The Run Continues

At the beginning of the month, I wrote how there's nothing more exciting in sports than your favorite baseball team going on a hot streak. Little did I know that the Brewers were only at the start of an epic run: They'd won 27 of 32 games coming into Tuesday's game with the  hated St. Louis Cardinals.

Those are same Cardinals that Milwaukee always seem to be chasing. Now it's the Redbirds and their cantankerous manager, Tony La Russa, who are desperate for some wins. In fact, they need a lot of wins to even make a dent in Milwaukee's 10.5 game lead.

As exciting as that early run was, the chance to bury a bitter and put away the division before the second week of September takes the joy up several notches. Going into the season, I thought the Brewers had a chance to win the division, but I never imagined they'd be so far ahead, building the biggest lead in the team's history.

The off-season moves to shore up the pitching staff—bringing in Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke—have paid off. And then Doug Melvin, the club's general manager, took a bold chance in trading for New York Mets' closer Frankie Rodriguez. Not only was he able to rework a problematic contract, Rodriguez accepted his less-glamorous role as 8th-inning man.

That move shored up the bullpen and the team has ridden good pitching, timely hitting and some lucky bounces to the upper echelon of the National League.

It's been nearly three decades since Milwaukee has had a team playing at this level. The excitement just keeps growing.

Cardinals Easy to Hate

Is there any team easier to hate than the St. Louis Cardinals? I've written about their manager before, but on Tuesday night the team's catcher joined the dishonor roll.

The Cardinals seem to have a corner on arrogance and bad behavior. It starts at the top, of course, with Manager Tony La Russa. His constant whining and attempts at gamesmanship are tiresome. If there were a picture in the dictionary for "crank" it would be of him. 

He and his team seem to have a problem with every team in the league. A window into his true thoughts came after Tuesday night's game when he called the fans "idiots" before taking it back. I think we all know who the idiot is. And during the sereis he accused the Brewers of dimming the lights on an LCD board when the Cards came to bat. The umpires said they hadn't noticed anything.

If they are not throwing at hitters and then denying it (see Ryan Braun Tuesday night), the Card like to claim the other team cheats in some ways. But don't worry, the holier-than-thou Cardinals play strictly by the rules and it's just so unfair that no one else does.

La Russa's not the only offender. The newest member of the Evil Cardinals Club is Yadier Molina. His rage at the home plate umpire Tuesday night was inexcusable. His suggestion that the ump bumped him first is absurd. Hopefully, his outburst will cost him 10 games and put his team further behind the Crew. Good guys don't always finish last.

There is a positive side to all this of course. Nothing makes sports better than a winning team and a bitter rivalry. Was there anything better than the Packers beating the Bears in the NFC title game? La Russa's teams are always competitive and loathsome at the same time. Nothing will be better than beating them for the division. 

Cards' La Russa Hard to Like

UPDATE: The Brewers swept the Cardinals this weekend and I was right: it is oh so sweet to beat Tony La Russa's team.

Tony La Russa will be managing in his 5,000th game tonight when the St. Louis Cardinals visit Milwaukee in a key early series with the Brewers. Only Connie Mack, who sat on he bench in his suit for 7,755 games, managed more.

That La Russa has made out the lineup card so many times over more than three decades is a testament to his ability. He took the Chicago White Sox to a division title, the Oakland A's to three pennants and a World Series title, and the Redbirds to two pennants and a title.

None of the teams he has managed have been accused of overspending. La Russa has chosen his coaches well, especially Dave Duncan, who seems to have a magic potion that turns suspect pitchers into stars.

And yet La Russa is difficult to like. Part of it, I am sure, is that he has never managed my teams. But it's more than simple partisanship.