2011 Milwaukee Brewers

 Recently, whispers of division relocation in baseball have become a more out loud conversation. Some examples I've seen have suggested major shifts for teams or the altogether destruction of the AL and NL as we know it. Previous shifts in the baseball landscape haven't been so ambitious, but the geographical relocation proposed by some would make the biggest change since 1994, and in tandem with expansion to 32 teams (which would be a big monkey wrench to my 30 in 30 team plans every year) have some people even throwing around shifting teams to a different league (or without the clear AL/NL look, put some teams in a division with three other teams from the other league). The closest reference we have to such a situation, expansion coupled with relocation, was 1998 when baseball added the Devil Rays and Diamondbacks while shifting the Brewers from the AL to the NL to maintain even numbers in both leagues...because back then baseball didn't have year long interleague play.

We can get into the story of Milwaukee's league switch another time, but at the time the Brewers weren't exactly abandoning a storied American League history; an ALDS appearance in that wacky 1981 season and a pennant in 1982. Switching from the AL Central to the NL Central didn't help the Brewers as they continued to fail in their pursuit of an October return. A decade later they managed to break through as a Wild Card team, but conquering their division continued to exist on their to-do list.

By the end of 2010, the Brewers proved to have an offense that could compete for a pennant, but the pitching held them back. After a long offseason of signings, releases and deal making, the Brew Crew worked their pitching in such a way that the experts were picking the Brewers and their new Manager Ron Roenicke to make a deep postseason push. The Brewers made the experts look smart during the regular season, finishing with a 96-66 record, 6 games better than the St. Louis Cardinals to lay claim to their 1st ever NL Central title.

The NLDS opponent would be the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team the Brewers joined the NL with back in 1998. Yovani Gallardo started things off positively for the Brewers by winning the battle of aces in Game 1 and the home team followed up with a convincing win in Game 2. As the series shifted to Arizona, so did the fortunes as the Diamondbacks responded with a blowout Game 3 and making an early lead in Game 4 hold up to send the series back to Milwaukee tied 2-2. The win-or-go-home Game 5 had a little back and forth, but the Brewers took a 2-1 lead into the 9th inning. John Axford could not pick up the Save, though and the D-Backs pushed for extra innings. Axford made up for things by keeping Arizona off the scoreboard through the top of the 10th, giving Nyjer Morgan the chance to hit the walk off single to give the Brewers their first postseason series victory since their 1982 World Series run.

To get their first NL pennant, the Brewers had to go through the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS. The offense bailed out Zack Greinke for a 9-6 Game 1 win, but the Cardinals responded with a blowout win then took Game 3 in St. Louis to put the Brewers on the defensive. The Brewers managed one win on the road to ensure the series return to their home field but they needed to sweep the final games to prevail. The Cardinals jumped all over Shaun Marcum for the second time in the series to easily take Game 6 - and ending the Brewers pennant run.

This would be the final season before Prince would depart the Brewers for the American League, and we went out on a high note. The all star would lead Milwaukee with 38 Home Runs and 120 RBI while leading all of baseball with an imposing 32 Intentional Walks. He'd take home the Silver Slugger and finish 3rd overall for the MVP. His homer in NLDS Game 1 was seen as the knockout punch for the victory, and he added a couple more long balls in the NLCS.

"Chaotic" was a generous way to describe Nyjer Morgan, but he also proved to be a spark for the Brewers in his first season when he was healthy. His crowning moment with the Brewers came in the decisive Game 5 of the NLDS where his 10th inning single brought home the clinching run for Milwaukee's triumph.

Joining Fielder and Ryan Braun as all stars was Rickie Weeks. He did what he could to help in the NLCS with a couple of Home Runs.

Other regulars. Betancourt would lead the NL with 10 Sacrifice Flies. More prominently, he had a Home Run in the NLCS Game 1 win, helping out in their 6 run 5th inning to help secure the win.

Off the bench. Some of these guys with only 4 on-base have...unique charts. Usually guys with no on-base come with positively unbalanced charts to compensate, but the Brewers sported guys with charts that would be more beneficial if they were pitchers.

Gallardo was the unquestioned ace of the 2011 Brewers, leading the staff with 17 Wins, 207 Strikeouts, a 3.52 ERA and finishing 7th for the Cy Young. He also had the teams only Complete Game that year which was also a Shutout. 

The other men in the rotation. Greinke managed a respectable 16 Wins and 201 Strikeouts while Marcum and Wolf joined Gallardo with over 200 Innings each.

It's not every season that you're asked to replace a legend. With the retirement of Trevor Hoffman, the Brewers asked Axford to fill in some pretty big shoes at Closer, and he responded by leading the NL with 46 Saves and not only finishing top 10 for the Cy Young, but also getting a few MVP votes for good measure.

Bullpen and other utilized pitchers. The 5 man rotation above stayed pretty solid and reliable all season, but Estrada picked up a handful of starts and a rare option.

Braun had himself a career year, hitting 33 Home Runs with 111 RBI while leading the team with 109 Runs, 187 Hits, 33 Stolen Bases with a .332 Average. Not only did he win a Silver slugger, but he was the MVP of the National League. In time, however, all of this would soon be overshadowed and tainted by his positive test for PEDs later that year. What would follow would be an ugly legal battle over chain of custody that would overrule the positive test. Two years later, he would admit to the PED use, permanently casting doubt on his accomplishments of 2011 and beyond, and making a card like this banned.