A Day In the Life - Bernie Brewer

May 28, 2010 - The New York Mets pay a visit to Miller Park in Milwaukee. Before the game I had a chance to catch up with Milwaukee's number one fan and mascot - Bernie Brewer. I asked him about his day, his love for a good brew, and his hero - Prince Fielder. Let's take a look:

7:00AM - Bernie wakes up to his favorite alarm - the crowd roaring to the sound of a Prince Fielder moon shot blast. He has woken up from dreaming about his favorite yellow tube slide in left field. He knows he has a big day ahead. In preparation, Bernie climbs out of bed and jumps on the slide that connects his room and his kitchen - and he grabs his favorite beer - none other than Milwaukee's Best.

7:15AM - With New York in town, Bernie's old adversary, Mr. Met gives him a call. Mr. Met never stops smiling, even after a tough loss...something that has always aggravated Bernie Brewer. How can he have such a grin on his face all the time? Bernie Brewer has long held a jealousy for other mascots, as his Milwaukee Brewers historically have not been very good. Mr. Met reminds him of this and says, "Bernie, you do know that Johan Santana is pitching tonight, don't you?"

7:30AM - Bernie leaves this conversation in a sour mood, so he decides to grab a breakfast Polish with his best buddy - local sausage race celebrity - the Chorizo sausage.

9:00AM - After a hearty breakfast and a workout, Bernie Brewer stumbles into a little bit of trouble on the way to the slide where he was going to prepare for his big day. He has already had a few Milwaukee's best, and his BAC is reminiscent to that of Jeff Francouer's batting average. However, without fail, due to his mass celebrity and the general acceptance of alcoholism in the state, Bernie Brewer was not even questioned before release.

Afterwards, Bernie practices going down the slide and waiving his Brewer flag for an astounding three hours - impressive not only because he was balancing Milwaukee's best in his hand during every turn - but also because his persistence keeps him in relatively fine shape despite his intense alcoholism.

1:00PM - Bernie goes back home to his wife and has lunch - his second sausage of the day. Bernie has had marital problems for some time now due to his love for sausage - and his wife's disapproval of his yellow moustache - "it doesn't tickle in a good way, it's just annoying," she revealed. Bernie's love for Milwaukee's best as well as for sluggers such as Ryan Braun and his hero, Prince Fielder have long given him more happiness and physical activity than she ever could. He later revealed, "She's a Reds fan. I stay with her to keep my public image up. I can't have my city thinking Bernie is a homewrecker."

3:00PM - Despite this, it's back to the ballpark for Bernie in preparations for tonight's game. Bernie must review the lineup card with manager Ken Macha before taking his post for a final run through prior to batting practice and dinner.

7:00PM-10:00PM - Bernie struggles to cope with the ineptitude of each respective team's offense and stands all alone by himself next to the left field slide. He, however, made sure to bring his flask and water bottles full of Milwaukee's Best to keep him occupied.

10:00PM - In the bottom of the 9th inning, New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel curiously decides to pull ace pitcher Johan Santana from a scoreless game. Excited at the possibly that perhaps after all of this wait and preparation, he would finally have his chance to slide down the banana colored loop-dee-doop and wave his Milwaukee Brewers flag with pride, Bernie perked up. With two outs, Corey Hart walked to the plate. He took a swing and it went way back, way back...and the rest, as they say, is history. "Rounds for everyone" proclaimed the jubilant moustached man.

-Tom Greenhalgh (5/28/10)

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REACTION TO THE LOSS:

It's easy to blame Jerry for this one. Santana had his A+ game tonight and he may or may not have had one more inning in him. It's also very questionable that Jerry would bring in Igarashi in a scoreless game in the 9th. He was roughed up by the Yankees in his first appearance back from the DL, and if Jerry is truly trying to win every single game, he should go with his guns - Nieve or Feliciano. Now, Nieve is scheduled to start tomorrow due to injuries in the rotation, so that clearly and obviously eliminates him and leaves Feliciano as your guy. Feliciano at times is a lefty specialist (tonight he came in, threw one pitch to Prince Fielder before retiring him, and that was his night.) Other times, Jerry allows him to pitch full innings. It's my contention that if Jerry had to take Santana out on account of pitch count, Feliciano is a much more trustworthy option to finish the entire inning.

All of that being said, I can't entirely pin this one on Manuel. Yes, I disagree with how he went about the 9th inning. I would have kept my ace in the game - that's what he's paid for after all. That being said, the Mets offense was anemic and they weren't going to score no matter how long that game went. It's difficult for a pitching staff to remain perfect, let alone remain perfect for 36 consecutive innings. This was bound to happen, though the way that it did was, at the least, questionable. I've tried to diagnose in my head exactly why the Mets are a drastically better home ball club compared to how pathetic they are on the road. I don't think it can be definitively stated quite yet because we're roughly 30% into the season and that's at the end of the day, a relatively small sample. I think it comes down to the fact that the Mets typically underperform and suffer letdowns to lesser opponents on the heels of big victories. Yes, there are a lot of new faces on this club, but the same uniform and the same result seems to happen time and time again.

All of this said, before jumping off here, this is one (very tough) loss. The Mets stand at 25-24, 3 games out of first place. The pitching is there, the offense at times is there as well. The management of the team is at the least questionable. What I will say, however, is that it seems to me that these guys are playing for Manuel. Let's see this resilient ballclub fight back again. Split the 6 game road trip and head back home and good things will happen. That means 3 of the next 5, New York. It can be done - but please, please, please...no more letdowns.

-Tom Greenhalgh (a very early, sleepless 5/29)