MILWAUKEE — They did the Wave at Miller Park the other night with the Brewers trailing by four runs late in the game.
Either that or everyone in the place was trying to track down the beer man. It’s hard to tell here sometimes.
Give Brewers fans this: Through thick and thin — mostly thin — they always have fun. And they’re not alone. The guys on the field are rolling out the barrel too.
The Brewers are attempting to defy history by securing the franchise’s second playoff berth since 1982. So what were the players, in the face of all that pressure, doing in the clubhouse before last week’s game against the Rockies?
Watching “Dumb & Dumber,” where the powder blue and orange tuxedos rank just below 275-pound first baseman Prince Fielder squeezing into his uniform on life’s list of wardrobe malfunctions. Figures. For all the drama the Brewers’ season has produced, it’s been part comedy too.
“It’s been a whole bunch of fun,” second baseman Rickie Weeks said. “When you win, it’s contagious. We’ve got guys who keep everyone level-headed, but we’re also lightheaded.”
“Quite honestly, we’re a little different from a lot of teams I’ve been on,” said utility infielder Craig Counsell, the last of the Rockies’ original 1992 draft picks still playing. “I don’t think we take ourselves too seriously. We play pretty hard, but we let stuff go pretty fast. It may not always look conventional, but it works for us.”
Unconventional. Yeah, that will work. These Brewers are unconventional, not to mention goofy. From the on-field celebrations to the virtual rubber walls of the clubhouse.
Take Fielder’s bowling-pin home run celebration. It may fly in the face of baseball decorum, but it’s pure YouTube fun. Oh, and what other team has a scruffy 6-foot-6 power hitter in the leadoff spot, or a former hockey player in center field who likes to go by his alter ego, Tony Plush, rather than his real name, Nyjer Morgan?
Then there’s left fielder and likely National League MVP Ryan Braun. He recently turned a would-be inside-the-park home run into an easy out by nosediving as he rounded third base. So what awaited him the next day? A faux police outline of a dead body on the spot where his crash landing earned him a 10 from the belly-laughing judges in the dugout.
“We have a lot of different personalities, but we all seem to mesh well,” Fielder said. “We like to have fun for the most part. Unfortunately, in baseball, people have their opinions about what fun should be. People are going to judge you, and that stinks, but nobody can tell us anything because we play the game the right way.
“If we weren’t running out groundballs and not hustling, I’d understand, but we don’t do that. We play hard.”
Fun but focused
Braun is the Brewers’ version of Troy Tulowitzki, having signed a five-year, $105 million contract extension in April that commits him to the team at least through 2020. The face of the Brewers’ franchise has spent the season smiling, and for one reason.
“We’re winning,” Braun said. “People are like: ‘Look at these guys. They’re having so much fun.’ If we weren’t winning, we wouldn’t be having fun. Those things go hand in hand. When you win, you have fun, and when you’re having fun, you look forward to going to work every day.”
Like his teammates, Braun watched with anticipation to see how general manager Doug Melvin would react to last year’s bitterly disappointing 77-85 season. Melvin has a track record of being aggressive, having traded for CC Sabathia to fortify the Brewers’ 2008 playoff run. But no one knew how Melvin would react given the virtual inevitability of losing Fielder to free agency after this season.
There were two ways for Melvin to go: Trade Fielder for prospects and retool, or go for it. His decision? He not only retained Fielder, he traded for 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke, he of the 10-0 record at Miller Park, and solid midrotation starter Shaun Marcum.
Before any of those moves, Melvin fired manager Ken Macha, whose presence had worn thin with some players, and replaced him with Angels bench coach Ron Roenicke, a former journeyman outfielder who had never managed in The Show. Then, with the bullpen showing signs of wear at the all-star break, Melvin dealt for Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez and made him the setup man.
“There are people who said Prince wouldn’t be here this year,” Melvin said. “I’ve been surprised in this game a lot. I might have even surprised myself that he’s back this year, but I wasn’t a guy out there shopping him. I thought we had a chance to be a really good team with him here.”
Once the other dominos fell and Greinke and Marcum had bolstered a pitching staff that finished 14th in the league with a 4.58 ERA, the Brewers looked like legitimate contenders on paper. Question was, how would they wear the role?
Team handles adversity
Maybe the Rockies can learn a lesson from the Brewers. While Tulowitzki and his teammates have fallen short in the face of heightened expectations, Braun & Co. have owned the NL Central despite a number of significant setbacks, including injuries to Greinke, Weeks, leadoff hitter Corey Hart and reliever Takashi Saito.
They’ve caught some breaks. They have used six starting pitchers compared with 13 for the Rockies, and their 88-63 record includes a 65-31 mark against teams currently with losing records, including 31-9 against the Astros, Cubs and Pirates. But more than anything, the Brewers have shown a lot of grit to go along with all those grins.
“We’ve dealt with a lot of adversity, and that’s the mark of a good team,” Braun said. “All teams deal with adversity. It’s how you respond that dictates how successful you are. A lot of times, expectations can be burdens. But for us, we embraced them.
“We really expected to have an opportunity to have a special team. It’s about going out there day in and day out and doing it. It’s not about what’s on paper. And up to this point, we’ve done it.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
Brew master
Brewers general manager Doug Melvin has made several moves since last season that have helped put the team on the verge of winning the National League Central. A look at five key transactions:
Hiring Ron Roenicke
The former Angels bench coach joined Bud Black and Joe Maddon as former Mike Scioscia assistants who have found success in their first full-time managerial jobs. Roenicke’s pitching coach, Rick Kranitz, has been a better fit in Milwaukee than his predecessor, Rick Peterson.
Retaining Prince Fielder
Melvin’s decision to defy conventional small-market wisdom and not trade Fielder before free agency has left the Fielder-Ryan Braun tandem intact. They form arguably the game’s best 1-2 punch in the middle of the Milwaukee lineup.
Trading for Zack Greinke
Greinke was in a difficult mental place after breaking a rib in a pickup basketball game before spring training. But support from his new teammates helped the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner rebound to put together a solid season, including a 10-0 record at Miller Park.
Trading for Nyjer Morgan
What, you think destiny isn’t on the Brewers’ side? Melvin dealt for Morgan in late March only because Corey Hart was going to miss some time with an injury. Morgan, viewed as a problem child in some circles, has energized the lineup with a .306 batting average and has been a hit in a fun-loving clubhouse.
Trading for K-Rod
No, the Brewers aren’t likely to beat the Phillies if they meet in the playoffs, but you have to like their chances anytime they are leading after seven innings. Melvin shortened the game by acquiring Francisco Rodriguez to set up closer John Axford. Like the Morgan trade, the deal virtually fell into Melvin’s lap. He talked to the Mets during the all-star break, and 12 hours later the trade was done.
