How about those Milwaukee Brewers? .706 today. The team of my heart is the
best team in Major League Baseball. Not just the National League, but in all the bigs.
It brings me joy to see my prediction of a few years ago come true. After I saw Prince Fielder hit the biggest home run I've seen here in Salt Lake, when he was playing for Nashville, I said, give the Brewers a couple of years when they've brought this team up and they'll be all that. (The second biggest home run I've seen here was by Curtis Pride I believe two seasons ago.)
The little in-team home run derby that Fielder and J.J. Hardy are having is not hurting a thing, in fact throw Geoff Jenkins into the mix and there are three Brewers in the top 50 for home runs so far.
And remember I'm not one of those Brewers Bandwagon (
Brewers' bandwagon grows, win-by-win) fans. I've loved this team, for complicated yet no apparent reason, since the mid 1980s. I voluntarily vacationed in Denver last summer to watch my boys play the Rockies. The Tigers may be the team of my blood, my inheritance from my late 101-year-old great aunt, but the Brewers are the team I chose for myself, they are the team of my heart.
Like so many people my age I have a soft spot for Cleveland. After all how many of us watched The Big Red Machine do their stuff with Johnny Bench, Sparky Anderson and Pete Rose as the stars of the show? It was enough to make baseball on TV acceptable here in the land of the Minor Leagues. I'm not a fan of Cleveland, but still associate them with solid baseball, much as I assocciate the Cardinals with great short stops.
Though I like Bengie and Jose Molina because of their time in Salt Lake (where did that family find their knees?), Ivan Rodriguez might be even more impressive. I love it when I wear my dark blue Tigers shirt with Rodriguez and a number 7 on the back and Yankees fans approach me from behind and say "Go Yankees." I turn around and point at the gothic D and say, "No, go Tigers." It's best when the person who says it is wearing an Rodriguez #13 shirt. Don't they even know the number they're wearing? Silly Yankee's fans. The fact that both of them played for the Texas Rangers (and overlapped in 2001 and 2002) doesn't mean that much.
Last year I predicted a Tigers/Cardinals World Series before the All-Star break (I did mis-predict the final result). Watch this space for a solid prediction of who will play in this year's Series, but for now, early in May, my gut is saying Brewers/Cleveland - my heart is saying the Brewers can win it all.
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