World Series Game 2 at Busch Stadium-The Legendary Inning

World Series Game 2- October 20th, 2011

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Texas Rangers

Fellow Citizens and Followers of the BK3 Nation! This post will be the most detailed, bewildered, analytical break down of any game that You or I will ever witness. The breakdown of this game will follow a simple sequence of the games most important aspects. In order to eliminate the problems that come with over thinking the outcome, I want to narrow the focus on 3 to 4 major areas of relevance. Starting pitching, near perfect defense, the bullpen efforts, and a combination of the front 4 in each batting order's hits/rbi's/runs should provide more than enough data for a complete understanding of this great Baseball game. The Last and most important aspect in this sensational game and for that matter every other game is the word CLUTCH

The starting pitching in Game 2 was outstanding to say the least. Let's start with Jaime Garcia. It is worth noting the rather large difference in his ERA between Home starts and Away starts. Garcia's 2.55 ERA in Home starts should have strongly suggested that the Rangers weren't scoring many runs in tonight's game (2). Garcia dominated the dangerous offense of the Rangers allowing 0 ER's on just 3 hits. His opponent, Colby 'Jack' Lewis had a similar strength when it came to ERA in their situation. Colby 'Jack' Lewis' ERA for Away games was much better than for Home games.(3.43) I didn't expect both of these pitchers to dominate the way they did for 6 and 7 innings respectably. Lewis gave up the only run on the Rangers staff to a red hot CLUTCH bench player by the name of Allen Craig.


Both the Cardinals and Rangers defense had much to do with the success shared by both Colby 'Jack' Lewis and Jaime Garcia. There was only 1 error committed by either team and the Ian Kinsler error in the bottom of the 4th didn't lead to a run and surprisingly that very same error set up the stage for the most spectacular defensive play made by a SS/2B this postseason! Matt Holliday had a chance to produce some runs and instead hit into an inning ending double play mentioned above. Albert Pujols showed his inner Jason Kendall in the bottom of the 8th with a deep fly ball that just didn't have enough to reach the stands and Nelson Cruz made an important play as he caught the ball on the warning track. Double plays were turned by both squads and fly balls were always played the right way. The Cardinal and Ranger Defenses proved stellar.


There is really only one aspect of the bullpen performances worth noting outside the obvious CLUTCH appearances by the Rangers and Cardinals pitchers who did their job. It looked like the Cardinals were just 3 inevitable outs away from having a 2-0 series lead which protected their home field advantage. Jason Motte had been the man in the postseason most associated with the word "guarantee" because of his nasty fastball and success. Ian Kinsler's single to lead off the inning was the beginning of the first Motte appearance with losing consequences. After stealing 2nd base, Elvis Andrus singled again which put runners on 1st and 3rd and no outs for Josh Hamilton and Michael Young's eventual game winning RBI's. You can't be perfect every day, but Jason Motte picked the worst time to prove that as the Cardinals went down 2-1 in the top of the 9th and that would be enough cushion for Feliz to finish the game and with that the series was tied 1-1. It happened so fast and with such disbelief that it didn't seem real as I watched it unfold before the 50,000 faithful packed into Busch Stadium.


The success or failure that teams have in the postseason can be stripped down to one word; "CLUTCH." It's a time for players that don't have the big numbers and expectations to step up when it counts and be the most important asset to the team for that game/series/ and hopefully championship. Players like David Freese, Allen Craig, and Jason Motte have been those CLUTCH performers for the Cardinals to name a few. Every at bat and every inning pitched in the postseason has an impact far greater than at bats and innings pitched in the regular season for obvious reasons. Who's gonna be that CLUTCH player in Game 3 on Saturday evening in Texas? One thing's for certain; it won't be Mark Kotsay.


-BK3-

World Series Game 1 Cardinals vs. Rangers

Final Score
Cardinals 3 Rangers 2

The Cardinals and fearless leader Tony Larussa continue their unbelievable run at another World Series Title by taking Game 1 of the Fall Classic at Busch Stadium last evening. As I thought about the outcome before the series began, I couldn't help but argue for a low scoring affair between these two Offensive giants of the postseason. As many Brewers fans may have done as well, I struggled with the idea of watching the World Series for obvious reasons. The true baseball fan inside of me prevailed and had to watch Game 1 with my interests focused on pitching. There was not a lot of offense in this battle and there are a million reasons to argue, but close attention to the box score will show that starting pitching was the difference in this game, as it had been in the NLCS. Early offensive production has been the lifeline for teams in the postseason.

I have to give credit where credit is due and that belongs to Tony Larussa and his bullpen. Early analysts including myself counted the Cardinals out because of their questionable BP. What I want to stress tonight is something I've been saying all postseason long; The stats from the regular season are irrelevant once the postseason begins and that's a fact. This is a very dangerous team that the Cardinals have right now with the ability for impressive offensive power and a bullpen that cannot be touched.

Lance Berkman and Allen Craig's pinch hit RBI's were enough cushion for the 3 innings of relief given by 5 shut down performances by this incredible bullpen. There's nothing to analyze there. There's nothing to suggest, nothing to excuse it with. The fact of the matter is that this bullpen is flat out getting the job done. It's historical.

The St. Louis Cardinals are not going to be stopped. You heard it from BK3 right now. It cannot be beat. If the Rangers get early runs, the Cardinals get more, and a lead for them means a win. Obviously there is a way to beat them. Well here's the million dollar answer. The pitching staff for the Rangers cannot allow more than 2 runs a game for the remainder of the postseason if they want any chance of winning.

You cannot allow this dangerous offense with 6 free trips to 1st base and expect this low score from them next time. They left 16 guys on base and STILL won!!! You can LOOK IT UP teams don't win doing that and somehow they did!!!! The Rangers were only walked twice in this game which doesn't help batting avg. with RISP but they also left 9 total runners on base. 7 if you get rid of the 2 walks.

I could sit here all night giving statistical reasons for why the Cardinals won and why the Rangers lost/should have won. In the playoffs, it's all about being CLUTCH. You get a few at bats and a few innings to pitch and that means FEW chances to make it count. So tonight, I'll leave you with the answer and reason to any questions that ask why the eventual World Series champions won; CLUTCH

-BK3-

NLCS Brewers vs Cardinals - Game 5 Wrap-Up

With the series tied at 2-2, Game 5 in St. Louis was huge. The winner only needs 1 more game to move on to the World Series while the loser is one loss away from packing their bags and calling it a season. If you understand anything at all then you know that it is in the Brewers best interest to win this game so they can head back to Miller Park for Game 6 with 2 chances to close the door and advance to the World Series for the first time since 1982. But the Brewers fell to the Cardinals by a score of 7-1 in a missed opportunity that could have solidified our chances for moving on. There's so many things to talk about here but I'll try to be brief. The Brewers failed on all 3 levels of this game - Pitching, Defense and Offense. It was just an ugly game all around.

First the pitching. Nothing against Zack Greinke (although I still hold a grudge against him for breaking his ribs playing basketball in Spring Training) but he shouldn't even have been pitching today. Greinke hasn't lost a game at Miller Park in 2011 and the Brewers also haven't lost a game when he has pitched. Wouldn't you want to take advantage of that and have him start Game 6? Ok you say, who then pitches Game 5? I would have brought Shaun Marcum back on 3 days rest for a few innings and backed him up with Chris Narveson. Why? Because Marcum on the road in 2011 was 8-3 with a 2.21 ERA (easily the best among all Brewers starters) but at home he was 5-4 with a 4.81 ERA (which was easily the worst among all Brewers starters). I hate to go by the numbers because I'm not a numbers guy, but isn't it obvious that he is better on the road? And since he would be pitching on 3 days rest (pitchers normally have 5 days rest between starts) you try to get 3 or 4 innings from him then 2 or 3 innings from Narveson to branch it to the bullpen. Why Narveson? Because (and I don't feel like looking up the stats but trust me) he has dominated the Cardinals in his career. Makes perfect sense by Roenicke didn't feel like that was a good plan obviously.

Defense and Offense. I've already typed more than I had planned on doing, but I'm too fired up right now to stop. But I know that this is too many words for you to read because you have the attention span that can only be measured in nanoseconds. The defense was the worst it has been all year and that is saying a lot about a defense that is absolutely horrendous. Yuni B, Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart all made really bad plays that directly lead to runs by the Cardinals. We knew going into the season that those players were going to do that and we would just have to live with it. But Jerry Hairston Jr. (filling in for the butcher on the field Casey McGehee) made an inexcusable error by letting a ground ball roll between his legs which lead to 2 runs in a 3 run inning that changed the momentum of the game and sealed the deal even though it was just the 2nd inning. But none of this really matters (seriously) if the "mighty" Brewers offense could muster up more than 1 run in game. I don't care how good your pitching staff is (like if Roy "Doc" Halladay was able to clone himself 4 times and have a 5 man rotation of him) you still aren't going to win a lot of games if you only score 1 GOD DAMN RUN! Our offense was supposed to be our strong point and be able to make up for any errors committed in the field or on the mound and they let us down. And that is why we lost the game.

I was an utter mess during this game in my "No Girls Allowed" Clubhouse. I was drunk, half naked, lying on the floor watching TV upside down while the room spinned. So forgive me if this post game video is a little on the weird side. For the first half I talked about Game 5 of the NLCS and did a little preview of Game 6 where Shaun Marcum would be pitching at home in an elimination game. And then things got weird as I went into Beast Mode, then Fat Teen Wolf Mode and then Sean Connery Mode. You have to see it to believe it.

Part One

Part Two



Now that you've had a moment to digest all of that information and the crazy that we call IC3, I'd like to hear some of your comments if you so chose to share. Hit me back below or give me some feedback on Facebook. I know that it doesn't look like it, but all of this takes a lot of time and effort and it always makes it worthwhile to know that someone out there is reading it and appreciates it. Let's face it, I work 2 jobs and this is almost a 3rd but I don't get paid for this one. This all comes from passion and my need to create. And like I said in the video please keep the positive thoughts going because this series is far from over despite it being an elimination game. The crowd at Miller Park has the ability to yell and cheer the Brewers to a Game 6 victory and force a decisive Game 7. There's a reason that we have such a good home field advantage this year and it's because of you - the fans. So keep up the good work Milwaukee and I'll see you on Sunday.

 -IC3-

The NLCS Game 4 Post Game Analysis-2011

How do I start an analysis of this game? Do I begin with the HUGE and obvious reasons for Tony (entitlement) Larussa's failure managing a pitching staff during the NLCS? Do I begin with a bold, but justifiable prediction for an NLCS win on Sunday night?

Nope. I am going to get right into a very important observation during this Win. I feel confident when I say that your batting avg. for the game does not over shadow your RBI's. That being said, lets investigate which members of the Swat Team contributed with RBI's tonight. And would ya look at that!? 3 out of the 4 RBI's belong to the 6, 7, and 8 batters in the lineup tonight! Jerry Hairston Jr., Yuni B, and IC3's accountant George Kottaras step up their game and get the runs in! It's no surprise that BK3's MVP candidates during this postseason include Yuni B and Jerry Hairston Jr!!!!! It is only a walk and a hit away from the obvious strength of the 1-5 hitters combining forces with an improving 6-8 hitting squad and 8 runs in an inning are seen.

Now I want to get to what You, the Brewers fan will probably enjoy reading. If you're reading this, I hope you're familiar with the often overlooked, but IMPECCABLE need for a Bull pen with reliable long relievers, and most importantly strong situational pitchers. Tony Larussa is slowly but surely driving his team into the Beast's mouth with his constant lack of trust in his bull pen, which leads to using 5 pitchers tonight vs. the Brewers 3. Although that doesn't seem like a big difference, the situations for calls to the Bull pen were vastly different. KROD and AX pitch 8th and 9th with a lead. Other than that, Wolf was the man. Larussa's Losers were used and abused. If I may use a stat; the Cardinals Bull pen was responsible for more blown leads in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings than any other Bull pen in the MLB. Over worked pitchers don't fair well.

That being said, I'd like to point out the number of pitchers used out of the Bull pen in Games 3 and 4. Total pitchers used by the Brewers out of the Bull pen in those two games totaled 5 and none of them pitched both days. The Cardinals on the other hand used 8 pitchers and 1 of those pitchers was in both games.

Even with that loss in Game 3, The Milwaukee Brewers Bull pen remains very strong, with momentum shifting towards The Brewers after tonights perfect succession of pitchers and a win. Game 5, if it becomes a battle of Bull pens that must pitch 4 innings from both teams, will be won by The Milwaukee Brewers and with the way our Batting lineup produced with RISP and the success of the bottom of the order in Game 4, I think that our Team is in perfect position to Finish the Cardinals on SUNDAY!!!

-BK3-

Superstitions

Superstitions are real man. Well, at least real if you believe in them. Believing that wearing a certain hat, drinking a certain beverage or watching the game alone can lead to a victory is as silly as believing in Jesus if you think about it. I'm not knocking Christianity or Jesus Christ (despite the fact that he can't hit a curveball) but to me he's the savoir of mankind and the Son of God. But to you he may be some made up magician. But if I believe in him then to me he is real. And if I believe that superstitions work then to me they are real.

Take tonight for example. The Brewers won Game 4 of the NLCS and I sat alone (well not really alone, Coach Gordon Bombay was with me) in my new "No Girls Allowed" Clubhouse in my roommate's basement and watched the game. Every game that the Brewers have won in the postseason this year I have watched alone. But wait, you say, what about the home games when you were working on the Club Level? Truth be told I was surrounded by 45,000 + of my closest friends but in essence I am alone watching the game in between serving the customers. I'm not debating pitch selection with my buddies or grabbing another beer when the Brewers take the lead. I'm trying to catch snippets of the game while making sure my customers needs are met. It's like I'm seeing the game but I'm not watching it. Make sense? I know it's weird to think that way, but it's how I feel when I'm there as an employee vs being there as a fan.

The only time that I get to sit down and enjoy the games is when they play on the road, and until tonight they had lost all the road games. Game 3 of the NLDS vs Arizona I watched at the bar Lucky's after wings. Game 4 of the NLDS I watched at BK's house. Game 3 of the NLCS vs St. Louis I watched with Fresno Chris. The one exception to this superstition is when the Brewers lost game 2 at home to the Cardinals when I was working. Of course there is an exception to everything. I cannot explain why they lost that one when I was wearing my lucky jersey, drinking my lucky beverage and watching the game alone. Some things in life you can't explain. That is where we come in.

I'm going to go ahead and keep believing in my wacky superstitions, which is why I will be watching Game 5 of the NLCS alone (well, with CGB) in my "No Girls Allowed" Clubhouse. And until it fails (or until the season ends) you can forward my mail down there. Oh, and also send a bottle of rum. It gets a little crazy down there and the rum helps to make it out of this world...

- IC3-

DUMB AND DUMBER

TONY LARUSSA IS SO GOOD, HE CAN DO BOTH DUMB THINGS AND DUMBER THINGS, LIKE USING 8 PITCHERS A GAME

SUPERSTITION

OPTION? OR OBSESSION?

"There were Angels in the Outfield! And in the Infield!"

AL may have been with the Brewers through the first 162 games, but angels don't help out in the Playoffs. Teams gotta do it on their own!

The Most Important Game of the Year - Brewers vs Cardinals NLCS Game 4

Which is quite an understatement (it’s ok if you vocalized a “duh” just a second ago) because every game is the most important game from here on out. But this one takes that to a new level because there is so much riding on it. If we win this game tonight, we win the NLCS. There, I said it. With a win tonight we guarantee a Game 6 back home in Miller Park where we have been nearly infallible this season. I said prior to this series with the history of the Brewers and Cardinals this was going the full 7 games. It is inevitable unless Randy Wolf completely loses it tonight.

But I don’t see that happening because Randy Wolf has been dominant against them in the past. I’m not a numbers guy so I’m not gonna throw stats at you to prove my point, but you can look them up if you feel so inclined. I think that stats aren’t very telling (especially the pitcher vs. team ones because every time that pitcher goes against that team, he’s facing a different lineup of players at a different time of the season) so you need only to look at individual pitcher vs. player stats. Once again look that up if you have the time. See, I don’t. I’m all heart and no brain. Just call me Scarecrow. I don’t trust stats. I trust my feelings and personal observations. I don’t need a 0 for his last 17 to tell me that Corey Hart is struggling at the plate. I have watched each one of those at bats with my own eyes and I could have told you he wasn’t right days ago. Shit like this makes me a good conversationalist and writer, but not for sports. Which is why I usually lay off the sports talk because everything is succinct headlines and numbers. And that ain’t me baby. I’m all emotion.

Nothing is over until we decide it is. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? No! But 2-2 feels so much better than 3-1. At 2-2 either team has a chance. Down 3-1 it’s more like the 1 in a million chance. But you’re telling me there’s a chance, right? Damn right. Saddle up partner, grab ahold of something and give it hell and we're gonna get through this. I know I'm not the only one who has made sacrifices to follow this Brewers team each and every day of the season, so I'm not going to pretend that is the truth. So we're all in this together and if you believe, then it could happen. JP's gotta be right one of these days. Think nothing but positive thoughts, yell at the TV if you must, but please please please please root for your Brewers to win. I know they're not at Miller Park and can't physically hear you, but if there is a higher being watching over us, he's relaying those messages of good will and hope to those 25 players. We have to win this one, because I don't want to come on here tomorrow and talk about what happens if we don't.

- IC3-

St. Louis Cardinals vs. The Milwaukee Brewers Game 4 of the NLCS

Tonight. That is one word that skipper Ron Roenicke and the Swat Team should be focusing on. Tonight makes or breaks World Series hopes. Tonight Randy Wolf has to be clutch. Not this afternoon in warm ups, and certainly not back home playing catch with his children. Tonight my fellow citizens must be won by the Milwaukee Brewers. To win a close game is obviously welcomed a lot, but with the way Tony Larussa uses his Bull Pen early and often during games, The Milwaukee Brewers must punish them for Larussa's liberal use of them. The St. Louis Cardinals have given up more leads in the 7th inning and up than any other team in the MLB. In Game 3, they got lucky, but this Milwaukee Brewers line up is too dangerous and too productive for that lack luster Bull Pen to control us like that again.

Randy Wolf---> 8IP, 1ER, 3K's, and 106 pitches. The Milwaukee Brewers take game 4 of the NLCS by the score of 6-1 with huge production from Ryan Braun and either Carlos Gomez or Buster Mcgehee will knock in a pair of runs late to seel the deal ar ar ar ar

-BK3-

Bull Pen's and an uphill climb to the WS

IC3 is the organizing writer and communicator for this new and trend setting blog created on the most rough evening of the Brewers historical season thus far. However I would like you to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel that points to a possible Milwaukee Brewers NLCS win in just 6 games! Think I'm crazy? You bet I'm crazy. But don't take my word for it. Just watch the innings relevant to the Bull Pen's in the coming games and with a little help from the MLB HR leading ball club, you will find that BK3's analysis surely deserves merit. With a win and solid performance from Mr. Wolf and the NL's 3rd most productive Offense, the series becomes a best of three and from there the Brewers will use Monday for Rest.

- BK3

BK3 and IC3 are Going to Change the World

Our heads are full of ideas so much to the point that we have to share them with the world. See, every day you have a chance to make a difference in this world. Everyone has a choice. Most times we take the safe route and walk down the path that we've walked down our entire life. We know what lies at the end. But nothing ever happens when you take that route. That is why we are challenging you to stop, think and do something with your life besides going through the motions on a daily basis. Question everything. Stand up for yourself. And for God sakes let your opinion be heard. We don't have to argue if we engage each other in thoughtful and intelligent conversation. Everyone (mute people and babies excluded) has a voice and we are asking you to use it. Don't be another droid standing in line following orders. Be an individual. Stand on your own two feet. And be ready and willing to Start the Revolution.

Some would say that the Revolution started off as a joke. Raise your fist in the air and shout "Revolution!" just like Uncle Greg taught us. And for the most part we didn't understand it and we played along as if it was just a goof. It took us a few years, but we now know that Uncle Greg is a prophet and that he was on to something. Now he may be too busy worrying about the shipments to get up off his keyster and do something about it, but we are not going to let this golden opportunity slip away. The world is dangling on the edge and it needs someone to step up and take control. All this talk about Raptures and the End of the World in December 2012 has left the general population searching for meaning. And when you also add the untimely and unexpected loss of a family member and dear friend your purpose on this Earth is meant to be questioned. Why am I here? What is the meaning? What can I do to make a difference? Trust me I was right where you were 6 months ago. But I'm not going to sit around and wait anymore. It is time to take action and stand up to lead a Revolution.

- IC3 -