You would logically assume that after losing a heartbreaking game by a walk off home run in a game where they put five runs on the board in the top of the first inning, that the Milwaukee Brewers would fold like one of those cheap card tables your kids sit at during Thanksgiving dinner.  And, you would be wrong.

Yesterday, at Wrigley Field, the Brewers served notice that they do not intend to fold nor do they intend to go quietly.  The Brewers made absolutely sure that they would not repeat the errors of their ways on Friday, putting up four in the first, three in the second and two in the third. Rookie third baseman Ryan Braun led the attack going four for five with four RBIs, a double and a Home run.

For those that do not follow the Brewers on a regular basis, the names are probably unfamiliar to you.  But while you've been folliwing the Cubs or the Cards or whomever, Doug Melvin and Gord Ash have been stockpiling young players in Milwaukee.  Last year there were some (not me but some) who thought the Brewers could compete, but they were still a year away.  But by letting the kids play and getting it out of their system last year, plus making a shrewd trade involving Carlos Lee, the Brewers began to prepare themselves for a division winning run this season.

Look around the Brewers when they are on the field and you will find at least six, possibly seven and perhaps even eight, depending on who is pitching, starters who were raised in the Brewers farm system.  The entire infield.  Jeff Jenkins (although he's been around forever), Billy Hall, Corey Hart and any one of a number of pitchers including Ben Sheets.

Improved health, confidence and the immediate impact of Braun as a rookie have made this the first time since the 90's that the Brewers may finish above .500 and the first time since '82 that they may win something other than a high draft pick. 

Being in a small market (the kind that the networks hate because they don't generate enough ratings nationally) the Brewers have been written off by the national media as a team that will fade; a team that won't be able to bar the door once the Cubs, Cardinals and Astros right their ships; a team inexperienced with the pressures of late season baseball; a team in a division so weak the Arizona State softball team could win it  etc.   People say these things most likely because they haven't this team play or know the character that wells with in it.

And a final thought: There are some who have mercilessly ripped Brewers manager Ned Yost.  They have deluded themselves into believing that somehow Yost is an idiot, that the growing pains of the last four years would have been lessened with someone else in the dugout.   But the fact is, Yost learned his craft under Bobby Cox, and like other branches of the Bobby Cox tree (Freddi Gonzalez, Ozzie Guillen) is a good baseball man who gets it.  Yost will put himself on the national radar with this season and probably guarantee himself a lucrative extension.

With the season halfway home, the Brewers look like one of the better teams in the national league this season.  And even if they were to make the playoffs and fail, the fact that they would make the playoffs would bring and excitement and an energy that Milwaukee baseball hasn't known in decades.   That alone makes this a great story.

Lightning Round

• The White Sox win round two in the battle for the basement.  Looks they will keep fourth place beyond  this weekend after all.  Nice effort by John Danks last night.  Too bad his offense screwed him again.  Same two teams this afternoon in KC.
• Help me understand something: If you truly want to sign a player so you don't have to trade him, the assumption is that he is a valuable piece of your organization for years to come and you want to rebuild around him.  Then, why should a no-trade clause matter?  The Sox have been doing this to themselves for years, chasing away great players by being rigid.  Just give him the no trade clause and let's all move on. 
  
• After yesterday's little display, if I were Kenny Williams, I'd trade for Scott Proctor.  At least the guy has a pulse (PUN ALERT) and a little bit of fire. Better yet, can you imagine if Proctor pitched for San Diego and was caught by Michael Barrett?  He'd burn Petco Field to the ground!
• The Pirates are so inept, their fans can't even stage a protest.
• Super agent Scott Boras, who is as popular with baseball owners as Drew Rosenhaus is with football owners, has proposed a nine game world series with two games being played at neutral sites. It appears that  Boras uses those huge commissions he gets from representing players like A-Rod and Greg Maddux to support his apparent crack habit.
• If you are a minor league pitcher who gets punched out in the clubhouse by one of your teammates, do not allow your wife to file a police report cementing your reputation as a pussy.  BTW, if you begin to struggle, they will release you because organizations frown on Brenda Warner types.
• This is what makes boxing the pathetic joke it has become,: Why is Evander Holyfield still fighting?
• Anucha Browne Sanders, the former Knicks exec who is suing the team for sexual harassment claims that a member of her staff slept with player Stephon Marbury because she was afraid to say no because of who Marbury was.  Funny, I thought it was the woman's right to say "no".  Being afraid to say no is a character issue, not an organizational problem.
• A woman has been arrested following a road rage incident, which involved the woman hurling her DQ Blizzard at vehicle that cut her off. 
  
• The rich are getting richer in America while everyone else is staying the same.  I love the conservatives argument that the rich need to get richer to invest to help the poor.  Nah, don't think so.
• To show you what a loser Newt Gingrich is, the former speaker probably won't enter the Republican presidential race until he sees if Fred Thompson's campaign takes off or not.  Do you really want to support a candidate who will just sit around and wait because he is afraid of competition.  The fact is, Gingrich has no shot anyway, and if he were smart, he'd make a deal with Thompson and consider either a VP slot should Thompson get the nomination or a high cabinet post should Thompson get elected.
• Bill Clinton is now doing what all the good political wives do, stumping for his partner.  Something tells me that he'll be a lot more effective that Elizabeth Edwards or Michelle Obama.
• A former army PR officer confesses on his deathbed that ET visited our planet in 1947.  He just wasn't a very good driver.
• In the dictionary, next to the word "nutjob", you'll find Steve Horner's picture.
• Texas couples getting married must attend an eight hour marriage course or pay double for a marriage license.  Some things I think: A marriage certificate is BS, it's just a way for the state to tax something they know is inevitable.  With that in mind, who the hell is the state of Texas to want to teach me how I should comport myself during my marriage by mandating that I attend their class spouting their view?  If I am a Hindu or a Moslem and there is a different role for a woman in my society, is the state of Texas going to include that in their class or are they going to tell me that my way is wrong?  How much fundamental Christianity will I have to put up with in this class?  Governments need to build roads and defend borders,  not be Dr. Phil.
• It's one thing to finally begin building a fence to secure our border.  It is clearly another to waste taxpayer money by building it on the wrong side of the border.  That makes the Canadians laugh at us.
• In Toronto, they are considering a tax on people standing on the sidewalk waiting to get into a night club.  What's next, fellas?  A tax for people in a drive through waiting to get a hamburger.  No way you could do that in this country.
• Would you wait in 115 degree heat for hours just to win Chick Fillet for a year?  I wouldn't wait in 115 degree heat for hours to win anything for a year.
• The ATM is now in it's 40th year of dispensing the wrong amounts, eating your card and charging your bank account a $2.00 service fee.  Happy birthday!
• The famous Copa, Copacabana, the hottest spot north of Havana, is closing to make room for a subway.
• Jay Leno does a fabulous takeoff on Larry King's interview with Paris Hilton: