(Photo: Jeff Curry/US Presswire)

My understanding is the Cardinals had never swept a four-game series against the Brewers.  But after watching those four games, it’s hard to believe the Brewers have ever won against St. Louis.  In three of the games, the Cardinals jumped out to big leads and never looked back.  On Saturday, Milwaukee actually showed some life, scoring five earned runs against Adam Wainwright – something they had never done before.

It wasn’t enough.  Even when the Brewers do things right against the Cardinals, it just isn’t enough.  When a guy like Daniel Descalso – who was hitting all of .167 at the time and only had one previous homerun against a lefty pitcher – takes Tom Gorzelanny out of the park to put the Cardinals back on top, after the Brewers fought to get back in the game…it just feels like there’s nothing they can do.  On Sunday, Allen Craig drove in a run on a bloop triple in the sixth inning.  A bloop triple!?  When has there ever been a bloop triple before?  Bloody hell.

During Sunday’s game, Bill Schroeder was trying to fill TV time in a blowout, and he said something that didn’t ring true.  Talking about how the Cardinals have had a lot of success against the Brewers since mid-2011, Schroeder said, “Before that, the Brewers had their way with St. Louis for a while.”  Maybe it’s denial.  Maybe the Cardinals have beaten the Brewers so badly it’s given Schroeder the broadcaster’s equivalent of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Since the Brewers joined the NL Central in 1998, the only time Milwaukee had their way with the Cardinals was 2008, when they went 10-5 against St. Louis.  Other than that, the Brewers have had two winning seasons against the Cardinals: they were 7-6 in 1999 (despite being outscored 61-71 over those 13 games), and they were 8-7 in 2010 (again while being outscored overall).

There have been four seasons when the Brewers lost at least ten times to the Cardinals.  The most lopsided was 2003, when Milwaukee was 3-13 against St. Louis, and outscored 62-129.  From 1998 through 2012, the Brewers record against the Cardinals was 101-130.  That’s a leap year February more games St. Louis won during that span.  2008 aside, the Brewers have not had their way with St. Louis.

As Brewers fans, it would be nice if there was a good reason to dislike the Cardinals, if we could somehow believe they weren’t playing the game the right way or didn’t deserve their success.  When Tony LaRussa managed St. Louis, he was such a cantankerous, polarizing figure, you could convince yourself the Cardinals were unscrupulous.  But now it just seems like the Cardinals beat the Brewers because they are the better team.  How humiliating.  To paraphrase Noah Jarosh at Brew Crew Ball, why couldn’t they be more like the Pirates?

Still 12 more games against the Cardinals in 2013.  On the bright side, there are also 16 games against Pittsburgh, so maybe it will all balance out.

(Image: Saintsbaseball.com)

Most baseball fans endure more than a few moments during the season when they wish the umpires on the diamond would be forced to walk the plank.  Well, not literally, of course, because walking the plank was a brutal form of homicide.  But sometimes it’s nice to imagine baseball without the human errors that are inevitably part of the old game.  Assuredly, Brewers fans could have done without the blown call at first base by umpire Tim Welke Tuesday night against the Pirates, wherein even to the naked eye it appeared the base runner was out.  The Brewers should have been out of that sixth inning but instead the Pirates took advantage of their extra out by going up 8-7 on the Crew after Starling Marte’s three-run homer.  Thankfully, the Brewers came back and won that game. 

Despite maddening catastrophes from time to time, baseball would lose a lot of its variability without those mostly gentle souls calling outs and ‘non-outs’ and balls and strikes.  The sound and feel and look of the game would change dramatically if baseball calls were governed by computers with camera eyes or androids processing countless streams of data.  The Saint Paul Saints baseball club, of the modern American Association, is taking a different approach entirely.  It’s bringing in more human error. 

The Saints have been around for 20-some years and are due to open a new ballpark in the Lowertown area of downtown St. Paul, MN, in a couple years.  For now, they play in a dilapidated but homey ballpark in the Midway area of St Paul.  These Saints aren’t to be confused with the team that the Milwaukee Brewers and Minneapolis Millers battled in the early 20^th century, of course.  But these Saints specialize in a fun brand of amateur, independent baseball that is also a well-played and competitive level of ball.  Sometimes, things get a little wacky. 

In an exhibition game on May 11 versus the Gary (Ind.) SouthShore RailCats, the Saints will abandon the use of umpires and will instead place a judge on the field and juries on the sidelines to aid in decisions.  According to the Saints, ‘A judge in a robe will stand behind the pitcher’s mound calling [balls and strikes] while a jury of both teams’ ‘peers’ will act as the base umpires’.  What the Saints apparently mean by ‘peers’ is 12 Little Leaguers on each baseline calling the shots on the respective bases.  Majority rules and ties are settled by the robed field judge.  Fans will have their input as well. 

The Saints want people to realize just how important umpires are to the game of baseball by removing them for one exhibition game.  This should be very interesting, and will probably devolve into a self-parody, but it will no doubt qualify as entertainment.  As painful as it is to abide by one person’s sometimes-flawed interpretation of events or those of a small group of people, bringing in dozens of opinions and perceptions will seemingly raise the fever pitch exponentially.  The fact that there is a lone judge who ultimately makes the call, however, is pretty similar to the common umpire command.  A gavel pound will replace ‘Play Ball!’ to start the game.

The Saints are known for their wily promotions and stunts, and this ‘umpireless’ game will be no different.  Playing in an unaffiliated league perhaps gives the Saints a little more freedom to do crazy stuff than you’d see with minor league clubs.  For example, the Saints have asked fans to come out and watch a game in January in previous years, though the most recent incarnation was cancelled because the city of St. Paul dumped too much snow in the Midway Stadium parking lot, wiping out a place for tailgating and other activities for Iceball attendees.  I think this concept of a game with no umpires will serve as a reminder that umpires are an important part of the game.  Someone, or something, needs to make the calls for the game.  Certainly, a four- or five-person umpire crew is preferable to a 25-person one.  The more cooks in the kitchen, the more muddled the recipe. 

Now, let’s go beat those stinkin’ Cardinals.  Go Brewers!!   

(Image: Kevin Millar and Saints co-owner Bill Murray.  From minnpost.com)

(Photo: Mike McGinnis)

Listening to yesterday’s Brewers/Pirates game on the radio, it was pretty hard to ignore fans turning on John Axford, who took the loss after giving up four runs in the eighth inning.  Given the circumstances, reports like this one by Adam McCalvy indicate Axford was pretty magnanimous about the whole thing:

“Fans are fans,” Axford said. “I know what I can do, I know what I’ve accomplished here, even if they forget about it. I’ve thrown well recently, and put together with the last few years I’ve been here — I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but it’s better than a lot of other relievers around in the league.

“It’s a short-term memory for a lot of fans. Obviously, they forget what I’ve done in the past, and it’s easy for them to do. Right now, I’m just going to keep trying to get the job done.”

Axford was in an unenviable position.  If he had lost his cool and said something along the lines of, “These clowns have never pitched in the major leagues, so it’s pretty rich for them to think they have any business booing me,” it would be hard to disagree.

But if Axford had said that, it would not have reflected well on him.  Although fans booing professional athletes is (shall we say) gauche, it’s not exactly beyond the pale, and players shouldn’t criticize them for it.  The rest of us, however, can criticize them all we want.

A Partial Defense of Booing Axford…

By purchasing a ticket, you are paying for the ballpark experience – and while that doesn’t entitle you to a certain outcome (or even an exciting game), it’s understandable that you might want to express displeasure in a poor performance.  Adding in other expenses associated with live attendance – parking, $8 beers – there’s something to be said for the “I’m paying to see this team win” argument.

The specifics of Axford’s bad outings are also pretty tough on the live crowd, i.e., the home runs surrendered.  Axford’s role is usually to pitch in late innings with a three-run lead or less, so those homers are especially hard to swallow.  Axford has given up six home runs in 11.1 innings in 2013, after giving up 10 in all of 2012.  At that rate, even Braden Looper would be all like, “Whoa, dude needs to keep it in the park.”

…But Seriously, Booing Axford is Lame

Even if booing Axford is kinda sorta justified, you still shouldn’t do it.  The most obvious reason is that it accomplishes nothing.  Unless you count “announcing to the world that you can’t control your childish emotions” as an accomplishment.  Axford knows he laid an egg out there.  Booing him is the equivalent of being proud of yourself for stating the obvious.  Congratulations, you noticed Axford stunk.  Take a bow.

We’re a long way from the days when fans would attend ballgames in suits and hats, but there is such a thing as decorum.  Part of being an adult is behaving in public and not losing your composure.  For a good example normal grownup behavior, look no further than John Axford.  He always takes questions from the media, and yesterday he addressed the issue of booing fans with poise and dignity.  Given his overall body of work, Axford is right when he says fans have short memories.

Did Axford deserve to get booed for his performance yesterday?  Arguably.  Is he a better man than everyone that heckled him?  Undoubtedly.

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(Photo: Reuters)

During the recently concluded three-game series between the Brewers and Pirates, we got to see no less than three starting pitchers who participated in the 2013 World Baseball Classic – Yovani Gallardo, Marco Estrada, and Wandy Rodriguez. When Gallardo got off to a slow start in Monday’s game, broadcasters Brian Anderson, Craig Counsell, and Jerry Augustine discussed something I think we’ve heard more than once – that Gallardo’s participation in the WBC is partly to blame for his less-than-stellar April.

A number of MLB starting pitchers participated in the WBC, and have 5-6 starts under their belts at this point. Brewers fans have a pretty good idea of how Gallardo and Estrada are doing, but can other WBC participants claim to be feeling fatigued? Although some WBC teams played longer than others, all these pitchers had to get ready to work earlier than usual. Let’s have a look at their earned running averages, opponent batting averages, and walks/hits per inning pitched (as of Wednesday evening).

Wandy Rodriguez (Dominican Republic/Pirates)

3.91 / .213 / 1.07

These numbers are pretty good, but they’re even better if you throw out his poor showing against the Brewers on Monday. Before that, his ERA was a measly 1.66.

Edinson Volquez (Dominican Republic/Padres)

6.39 / .315 / 1.74

Contra Rodriguez, Volquez was having a pretty lousy April before a good start against the Brewers dropped his ERA more than two runs. He scuffled again in his last start against the Cubs, though.

Jhoulys Chacín (Venezuela/Rockies)

1.46 / .193 / 0.89

Chacín was mowing batters down through four starts, before being sidelined with an injury. Could the WBC be partially to blame? Enquiring minds want to know…

Anibal Sanchez (Venezuela/Tigers)

1.34 / .213 / 1.04

Chacín’s countryman Sanchez has also been tearing through opposing lineups through five starts – including eight shutout inning against the Braves last week – and he remains blissfully uninjured. Maybe Chacín’s back spasms are due to Denver’s altitude?

Ross Detwiler (United States/Nationals)

2.03 / .298 / 1.36

Detwiler has not given up a lot of runs, but opponents are getting their hits and he has lost his last two starts…which were against the Reds and Cardinals. C’mon, Ross, you’re not doing Brewers fans any favors.

R.A. Dickey (United States/Blue Jays)

4.50 / .239 / 1.31

Last year’s NL Cy Young winner has not been setting the world on fire in 2013, and his numbers here are fairly close to Gallardo's and Estrada's. Dickey did have a quality start his last time out, so maybe things are turning around.

Gio Gonzalez (United States/Nationals)

5.34 / .220 / 1.38

Through Gonzalez’ six starts, half have been good to great, and half have been clunkers. He followed up an eight-inning-one-run outing against the Reds with a four-inning-five-run lemon in Atlanta. You can never tell with pitchers.

Derek Holland (United States/Rangers)

3.38 / .195 / 0.95

Holland seems to be doing well. Four of his five starts have been quality.

Ryan Vogelsong (United States/Giants)

6.23 / .303 / 1.55

Vogelsong has given up more than three earned runs in four of his five starts. If anyone is feeling a WBC hangover, Vogelsong has the strongest case.

Like everything else in baseball, the root causes of inconsistent pitching are difficult to isolate. If participation in the WBC contributed to poor performance, one would hope to see more evidence, even in this small sample size. But when a guy like Wandy Rodriguez – who pitched 9.1 WBC innings compared to Gallardo’s 3.1 – has had a decent April for the Pirates, it suggests that the WBC is (shall we say) an imperfect explanation for underperformance.

(Image: Fultonbeer.com)

Editor’s note: this is the third installment in the monthly What’ll You Have? series.  The second one ran last month.

You know what I’ve been drinking frequently in recent days (responsibly and in variable moderation, of course)?  Sweet Child of Vine IPA from Fulton Brewing in Minneapolis, which is a lovely, balanced India pale ale.  It is slightly sweet at times, but as Fulton’s website denotes, ‘Sweet Child has a serious malt backbone to stand up to all those hops’. That malt element definitely takes the edge off and establishes the greatness of this particular beer.  Fulton Brewing came about as a result of four guys brewing in a Minneapolis garage and hoping for big things.  They started homebrewing in 2006 and by 2009 they had a contract to brew their beer at Sand Creek Brewing Company in Black River Falls, Wisconsin.  By 2011, they were able to open the first brewery in downtown Minneapolis (at least the first one anyone can remember), in the Warehouse District.  Part of their success in the new location is attributed to the so-called ‘Surly bill’, named after another Minnesota beermaker, Surly Brewing Company.  The ‘Surly bill’ changed the antiquated Minnesota liquor laws that prevented brewers from selling their beer on brewery premises.  These developments have paved the way for a new tide of craft brewing in Minnesota.        

Sweet Child of Vine appears to only currently be available in the Twin Cities area.  Fulton has four staple beers and then creates experimental or limited-edition beers as well.  If nothing else, Brewers fans can try it out when the Brew Crew takes on the Twins in late May.  If you’ve never visited Target Field, make sure to come on over.  Fulton’s brewery and tap room is basically across the street from Target Field.  Sweet Child of Vine is just an exceptionally sessionable, wonderfully tasty IPA, and it’s really the simplicity and elegance of its components that shine through.  It’s got a sort of crimson color to it and is neither too light nor too heavy.  It’s almost like an introductory IPA, but an exceedingly good one at that.  I have also had Fulton’s Blonde, which is too mild for my taste, and their Russian Imperial Stout, which is very good.  For me, Fulton’s backbone is Sweet Child and if it weren’t for that beautiful IPA, there’d be something missing in the Minneapolis beer scene.  Hopefully Wisconsin-based IPA-lovers will get a chance to try it out soon.