Power outage spells end for Brewers' season
MILWAUKEE --The tally board for home runs hit by the Milwaukee Brewers -- located high above the right-center field wall at Miller Park -- reflected an offense gone awry at the wrong time of the season.
It was stuck on zero until Prince Fielder launched a drive into the right-field bleachers to lead off the seventh inning on Sunday.
But the solo blast was too little and 32 innings too late for a team whose offense during the 2008 season often consisted of an all-or-nothing approach.
"We live and die by the home run, and hopefully we pop them when we get people on base. But once again, today, we scored on a home run and one other run," interim manager Dale Sveum said after Milwaukee was eliminated in four games by the Philadelphia Phillies in their National League Division Series matchup.
"We've got to change that. We've got to start learning how to manufacture runs and do things and put the ball in play and have really, really good at-bats going into next season."
Milwaukee's first playoff victory since the 1982 season was an example of what Sveum was talking about.
Brewers' leadoff hitter Mike Cameron reached base his first four times at bat on Saturday -- on two walks, a hit-by-pitch and a single -- to ignite a 4-1 victory that was reminiscent of when Sveum made his major league debut with the Brewers as a player in 1986.
"Players really understand that, and they get a lot of satisfaction out of sacrifice bunting. When they get a sacrifice bunt over, when they hit and run and they get it on the ground, believe it or not, they get a lot of satisfaction out of that, and it's a lot of fun to play the game," he said.
"I love to play the game that way. I was brought up that way with Paulie (Molitor) and Robin (Yount) and Jimmy Gantner and guys that taught me how important that was and how fun it was to do all those things."
Despite its penchant for the long ball, a tradition that goes back to Bambi's Bombers and Harvey's Wallbangers, Sveum believes his players can change.
"I think these guys can. The guys in that clubhouse, they know. They like to play baseball, like Billy Hall hit and ran (Saturday) night," Sveum said.
"It's something that you have to you start out in spring training and get them to understand, so they can have a lot of fun playing this game because there's a lot more to this game than just waiting for the three-run homer."
Waiting for the long ball didn't help the nearly powerless Brewers in their four-game playoff series with the Phillies, whose four home runs on Sunday ironically supplied their entire offense.
The Brewers managed just four extra-base hits in the series: Fielder's home run in Game 4 and two doubles by Ryan Braun, who hit .313 (5-for-16) in the series, and a double by J.J. Hardy, who batted .429 (6-for-14).
"It goes to show the importance of being able to manufacture runs and not relying on hitting home runs to score runs," Braun said. "As a team, we have to do a better job at that."
Other than Braun and Hardy, the rest of the lineup batted just .154 (14-for-91).
"They've got a good ballclub, and I think actually we might have caught them not hitting as good as they can," Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. "They've got a lot of power through their lineup, and they definitely can score some runs."
Fielder, who batted just .071 (1-for-14) in the playoffs, made no excuses for his club's lack of production due to its reliance on its power.
"That's how we were and that's all there is to it," he said. "That's who we were so you can't get mad because it didn't work.
"It's like a guy who has a good fastball getting mad because he's throwing other pitches and they're getting hit out of the ball park. You've got to do what you do. That's what we have and that's what we went down with."
Sveum, though, said it won't take much convincing to turn around a club that has the potential to execute what he preaches. He believes the core of the Brewers' lineup is young enough to adapt their approach at the plate.
"They're getting at that stage of their careers where it's time to make the adjustments and get to the next level," he said. "There's no doubt about it, because we have some young talent here that has the opportunity to get to the next level as a major league player."
