Home Opener The Best Day Of The Year

Made it over to Milwaukee on Thursday for the BEST day of the year, the home opener for the Milwaukee Brewers.

By my count, this was Opening Day No. 30 -- and thanks to a 5-1 thumping of the hated St. Louis Cardinals, my record stands at 18-12. The Crew is 28-26 since coming over from Seattle in 1970.

Witnessed this one with Stevie Wonder (no, not that Stevie Wonder!), a long-time friend who has been meeting us for these games since the early 1990's. Also in tow my bride of nearly 38 years, who hadn't been to one of these events for many, many seasons. Oldest kid had to pass (under the weather) but has still been to 26 of these.

Gotta say, thank the baseball gods for that roof over AmFam Field! While the winds were howling near 40 MPH outside and producing wind-chills in the low 20s, inside the sell-out crowd of 42,794 made it toasty. Not that all the seats had fannies in them, mind you. From our vantage point, could see a lot of empty upper deck spots. Guess people looked out at the weather and said "I'll pass..." Or they never made it in from tailgating.

When the Brewers were playing at old County Stadium, we endured a lot of bad weather Opening Days. Cold. Rain. Snow. Seems like all that was missing were a plague of frogs or locusts.

Odd things gleaned from checking out Opening Day stats:

• The Brewers are 2-0 at American Family Field
• The team was 10-10 at Miller Park -- first game played in 2001
• Against National League teams, Milwaukee is 14-11 (includes 2-1 at County Stadium)
• Milwaukee was 16-16 in games at County Stadium, 14-15 against the American League

And please keep in mind, people, that a 162-game baseball season is a marathon and not a sprint. There will be winning streaks and losing streaks. The team left standing at the end of it, that's the goal.

Came across the name Terrell Buckley the other day. Seems he's one of the head coaches in the XFL, the spring pro football league that will debut in 2023.

Green Bay Packer fans of a certain age will remember the erstwhile cornerback, the fifth pick overall in the 1992 draft who spent two rather unspectacular seasons as a Packer before being traded. He is probably most remembered for blowing coverage late in a game against the Minnesota Vikings that led to a loss.

And The Milwaukee Brewers Will...

 The nice thing about the start of the 162-game marathon that is the baseball season? Every teams starts out as equals.

The trick will be for the contenders and pretenders to sort things out in the next several months.

Did the Milwaukee Brewers, coming off a 95-win season, do enough to improve on that squad and have post-season success?

I think so. In their Central Division, the St. Louis Cardinals will once again be the primary foe, followed by the Cincinnati Reds. The Chicago Cubs are in rebuild mode, as are the Pittsburgh Pirates.

That leaves me thinking that the Brewers should win 97 games this year, win the NL Central and qualify for the post season for a fifth straight time. IF Christian Yelich returns to the form of the Yelie we all know and love, that is.

The offense is better with Hunter Renfro & Andrew McCutchen (slotted as a DH now that the National League has added that back to the mix). First base still remains a work in progress, but once a hitter, always a hitter. That's why I think Keston Hiura will regain his stroke as well. A little more power from catcher Omar Narvaez won't hurt either, along with continued development -- once he's back healthy -- by Luis Urias.

Yet this team is built around pitching. Manager Craig Counsel has a rotation of Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burns and Freddy Peralta to anchor the squad. Throw in Eric Lauer, Adrian Houser and Aaron Ashby and it could well be one of the best pitching staffs in baseball.

On the back end, Josh Hader is one of the premier closers in all of baseball. If Davin Williams can learn to avoid fist-fights with walls, the bullpen should be fine.

There are those who might pooh-pooh the Crew for their lack of playoff success. But you can't get to the World Series without making the playoffs, so at least this small market squad is giving Brewer fans something to root for.

Now, all Milwaukee needs to do is find success against the Los Angeles Dollars.....er, Dodgers, and make it's first World Series appearance in 40 years!

So Long, Johnny Davis

 It really wasn't much of a surprise this week, the announcement coming from Johnny Davis that he would pass up his final two seasons of basketball for the Wisconsin Badgers and take his talents to the NBA.

This was considered by many a done deal all season long, though some of us (like me) were holding out hope that Johnny would return to the Cardinal & White for another season. I'm still not convinced that his body-type is ready for the NBA. Or that some of his skills couldn't use the polish that would come from an additional college season. Heck, overall maturity could be added on as well.

Technically, he still could come back -- as long as he doesn't retain an agent. And who knows, if he doesn't like where he's going to fall in the draft, he might.

But the odds are long that we've seen the last of him on the Kohl Center floor.

Can't blame this young man from La Crosse for taking his shot at the money. After all, athletes are just one serious injury away from losing that.

Thanks for a memorable season, Johnny. And best of luck with that pro career.

Talked about this in my last blog, but it bears repeating. The biography by Brett Christopherson, Over And Back: Mickey Crowe: The Strange And Troubled Life Of A Wisconsin High School Basketball Legend is worth-while reading.

It should be a cautionary tale for parents who push their talented children waaaaay too hard. Mickey's father and coach, Marty Crowe, did his uber-talented son no favors with his heavy-handed style of coaching. And trying to piggy-back a deal to the college level? Odds are, that just added to the son's turn to mental health problems along with his addictions to alcohol and drugs.

I give Mickey Crowe a lot of credit for essentially coming out of hiding and opening up, honestly detailing his issues.

The transfer portal for college athletes gets a lot of attention, especially when members of Wisconsin Badger athletic teams take advantage and leave.

I think the portal is a good thing, up to a point. Coaches, after all, have been free to leave for years. And if a coach is the main reason someone has chosen a program, the athlete should have the ability to pack the bags WITHOUT having to sit out a season.

The portal has been used to an extreme down in Baton Rouge, though. The program's coach was bounced late in the season due to infractions, and as of today 11 players have entered the transfer portal. That means there's not a single scholarship player left on the roster from this past season.

Makes the one or two players we've lost at Wisconsin seem pretty insignificant!