Ron Roenicke Outthinks Himself, Puts Brewers in Precarious Position

By all accounts, Ron Roenicke has done a very good job in his first season as a major-league manager. He's handled platoon situations and injuries well, and his quiet, modest demeanor is a good fit for the club. Not only that, but his door is open, and the players seem to like the way he communicates.

He's a huge reason the Brewers are three wins away from the World Series. Unfortunately, though, he's also a huge reason the Brewers are still three wins away from the World Series.

Game 3 of the National League Championship Series was Wednesday night in St. Louis. With the series even at a game apiece, it was looked upon as a crucial game, especially for a visiting team coming off a 12-3 loss and struggling to pitch effectively outside of Yovani Gallardo, Wednesday's starter.

Roenicke decided to make a lineup change, hoping to impact the team's somewhat-struggling offense without killing it defensively. Center fielder Nyjer Morgan was benched in favor of veteran Mark Kotsay, who matched up well against Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter, but is -- to say the least -- a liability in center field.

In making the change, Roenicke ignored the fact that Kotsay is a clear No. 4 on a team with four guys who have played center field (Morgan, Carlos Gomez, Jerry Hairston). He also ignored the fact that the Cardinals have typically done a very good job of putting the ball in play against Gallardo, meaning the team would need good defensive play more than usual.

So what happens? With one out in the first inning, Kotsay walks. Then Ryan Braun gets hit by a pitch. With Prince Fielder hitting, though, Kotsay appeared to fall asleep at second base. Fielder smacked a line drive to center field that was caught. Inexplicably, Kotsay was halfway to third base, and was doubled off rather easily to kill a potential first-inning rally.

Then, after a leadoff single by Rafael Furcal in the first inning, Kotsay misplays a bloop by John Jay that virtually every center fielder in Major League Baseball -- including Morgan, Gomez, and Hairston -- would have easily caught. That bloop turned into a double, and before the dust settles, the Brewers are down 4-0.

Kotsay hit a solo home run in the third and reached base three times, but the damage was done. Cardinals win, 4-3.

I'm not about throwing good managers under the bus. But Roenicke outmanaged himself in this case. He overthought a situation that didn't require a lot of thought. If Morgan isn't going to hit, and Gomez is an obvious upgrade defensively, get him out there. Instead, Roenicke told the media types after the game that he basically didn't even think about playing Gomez.

That's worth a facepalm. If you have decided your No. 1 option isn't good enough, why would you do anything but start the No. 2 guy? Moreover, why would you ever start your No. 4 guy when the top three guys are all healthy and available?

If it's the worst mistake Roenicke makes over a long and meaningful managerial career, it's certainly forgivable. But in the short-term, with a fanbase that hasn't seen its team make the World Series in 29 years, it's absolutely inexcusable.

Brewers No Longer Feel Need to Violate 'Baseball Etiquette' to Get Under Cardinals' Skin

Greetings ... you'll notice fewer updates in the coming weeks as I work on football preview research and play lots of NCAA and -- eventually -- Madden on the XBox.

Priorities ...

Anyway, the Brewers continue to play pretty darn good baseball as of late, and are now 12-1 in their last 13 games after a ten-inning win in St. Louis Tuesday.

You might remember a couple years ago, when the Brewers seemed to irk the Cardinals every time the teams played, largely because of their goofy walk-off celebrations and the Mike Cameron-initiated jersey-untucking after wins.

This time, the Brewers are irritating the Cardinals without the antics. They're doing it by going 7-3 so far in the season series.

Led off the field by Ron Roenicke and on it by Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, the Brewers are not behaving like the Brewers of old.

Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post Dispatch had a great column on the rivalry, and what appears to be a maturing Milwaukee team that has transformed itself from the fun-loving, brash bunch that got in the playoffs three years ago.

After years of playing the role of the nettlesome, shirt-tail flipping kids in their competitive relationship with the grumpy but proper Cardinals, the Brewers have evolved into a far more disturbing role for the Redbirds: a mature and confident title contender.

They don't need to yank out their shirt tails anymore to get on the nerves of the cantankerous old-school Cards. Instead, they seem to do it by playing solid, smart - and yes, unflinching - baseball in front of their barking elders.

... Maybe in the past, the Brewers might have shrunk a bit when the Cardinals blustered about any real or perceived affront to baseball's unwritten rules. But now they will stand their ground - and even act like adults - like last week during the great dust-up about Cards manager Tony La Russa's contention that the Brewers were pitching Albert Pujols dangerously high and tight. Last week's strategy sparked a beanball battle and a potential scuffle (neutralized by of all people Fielder, the guy who once stormed to the doors of an opponent's clubhouse to demand retribution).

It's amazing what you can accomplish when you go from Ned "Mortal Kombat" Yost to Ken "Zzzzz" Macha to Roenicke, an even-keel guy who clearly has the respect of his players.

If last week's scoreboard/sign-stealing/throw at Braun/"idiots in the stands" fiasco happens with Yost running the team, half of the team's remaining meetings would include either a bench-clearing incident or the very real threat of one.

This isn't to rip Yost or blame him for the team's past shortcomings. He did some good things in Milwaukee, helping lead the franchise from the depths of despair to where they are now. He played a positive role in that, even though it appeared at times his demeanor was helping hold the team back.

Roenicke, though, has gotten to these guys. His attitude last week was basically to blow off what happened and focus on the next game. His players followed suit, just like every GM dreams when he hires a coach or manager and something like that happens during the season.

We have a lot of baseball to play before October hits, but the Brewers appear to be in just as good a position as they have ever been in. Win another game in this series -- or two! -- and things will only look rosier.

The Brewers Have a Real Rival

Nothing beats when your favorite team in a sport is playing well and winning their division/league. It's a great thing to watch, and it usually means your team is pretty good.

(Exception: If the team in question plays in the NFC West, the NHL Southeast, or the American League Central.)

For me personally, it's been a great year, with the Packers and UMD hockey claiming championships. Now, the Brewers are in first place in the National League Central.

If anyone was wondering who the Brewers had developed a blood-boiling rivalry with since leaving the American League Central, it was again confirmed over the last two nights.

It's Tony LaRussa and the St. Louis Cardinals.

The National League Central race has a Cinderella ... a relative newcomer to the baseball hierarchy. That's the Brewers.

What the race needs is a heel. A team that everyone but its own fans can hate. A team that can get the fans' blood boiling.

Thanks to LaRussa, whose actions and words are those of a man who thinks he invented baseball, we have a heel in this race.

As if LaRussa hadn't already earned enough scorn in Milwaukee -- the shirt-untucking saga, the beanballs, and his best players admiring home runs like LaRussa must admire the image he sees in the bathroom mirror -- the Cardinals rolled into town Monday and almost immediately started the wahhh-mbulance.

The Brewers mess with their scoreboard to gain an advantage.

St. Louis manager Tony La Russa filed a complaint with the umpiring crew during that series opener, suggesting the LED "ribbon" board that wraps around the ballpark above the loge level shone brighter while the Brewers batted. The suggestion was that the lighting was darker when the Cardinals batted, making it more difficult to see the ball in their 6-2 defeat.

Umpiring crew chief Gary Darling forwarded that complaint to Major League Baseball vice president of baseball operations Joe Garagiola, Jr., who then placed a telephone call to Brewers general manager Doug Melvin.

They also steal signs.

Sensing the Brewers had hacked their signs, the Cardinals changed them immediately after Morgan, and Carpenter struck out two of the next four batters to end the inning.

"If there's something there, there's something there," pitching coach Dave Duncan said. "If there's not, there's not."

Yeah, the Brewers stole signs in an inning where they hit precisely two balls hard, one of which came with no one on base. The other was a hanging curveball my nine-year-old could have ripped for a line drive hit.

That was just from Monday. Then Tuesday happened. Take it away, Tom Haudricourt.

Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy called the St. Louis Cardinals' retaliation for Albert Pujols getting hit with a pitch Tuesday night "ridiculous."

"That was clearly intentional," Lucroy said of the Cardinals' drilling of Ryan Braun in the bottom of the seventh by Jason Motte, who missed Braun with his first attempt and then drilled him with his second. Motte, the Cardinals' hardest thrower, obviously was left in the game to hit Braun because manager Tony La Russa removed him after he did it.

"That was ridiculous," said Lucroy. "We didn't hit Albert Pujols on purpose. Are you kidding me? In that situation? If we wanted to put him on base, we would have walked him. That's ridiculous."

With two on and no outs in the top of the inning and the Brewers holding a one-run lead, reliever Takashi Saito came up and in with a pitch to Pujols and struck him on the left wrist. Pujols was in obvious pain but stayed in the game, and Motte drilled Braun to open the bottom of the inning.

"We were trying to come inside and get a groundball to third base," said Lucroy, "like they did to me when I hit a ground ball to third with the bases loaded (in the bottom of the seventh). That's what you do in that situation. That's ridiculous.

"I think it's stupid (to hit Braun). I don't think anybody needs to pay for that. There's no way we were trying to do that on purpose. We shouldn't get punished for something we weren't trying to do on purpose. Look at the situation. If we were getting beat by a lot or we were beating them by a lot and that happens, maybe we did it on purpose.  I mean, come on. We weren't trying to hit anybody.

"It's unbelievable. If we were trying to hit him on purpose, then McClellan hit Nyjer Morgan on purpose (in the 10th inning). It's the same thing."

As for Motte throwing two pitches at Braun and not getting ejected, Lucroy said, "That's obviously on purpose. He definitely should have been thrown out. We all thought that, too."

Yeah, Saito threw at Pujols with two on and no one out in a one-run game. I don't see why not. I mean, that seems like a good baseball tactic.

To make matters worse, LaRussa's catcher, Yadier Molina, completely lost his marbles in the tenth inning when called out on strikes on a close pitch. After some physical contact and spitting, Molina was led away by his teammates.

I have to figure the spitting was an accident. The Cardinals are way too classy to do something like that.

As if that wasn't enough, LaRussa went after Milwaukee fans in his postgame press conference.

"Yeah, real scary," La Russa said. "They almost got him yesterday too. There's nothing intentional about it. But they throw the ball in here and that's what all those idiots up there -- not idiots -- all those fans up there are yelling. Do you know how many bones there are in the hand? Do you know how many bones there are in the face? That's where those pitches are. And Braun -- we were trying to pitch him in too, and it was just a little stinger. I don't want to even hear about Braun getting a little pop in the back, when we almost lose this guy (Pujols) in several ways. The ball up and in is a dangerous pitch."

Yeah, Tony, because your precious Cardinals never pitch anyone high and tight.

Today's lesson: Tony LaRussa invented baseball, and he is the true commissioner.

And unless you're a Cardinals fan, you're rooting for the Brewers (or Pirates, who are getting hopeless at this point) in the NL Central. What fun is it to root for the smarmy heel?