When I set out to write this column, reflecting on the success of the Milwaukee Brewers this year, I set my sights on my early days as a Brewer fan. But my earliest memories of the Milwaukee Brewers are actually not my own. They are that of my parents, four years before I was even born.
I recall my father telling me on numerous occasions how, in 1982, he and my mother sat on their bed in Colorado Springs, Colo., a young couple staring at a TV comparable in size to their present microwave, watching the Milwaukee Brewers, Dad's home state team, taking on the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
And while that memory might seem distant, it was the only bright one I had, as the years since the success of the 1982 team have not been particularly kind to Brewer fans.
The next 29 years consisted of 19 losing seasons, including 15 after the departures of Paul Molitor and Robin Yount in 1992 and 1993, respectively.
Amidst the lack of success, my Brewer fandom actually started to grow as I entered high school, because apart from the rampant losing by the Brewers (a franchise record 106 losses in 2002), a young buzz had begun to grow in the minor leagues.
Young players like Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder and Corey Hart started attracting the eyes of baseball fans in southern Wisconsin, as many of the young stars began making their minor league debuts with the nearby Beloit Snappers (now the single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins). Yovani Gallardo joined the mix in 2004 and, in 2005, so did a young Miami Hurricane named Ryan Braun.
That young wave of talent rolled through the minor leagues and, one by one, they started arriving at the shores of Milwaukee. And with them came the buzz: Brewer fans had a team again and one consisting of stars the likes of Molitor and Yount. Fans like myself, as well as baseball pundits, began wondering when the team would make a big splash.
And in 2008, it happened. The Brewers went out and acquired C.C. Sabathia in the middle of the season and rode him and the young hitters to a Wild Card berth, the last spot in the playoffs, which they won on the very last day of the regular season. But they only won one of the next four games and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The rented C.C. Sabathia left for the Yankees a few months later, and the Brewers began searching for a new manager, having fired theirs in the final month of the previous season. And, after putting up a losing season in 2009 and again in 2010, it was as if the success of the 2008 Brewers was fading away.
Enter: 2011.
General Manager Doug Melvin shocked the off-season market, acquiring Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke from the Kansas City Royals. He followed that up by acquiring another quality starter in Shaun Marcum, signing first-year manager Ron Roenicke, and acquiring fiery veteran outfielder Nyjer Morgan. And while Melvin significantly dried up the Brewers' pool of prospects to acquire Greinke and Marcum, the Brewers left spring training a much-improved team and one that could possibly do what the 2008 team did, but for a full season.
And the rest of the 2011 story is history. Not in the sense that it's over - because it's not - but rather because of what they have already accomplished. The 2011 Brewers, who are primed and ready to make a playoff run, have given fans the franchise record for wins in a season (96), a potential MVP winner in Braun and the franchise's first division title since 1982.
Ah yes, 1982.
I cannot be certain when my interest in the Brewers started, but I imagine my father's shared memories had something to do with it. And while those memories were not mine, they created an interest in a team that has now given me my own.
And tomorrow, when the Brewers step on the field for Game 2 of the Divisional Series, I will be in Miller Park, gathering more Brewer memories that I will, one day, share with my children, possibly resulting in them becoming Brewer fans.
And if the team goes another 29 years before their next division title and their next strong run at a World Series, I hope that my children think back to the 2011 team and how it got there and know that it will totally be worth the wait.
- Jeremy Pink is News Clerk at The Monroe Times and can be reached at jpink@themonroetimes.com. Follow his writing online at facebook.com/jerpink.
I recall my father telling me on numerous occasions how, in 1982, he and my mother sat on their bed in Colorado Springs, Colo., a young couple staring at a TV comparable in size to their present microwave, watching the Milwaukee Brewers, Dad's home state team, taking on the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
And while that memory might seem distant, it was the only bright one I had, as the years since the success of the 1982 team have not been particularly kind to Brewer fans.
The next 29 years consisted of 19 losing seasons, including 15 after the departures of Paul Molitor and Robin Yount in 1992 and 1993, respectively.
Amidst the lack of success, my Brewer fandom actually started to grow as I entered high school, because apart from the rampant losing by the Brewers (a franchise record 106 losses in 2002), a young buzz had begun to grow in the minor leagues.
Young players like Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder and Corey Hart started attracting the eyes of baseball fans in southern Wisconsin, as many of the young stars began making their minor league debuts with the nearby Beloit Snappers (now the single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins). Yovani Gallardo joined the mix in 2004 and, in 2005, so did a young Miami Hurricane named Ryan Braun.
That young wave of talent rolled through the minor leagues and, one by one, they started arriving at the shores of Milwaukee. And with them came the buzz: Brewer fans had a team again and one consisting of stars the likes of Molitor and Yount. Fans like myself, as well as baseball pundits, began wondering when the team would make a big splash.
And in 2008, it happened. The Brewers went out and acquired C.C. Sabathia in the middle of the season and rode him and the young hitters to a Wild Card berth, the last spot in the playoffs, which they won on the very last day of the regular season. But they only won one of the next four games and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The rented C.C. Sabathia left for the Yankees a few months later, and the Brewers began searching for a new manager, having fired theirs in the final month of the previous season. And, after putting up a losing season in 2009 and again in 2010, it was as if the success of the 2008 Brewers was fading away.
Enter: 2011.
General Manager Doug Melvin shocked the off-season market, acquiring Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke from the Kansas City Royals. He followed that up by acquiring another quality starter in Shaun Marcum, signing first-year manager Ron Roenicke, and acquiring fiery veteran outfielder Nyjer Morgan. And while Melvin significantly dried up the Brewers' pool of prospects to acquire Greinke and Marcum, the Brewers left spring training a much-improved team and one that could possibly do what the 2008 team did, but for a full season.
And the rest of the 2011 story is history. Not in the sense that it's over - because it's not - but rather because of what they have already accomplished. The 2011 Brewers, who are primed and ready to make a playoff run, have given fans the franchise record for wins in a season (96), a potential MVP winner in Braun and the franchise's first division title since 1982.
Ah yes, 1982.
I cannot be certain when my interest in the Brewers started, but I imagine my father's shared memories had something to do with it. And while those memories were not mine, they created an interest in a team that has now given me my own.
And tomorrow, when the Brewers step on the field for Game 2 of the Divisional Series, I will be in Miller Park, gathering more Brewer memories that I will, one day, share with my children, possibly resulting in them becoming Brewer fans.
And if the team goes another 29 years before their next division title and their next strong run at a World Series, I hope that my children think back to the 2011 team and how it got there and know that it will totally be worth the wait.
- Jeremy Pink is News Clerk at The Monroe Times and can be reached at jpink@themonroetimes.com. Follow his writing online at facebook.com/jerpink.
