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I like many of the Brewers' fans (not the 70% of them who are on the bandwagon), but toolboxes like Braun and Fielder who act so entitled after accomplishing pretty much nothing make it difficult to cheer for them. Also, the untuck 'em celebration is pretty much the lamest thing I have ever seen.

Joe Carter is actually much better, not saying much though but I do love the guy and what he did with the Cubs joe carter might be the only person on the planet that speaks your language :-)) Joe is a fine human being, but he makes Grace sound like he belongs in the broadcaster's HOF.

I know Lou has an irrational loyalty to Howry, but I am holding out hope he will realize that Bob is a human gas can at this point. :pig:

It's a relief that it's over. Now it's time to get down to business.

Definitely. When Howry came into the game, I said "Lou just gave the game to the Brewers." Bold prediction, I know. And this guy will be on the playoff roster. :banghead: I'm kind of indifferent about the Mets/Brewers, as I have a hard time imagining either team succeeding. The Mets staff was just awful and would have made an easy mark, but I think the Crew may have spent all it had left simply getting there. I hope they give Philly all they can handle, but I can't see it going more than 4 games, if that. BTW, did anyone see Keith Hernandez on the Mets postgame? I thought he might actually cry. I bet Ronny loves the way the past two seasons have ended for the Mets.

I have to imagine these starts on short rest are going to catch up with CC. Whether that happens tomorrow, I don't know.

After being resurrected against the Pirates, the Brewer's playoff hopes are going to be dealt a cruel chokeslam as the Mets win their series and the Cubs' September callups take the first 2 games of this series. I'd bet a small amount of money on it. But really, whoever makes it is going out in the first round.

The sadist in me really wants to see the Brewers eliminated from playoff contention on their own field by the Cubs split squad team.

I'd much rather have the Mets in the playoffs than the Brewers. That team is a mess, and their presence in the post season would only be a benefit to whoever plays them. Last night was the first time in my memory that I found myself actively rooting against the Cubs, and they couldn't give the game away. Who knew rooting against the Cubs would be as frustrating as rooting for them?

If Marquis beats Sheets, I'm declaring the Brewers dead.

That's what I'm saying. Of all the people to blame for that loss, Prince should have been the last. I think a lot of Brewers fans are just coming unglued, which is understandable.

Albert should have 3 or 4 MVP's by now, and it's an absolute travesty that he doesn't. Without him, the Cardinals are a total non-factor this year. And in 2006. If there was ever really a one man gang, Pujols is it. He's the most disrespected respected player ever.

Some are arguing high, but really that pitch was right down the middle, belt high. It was a nasty pitch. If ever there were such a thing as a "gutsy call", it was that. If Prince were looking slider, that thing might still be in the air. I'll take it, though. For the record, I don't think going to Shouse in the 8th was necessarily the wrong call (and damn Reed Johnson for swinging at ball 4 twice and taking strike 3). The only RH PH options off the bench when DeRosa and Cedeno are both playing are Blanco, Koyie Hill and McGehee. I half expected Lou to put Zambrano in to PH. Yeah, its hard for Prince to look slider in a full count situation, great pitch by Wood. All you can do is tip your hat. Shouse shouldnt pitch against rightys, but I figured he could get Blanco out (not trying to be a jerk). And Reed Johnson should of walked, the ump was brutal. Speaking of brutal, I am seeing a lot of Brewers fans giving Fielder hell for taking that pitch. If not for him, there's no drama at all.

Larson, Lopez, Clausen, Encarnacion (you're joking with Encarnacion in this list, right?), Harang, and Hudson were never that great of prospects. Pena was wildly overrated. Kearns was the only other prospect on the level with Bruce and Votto who turned into a bust. Joey Votto was BA's 44th best prospect in 2008 and 43 in 2007. Felipe Lopez was 32 in 2001, 38 in 2000 and 67 in 1999. Edwin Encarnacion was the 56th best prospect in 2005. Ryan Wagner (the guy SSR was confusing for Luke Hudson) ranked 46 in 2004. Wily Mo Peña was the only one who wasn't that close to Votto's mid-40s rank - he was 87 in 2003, 65 in 2002 and 88 in 2000. Yeah, the Reds have maintained a stable of top prospects pretty consistently over the past 5-10 years. That's what happens when you lose a lot of games. Really, Jay Bruce is the only one that stands out much. But the key here is that either the prospects don't pan out, leave, or there isn't much of a veteran supporting cast. Now that Harang has regressed severely and Dunn is gone, the impact of guys like Bruce, Votto and Volquez is really going to be minimized. Really, I don't see the Reds being appreciably better anytime in the next 3-4 years.

What makes you think next year is going to be any different? Let's be honest here, few of us heard of Johnny Cueto before ST, and it looks like the early season flashes were just that - flashes. No one saw Edinson Volquez coming (or at least being nearly as good as he has been), but Homer Bailey is closing in on bust status. And you said the Reds hadn't had big hitting prospects in recent years, but the Kearns/Dunn hype isn't that far in the past. Kearns wasn't projected as high as Bruce, but Votto isn't going to be Dunn, that's for sure. If you look at the whole, there not much more cause for optimism going from 2008 to 2009 than there was going into 2006 or 2007. You seem to be insinuating that this year was the foundation for some sort of renaissance for the Reds. I don't think that's the case at all.

You don't think they actually do have a very good core of young players that could make a really good team if the GM fills in the gaps right? Remember, Jocketty is their GM now, he's proven he can do that. I do not. This season for Cinci is seriously a carbon copy of the past 5 seasons for them. They're a bad baseball team. This season isn't even close to a carbon copy of the last 5 seasons. They've never had a core of pitching prospects emerging at the same time like Volquez, Cueto, and Baily (like any young team trying to emerge, they need at least two young guys coming up to anchor a rotation if they're not a big-market team...so either Cueto or Baily need to step up with Volquez), and they've never had great hitting prospects like Bruce or Votto. Those guys are significantly better than the Norris Hoppers/Felipe Lopezs/etc of the past several years. They also didn't have Jocketty the last four years, or even this last offseason. I can understand if you just don't think the current talent is going to take the next step forward, especially with Dusty corrupting them at a critical time in their development, but to say that this year's crop (and GM) is a carbon copy of the last 5 years for Cincinatti is just 100% wrong. The net results are pretty much a carbon copy. And they have had great hitting prospects like Bruce and Votto, and they were Kearns and Dunn (In case you had forgotten, BIG things were expected from Kearns). Volquez is a bright spot, but Cueto came out of nowhere, and may never amount to anything more than 3-5 starter. Bailey looks increasingly like he'll never approach what was projected for him. And what happened to Aaron Harang? Dunn is gone, Griffey is gone, Dusty is the manager. So what we have is another poor, disappointing season with marginal to little hope for improvement the next. Two steps forward, two steps back. More of the same.

I thought it was pretty much common knowledge.

I heard (I don't remember exactly where, I think Brewerfan.net and somewhere else) that Philly wanted to do it, but the Brewers wouldn't agree. And given their position at the time, I do think they should have given up their off day. I think getting swept by Philly was about the worst case scenario.

I would love to see a new ballpark, but after the money that has been invested in recent renovations, I don't see it happening. So tear down the grandstands, gut everything other than the bleachers, rebuild it. And if there were some way to integrate a retractable roof, I'd be all for it. Oh, and I'm 31.

Clinching on their field would mean waiting until the last series of the season....and thus a lot of stress between now and then. No thanks.

I'm sure it had something to do with it, but that's 90% sour grapes. And if he wants to complain to someone, tell him to complain to Drayton McLane, who is largely responsible for the circumstances.

The truly tragic thing for Brewers fans is that they could have played the fourth game of the Philly series on Monday. If they had, Sabathia would have gone, and the Brewers would likely still be 2 games up right now. But due to Ned, they decided to save CC for the Cubs series, and are now tied with Philly, who has by far the easier schedule from here on out. So in an attempt to catch the Cubs (which wasn't going to happen anyway), Yost may well have cost the Brewers the WC. Now if the Cubs sweep or take 2 of 3 from the Crew with Philly headed to Atlanta, Milwaukee's season may be all but over. Well done.

I don't remember who made the second out of the ninth, but I remember not knowing who it was at the time either, and when I saw Riot back up to play the second hop and remembered about his weak arm, I was a little worried that it may have been someone fast enough to beat the throw headed toward first. Run-on sentences are fun. Yeah, as soon as I saw it take that high hop, I said "Oh Howry" knowing Riot has a pretty weak arm, figuring it would be an infield single. Glad I was wrong. I was hoping Lou would slide Cedeno to short and move DeRo to second when he brought Kosuke in because I was scared someone was going to beat one out because of noodlearm, and my heart skipped a beat on that play.

This day just keeps getting better.

This has got to be a dark day for Brewer fans. Your team is at the low end of what may end up being a devastating collapse (when your team's first postseason in 26 years seemed a certainty only a week ago), having just had your WC lead swept away, meanwhile the hated Cubs are winning a no-hitter pitched by the hated Carlos Zambrano on your field. And then you realize it will probably be the most celebration that field will see this year, and probably next. Ugly.