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After five games played, the Milwaukee Brewers find themselves in a dangerous predicament.

Lose their next game, and it’s all over. Win their next game, and it’s down to Game 7.

Lose Game 7 and it’s all over. Win Game 7, and the Brewers will win the National League pennant for the first time ever.

Exactly 13 months ago, the Brewers were in the midst of a struggle. It wasn’t the first time the Brewers had failed to secure a winning record, and it wasn’t the first time they had missed the playoffs.

The picture of consistency, left fielder Ryan Braun, once again reached the .300 mark, hitting .304 with 25 home runs and 103 runs batted in.

Prince Fielder also hit an impressive 32 dingers but recorded his lowest RBI count since 2006, driving in 83 runs. His consistency accordingly suffered, as Fielder recorded his worst seasonal average since making it to the big leagues, hitting a measly .261.

The 2010 Brewers also experienced significant pitching woes, finishing next-to-last in team ERA.

Sensing some significant shortcomings, general manager Doug Melvin launched into a hectic offseason.

After publicly announcing to Brewers fans his intention on getting more starting pitching, Melvin traded, released and acquired like there was no tomorrow.

Out were Suppan, Bush and Davis. Legendary closer Trevor Hoffman retired. Prospect Brett Lawrie was on the trading block, as were Brewers shortstop Alcides Escobar, prospects Lorenzo Cain, Jack Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress. Cutter Dykstra left the Brewers organization and took his awesome name to Washington.

In were pitchers Shaun Marcum, Zack Greinke and Takashi Saito. John Axford was selected to replace the retiring Hoffman, while shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt found his way over to Milwaukee from the Royals. Mark Kotsay and the volatile Nyjer Morgan completed the long-winded maze of transactions.

At the end of it all, the Brewers looked promising but not overwhelming. Many baseball experts chose Milwaukee to win the NL Central. Some ambitious writers put the Brew Crew in the NLCS, while their odds of winning it all were set at 100-to-one.

The Brewers were not involved in one of the four monumentally exciting final series of the 2011 season. The Brewers didn’t suffer the Boston Red Sox‘s most epic collapse of all time, nor did they experience the exuberance of sneaking into the postseason.

But the St. Louis Cardinals overtook the Atlanta Braves and did experience that most jubilant of joys.

Now the Brewers face elimination from the 2011 postseason. The Brewers have never won a National League pennant—they only came over from the American League in 1998. The Brewers have never won a World Series since their 1970 debut.

When it comes to rating a general manager’s performance, GM Doug Melvin deserves an A+.

In his frantic 2010-2011 offseason, Melvin did something every other GM should aspire to do.

He put his team in a position to win it all.

He took a floundering team with a losing record, turned it around and set it up for postseason ball. He added tremendous talent to a stale and staggering roster. He injected life into the Beersmen.

If the Brewers can find a way to win their next two games, they will make history.

And if they do, they can thank GM Doug Melvin, who put his team into a position to do exactly that.

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The National League Championship Series has had its fair share of drama, excitement and sensational performances. Currently tied at two games apiece, the battle between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers is only going to get more intense as the stakes increase. After all, winner advances to the World Series. 

For casual fans who are just tuning into the postseason, the Milwaukee Brewers are a young and surprising team, with many reasons to root for them. 

But sometimes baseball fans who follow the playoffs don’t necessarily cheer for a specific team—especially if their own favorite no longer is in the running. In fact, many opt pick an allegiance based on who they dislike the least, choosing instead to root against a particular team. 

That said, here are five reasons not to root for the Milwaukee Brewers this postseason.

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The Milwaukee Brewers continued their winning ways at Miller Park with a thrilling Game 5 victory, eliminating the Arizona Diamondbacks from the playoffs.

But the fashion in which the Brewers moved on to the NLCS was anything but the norm.

Francisco Rodriguez nearly blew the lead in the eighth inning, barely escaping a bases-loaded jam. John Axford suffered his first blown save since April 18 but pitched the 10th inning to earn the victory. Manager Ron Roenicke could face some tough decisions against the Cardinals based on the performance of certain players against Arizona.

With that in mind, what implications will the events of Game 5 have going forward to the NLCS for the Brewers?

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Both the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers had to go the distance in the National League Division Series before emerging victorious. The Cardinals knocked off the heavily favored Philadelphia Phillies, while the Brewers needed extra innings in Game 5 to dispatch the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Cardinals needed a terrific September and a collapse of monumental proportions from the Atlanta Braves just to get into the playoffs and are now taking full advantage of the opportunity. St. Louis’ offense made the vaunted Phillies pitching staff look human and its pitching did the rest.

John Axford, who was one of the game’s best closers during the regular season, was in a precarious position in the ninth inning of Game 5. Even though he did relinquish the lead, he was able to shut the door after that and allowed his offense to send Milwaukee into the NLCS.

Series Schedule

Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 9 at 4:05 p.m. EDT, Cardinals (Jaime Garcia) at Brewers (Zack Greinke)

Game 2: Monday, Oct. 10 at 8:05 p.m. EDT, Cardinals (Edwin Jackson) at Brewers (Shaun Marcum)

Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 8:05 p.m. EDT, Brewers (Yovani Gallardo) at Cardinals (Chris Carpenter)

Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 13 at 8:05 p.m. EDT, Brewers (Randy Wolf) at Cardinals (Kyle Lohse)

Game 5: Friday, Oct. 14 at 8:05 p.m. EDT, Brewers (Zack Greinke) at Cardinals (Jaime Garcia)

Game 6: Sunday, Oct. 16 at 4:05 p.m. EDT, Cardinals (Edwin Jackson) at Brewers (Shaun Marcum)

Game 7: Monday, Oct. 17 at 8:05 p.m. EDT, Cardinals (Chris Carpenter) at Brewers (Yovani Gallardo)

Watch: All games broadcast on TBS.

Live Streaming: Postseason.tv on MLB.com ($2.99 charge may apply).

Listen: All games broadcast on ESPN Radio; KMOX 1120 AM (St. Louis) or WTMJ 620 AM (Milwaukee)

Key Storyline

Is Matt Holliday healthy enough to help the Cardinals offense?

St. Louis outfielder Matt Holliday has been dealing with an inflamed tendon in his right middle finger. He’s tried to play through the pain as much as possible despite the ailment causing him to struggle at the plate. If the Cardinals are to advance, he’ll need to contribute offensively in some fashion.

The combination of Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman in the lineup is good, but Holliday makes it great. The veteran left fielder had a .912 OPS during the regular season, which is actually below average for him but still ranks him highly among outfielders.

Cardinals Player To Watch: C Yadier Molina

Molina hit .305, including a .340 mark with runners on base, during the regular season. However, against the Phillies he went just 4-for-19. He’s the forgotten man in the St. Louis order and will need to come up with a few big hits against a tough Brewers staff.

Brewers Player To Watch: CF Nyjer Morgan

Even though the middle of the Milwaukee order, consisting of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, gets all the publicity, it’s Morgan and Corey Hart that are relied upon to get on base in front of those big hitters. Morgan struggled against the Diamondbacks and it will be important for “Tony Plush” to get back on track against St. Louis.

Series Breakdown

Prediction: Brewers win series in six games

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The short answer to the question posed in the headline is very simple: Because he plays in Milwaukee.

So why write an entire opinion piece on the subject? Because Ryan Braun should be a superstar.

Ryan Braun does everything you want a superstar to do. Does he hit for average? .312 career, .332 this season. Does he hit for power? More than 30 homers a season every year except 2010, when he hit 25. His career OPS is .933; did you just read that? .933!

Do you know who has a lower career OPS than Braun? Jason Giambi, Ryan Howard, Carlos Delgado, Mike Piazza, Ken Griffey Jr., Joe Mauer and even his more-famous teammate Prince Fielder.

But Fernando, you might say, I don’t like your old school “Joe Morgan” stats. What’s his WAR?

In 2011: a preposterous 7.8 WAR. He’s averaged five WAR in his career. The kid is freaking good.

So why isn’t he on the cover of any baseball video games? Why doesn’t he have a lucrative paper towel endorsement? Come on, the Braun-y paper towel guy? This stuff writes itself.

He’s even got a cool nickname (according to Wikipedia): The Hebrew Hammer. Fear his mighty hammer, and his, er, Judaism? Anyway, awesome nickname!

Braun also isn’t the Darryl Strawberry type. He doesn’t get into any trouble, no drug problems, or DUIs or arrests (that we know of). He’s got those wholesome good looks, and he appears to be a nice guy; in April, a female fan made a marriage proposal to Braun via a stadium sign, even including her phone number. Even though Braun has a girlfriend, he called the number and tried to leave a voicemail, but the mailbox was full.

What more do you want from him?!

The East Coast bias in sports coverage is obvious to everyone who lives west of the Mississippi. ESPN refuses to acknowledge any team outside the East Coast (except for the Dallas Cowboys), so our sports knowledge suffers. Can you even name three players on the Indiana Pacers? I know they have Danny Granger, and…um…I’ll get back to you on that.

If Braun played for the Red Sox or Yankees, you’d be sick and tired of him. You’d hear his name 10 times a day, every day, and Buster Olney or Ken Rosenthal would be writing sonnets professing their love for the mighty Braun.

Instead, Braun’s not even the most famous guy on his own team. Instead it’s Fielder and his enormous waistline that get all the publicity.

In fact, the only people who seem to give Braun any attention are the employees in Milwaukee’s front office—because he got paid.

Milwaukee was facing a tough decision a few years ago: You have two offensive monsters (Braun and Fielder), both in their 20s, but you can’t possibly afford them both. So who do you choose? You choose the Hebrew Hammer.

So first the Brewers signed Braun to a $45 million extension in 2008. Then they saw that Braun continued to hit a baseball really, really far, and now he’s signed through 2020 for about $145 million. That will buy you a lot of beer and brats.

Milwaukee clearly understands the kind of superstar it has on the roster—so why don’t you, America? 

Fernando Gallo promises he is not a publicist for Ryan Braun. Find more foolish analysis, along with the occasional witty comment, on his  feed.

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Last night, notorious baseball villain Nyjer Morgan managed to put himself into the positive spotlight for the first time in his baseball career—for all of three minutes. The Milwaukee Brewers most certainly deserved to celebrate their well-earned, thrilling Game 5 victory in extra innings to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks and advance to the NLCS.

However, for Brewers and baseball fans alike to hail Morgan a “hero” is sorely misguided.

Morgan has been an average baseball player his entire career, spanning six seasons in Pittsburgh, Washington, and Milwaukee. His regular season career batting average is .288—above average, certainly, but far from raising eye brows.

The guy is a threat on the base paths—stealing 42 bases in 2009—but is also a liability, as he was caught stealing a league-high 17 times that season.

However, this article isn’t arguing the merits of Morgan’s playing career. After reading an article hailing Morgan to be a permanent member of Brewers lore, going so far as saying “we can’t help but love him,” I felt as if somebody needed to step in with a rebuttal.

The guy is a black eye to the game of baseball. He is a disgrace to all the good baseball players do, and should never, ever be regarded as a role model.

Let’s look at his track record. In August 2010, Morgan was suspended by Major League Baseball for throwing a baseball at a fan at Citizens Bank Park after a heated exchange.

Less than two weeks later, Morgan rammed Marlins catcher Brett Hayes, separating his shoulder on a play at the plate he had no chance of being called safe.

The next night, he incited a bench-clearing brawl after a pitch was thrown behind him in retaliation for his play at the plate.

Which bring us to last night, when Morgan, by way of his series-ending hit it in the 10th inning that lifted the Brewers to a 3-2 victory over the Diamondbacks, made everyone forget about his track record for all of three minutes before he managed to be thrust back into the negative limelight.

The alleged “hero,” live on TV while TBS attempted to interview him, let out several euphoric “F-bombs,” repeating the phrase a few times before being restrained. 

Brewers fans, do not be mistaken. This is not a knock against your franchise. In fact, I will be rooting for you in the NLCS, as I strongly believe in the baseball model the franchise has adopted.

However, Morgan needs to be castrated from baseball. Whether or not he wants to acknowledge it, as a Major League Baseball player, he is a role model, and thus needs to behave accordingly. The guy is an imbecile, a sore spot for a sport that has managed to do a great job emerging from what is perhaps the worst time in its history.

While Morgan may be a decent baseball player, do not ever mistake him for a hero. 

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Corey Hart doubled with one out in the eighth inning of a 1-1 game. Nyjer Morgan walked, bringing up the Hebrew Hammer, Ryan Braun.

After fouling off Clay Hensley’s first pitch, Braun took three-consecutive pitches out of the strike zone. The Marlins Hensley had to come in with a strike. Braun hit a home run that clinched the Central Division title for the Milwaukee Brewers.

A light mist was falling over Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, helping to cause premature darkness and gloominess.

Hub Walker led off the Detroit Tigers half of the ninth inning with a pinch-hit single to center field. Skeeter Webb laid down a bunt toward first base. St. Louis Browns’ first baseman George McQuinn’s throw to second was ruled late, putting Tigers on first and second with no outs. The Browns protests were to no avail.

Eddie Mayo sacrificed the runners over, bringing up Roger Cramer. Browns’ manager Luke Sewell decided to intentionally walk Cramer to set up a potential inning ending double play.

Hank Greenberg rubbed his bat with a piece of bone to smooth it out. He stepped into the batter’s box, took a ball from Nels Potter and then hit the next pitch, a screwball from a right-handed pitcher, deep down the left field line. It was fair and the Tigers had a three-run lead.

Greenberg’s hit gave the Tigers the 1945 pennant.

Ryan Braun hit a historic home run that clinched the division, but its significance pales next to Greenberg’s.

The Brewers had a comfortable six game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals with six games left for each team.

The Tigers led the Washington Senators by one game, two in the lost column, entering the last day of the season. The Tigers were scheduled to play a doubleheader against the Browns. The Senators had completed their season the previous day.

Greenberg’s home run came in the first game of a doubleheader to win the pennant. The second game of the twin bill was rained out and never played.

Greenberg had joined the Tigers in July after missing almost four seasons.The home run was his 30th of the season.

After only 19 games in 1941, Greenberg was drafted into the Army Air Corps. He told a reporter for Life Magazine that he didn’t consider being drafted a sacrifice.

“I never asked for a deferment. I made up my mind to go when I was called. My country comes first.”

Three months later, Congress ruled that men over 28-year of age were exempt from military service. On Dec. 5, 1941, Greenberg, who was 30-years-old, was discharged.

On Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor was attacked. Greenberg enlisted.

Ryan Braun is a great player. He has almost unlimited potential and if he remains healthy, he is a certain Hall of Famer. He was the Rookie of the Year, has been an All-Star four times in five seasons, has three Silver Slugger Awards and already has 160 career home runs.

All Americans, not only those who are Jewish, can be proud of Ryan Braun and Hank Greenberg.

Reference:

Tigers annex flag on four-run homer. (1945, Oct 01). New York Times (1923-Current File), pp. 23. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/107100811?accountid=46260

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Ryan Braun is this year’s NL MVP.

Other players might be in the discussion, namely Matt Kemp, Prince Fielder, Joey Votto, Albert Pujols and Justin Upton, but at the end of the season Braun should be adding to a trophy case that already contains Rookie of the Year and three Silver Sluggers.

Braun, who is hitting .332, trails NL Leader Jose Reyes by just one point.

He leads the National League in On-Base plus Slugging percentage (OPS), baseball’s best measure of offensive output, at .987.  He’s one of just three plays in the senior circuit with at least a .400 On-Base and .550 Slugging Percentage (Kemp is just outside with a .399 OBP).  Only Votto (.985) is within 20 points of Braun.

Braun has put together such an incredible OPS through a balanced offensive attack. A patient slugger, he’s walked enough that his On-Base is 70 points over his impressive batting average.  He has 25 homers, 35 doubles and five triples, giving him 65 extra-base hits already – more than any of his potential MVP counterparts except for Upton (68).

Currently leading the league in runs with 93 and sitting fifth in RBI at 91, Braun should easily eclipse the century mark in both fields before season’s end.

Among this group, Pujols’s 51 strikeouts are the only total less than Braun’s 79.  Fielder (88) is the only other player under 100.

Of potential MVP candidates, Braun’s 31 steals trail only Kemp’s 37.  Braun, however, is a more efficient stealer than Kemp, stealing bags at an 86% success rate compared to Kemp’s 82%.  In fact, Braun’s rate is better than anyone in the top 10 in stolen bases except for Cameron Maybin, whose 32-for-37 barely bests Braun’s 31-for-36.

Braun is also the best hitter, and No. 3 batter for a Brewers club that has opened up an impressive 8.5 game lead in the NL Central.  The magic number to clinch their first division crown since 1982, when they were in the American League, is 16.  So with 23 games remaining and 24 for the division rival St. Louis Cardinals, any combination of 16 Milwaukee wins plus St. Louis losses will earn them a trip to the playoffs.  If the Braun-led Brew Crew plays just one game under .500 the rest of the way, St. Louis would have to go 19-4 just to force a tie.

The other players have all had tremendous seasons of their own, and each deserves some consideration, but ultimately none stack up to the season Braun has put together.

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The Milwaukee Brewers, winners of 21 of their last 24, defeated the New York Mets on Saturday to run their record to 75-52. The victory also boosted Milwaukee’s NL Central lead to eight and a half games over the St. Louis Cardinals.

To the casual baseball fan, this may seem like any other day at the office. That, however, couldn’t be further from the honest truth.

In the club’s 42 years of existence, the Brewers have never held such a lead in any season—including their hallowed 1982 World Series appearance where they came within one victory of winning it all.

Under the direction of first-year manager Ron Roenicke, these Brewers have essentially taken control of their destiny in the NL Central race, which had originally looked to be thrilling three-team chase just three weeks ago.

Is this Milwaukee’s year to finally get over the hump and into the World Series picture? The statistics reveal everything there is to know:

• Since the All-Star break, the Brewers’ starting rotation ranks first in MLB in ERA (2.93) and WHIP (1.11) after ranking 26th in ERA in 2010 (4.58)
• Milwaukee’s bullpen ranks third in MLB in HLD (22) since the break, and ranks first in OPS (.614)

Last season, untimely pitching cost the Brewers a shot at the postseason, finishing third overall in the NL Central with a 77-85 mark. In 2011, you could argue pitching has been Milwaukee’s best attribute.

GM Doug Melvin once more worked his magic with trading for Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum to improve a starting rotation. It took letting go three of Milwaukee’s top minor league prospects to complete, but with the way things have been going of late, the moves seem ingenious.

Greinke (12-4, 3.92 ERA, 151 SO) has yet to lose a home decision in 2011, going 9-0 with a 3.15 ERA at Miller Park. Marcum, adversely, has been a gem away from Milwaukee—going 6-2 with a 2.47 ERA on the road.

Offensively, the Brewers are the juggernaut they’ve always been. Between Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder—two serious candidates to win the NL MVP award, according to ESPN’s Jayson Stark—the two have managed a combined 176 RBI, 52 HR and maintain the two highest OPS marks of any two teammates in MLB.

The Brewers have seemingly been firing on all cylinders for the past two weeks. With a favorable schedule ahead, an NL Central pennant seems more and more likely with each victory.

Alec Dopp is a Milwaukee Brewers featured columnist on Bleacher Report.  Follow him on Twitter: @alecdopp.  Click here to read more from Alec.

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Brewing Trouble: Identifying 5 Things the Milwaukee Brewers Must Improve If a Playoff Run Is in Store

Less than a week ago, the scorching-hot Milwaukee Brewers were coming off a sweep of their interleague rival Minnesota Twins, and had Brewers nation (including myself) clamoring for some well-deserved respect.

Who could blame us?

After ripping through a three-game series against the Twins, the Brewers had comfortably positioned themselves with a three-game lead atop the NL Central—a place where Milwaukee had not been since July of 2009.

Needless to say, a three-game series in the Bronx proved to be a bona fide wake-up call for manager Ron Roenicke’s crew.  In fact, the New York Yankees outscored Milwaukee 22-4 in their three-game sweep of the Brewers.

Every team hits rough patches within a successful season, but the Brewers cannot afford to become complacent.  Here are five things that must be addressed if Milwaukee expects a deep postseason run.

Follow Alec Dopp on Twitter: @doppler9000.

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