{image1} The goat is famous on the streets of Chicago. The Bambino swung his mighty curse for 90 years in Boston. Even so, both of those teams are regulars in the month of October. The Brewers, on the other hand, haven't seen the right side of .500 in 12 years and haven't seen October in 23 years.
Could it be the curse of the Brewerbino?
I'm not one for curses, but have been one to bleed optimism when talking about the Brewers over the past few years. The time had finally come when all of the talk of prospects and a brighter future had arrived.
The names, scouting reports and minor league stats had faces to go along with the stories. The arrival of Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder, Cory Hart and J.J. Hardy energized ball club and the fan base. Miller Park had a buzz for the first time since its opening. The stands were full and not just because the Cubs were in town.
The Atlanta Braves were in town on August 26 for a three game series and the Brewers' ace Ben Sheets was dominating the Braves in game one when on his 103rd pitch of the evening the curse struck again.
The torn lat of Ben Sheets signified the end of what has been an entertaining campaign. The thoughts of ending the death march of losing seasons vanished with one pitch that bounced behind the feet of Chipper Jones.
The curse had struck again, and mind you this isn't a curse that costs you game seven of the NLCS. It doesn't pop its ugly head out right before imminent success is at your fingertips. This curse is like no other. It is the black hole of curses. It swallows all hope, all enjoyment of the game and all the W's that were once possible to obtain.
More than 2.5 million people will travel through the gates of Miller Park in 2005, each with the goal of watching a winning team. The curse is so cruel that not even 82-80 is allowed. Not a chance - more suffering is on the horizon.
The imminent 13th consecutive losing season is one thing to stomach, but how can the curse take the arm of yet another young Brewers flamethrower and render him useless? Anything but an injury to Ben Sheets. If anyone is the mainstay of the Brewers future it is Ben Sheets. Please Brewerbino anyone but Sheets.
You may think this is the first time that the curse reared its ugly head. The list of floundered Brewers due to arm injuries is long and not very distinguished. Currently Mike Jones, Manny Parra and even third baseman Ryan Braun have been stricken by the curse. Over the past few years names like Nick Neugebauer, J.M Gold, Ben Diggins and Jeff D'Amico have all been ruined by the Brewerbino.
In fact it is uncommon to have a talented pitcher in the organization not have some sort of arm surgery. When young pitchers come to the Brewers they should immediately report to Dr. Lewis Yocum for their impending Tommy John surgery.
The curse hasn't just affected pitchers either. Remember when the curse wouldn't allow Robin Yount to dazzle us at shortstop after 1984? It also robbed Paul Molitor numerous years in a Brewers uniform. It cost the Crew a ring in 1982 when Rollie Fingers was injured. In 1988, the Brewers were leading the AL East until Dale Svuem's broken leg and, just for added measure, the leg wasn't set right and needed to be re-broken.
Speaking of broken legs, the curse got to Geoff Jenkins as well in 2001. The gore of Jenkins' dislocated ankle was topped only by the likes of Joe Theisman, Robin Ventura and Jason Kendall.
The curse also teased us with players such as Gary Sheffield - only to let us enjoy his immense talent while he was purposely throwing the ball into the stands
The curse gave us good players to watch such as Sheffield and Greg Vaughn. The curse turned that talent into Matt Mieske, Jose Valentine, Ricky Bones, Ron Villone, Bryce Florie and the diminutive Marc Newfield.
In 1991, the curse gave us Pat Listach and then promptly replaced him with an imposter a year later. It also gave us pitchers like Juan Nieves who was virtually untouchable, but his arm could not support the weight of the Brewerbino.
In 90s the curse must have gotten bored with ruining player's careers. So it gave us Sal Bando and Wendy Selig. This type of curse should not be inflected upon anyone.
The curse cost a state senator his job and three iron workers their lives.
The curse did offer us hope with a new stadium, but only if it didn't work properly.
It gave us the 2002 All-Star game but then made it rain, turning the home run derby into a steam bath under a waterfall. It also gave us the only tie in All-Star history.
Now the time has come again where prosperity is on the horizon yet - not close enough to overcome the Brewerbino. Remember, nobody is asking for a World Series title. All they are asking for is 82-80, a healthy Ben Sheets and reason to have fun at the ballpark like when we were kids.
These are not outrageous demands.
It could all come true if it wasn't for the Brewerbino.
