Ever since yesterday’s stunning win, I’ve been trying to gather my thoughts about the Brewers winning the AL East. For most of the second half of the season, it appeared the Crew would handily take the division. And if not handily, by at least a comfortable margin.
Then again, these Brewers never made it easy on themselves or their loyal True Blue Brew Crew. This past weekend nearly gave me a heart attack and it was compounded by the fact that, as a Milwaukee Sentinel paperboy, I had to deliver bad news in the morning.
Thankfully, they plucked their craniums out of their keisters in time to win yesterday. When Robin hit the opposite field dinger in the first, you could feel the tide turn. When he hit another tater in the third, you could start etching his name into the MVP trophy, even if that P.O.S Willie Wilson was taking the wussy way out and sitting on the last day to preserve the batting title.
But were you convinced that the Crew would win the game?
After seeing how awful they were in the first three games, the greatest feeling was anxiety. Could they blow this too?
But when Benji made that amazing sliding catch in the left field corner, you knew that was it. The players could sense it, too. They relaxed, exploded for five runs in the ninth and it was over. I’ve never felt so thrilled and relieved in all my life. Delivering the Sentinel never felt so good.
It also felt good to send Earl Weaver into retirement. I hated that guy and his antics. But if you step back a moment, you can see his method: pitching, three-run homers and pit bull attitude. He was wildly successful and loved by the O’s faithful. I love Harvey Kuenn, but there were times I wondered how this team would fare with Weaver at the controls.
It’s all moot now, but as fans of the game, we do need to pay our respects. Here’s some video that we received at PKHQ from our Baltimore peeps after Sunday’s game. It includes Howard Cosell, so if you want, you can turn down the volume.
Nice, huh, this new technology. Even nicer is this … Envisioning the celebration video for the Crew. Man, how I wish I were there.
I wanted to do a piece on what the Brewers meant to me this season, but as I started writing, it hit me: the season wasn’t over. It isn’t over. When it is, that’s when we’ll print the valedictory. In the meantime, the Crew heads to Cali to take on the Angels.