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.

BREWERS NOT FOOLING ST. LOUIS MEDIA

If the Milwaukee Brewers were trying to kid anyone into believing their clubhouse dash Monday was nothing less than a jab at their opponents, they'll probably have to try harder.

Seems that St. Louis' esteemed and ever-so-classy media is on to the Brewers' games. If the reporters can pick up on such things, one has to assume that the World's Smartest Baseball Manager has it all figured out.

Since the Cardinals are so classy, we shouldn't have to worry about them, say, throwing baseballs at Milwaukee hitters at any point. Nah, they'd never do anything like that.

Derrick Goold has a blog entry on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website that offers us some insight into the Cardinals' thoughts on this latest "controversy".

The premeditated celebration began the moment Bill Hall’s 10th-inning single landed Monday and winning run Casey McGehee crossed home plate. Immediately the Milwaukee Brewers bolted for their clubhouse, turning, as Tom Haudricourt wrote at the Journal-Sentinel, a walk-off into a run-off and again stoking the discussion about those brash and bold Brewers and their post-win ways.

Untucking. Posing. Behind closed doors. Or otherwise.

A rivalry that has its roots in Milwaukee’s public awe and open emulation of the St. Louis Cardinals franchise a few years ago has turned decidedly spicy.

Yes, this all has come from the Brewers' awe of the Cardinals. In fact, sources close to the team have confirmed to me that when Mike Cameron started untucking his shirt after wins last season, he told his teammates it was because he wanted to be more like the Cardinals. Growing up, Milwaukee's top players all idolized Cardinal greats like Skip Schumacher, Stubby Clapp, David Eckstein, and the best control pitcher of all-time, Rick Ankiel.

Braden Looper wanted to be a Cardinal so badly that he signed with the Brewers in the off-season, mistakenly thinking he was signing with the Cardinals. Trevor Hoffman was so convinced he joined the Cardinals that he decided to be just like a St. Louis pitcher and spend a few weeks on the disabled list.

It's a sad, sad deal, this Brewers obsession with St. Louis. Hell, they went so far as to wear red caps for Monday's game.

Someone has to stop them. It won't be the Cardinals, as they seem too busy whining about the Brewers to actually beat them.

BREWERS WIN ON A RUN-OFF

This is not a misprint.

Normally, a game-winning play by the home team in their last at-bat is termed a "walk-off". After all, the team "walks off" the field because the game is immediately over.

The Milwaukee Brewers have a habit of pissing off the St. Louis Cardinals untucking their shirts after all victories, and walk-offs are no exception.

Until Monday.

It was a move obviously meant to stick it to St. Louis, a team that has been vocally critical of the Brewers for their untucking ways. Instead of celebrating on the field (you know, like everyone else), the Brewers hilariously ran into the clubhouse after Bill Hall's game-winning hit in the tenth inning Monday.

What was up with the disappearing act? Why did the Brewers not celebrate on the field as teams usually do?

"We came in here and celebrated," said Hall. "We got the big hit and everybody came in the clubhouse and celebrated in here. We were having fun with ourselves.

"This is all about the 25 guys in this locker room. We feel like we're a huge unit and all care about each other. We just wanted to celebrate and have fun with ourselves."

It's probably just a coincidence that they happened to be playing St. Louis, a team that has whined endlessly about the Brewers' antics, and they just happen to unveil a new way of celebrating a win that day.

Yeah, right.

The Brewers will take the high road on this one, talking about just being a team thing, but the intention is clear. St. Louis can't manage to keep their mouths shut about the untucking, as if it's some sort of a dig at their wonderfully classy organization that never does anything wrong and never shows anyone up by staring at home runs or arguing with umpires. The more they cry about it, the more fun it has to be for the Brewers to beat the Cardinals.

If the Cardinals want to keep whining, I'm sure Mike Cameron and his teammates will find something else to do. Personally, I can't wait to see what they come up with.

THE BREWERS' SHIRT-UNTUCKING FLAP

There's no question the Milwaukee Brewers are a young, confident bunch of ballplayers. They've won a lot of fans over with their play in the last few years, and their current 20-5 tear has them atop the National League Central.

That said, it appears that their ritual of untucking jerseys after a victory has made them a few enemies, especially around the city of St. Louis, Missouri.

"Well, they've got a little flair about them that some people don't care for," said closer Ryan Franklin. "But that's just the way they are. So yeah, I think it would be more fun to beat them than it would be the Padres or something, just because of what they do after they beat you."

... "They are what they are," (pitcher Kyle) Lohse said. "That's how they choose to present themselves and play the game. A lot of people don't like it. We're not the only ones."

It's pretty clear that the Cardinals are more angry about not being able to beat these guys than anything else, but whatever. What's odd about all of this is watching the St. Louis media play the same song.

Read this article by Derrick Goold about Monday's 8-4 Brewers win that completed a three-game series sweep at Busch Stadium. In 600 words of pure slop, there are three separate occasions where Goold mentions the untucking.

I'm shocked Goold didn't promote the Untuckem website.

Why?

Are the Cardinals so uppity and self-absorbed that their players, personnel, fans, and even media can't understand anything they don't do themselves?

I mean, you don't see any Brewers media people asking publicly why the Cardinals insist on throwing baseballs at hitters they're incapable of getting out? It's simply none of their business how the Cardinals choose to handle opposing hitters.

It's not like the Brewers are showing anyone up when they untuck their shirts after a win. It's not like they are rubbing it in somebody's face. It's their way of celebrating a win and marking the end of a day's work.

Really, it's not much more than that. It's a team-first celebration by one of the closest groups you'll find anywhere in baseball. Leave it to a curmudgeon like Tony LaRussa to find fault and then sick his minions on everyone. Perhaps the Genius should worry more about his sparking 1-9 record in the last ten games against Milwaukee at Busch Stadium.