Welcome to Saturday Scorecard. We were going to use today's forum to address whether the Brewers' loss to the Cubs Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field was the most depressing regular-season defeat in franchise history and the most deflating since Game 7 of the 1982 World Series.

But, why go there? Brewers fans already have endured a season's worth of depression in the past three weeks.

Instead, we'll draw inspiration from the various "truth squads" who are vetting presidential campaign promises and use today's discussion to debunk a few common Wisconsin sports myths. Take a look, use the Talkback feature to add your own and get out and enjoy what's left of summer.

Myth: The Brewers still have a chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

Reality: No, they don't. They're 2 games behind Philadelphia in the wild-card race with eight games left.

Myth: Hot dogs and bratwurst taste better at the ballpark.

Reality: I can make them better on my own grill. Peanuts, however, always taste better at the stadium.

Myth: Jeff Suppan is a "big-game" pitcher.

Reality: Tense is everything in that sentence Suppan posted a 3-3 record and 3.00 earned run average in nine post-season starts with St. Louis. He was the MVP of the National League Championship Series in 2006, which prompted the Brewers to offer him $42 million to pitch big games for them over four seasons.

In his biggest starts with the team, he got creamed Sunday in Philadelphia and allowed five runs in 15 pitches Friday night in Cincinnati.

The games were big; Suppan's performance was small; so small, in fact, that you wonder or the Brewers are hiding an injury.

Myth: Ben Sheets is "soft."

Reality: He may be prone to injury. He's definitely unlucky. But, anybody who insinuates that Sheets left the mound Wednesday night in Chicago because he was "afraid" of pitching in a big game is a little off base.

During recent broadcasts, FSN Wisconsin analysts Bill Schroeder and Jeff Cirillo both pointed out Sheets' dwindling velocity and lack of snap on his curveball (Cirillo said it was breaking "from 11 to 4 instead of 12 to 6").

After exiting before the third inning Wednesday, Sheets admitted that he had been feeling pain for weeks and had undergone a cortisone injection, which usually prompts pitchers to miss a start.

People who think Sheets is "soft" may hate this question, but what if the guy actually was being "heroic" by pitching through pain? Whatever his health, you'd be pressed to prove that he was intimidated by the enormity of the situation.

Consider the track record: Sheets pitched the U.S. team to victory in the gold medal game at the Sydney Olympics; He's turned in big performances as the Brewers' most prolific opening day starter; and, he pitched pretty well as the National League starter in the All-Star Game this summer at Yankee Stadium.

Consider the circumstance. Sheets is heading into free agency this winter. He's trying to earn big bucks. How smart was it for him to let potential employers know that he is facing a potentially frightening elbow problem that necessitated a cortisone shot?

Myth: Ned Yost is an idiot.

Reality: You may disagree with his lineups, strategy and utilization of the bullpen. But, Yost builds computers from scratch and you can't deny the fact that he had the Brewers 24 games over .500 for the first time since 1992. The same "idiot" who presided over the beginning of this team's ugly downward spiral was in charge during a 20-7 run in August.

Yost's record with the Brewers was 457-502, a winning percentage of .477. Atlanta's Bobby Cox, Yost's mentor and an almost certain Hall of Famer, was 464-495 (.483) in his first 959 games as a manager.

Myth: The Brewers blew a big lead in September for the second year in a row.

Reality: This year, they entered the final month with a 5 ½-game lead and puked it away. Last year, they beat the rush and blew the biggest part of the lead early. They were 8 ½ games in front of the division on June 22, when they were 42-31. They went 41-48 the rest of the way. They were ahead by a game on Sept. 11 and tied on Sept. 12. They ended up going 9-8 down the stretch and lost the division by two games.

This year, a 9-8 finish would have led to champagne showers.

 Page 1 of 2 (view all on one page)

Next >>

3 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...