J.J. Hardy has been the best player on the best team in baseball

The Brewers have been the biggest story in baseball this side of Barry Bonds, and right on time, too. In 1957 the Braves won Milwaukee's only World Series, followed by the Brewers' only World Series appearance 25 years later in 1982. Another 25 years later it's 2007, and through 36 games they have the best record in baseball (25-11) and sit 7 games ahead of the Cubs in the NL Central, leading many to already declare them this year's Tigers. Not bad for a team that hasn't had a winning season since the first Bush administration. The New York Times has a nice story, though there are plenty of Brewers stories in the national media these days.

So what's been the key? Well, the rotation has been consistent, with great starts from Capuano, Suppan and Vargas compensating for Bush's problems and Sheets so far being less than his usual dominant self. Just as importantly, Turnbow and Cordero have been unhittable in the last two innings. Offensively, Rickie Weeks and Bill Hall haven't found a groove, but Prince Fielder is tied for the league lead the league in homers while the Jenkins/Mench platoon in left has gotten the job done. But the MVP of the first six weeks has been shortstop J.J. Hardy, who has shocked everyone by complementing his usual slick fielding with a red hot bat (.333/.385/.633) that currently leads the league in RBI and is tied for the homer lead with Fielder. While third base will be a weak spot offensively until top prospect Ryan Braun comes up later this year, the toughest thing for the Brewers right now is finding ABs for their outfielders. Bill Hall's conversion to CF hasn't always been smooth, but he's the guy there. Corey Hart has had some injury issues and needs to get some run in right, but Tony Gwynn Jr. has also shown the ability to hit (shocking, huh?) and might be the only true leadoff guy on the roster. Jenkins/Mench in left have been more than capable.


The Brewer faithful have had a rough time of it

If they can maintain their big division lead through their current roadtrip then they'll be awfully tough to beat in the division, especially given the weakened state of the Cards and the Cubs being the Cubs. In fact, only three teams in major league history have had a seven game divisional lead with 50 or fewer games played and NOT made the playoffs, the last being the '69 Cubs. So for once, history is on the Brewers' side.

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Click above for the next installment of The Michael Showalter Showalter featuring Paul Rudd. If you don't get the reference to their argument, it's a reenactment of the Lily Tomlin-David O. Russell throw-down that took place during the filming of I Heart Huckabees.

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I won't bother trying to describe this, but it's cool.

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Random Linkage:

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