The Milwaukee Brewers fell, 4-2, to the Chicago Cubs Monday afternoon at Wrigley Field in Chicago, their sixth straight loss and ninth out of their last 11 to fall one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central divisional race.
It is the first time the Brewers have not occupied the top spot in the division since April 5.
By occupying the top spot from April 5 through Aug. 31, the Brewers owned (or shared ownership) of the division lead for 149 straight days, or 4 months and 27 days. Or 3,552 hours. Or 213,120 minutes.
(Note: Saying the Brewers were in first for 150 days isn’t wrong, either – they began Sept. 1 in the top spot. Fun with numbers!)
The Brewers will begin play Tuesday in the hopes of snapping their losing streak, as another "L" would match their season-high stretch of seven, set July 6-12.
A loss Tuesday (and a Cardinals win) would also push the Brewers the furthest behind in the divison they have been all year – their previous depth behind the leaders was 1 ½ games way back on April 2.
Since ending April with a 20-8 mark, the Brewers have gone 53-56. Since they were a season-high 19 games over .500 on June 28, they have gone 22-32.
So, how long ago was April 5? In the sporting sense, it was a while ago.
That same day ...
- The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team lost 74-73 that night to the University of Kentucky in the NCAA Final Four.
- Toronto beat the Milwaukee Bucks 102-98 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Two players who started, Ramon Sessions and Jeff Adrien, are no longer with the team.
- Tyler Thornburg and Jim Henderson pitched. Both have had their seasons ended due to injury.
- Matt Flynn wasn’t a member of the Green Bay Packers.
April 5 was, indeed, a long time ago.
But there is only one other number to chew on, really: 29.
That is Sept. 30, the end of the regular season. That is not a long time from now.
Jim Owczarski is an award-winning sports journalist and comes to Milwaukee by way of the Chicago Sun-Times Media Network.
A three-year Wisconsin resident who has considered Milwaukee a second home for the better part of seven years, he brings to the market experience covering nearly all major and college sports.
To this point in his career, he has been awarded six national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, breaking news and projects. He is also a four-time nominee for the prestigious Peter J. Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism, presented by the Chicago Headline Club, and is a two-time winner for Best Sports Story. He has also won numerous other Illinois Press Association, Illinois Associated Press and Northern Illinois Newspaper Association awards.
Jim's career started in earnest as a North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) senior in 2002 when he received a Richter Fellowship to cover the Chicago White Sox in spring training. He was hired by the Naperville Sun in 2003 and moved on to the Aurora Beacon News in 2007 before joining OnMilwaukee.com.
In that time, he has covered the events, news and personalities that make up the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, NCAA football, baseball and men's and women's basketball as well as boxing, mixed martial arts and various U.S. Olympic teams.
Golf aficionados who venture into Illinois have also read Jim in GOLF Chicago Magazine as well as the Chicago District Golfer and Illinois Golfer magazines.
