Only shortstop JJ Hardy showed up for the Crew, finishing the NLDS 6-13 with two RBI and two walks.
It will have to be Braun, Hardy, Hart, and Fielder who play Rollins, Utley, Howard, and Burrell for the Brewers next season if Milwaukee wants to emulate the success of this Phillies team.
Prince Fielder, your cleanup hitter can’t start slow again next year; the Central is just too good. The Cubs are going to be just as good next season, and the Astros will be more like the team we saw at the beginning and end of the year than the mediocre team we saw in the middle. And apparently the Cardinals will always be in the race as long as they have Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols.
The Brewers' rotation will look entirely different, but most of the potential key cogs acquitted themselves quite well this postseason. Yovani Gallardo, despite his Game One struggles, will likely be the stopper for this team next season. Manny Parra will join him at the top of the rotation and was very effective out of the 'pen in the playoffs, despite his late-season struggles as a starter (he wore down considerably).
Dave Bush has been outstanding in the second half, and if he can pitch with confidence, he could even be a 15 or more game winner next season. If Bush doesn’t pitch a gem in Game Three, the Brewers go home a day sooner.
Beyond that, it looks hard to predict. Seth McClung and Carlos Villanueva probably both deserve a chance to start, but that significantly diminishes a bullpen that already stands to lose Guillermo Mota, Eric Gagne, and perhaps Salomon Torres. Both McClung and Villa were outstanding late in the year; in fact, statistically speaking, Villanueva was the best Brewers reliever in the second half.
What to do with Jeff Suppan will be a big question heading into the offseason. If you pay a pitcher to get you to and win for you in the postseason, and he wets the bed in September and October, he better be great the rest of the year. Suppan was nothing short of mediocre and inconsistent in 2008, seemingly leaving little room of him in the rotation.
No, the season did not end the way the Brewers had hoped. However, the players, fans, organization, and city of Milwaukee should hold their heads high, knowing they did something truly special for this team and this city.
You can bet Brewers fans, this one included, will never forget the kind of effort CC Sabathia gave to a team that he knew he wouldn’t be playing for coming next April. Watching him throw gem after gem was a pleasure and a privilege.
Seeing the resolve of this team was truly incredible. They underachieved offensively and yet won some 28 games in the final at-bat. Even late in the year, the Brewers didn’t score many runs, but they got them when the needed them off the bats of Braun, Fielder, and Hardy.
The 2008 playoffs were a struggle, even painful for this team and its fans. But I urge the aforementioned parties not to forget the run in the regular season, the late game heroics, the 11th-hour playoff push, and the guts of a team trying to shirk more than 25 years in the cellar.
The season officially ended for the Brewers on Sunday, Oct. 5. An October ending, a 90-win season, and a surplus of young talent have fans in Milwaukee more excited than they’ve been ever been about “next season.” For the first time since Ronald Reagan was president, “next season” could be “the season” in Milwaukee.
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