My Favorite Baseball Team, the Milwaukee Brewers, Are on the Brink of Elimination
Folks, I’m still in a holding pattern with regard to my housing situation, but I can at least write about my favorite baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers, even if it’s not what I had hoped to write.
“What are you talking about, Barb?” you might be asking.
The Brewers are in the National League Championship Series (NLCS for short) against the “best team money can buy,” the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers have a huge payroll that’s almost four times as much as what the Brewers can afford (Milwaukee is the smallest “market” in major league baseball, though if you add in the entirety of the state of Wisconsin, it’s comparable to a few others even if nowhere near the Dodgers), and in particular, their pitchers are very highly paid because they’re all proven winners.
That being said, you still have to perform. You have to do what got you here, or you’ll lose. That’s true for any team at any time, regardless of how much (or little) they’re getting paid.
So, the Brewers had the best overall record in MLB this past year. They beat the Dodgers six times and lost none. That had Brewers fans optimistic that this may finally be the year the Brewers go back to the World Series (the team hasn’t been there since 1982; I was very young then but still a huge fan and did attend a World Series game), even though the playoffs can be a “whole different animal.”
But it appears our optimism was misplaced. The Dodgers have steamrolled over the Brewers, and with the exception of game one (where the Brewers had loaded the bases in the ninth inning, only not to score the tying run), they have dominated every game they’ve been in.
Bluntly, the Dodgers have looked like the champions they are and have been for many years. The Brewers batters have looked more like chumps than champs, though most of the pitchers have been excellent and have done exactly what they’ve needed to do to give the slumping Brewers hitters a chance to tie or win the games.
I hate to write words like that, mind you. These guys try hard, and I know no professional athlete wants to end their season in a huge slump. No one wants to have a season that started with “Win one for Ueck!” (Bob Uecker, our longtime radio announcer, also a comedian and TV actor, passed away at the beginning of 2025) end in such ignominity.
But the facts don’t lie.
Now, if I were a sports psychologist, I’d tell the Brewers hitters one thing, and the Brewers pitchers another, but it would amount to the same thing. “Control what you can control” is the overall message, but I’d say to the pitchers that they did everything they could and controlled what they definitely could control. But the pitchers can’t bat for the hitters (with the exception of someone like Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers superstar, pitchers no longer bat), and they can’t control those at-bats or what the hitters do whatsoever. I’d tell the hitters that all they can control is how they approach the at-bat. (Some of the players have had long at-bats that have helped to tire the pitcher out over time, and those are considered successful at-bats or at least not failures even if they don’t result in a hit or walk.) Are they going up there confident in their abilities, confident in what they’ve shown all year long? Or are they going up there expecting to be beaten? (The latter is almost impossible for a professional athlete, mind. You don’t go into that field if you are that defeatist because the odds are very long to get to “the show,” as MLB is called, at all.)
See, if you put it that way, the athlete knows he’s doing his best. (No women, not even female umps, yet in MLB, though there are some female executives and coaches.) He can focus on the process of hitting, rather than dwell on the outcomes they’ve seen. Every day is a new day, and providing you’ve maximized your odds and done what you can to play your best, you have nothing to apologize for.
Anyway, the fact is that the Brewers must now win four games in a row against a Dodgers team that suddenly seems like the best team ever (AKA the 1927 New York Yankees, which featured both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, among other superstars). This seems like too big of a bridge to cross, at least from what I’ve seen out of the Brewers in this series. Yet, I still have hope that the Brewers can win at least one game, so their fans won’t feel awful, and so they, themselves, won’t feel awful.
Last year, I said to my friends and family that I felt the wrong team went on in the playoffs when the New York Mets won against the Brewers (a last-ditch homer by Pete Alonso, the slugging first baseman of the Mets, was the killing blow). This time, I can’t say that, because the Brewers have simply not been on the same level as the Dodgers during this series.
I will note, for the record, that there have been two teams in the 2000s that have forced a Game 7 after starting a seven-game series down three games to none. Those teams were the 2004 Boston Red Sox, who won Game 7 and advanced to the World Series, and the 2020 Houston Astros, who battled back from that three-game deficit but lost in the decisive Game 7. I will also note for the record that my favorite ever team, the 1982 Brewers, were down two games to none against the then-California Angels in a five-game series and won the final three games to advance to the World Series that year. (The Brewers lost. But they played hard and well and the city of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin celebrated them then and continues to appreciate them now. They were the equivalent of this year’s “Average Joes” in having a blue-collar, anything for the team outlook.)
So, it is theoretically possible that the Brewers can still win a game or two and make things feel less awful for themselves and their fans. It’s even theoretically possible that they can still advance to the World Series…but if they’re going to do that, they need to win later today. And as big of a fan as I am, I can’t be sure of that.
Still. The Brewers should focus on winning game 4. Do that, and then you can focus on winning game 5.
I hope they can do that. I’d feel a whole lot better about things if they did, even if they still lose this series and even if the Dodgers still advance to the World Series.
My reasoning for that is simple. The rallying cry “Win it for Ueck!” won’t work next year. So if they really do want to win it for Bob Uecker, the time is now.
No Housing News Yet…But Milwaukee Brewers Continuing to Thrive
Folks, I knew I owed you all some sort of update regarding my housing situation. I wish I had a better one. I’m still looking for a place and remain on quite a few waiting lists. I am moving up on those lists, but not quickly enough.
I’m still staying with a relative. This is not an easy situation for either one of us. I appreciate the help, though I wish I didn’t need it, and every day is a struggle.
One of the few bright spots I’ve had to consider has been the overall play of the 2025 version of the Milwaukee Brewers. Last year, in the MLB playoffs, the Brewers were eliminated in the first round at the very last minute by the New York Mets (a late homer by Pete Alonso, a slugging first baseman/superstar, off our star closer, Devin Williams, was what caused the Brewers to be eliminated). So this year, in order to have a better playoff chance, the team set a new record for wins with 97 and had the best overall record in the entirety of MLB. This guaranteed the Brewers would have more home games than road games in the playoffs, and also guaranteed a first-round bye so the team could heal up a little.
What’s been so outstanding about the play of the 2025 Brewers is how everyone called to help has stepped up. There was an outfielder called up during the summer, Steward Berroa, who made a great highlight-reel catch in centerfield to save one game, and he was only up a few days with the Brewers. Other standouts were the pitching of Chad Patrick, shuttling back and forth from Triple-A to the big-league club, the pitching of Logan Henderson (who showed without a doubt that he’s a big-leaguer, but was not able to stick in the bigs due to too many people ahead of him at the position), the fact that good players like Blake Perkins and Robert Gasser were able to heal from injuries and come back to contribute…no matter what, the Brewers found a way to win.
And they even turned one odd situation into an advantage, in that pitcher Aaron Civale did not want to be a reliever even on a team that could well win the World Series. He felt he would not make enough money next year if he became a reliever, so the Brewers had to find a trade partner in a hurry. They did. The Chicago White Sox had a struggling first baseman named Andrew Vaughn, who they’d sent to Triple-A over his lack of productivity at the plate. The Brewers swapped Civale for Vaughn, and that was one of the turning points for the Brewers as Vaughn (after an injury to starting first baseman Rhys Hoskins) stepped up in a big way for the Brewers and became not just a star with the team, but a fan favorite.
There’s no quit in the 2025 Brewers. They just keep going. They’re relentless. Their manager, Pat Murphy, has described them as “woodpeckers,” which seems accurate as they just keep pecking away. They are a resilient and determined team, they get along well with each other (always a plus), and they’ve just found a way to keep getting better all season long.
Right now, they are preparing for Game 4 against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago. The Brewers lead this series, two games to one. (The Brew Crew lost last night to Chicago, 4-3.) And they’ll have their very best starting pitcher, their ace, Freddy Peralta, pitching tonight.
No major reporter for MLB picked the Brewers to be as good as they turned out to be. (Most had the Brewers finishing in fourth place, and not even winning more games than they lost. They were quite wrong.) Even now, the Brewers are not expected to beat teams they handily beat all season long if they continue in the playoffs (I’m looking squarely at you, Los Angeles Dodgers), and they’re certainly not expected by the major media outlets to be the National League’s entrant in the World Series.
I hope they will be, though. I like this team a lot. It reminds me of my favorite-ever team, the 1982 Brewers (then in the American League), which was another team that just did not quit and kept going no matter what. The ’82 team is the only one that has ever reached the World Series, and it did not win (though it did take seven games to eliminate the Brewers and end their season without the WS win). It’s about time a new Brewers team gets a chance to win a World Series…and the 2025 team is in an excellent position to do just that, providing they can get by the Cubs and whoever else they might have to play in the next round (the NL Championship Series, or NLCS) — right now, it would appear that team is likely to be the Dodgers, but it could still be the Phillies if the Phillies scramble and are able to win three games in a row (they won one game last night; two to go).
This team, like the ’82 Brewers, gives me hope that if you try hard enough, and you maximize your talents, and if you get some lucky breaks, you can still do very well for yourself. (The Brewers had a fourteen-game winning streak after an eleven-game winning streak earlier, and an eight-game winning streak as well. To win fourteen games in a row meant there were some good breaks happening; that’s when the phrases “Uecker Magic” to commemorate late baseball announcer and friend of the Brewers team Bob Uecker, and “Brewers Magic/Milwaukee Magic” were coined.) Mind you, that doesn’t mean you can take your eye off the ball. You have to keep doing your best, even when it seems hopeless, even when it seems like there’s no way you can win…you can only lose if you give up inside your head, and I refuse to do that.
So, I will cheer on my Brewers tonight as they take on the Cubs in Chicago. I’ll also keep trying to find a good place to live, one that I can afford, that has heat in the winter and air in the summer, in order to improve my overall physical health and give me the best chance to write, edit, and compose music.
Moved Out of Dad’s House…But No Apartment Yet
The last week was very hectic, and not in a good way. I said goodbye to my father’s home, the place I was raised along with my sibs; that was not fun, not pleasant, and was quite frustrating, besides.
I did have some help to get out of Dad’s house, mind. My good friend Lika and her husband and son helped me greatly. (Note that all four of us have significant physical limitations, but we did our best to work around them.) My sister and niece helped the day before the move-out, doing their best to consolidate and remove clutter (along with getting all of my clothes into one place; that’s a handy thing, and I appreciated it). Lika was able to find several things in my bedroom that had eluded me for months, for which I thanked her profusely.
But leaving was still tough.
See, the first thing I had to do the day of the move (which was last Sunday, BTW) was to rent a U-haul truck. I had no trouble renting it, but a great deal of trouble actually getting up into the truck (as it was not a low-rise type of truck, anyone who attempts to get in there has to have better knees than I do). At first, I didn’t know what I was going to do. Then my friend Lika came to the rescue, and she drove the truck (which was fine with the U-haul people) while I drove her car back to Dad’s house.
So, one obstacle down. A whole bunch to go…
At any rate, we loaded the U-haul with as much stuff as we could find. Some stuff still got left, including many of my books and some of my sheet music (probably most of it, but as it had mildewed in the basement over the years, it would’ve had to be thrown out anyway). But as far as I know, I got out all of the music I’ve written over the past twenty-plus years, all of my clothes, and at least some household things like chairs and my bed.
We took it to the storage place I’d picked out, and unloaded it. (Actually, I mostly watched Lika and her family do this. They knew I was struggling mightily by that time.) Then we went out to eat at George Webb’s (as they’re open 24 hours), and they went home as it had been a very, very long day.
I couldn’t get everything, though. Food was left behind (mostly canned food and yogurt). There was just no room for it in my car. In addition, all the pots and pans were left, as were silverware, plates, cups…I did manage to get out the microwave, the mini-fridge, the slow-cooker, and the blender.
Because I was quite tired, too, it took me seven hours to find nooks and crannies in my car in order to take as much stuff as I could. (Lika had already taken my musical instruments with my permission, as I felt they were safer with her than with me under the circumstances.) I had a few panic attacks, and at least one of them was so bad, I thought at first I was having a true, honest-to-Goddess heart attack.
Eventually, I left Dad’s house, after saying my final goodbyes, and wishing it well during the renovation phase. It was a good house for my family, and I will miss it.
Then I had to deal with the next obstacle, which was driving a fully-loaded car on a very sunny day. I’m not normally driving at that hour, much less with so much stuff in the car. It was a struggle to keep going, as I was so tired, I had to repeat like a mantra, “Stay in your lane. Hold your lane. Hold your speed,” over and over.
I’ve never done that before and hope to never have to do it again. But concentrating on that worked, and I drove safely without issues. (Score one for the good guys. Or the good girl. Or whatever.)
But as the title says, I have yet to find a new place to live. I am on quite a few waiting lists, and I have hopes one of them will have room soon.
For now, though, I’m staying with family. This is not a long-term solution, but it gives me time to rest and recuperate. I need that time, as moving took a great deal out of me.
This reminds me of something Michael, my late husband, said. After we’d moved into our new apartment in Iowa, which was hard on both of us as both of us walked with canes (we had no help), he said that he could not face another move. He just did not feel like he was up to it. He was right, though in this case, I think he’d have rather been wrong as him “not moving again” happened because his body gave out.
This might’ve been why I had the bad panic attacks. It also might’ve been why I wondered, again, how I’ve made it almost twenty-one years without the love of my life, and thought such self-defeating things as, “Your music won’t matter. Goodness alone knows, your books certainly haven’t sold much. Maybe you’re fated to live in obscurity the rest of your life.”
All of that may be true, though I hope it isn’t. Still, I have to do what I believe is right. I’m doing that.
And if my works never matter to the world as a whole, I just have to remind myself that out of all the creative sorts who’ve ever lived, we only know a fraction of their names, much less what they did. That does not make what they did bad, wrong, or insignificant.
Anyway, the move was stressful, difficult, painful (you don’t want to know how much I hurt after all that), and frustrating. But I’d like to think something good can come from it, somehow…even if I don’t yet know what that “something good” will be.
Housing Search Continues
Folks, I know I’ve been a bad correspondent lately. But there’s a reason for that.
As I said a few months ago, I knew that my father’s house would be sold soon. As I’d stayed at this house for several years before he passed and continued after, it’s a big change to be looking for a new apartment. Mostly, it’s a welcome thing, because if I’ve proven one thing in the last two years since Dad died, I am not capable of taking care of lawn maintenance or snow shoveling or weeding or any of that.
Mind you, if I didn’t need a cane to walk with, and if I were more flexible, I possibly could’ve done some weeding or something with flowerbeds or whatnot. But shoveling snow, using a snow blower…just out. And using a lawn mower, or shears to cut back hedges…that’s a non-starter, too.
I have had great neighbors, here at Dad’s house. They have consistently bailed me out by shoveling the walks and the driveway, mowing the grass, cutting back the weeds…really, these are kind people, and I will miss them when I’m out of Dad’s house (as I will be in a few weeks).
Now, as I hadn’t blogged about it yet, you may be wondering why I said “housing search continues.” That’s because I’ve been discussing it at Facebook on my personal page, trying to give updates every day or two as to what I’m doing to find a new place.
Mostly, I’ve had some help in finding apartment waitlists that I hadn’t known about, and I found out today from the housing counselor (that’s what I’m calling him as he’s been enormously helpful) that because Michael was a Navy veteran with an honorable discharge, there may be a few more places available to me as his widow.
Still, there are two songs that keep rolling through my head. The first is Three Days Grace’s “Mayday,” which has lyrics like “the more you know you know you know nothing” (yes, they repeat “you know” three times in a row) and “it’s hard to keep fighting, when you’re barely surviving.” (The reason it’s called Mayday is because the group is talking about people who are in extremis that feel like everything they’re doing makes no sense. Yet they keep doing it, even if they “walk like dead people who haven’t died yet,” and even if they’re “going down, but not today. We’ll never say Mayday!”) The second is from the Architects and is called “Everything Ends.” (I think that is enough explanation for one day.)
The thing is, while everything does end, we often have to end something in order to begin something else. Many times, we have to get through a whole lot of stuff that makes us want to yell “Mayday!” and get help before we can get to anything good. And sometimes, it’s hard to remember there are good things out there still waiting, or good people also, because so much has happened that you can barely take it in.
I miss my Dad a lot, more than I’d expected (and I had expected to miss him greatly, so that says something). But to honor Dad’s memory, I have to try to get through this move — one of the seven great stressors even for a healthy, fully ambulatory person (sans cane) — and hope I do find the right place for me to settle in for a while.
Then, I can get back to writing more, editing more, and hopefully enjoying life a little more, too.
Anyway, I will try to write a blog next week or whenever I have some good news to share on the housing front. Either way, I will keep watching the Brewers (go Brewers!), doing what I can to help my Mom so long as my body will allow it, and continue to pack stuff up as best I can.
Wish me luck with this, hey?
21st Street Culver’s, You’ve Disappointed Me for the Last Time (A Rant)
Folks, a couple of weeks ago, I went to the Culver’s restaurant (the 21st Street location in Racine, for those of you in Southeastern Wisconsin or Northern Illinois). Most of the time, Culver’s gets its orders correct, and most of the time when it doesn’t, it has tried to make it right.
Except…not this time.
I’d ordered fish, broccoli, and mashed potatoes for me, and burgers, plus another order of fish (also with broccoli and mashed potatoes) for my mother. The burgers were fine. No trouble whatsoever. But the fish was another story entirely, as were the “fixings.”
The broccoli was good. (Mom’s dog, little Brat, likes broccoli, and she enjoyed what I didn’t eat. Mind that I do like broccoli quite a bit, but two orders of it is just a bit much.) But the fish was all fat and almost no meat, and the mashed potatoes were crunchy. While there was some gravy on the potatoes, it didn’t help.
So, of the six pieces of fish, only two were of decent quality. One was of marginal quality. The other three were all fat, and by the time I got to my Mom’s, the restaurant had already closed so there was no point in calling them.
I was ill for a few days, so I had to wait to call them until nearly three days after I’d had this bad experience.
Now, here’s where my rant comes in. (You’ll understand why in a bit.)
If someone complains to you that the food was not right, and that the potatoes in particular were crunchy (not what you’re supposed to have with mashed potatoes), you shouldn’t be told, “You waited too long to let us know.”
But that’s what I was told.
In addition to the “you waited too long” comment, my experience and that of my mother was downgraded to “it must not have been that bad because you didn’t tell us right away,” and my asking them to please make sure other customers did not get crunchy mashed potatoes and/or fish that was all fat and no meat didn’t go anywhere. Something was wrong with the food preparation there, and I said so.
My concerns were not treated well. The manager I spoke to by phone was obviously young, but that’s no excuse. I had the feeling throughout my call that the manager thought I was a crackpot. (Or looney tunes. Or crazy. Pick your poison.) I didn’t like that. At all.
No customer deserves to be treated the way I was. It’s just not right.
Anyway, back to the phone call. I tried one more time, explaining to this same guy that I often went to this particular Culver’s because the burgers are great. I stopped there several times a month, and occasionally more than once a week. Mostly the food was good. But that doesn’t mean I should just shut up when the food is terrible, and I wasn’t about to do that.
There was no resolution to my call. The manager basically blew me off.
Then, I wrote to Culver’s using their email submission form. But I heard nothing, absolutely nothing, back from them, either. And that just made me madder.
Do these people think I have all day to sit around writing emails and calling them about bad food and poor service from the manager after a complaint? Do they honestly believe I’d just make this crap up? When I’d been a regular customer for years?
So that’s where I’m at. I do not like being condescended to, and I really don’t like my observations being thrown out the window because “it’s three days too late.”
Since this Culver’s did not do anything to make this right, my only recourse is to not go there anymore. And furthermore, I wrote this blog to let others know in this area that they might want to avoid this Culver’s, as the management staff obviously doesn’t care at all what happens to their customers.
There are two other Culver’s restaurants in Racine County that I’m aware of, and if I really need to go there (or my Mom wants her favorite burgers again), I’ll be going to one of those two and leaving the 21st Street location alone. I’ve never had bad experiences at either one of those and am at least willing to give them a chance.
But 21st Street? Nope. Never again.
The upshot here is, the 21st Street Culver’s should’ve known better than this. No matter when someone complains, it’s likely they had a real problem if they still remember it three days later. (I wish I’d have taken photos of the crunchy potatoes. I didn’t think of it at the time. I’m not sure the fish would’ve been able to be seen, but those potatoes…yikes.) Especially when someone like me, who often stops there and has for years, complains about something odd like this, they should not be condescended to, and they definitely should not be treated as if they don’t matter.
I have no idea what happened to my comments at the email submission form. But at this point, I don’t care. I’m really upset with this Culver’s location, and I do not plan to go back there ever again.
Take this as a public service, folks. If you live in this area, avoid that Culver’s. They don’t know how to treat customers. And the food will likely not be up to par.
Damian Lillard Deserved Better from the Milwaukee Bucks
Folks, as I’ve said in a few comments elsewhere on the internet, I have rarely been as disappointed in the Milwaukee Bucks as I am right now.
Why? Well, they waived star point guard Damian Lillard in order to use an esoteric “stretch” provision in the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the NBA Players Association. This allowed them to divide the two years of Lillard’s salary over the next five years’ worth of time.
That would not have been my choice, ever.
I don’t care what financial obstacles the Bucks had in trying to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo around another few years. The fact is, Lillard did everything asked of him in the last two years, including coming back from having a blood clot in his calf as quickly as he possibly could (something that often takes players completely out of a season even if Game 1 of the new season has just been played). Lillard had this happen approximately 2/3 of the way through the season. He was back before the playoffs started, which is a credit to not only his toughness and team spirit, but his overall physical fitness.
Lillard was praised by former Bucks center Brook Lopez due to Lillard’s unselfish play, too, earlier this year (long before the blood clot issue). Coming to the Bucks, Lillard had always been the number one option. He’d have to change his game to a degree in order to work with Giannis.
Lillard did that, which is almost unheard of from a man of his caliber in the NBA.
Look. Lillard will be in the Basketball Hall of Fame someday. He’d be in there right now if he had for some reason decided to retire. We were lucky to have him for two full years in Milwaukee, as he was and remains a classy individual who works hard and is a family man. He was never all about himself. He was always about the team. He also worked hard on his defense, to the point that he made several excellent defensive stops during the season — something no one would’ve believed (except maybe Lillard himself) before they happened.
In my opinion, no one in the NBA should treat someone the way Lillard was treated in being waived. He wasn’t told by the Bucks front office as far as I know. (I’m no insider, of course.) He wasn’t clued in by Giannis, who probably had to know about all this nonsense (as part of the reason for Lillard being waived was to get a younger center for the Bucks, and the Bucks couldn’t do that unless some of Lillard’s salary was deferred). The Bucks didn’t go to the NBA as far as I know and say, “You know, we might have to waive Lillard, which will make us look terrible, like ingrates, like cheapskates, in order to sign someone else.” (Yes, they did go to the NBA and request “salary relief” from them, which was not granted. But did they really put it all on the line the way I just did? If so, shame on you, NBA!)
Lillard should’ve at minimum been told by the Bucks front office that he was about to be waived. In addition, because Giannis is known around Milwaukee and Wisconsin for being a good person, Giannis should’ve contacted Lillard and told him he wished him well and that this should not have been the end of Lillard’s career with the Bucks.
For Lillard to come back from the blood clot issue, only to have an Achilles tendon tear in the playoffs, was exceptionally difficult to watch as a Bucks fan (and probably even worse as a Bucks player). To see someone play with such heart get waived all because of money really ticks me off.
I hope Lillard knows that at least some of the Bucks fans out there are not happy with this move. (Not that we can do much about it, but still.)
I also hope that Lillard will, when he is healthy, come back with whatever new team he signs with, and scores fifty-plus points against the Bucks. (And I have never said that before, except in one comment I made a few minutes ago prompting this blog, ever, as I am a Bucks fan.)
In short: Damian Lillard is a good person, did his absolute best for the Bucks and their fans, and absolutely, positively, did not deserve this terrible treatment from the Milwaukee Bucks.
As for the Bucks GM, as for Giannis himself…if they really did not do anything to clue Lillard and/or Lillard’s agent that something like this was about to happen, I have news for them.
Karma is a mother, sometimes.
Barb Caffrey's Blog 