Was That a Thud I Heard?

Don't look now Brewers fans, but that Red Bird is getting bigger and bigger in the rear view mirror. The Brewers post-All Star break stall has continued and the unbelievably Cardinals have managed to get back in the race. The Brewers are only 5 games over .500 (and already down 3-0 tonight). The Cards are just 4.5 games back and closing.

Yeah, the Cubs are still in second and only 1.5 games back, but they look every bit as moribund as the Brewers. More to the point, the Brewers and Cubs lack experience in pennant races. The Cardinals have that pressure-cooker experience in spades, they have finally gotten healthy, and LaRussa has figured out who this year's unlikely stars will be (Ryan Ludwick, for one).

Could it really all be crashing down for the Brewers? You betcha. Baseball is a longgg season, 26 weeks, and there's still over 6 weeks to go. Doug Melvin needs to get some starting pitching help for Ned Yost or this dream season is in deep trouble. Chris Capuano coughed up another lead and was totally ineffective last night and they really can't afford to keep running him out there. My god, do they really need to consider signing David Wells?

I'm a Cardinal fan, born and bred, but after living up here for nearly 30 years I've also adopted the home teams. I never really had much problem adopting the other home teams. I attended the University of Illinois as an undergrad, but Wisconsin law school, so that was an easy transition. I grew up a Cardinals football fan, if you can imagine that - amazing my parents weren't locked up for child abuse - and they abandoned St. Louis back in 1987 (and good riddance!).

Baseball is different and being a Cardinal fan is different. And when the Brewers stunk, affection for the home team seemed harmless enough because they were no threat to the Red Birds and I could cheer for both. And of course I attend a lot more Brewers games than Cardinals. So this year, I gave in to the Brewers - and this is how they repay me!