Between the Bars

Seriously, guys.

Just when you thought the Brewers' bullpen woes couldn't get any worse, they did tonight.

The bullpen combined to lose a 5-run lead in the eighth inning, and then gave up the final run in an eventual 7-6 win for the Phillies.

And, whad'ya know, Monday night's game had almost the same outcome.

K-Rod, who stood in as the closer, replacing Axford, had an epic meltdown in the ninth inning, giving up four runs, which resulted in a 7-6 win for Philadelphia.

Local Newswire: 2012 Summerfest and State Fair concert announcements, etc.

To keep Between the Bars – and you – up-to-date, this weekly post provides a compilation of both the amusing and the significant (mostly the amusing) local stories from the last few days that I've found by keeping a sharp eye on the local newswire. Enjoy the wealth of information, dear readers. You deserve it.

• I hope everyone felt better about Saturday's binge drinking, knowing that there was an official reason to knock more than a few back. Yes, April 14 was officially declared "Milwaukee Day" by Mayor Tom Barrett late last week. Barrett is creating holidays like the world is ending. Remember last year's "Bon Iver Day"? Heh.

Brewers' Opening Day tailgating tips

In just over 12 hours, tailgaters will begin to line the parking lot outside Miller Park where they'll fire up their grills and crack open their coolers in celebration of the Brewers' 2012 home opener against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Milwaukeeans rarely turn down a chance to throw a party, which is evident in the festival-like atmosphere surrounding Opening Day at Miller Park.

Local Newswire: No more in-flight cookies. But, baseball is back, so who cares?!

To keep Between the Bars – and you – up-to-date, this weekly post provides a compilation of both the amusing and the significant (mostly the amusing) local stories from the last few days that I've found by keeping a sharp eye on the local newswire. Enjoy the wealth of information, dear readers. You deserve it.

• Frontier Airlines, which previously absorbed the operations of Milwaukee's Midwest Airlines, announced Friday that they're removing the complimentary warm cookies from in-flight service and will replace them with crackers. The gooey chocolate chip cookies were Midwest's signature treat, served for decades. As Georgia Pabst of the Journal Sentinel aptly puts it: “The cookie has crumbled.”

“Slugger Like You” will help us move on...

Last Tuesday was a devastating day for most Brewers’ fans as it became official that Prince Fielder would leave Milwaukee. One week later our antidepressants may have kicked in, helping us get over the initial hurt of him leaving, but the memories undoubtedly still hang over us.

So how the hell do we begin the healing process and insure that we can all fully let go of our love for Prince? Well, here's a video called “Slugger Like You” that's a soulful parody of Adele’s “Someone Like You.” Imagine it sung by Doug Melvin.

Listen. Embrace your sadness. We will get through this together.

 

Video via A.V. Club

Goodbye, Prince.

It’s official, Prince Fielder is leaving the Milwaukee Brewers to play for the Detroit Tigers, thus devastating the whole two people left in Wisconsin who actually thought he’d stay in Milwaukee.

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Fielder knew he could make the big bucks elsewhere; after all, Milwaukee is a small market and, therefore, has financial limitations. It wouldn’t have been wise for the Brewers to sign Fielder to a deal as lucrative as the one Detroit offered - a nine-year, $214 million contract. Sure, a signing like that may have paid huge dividends in 2012, but it would have hurt the team long term.

While in a Brewers uniform Fielder gave his team and the city of Milwaukee everything he had. He helped put Milwaukee back on the map by bring baseball back to life in Brew City.

In honor of this earth-shattering occasion, let me take you back to some of my favorite Prince moments as a Brewer...

FYI: 2012 Opening Day ticket lottery begins

Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in just 25 days, and baseball returns to Miller Park in 74.

Yes, I’m keeping track!

As Brewers fans count down the days, we can press our luck in the 2012 Opening Day ticket lottery to try and score seats for the Brewers Home Opener on April 6. I just registered for my chance to buy tickets – and I just registered Eric, too.

Beginning today, January 24, at 10 a.m., and continuing through Tuesday, February 14, fans can go to the team's website and register for the chance to purchase up to four tickets to the coveted Opening Day. In addition, fans can register for a maximum of eight tickets to each of the Marquee and Gold games at Miller Park this season.

The Packers lost because of Megan and sparkly nail polish

We all know how the game ended. But did you know that it was Megan's fault the Packers lost, not the team's lack in passing defense?

Casey Lewis has been all over the internet because of her epic, drunken meltdown that was inspired by the Packers' 37-20 loss to the Giants, and recorded by her sister Megan during the car ride home from Lambeau Field Sunday night.

The 24-year-old die-hard Packers fan had worn the same nail polish since last year when the team went on its Super Bowl run. Sunday she took Megan's advice and went with the sparkly nail polish instead. Hilarity ensued.

“The Packers were supposed to win the Super Bowl! They didn’t because you told me to put sparkles on my nails!”

Video via Deadspin

It's winter. Let's not overreact.

Note: Some of the content of this post was updated for 2012. Between the Bars continually updates the many posts available here, though it's possible some details may have changed. Consider calling first if you have specific questions about the business or activity mentioned in this post.

The snow began to gently fall at about 10 a.m. this morning just as I stopped by the break room for my second cup of coffee. My coworkers, who seemingly had been waiting all morning for the flurries to begin, were peering out the second floor window and, in chorus, raised objection to the first major snowfall in the most vulgar of ways – a heated singsong of profanities that reverberated off the vaulted ceilings of our office building.

The “die, Old Man Fucking Winter, die” sentiment was echoed throughout the office all afternoon as the white stuff continued to cover streets and cars and rooftops and lampposts inch by inch.

Congrats, Packers, on an inspiring season!

It’s the type of tale that people find irresistible: the good guy is faced with seemingly impossible adversities, yet somehow prevails in the end. That kind of plot forms the basis for many stories because it’s something that always resonates with folks. And it’s even better when such a storyline lifts from the pages and unravels in real life – people can’t help but be drawn to it.

One could easily argue that it was that same "triumph over adversity" kind of plot that played out for the Packers during their 2010-11 football season.

The season was a culmination of a grueling 20 game schedule that tested every single member of the Packers organization. They were faced with many problems and disadvantages throughout their journey to Super Bowl XLV, starting in Week One, but they overcame all of them in the end and conquered the NFL as Super Bowl champs, proving not only their resilience, but their confidence, control, aptitude and fervor, among other things.

Week One was the start of a horrendous season of injuries, despite a 27-20 opening day victory over the Eagles. No fewer than 16 players would eventually wind up on injured reserve, including starters like Nick Barnett, Jermichael Finley, and Mark Tauscher. In the regular season, the Packers had 12 starters miss a total of 86 games, forcing the team to tie together a string of inexperienced players who ultimately stepped up and assisted their more experienced teammates.