A Glorious Season Ends With a Whimper

I'll admit it, I'm worn out. As a long-suffering Milwaukee Brewers fan, this year's success – although eventual departure from the 2011 postseason at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals – has been great and taxing.

In my lifetime, the Milwaukee Brewers have been to the playoffs four times. Two of those times, in the early 1980s, I have no recollection of. In 2008, the Brewers entered the playoffs as the Wild Card, were just happy to be there and exited in the first round.

This year, the club managed to get into the National League Championship Series, before bowing out in six games. Altogether, Milwaukee played 11 postseason games this season. Now to those clubs that have been to the playoffs on a regular basis and even advancing or winning the World Series, this might not seem like a big deal.

However, to us Brewers fans, it was an up-and-down, emotional two weeks. I talked to other fans I work worth with, and we're worn out. You pay attention to every pitch, get angry with every opposing hit and run and scream like a girl with every Brewers hit and run. The next morning you're either on cloud nine or scuffling your feet and hoping for a better outcome later that night. It's like you played in the game.

My family is probably pretty pleased the Brewers are done. I would sequester myself in he basement to watch, shouting incoherently and at one point had my 2-year-old looking at me like I was crazy. Some day he'll understand.

As a fan, you get frustrated when your team doesn't play up to its potential in those situations, especially against a division rival. However, looking back, the Brewers season was one of the best ever for the franchise and who knows how long it will be for the team to get into a position like that again.

I noticed a fair number of collectibles articles and opportunities during the Brewers run. Clean Sweep Auctions did an appraisal fair in Milwaukee before Game 6 of the NLCS. The city newspaper talked about what collectibles were hot – Ryan Braun and Nyjer Morgan topped the list, if you were wondering. Braun game-used bats were going for $850 and Morgan-signed baseball cards couldn't stay in stock for $10.

It was great to see so many people pulling for the Crew in a state where the Green Bay Packers are the lead story from August until January. I only wish it could have lasted just a bit longer.