NL Central Standings and short Brewers Analysis:
Standings as of 4/16/03

"It's Coming Together!" What a difference a week makes. Last week, the Brewers were 0-6, they already set the record for having the worst start to a season in Franchise History, and it seemed that the 106 loss season of last year was only the beginning of what was in the not so distant future. The Brewers are still stuck in the cellar but, they got off of the goose egg, and racked up 5 wins in their next 9 contests. Surprisingly, on the season, the Brewers still only have one victory under their belt at Miller Park.

Five of the Brewers losses have come against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Brewer have shown the inability to score and to stop the bats of the Cardinals hitters. After taking two of three in Pittsburgh and Arizona the Brewers dropped two of three against the Cardinals at Miller Park including an embarrassing 15-2 loss in the series finale which was broadcasted on ESPN.

Local Reporters Take:

The Brewers have surprisingly won back many of the fans respect while being away for the 2 series. 3 games against the Pirates and 3 games against the Diamondbacks, both of which, the Brewers went 2-1 with, leaving them at a respectable 4-2 record for these last 2 away series.

Talking with fans once again, the mood has seemed to change with a huge difference between the last home stand and this one. “The Milwaukee Brewers are getting back on their feet”, says one fan. With attitude like this circulating through the stadium its no wonder a more optimistic mood was noticeable. Monday night the Brewers delivered a smashing night although it turned out to be a loss. With Tuesday both the weather and the baseball made for an enjoyable night for fans. The Brewers took their first home win against the Cardinals, 6-1. Wednesday was a completely different story with all but 2 runs scored by Milwaukee while St. Louis happily drove in 16 runs. Although Wednesday was a gruesome day for the Brewers, they have showed their winning ability over the last 9 games and that is still fresh on people’s minds. Throughout this home stand there has been low attendance but through the opinions of fans lately, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the fan attendance drastically changed by an increase of 10,000 or more people. Cut backs on workers is not inevitable, either. Miller Park has showed a huge decrease on workers all over the stadium. Whether it is because of the attendance or it is because of the time of year, many nacho, lemonade, food, beer, ice cream stands are closed.

The bottom line now is…

Milwaukee’s new administration is excellently executing their duties. Milwaukee thought that the Brewers were off to a bad start but it turned out to be no problem at all. The improvements on Miller Park and on the team do in fact take time, but a sense of change is now in the stadium. The fans that did come to the game and watched the last couple of series do see a change. A change for the better is hopefully what they see. If the Brewers keep this great playing going, then there should be no reason why the fan base should be stronger than ever, and the Milwaukee Brewers on their road to success, something we have all be waiting for, for a long time.

As always, keep coming to games, tuning in on the radio, or watching it live on T.V. because this is exactly what the Brewers need. They need an incentive to play well, and their success is up to us.

If you have anything that you would like to say, questions, comments, requests or ideas, please feel free to email me at Jacobson_John5919@MSN.com

Local Perspective:

Bob Uecker, the hall of fame inductee for broadcasters who will be enshrined this Summer had some thoughts about the Milwaukee Brewers when he visited the set of "ESPN Afternoon Baseball," when the Brewers met the Cardinals in the series finale Wednesday at Miller Park. He cracked his normal amount of jokes leaving the announcers laughing but, he also shed light on what he thinks is a problem for the Milwaukee Brewers. He touched on the fact that Miller Park is one of the best hitters ballparks in the league.

When the roof is open, the ball flies like it does at Coors Field in Colorado. When the roof is closed and the panels in centerfield are open the ball still flies better then most ballparks in the league. A simple explaination of this. Miller Park is facing Lake Michigan and is in an open area. This means that the air from outside blows in and collides with the press box and grandstands, and then surges out back through the panels creating a "jet stream."

With this said, Bob touched on the fact that a groundball pitcher is going to have the most success in this type of stadium under these elements. Two groundball pitchers are currently in the rotation in Ben Sheets and Glendon Rusch. But Wayne Franklin, Matt Kinney, and Todd Ritchie are flyball hitters, and they are obviously getting lit up at Miller Park. Many Brewers fans anticipate the return of Jamey Wright to the big league squad. He is currently working down in AAA Indianapolis. He will most likely be brought up sometime within the next couple of weeks to a couple of months.

Doug Melvin also touched on this point saying that the Brewers are always looking for ground ball type pitchers on the Free Agent Market. A move will most likely be made if the bottom three in the rotation keep struggling.

The Rotation:

RHP Ben Sheets:

Ben surprisingly has struggled with his control. His BB/SO ratio is barely a little better then 1/1. He is still the most consistent Brewers starter but, once again is plagued with a lack of run support during his outings. He is finally free of nagging injuries however, he can't win when the offense doesn't perform good enough to do so.

RHP: Todd Ritchie

In Todd's last start he experienced fatigue in his right arm. He was removed early and it is definitely a concern even though it isn't believed to be serious. Todd has been a pleasant surprise on most parts however, arm fatigue is something that shouldn't be taken lightly especially so early in the season when the arm hasn't been active for that long.

LHP Glendon Rusch

Glendon has 5/1 SO/BB ratio which is surprising even though he has a 7.41 ERA. It means that he is getting hit hard. He doesn't throw very hard so he needs to limit the mistakes that he makes up in the zone. Glendon should bounce back and correct this minor problem.

LHP Wayne Franklin

Wayne is the only pitcher with as many walks as strikeouts and he is the only pitcher with single digit strikeout numbers. His duel with Randy Johnson was something to see but, he got roughed up by the Cards in the Brewers 15-2 loss Wednesday. Wayne is in danger of losing his spot in the rotation unless he corrects the mistakes that he is making.

RHP Matt Kinney

Wayne will get stronger as the season progresses. He has had run support thus far, and will continue to be a pleasant surprise.

Player of the Week:

Geoff Jenkins

L 7 Days: .379 6R 1HR 6 RBI

Geoff has came back off of the DL with a vengance. He is showing that he is really back to his old form. His bat is lethal and he is one of the best defensive LF'ers in the game with one of the strongest arms out there. He slammed Randy Johnson and hasn't let much go by him as of late. Geoff is showing exactly how good he is while healthy.

Injuries:

OF: Jeffrey Hammonds - 15-day DL - Jeffrey scaled the wall trying to rob a homerun Monday and had his foot twist on the wall in right field. He exited the game and was placed on the DL with a High Ankle Sprain.

The Week Ahead:

17th-20th vs. Houston Astros
22nd-24th @ Florida Marlins

County Stadium History:

September, 1998 - County Stadium becomes the home of Baseball's Home Run Chase as St. Louis' Mark McGwire and Chicago's Sammy Sosa highlight the Brewers final homestand of 1998. McGwire hit two home runs, number 64 and 65, while Sosa belts numbers 64 and 65 to thrill record crowds at the ballpark.