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Brewers 2011 Season Postmortem and the Five Stages of Grief

Monday October 17, 2011 Posted 7 months ago by Mitchell K

            Ever since the top of the first inning of Sunday night’s NLCS Game 6 ended, I have been going through the five stages of grief. After the bottom of the second, with the Brewers down 5-4, I did have a temporary lapse in the progression but the good ol’ Cardinals came back with four runs in the top of the third to really put it away. By the end of the seventh inning I thought I had gone through the final stage – acceptance – only to start the entire cycle again after the game ended and St Louis stormed out of the dugout to celebrate winning the National League pennant. When I woke up this morning and flipped on ESPN, the very first thing I saw was the devil – and by “the devil” I mean Tony LaRussa – getting doused with champagne… and the cycle started again.

            Denial – How could this have happened? We had homefield advantage against a team that we know better than anyone else, AND their ace didn’t start for the first two games. This series was tailor-made for us to win.

            Anger – Why, why, why, why, why did Marcum get the start in Game 6? That guy better not show his face in Wisconsin again, at least not when I’m around! Why did the Phillies have to lose in the first round? I would’ve definitely preferred to lose to them in the NLCS! Then we’d be in the same place as we are now… except for, you know, the AGONY OF LOSING TO THE CARDINALS!

            Bargaining – God, please strike Albert Pujols, David Freese, and Tony LaRussa with lightning. Also, have the Brewers make a mid-game trade for CC Sabathia and get a coupon for 7 free runs. I will donate my entire next paycheck to the church if you can get that done. Wait, that won't be close to enough. I'll donate my next TWO paychecks!

            Depression – Here’s to another thirty years of futility! This was the year to get it done. This was the last year that we’ll have the combo of Braun and Fielder to strike fear into any opposing pitcher. The Brewers will never get to this level of success again!

            Acceptance – Okay, this was the best season I have ever witnessed by any Brewers team. I have never seen anything like it and I appreciate the season for what it is worth. This season was not a failure by any stretch of the imagination. I’m thankful for what Prince Fielder gave the organization, and I wish him the best on his next team unless that team is in the NL Central. The Cardinals played a better series and deserved to advance. I couldn’t have possibly expected this kind of excitement, and this is something that I’ll always cherish and remember.

            And there ends my entire cycle of grief, although I seem to be stuck going back and forth between the depression and acceptance stages still, with a little bit of anger towards Marcum still rearing it’s head. I don’t think the cycle will be 100% complete until the Rangers win the World Series or the sports news world stops talking about the Cardinals winning it all. Until the Redbirds are eliminated from the postseason or from the news cycle of ESPN, there will always be a little bit of the five stages sneaking back into the forefront of my mind.

The Brewers offseason should be interesting. They’ll be taking part in the sweepstakes for Prince, but they probably won’t win unless he takes a hometown discount. I anticipate them picking up another pitcher, maybe two, and a shortstop/third baseman/first baseman depending on who is available and how much money they’ve got to spend without signing Fielder. We can now, or soon, turn our eyes to the start of the 2012 season and the rematch with the Cardinals on Opening Day. It’s going to be hard to top the excitement of this season and even though it’s over, at least we all got to experience it.