Update time!

Perhaps I should update this blog with less frequency. It seems like the less I post, the more they win. Right now the Brewers are on quite the tear.

The Crew has won 13 of 14 and currently hold a 5.0 game lead in the division. Yes, there is a lot of baseball left to be played, but that is not stopping me from having a pleasure overload. The starting rotation is on a roll, their bullpen is a effective as any in franchise history, and even Yuniesky Betancourt is contributing on offense. Things are looking very, very good. What will be of interest to me is how they handle success.

The Brewers held a 5.5 game lead on the wild card spot going into September of 2008. The Brewers collapsed to the point that Ned Yost was fired with twelve games left in the season. While baseball is a game of ups and downs, hot streaks and cold streaks, this and that, I think it's pretty clear that Ned Yost was the source of the collapse.

Ned Yost, while great at building a winning team, came across as a ball of stress. This was apparent during post-game press conferences and by simply looking at him in the dugout during close games in September. Based on what I've seen this season, Ron Roenicke is the ying to Ned Yost's yang. Roenicke never seems to let the pressure of managing an MLB team show, and considering that he was with the Angels from 2000-2010 (including their 2002 Championship season), I'm inclined to believe that he knows how to handle a pennant race.

There have been moments this season when Roenicke has made some questionable tactical decisions, and for the sake of argument I'll assume that he is the worst tactician in the majors. Even so, you'll win a lot of games as a manager if you keep your players relaxed and motivated. Yost was good with the latter but horrible with the former. Roenicke is good with both (though I reserve the right to change my opinion at a later date) and considering this is a season where the Brewers are all-in, I have to commend Doug Melvin and Mark Attinasio for hiring him.