Back in June, after a particularly pathetic loss, I was riding home from Miller Park and listening to the post-game radio show. The first caller, in a thick Wisconsin accent, loudly proclaimed "Ned Yost has got to go," and then hung up. Today that caller, and many other Brewer fans, got their wish.
The firing comes a day after Milwaukee was swept by Philadelphia, erasing their lead in the Wild Card. Ryan Braun had this to say afterwards. Did Braun's comments have an influence on the decision?
The timing of this decision is definitely questionable. If it were up to me, I would have fired Yost after the cubs came into Miller Park and swept the Brewers. John Kruk was on ESPN radio today, and he said that some Brewers players have told him that Yost would "tighten up" during big games and big series. That's pretty bad, especially because a team full of young players will look to their manager to lead during those situations.
Yost was clearly in over his head in pressure situations, and he consistently made poor decisions (especially when it came to managing his bullpen). The Brewers should have found a manager who was experienced and had shown an ability to win in pressure situations - just think what Jim Leyland did in Detroit and Jack McKeown in Florida. Now the question becomes, what kind of impact will the firing have on the team? And what can Dale Sveum do to right this quickly sinking ship? (I've never been much of a Sveum fan, but he does have coaching experience in the postseason - and Kruk on the radio today said that he is more relaxed and might have a calming influence on the team).
It's a frustrating time to be a Brewers fan. If Milwaukee wants to make the playoffs, they will have to win more games than Philadelphia the rest of the way, and also fend off Houston. Milwaukee has a 3-game road series against Chicago, then 3 games at Cincinnati, 3 games vs. Pittsburgh, and 3 games vs. Chicago. Pretty daunting schedule. Philadelphia goes to Atlanta and Florida, and then finishes at home against Atlanta and Washington.
Speaking of the Astros, they were no-hit by the cubbies last night - at Miller Park. It's ridiculous that that series is taking place in Milwaukee. Commissioner Selig and MLB really screwed up by turning a road series for Chicago into a home series. Not to mention the fact that Houston had to travel all the way to Chicago with less than 24 hours notice. So in addition to being mentally and emotionally fatigued by the weather tragedy in Houston, the team was physically tired. Anyone who thinks what happened at Miller Park last night was "remarkable" (Steve Phillips on SportsCenter called it amazing), is foolish.
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What to do regarding off season tickets---if I am chosen for the opportunity to purchase playoff tickets, do I? At this point, I think it is only a scheme for the Brewers to take in a lot of money and collect interest. Should have gotten in on the White Sox Lottery.
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