardo was so thoughtful to apologize to me – and I have no reason to think he wasn’t sincere – I’m going to let him off the hook.

Yo – I can call you, Yo, right? – you don’t owe me anything.  You’re certainly not the first Wisconsin resident to drive when you had too much to drink.  According to those ads with Aaron Rodgers and that one lawyer, Wisconsin has the highest drunk driving rate in the nation.  So even if it was a bad judgment call, it was one of the more common bad judgment calls made around these parts.

If anyone loses respect for you for making a mistake, they’re being obtuse.  We all make mistakes, and it sounds like you’ve learned from the experience and are willing to be held accountable.  I respect that a lot more than I’d respect anyone who would criticize you.  Maybe it’s because when I grew up Charles Barkley went on TV and said he wasn’t a role model, but I don’t see any reason to hold you to an unreasonable standard.  You might owe your family an apology, and maybe even your employer, but as far as you and me – we’re cool.

Now about that 6.61 earned run average… you don’t owe me an apology for that either, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed.

(Photo: MLB.com)

Has avoiding a sweep ever felt as good as it did yesterday?  Beating the Cardinals is always satisfying, but coming back in late innings—after failing to score in the first two games—is glorious.

When it looked like the Brewers might get shut out again yesterday, I consoled myself by reminiscing about 2008, the one season the Brewers actually had the Cardinals’ number.  On July 21-24 of that year, the Brewers went into St. Louis and swept the Cardinals in four games.  It’s even more enjoyable to remember these games after yesterday’s magnificent win.

Game 1

Although the Cardinals scored a run in the ninth to push the game into extra innings, the Brewers scored three times in the tenth, led by a Bill Hall home run.  Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin: “They did a good job of hitting pretty good pitches. The pitch that Billy Hall hit was a mistake, obviously."

Game 2

The Cardinals led 3-0 after six innings, but the Brewers came back to win 4-3.  Bill Hall was the hero again, hitting the go-ahead homer in the ninth.

Game 3

In his fourth start as a Brewer, CC Sabathia pitched his third straight complete game.  Sabathia didn’t even allow a hit until the sixth inning.  Second baseman Brendan Ryan: "Hopefully tomorrow, we'll put a couple of hits together and everybody gets contagious. But we need this one tomorrow."

Game 4

The Cardinals didn’t get that one.  Down by one in the ninth inning, the Brewers came back on a two-run homer by Ryan Braun, completing the four-game sweep.  Boy, did Braun enjoy that home run.

There are still 16 more games against the Cardinals in 2013.  Bring 'em on!

(Photo: Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports Images)

As of this writing, the Brewers are 2-7 after nine games—or as I like to think of it, just five games under .500.  On Wednesday, esteemed Brewers beat writer Tom Haudricourt did one of his online chats, noting at the end, “Looks like most participants are at DefCon 1 with the Brewers. That didn't take long, did it?”

For fun, let’s have a look at Haudricourt’s first chat of the 2011 season when the Brewers were 1-4 and no one knew the best season in club history was afoot.  Most of the questions were measured compared to this week’s, but there were a few that are worth reconsidering with the benefit of hindsight.

If John Axford falters in the closer role, who do you see moving into that spot?

That hits a little close to home right now, but Axford went on to convert 46 straight save opportunities in 2011.

The Brewers are a terrible matchup with a team like the Reds who are their main competitor.

Brewers ended up recovering and went 8-8 against the Reds.  Not great, but not terrible.

Do you trade Zack Greinke at mid-season if this season continues the way it has started?

The season didn’t continue that way.  You never know.

Can you expect to score runs w/ so many weak batters like Nieves, Gomez, Betancourt, and Kotsay in your lineup?

Although Gomez and Betancourt did not set the world on fire that year, Lucroy ended up replacing Nieves, and Kotsay was very productive coming off the bench.  As a team, the 2011 Brewers ranked 5th in the NL in runs scored, 3rd in batting average, and 1st in slugging.

Very early in the season but is Prince putting too much pressure on himself to produce so he can get that massive contract?

Fielder pressured himself to 120 RBI, a .299 batting average, and .981 OPS.

Do you see Morgan replacing Gomez at center field if Gomez continues in his slump?

All right, that’s a question you can still imagine being asked, except insert Logan Schafer.

Anything can happen but stacked up against the rest of the Central division, where do you see the Brewers realistically? When this team gets going they should be fun to watch but I'm not sure how they measure up to the competition yet.

August 2011 was fun to watch indeed.

Few would argue the 2013 Brewers are in the same league as the 2011 Brewers.  But it’s good to keep in mind that the things fans worry about early in the season may end up being much ado about nothing.

Of course, if the Brewers get swept by the Cardinals this weekend, I'll be jumping on the "Save us Hunter Morris!" bandwagon.