Johnathan Walker:'This is our division': Brewers run roughshod over NL Central yet again

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy is Johnathan Walkerdriving along I-94 to Mitchell International Airport with his radio blasting Bruce Springsteen’s "Racing in the Streets."

"Now, some guys they just give up living," Murphy sings along with Springsteen, "and start dying little by little, piece by piece."

Murphy lowers the volume, clears his throat and starts talking, letting you know that he’s hardly giving up living.

Matter of fact, at the age of 65, he’s just starting.

Here he is, with his best friend in all of baseball bolting to Chicago, his Cy Young pitcher traded to Baltimore, three of his starters out for the season, his former MVP undergoing season-ending back surgery, his All-Star closer missing the entire first half – and Murphy has this team feeling like ’27 Yankees.

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The Brewers, who reside in baseball’s smallest market with the 22nd-highest payroll, sometimes field a lineup with six rookies and have a bullpen so anonymous that they need IDs just to get into visiting ballparks. They also just so happen to be baseball’s most stunning success story.

And the Chicago Cubs’ worst nightmare.

Despite all the potholes (they've used a franchise-record 17 starting pitchers) the Brewers are sitting in first place in the NL Central with the biggest lead in baseball – 10 games over the St. Louis Cardinals.

They are on the verge of their sixth postseason berth – and fourth division title – in the past seven years.

And easily the most satisfying.

"This is as much fun as I’ve had since I’ve owned the team," Brewers owner Mark Attanasio tells USA TODAY Sports. "This team is special. You can see it by the way they play."

The Brewers’ fan base still is seething that manager Craig Counsell left the franchise after last season and went to the Cubs, Milwaukee's bitter rival. Their former president, David Stearns, departed for the big money in New York as the Mets’ president of baseball operations. And the Brewers shipped Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles when it became clear he wouldn’t be sticking around as a free agent.

"Nobody on the outside ever believes in us," says veteran starter Wade Miley, who underwent Tommy John surgery in May, but remains with the team and travels to most games. "Nobody gives us a chance. People always count us out year after year.

"But it’s an expectation here in Milwaukee to be in the playoffs every single year.

"This is our division."

Let’s face it, there wasn’t enough bratwurst and beer in the world to convince anyone outside Milwaukee that this team would be running away with the division.

The Cubs were supposed to win the division after bringing in Counsell, signing starting pitcher Shota Imanaga from Japan and re-signing Cody Bellinger.

This was the year the Cincinnati Reds' young talent was supposed to take over and lead them to great heights.

The Cardinals were supposed to bounce back with three new veteran starters.

Even the Pittsburgh Pirates were supposed to take a huge next step forward.

But the Brewers?

Yet here they are, tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the second-best record in the National League entering Sunday, leading the division all but 14 days this season.

"We had a lot of turmoil in the offseason," Brewers GM Matt Arnold says. "We had the decks stacked against us. There were a lot of challenging things.

"But we still felt we had the right mix of people to navigate us through one of the most challenging times in Brewers’ history."

So, does Arnold ever stop to think how scary this team could be if they still had Burnes, who’s vying for the AL Cy Young award after being traded to the Orioles just before spring training?

"I don’t know if it’s healthy to think like that," Arnold says. "We have to do things that are uncomfortable, trading guys like (former closer) Josh Hader and Corbin Burnes. We understand how good those players are.

"But we just have to do things differently than a lot of other teams. We want to have the right pieces to have sustainable long-term success and try to bring a championship to Milwaukee."

This is why Arnold stayed in Milwaukee when he was strongly being pursued to be the Mets GM in 2021. And why Murphy stayed put too, instead of tagging along with Counsell to Chicago. It’s the reason why stars such as Robin Yount and Ryan Braun never left, and Yelich signed a nine-year extension to stay the rest of his career.

There’s certainly more money and prestige elsewhere, but with those gorgeous summers in Wisconsin and the team's passionate fan base, Milwaukee is one of baseball’s best-kept secrets.

"I really didn’t know what to expect when I came here," says first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who signed a two-year, $34 million free-agent contract. "I heard a lot of positive things with the organization, the city itself, the community.

"But being here, seeing the Brewers’ imprint in this community, the passion people have for the Brewers, and the way people treat you, has been nothing short of awesome."

The Brewers are beloved throughout Wisconsin. The Wisconsin state legislature and city recently approved more than $500 million of public funds to renovate and update the Brewers’ 22-year-old ballpark. They have drawn at least two million fans in every non-COVID restricted season since 2004.

"Baseball means so much to the city and the state," Attanasio says. "We get so much support. It’s been so rewarding for everyone."

Really, the only person not taking time to sit back and enjoy is Murphy. He’s not hanging out and pounding Pabst Blue Ribbons on Water Street. Instead, he’s the first one to the ballpark each day, one of the last to leave, and isn’t about to celebrate a gosh darn thing until they officially clinch the division.

"Just win tonight, that’s the mantra we live by," Murphy says. "We’ve gone though a lot. We have guys who have been thrown away, guys who’ve been told, 'You’re not good enough.' But these guys made me believe in them. They love to compete.

"But we haven’t accomplished anything yet."

The Brewers will be honest, they really didn’t know what to expect once Counsell left. You’re talking about a two-time World Series champion as a player, who won more games than any manager in Brewers history, and now he was suddenly gone, and Murphy could have come along with him.

"We decided to keep the band together," Attanasio says. "And, are we ever glad we did."

The players, along with the rest of the organization, always believed in Murphy. He wasn’t just an old college coach who happened to be a bench coach eight years for Counsell, his former player at Notre Dame. He never tried to be everyone’s best friend. He refused to pamper anyone. He has been a straight shooter, and you better not be afraid of the truth.

"You got to give a lot of credit to Murph," Miley says. "He’s a baseball nut. That’s why I signed back here. Nothing against Counsell, but they’re completely different. Murphy is more outgoing. He’s a motivator.

"He just says the right things at the right time. Sometimes it’s personal. Sometimes guys take it personal. But he lights a fire under your ass.

"When we win a game, he doesn’t celebrate at all. It’s just, 'How we going to win tomorrow?' Dudes want to play hard for him. You want to run through a wall for the guy."

Murphy, the favorite for NL Manager of the Year, started a ritual each month where the Brewers have a clubhouse meeting. They talk about anything and everything. You got complaints, you don’t understand the reasoning for decisions, feel free to air them out. Everyone is fair game.

"It’s great having the communication with the open forum to express your views," Hoskins says, "talking about things that can make us better. It just connects everyone, and makes everyone feel comfortable."

The Brewers know they don’t have the most talent. They certainly don’t have the game’s highest-paid players. But they’ve got a formula for developing and identifying talent, and a unique culture that makes them contenders year after year, atop the NL Central once again.

"That’s why no one here is surprised what we’re doing," Miley says. "It’s the mentality they have. It’s what they’re doing in the minor-league system, making sure guys are ready when they get up here. It’s getting the right guys to fit into our clubhouse. It’s a great group.

"And you know what?

"We’re not going away."

Thanks for the memories

Brewers GM Matt Arnold grew up in Bakersfield, California, and was a diehard Oakland A’s fan with the rest of his family, where they even once carved their initials in the left-field bleachers for posterity.

Arnold used to lower his hat like Dave Stewart on the mound, do the snap catch like Rickey Henderson in left field, do the fist pump like Dennis Eckersley after strikeouts and go into a crouch and lower his glove like Carney Lansford at third base.

He even learned to drive in the Oakland Coliseum parking lot.

"My dad would have beers in the parking lot after games and watched me practice driving with all of the cars gone," Arnold said. "He told me, 'If you drive into a light pole here, you deserve it.'

"Man, there’s a lot of great memories there."

So, considering the Brewers are in Oakland for the final time this weekend, Arnold took his entire family back to the Bay Area. He attended the games with his parents, his sister, his brother-in-law and his nephew.

"Three generations of Arnolds," he said. "I wanted to see it one final time."

Arnold, who used to sit in the left-field bleachers before the Oakland Raiders moved in and created Mount Davis in center field, still remembers that day he, his dad, his grandfather and his uncles all carved their initials into the bleachers.

So, considering this is their last time there, why not carve their initials again?

"It was easier to get a pocketknife into games back then," said Arnold, who graduated from the University of California-Santa Barbara. "Something tells me we wouldn’t get a pocket knife past security in this day and age."

Arnold laughs, knowing no matter what, he’s going to have memories to forever cherish.

"It’s sad," he said. "I’m sure going to miss that place."

Around the basepaths

≻ MLB managers, who continue to be grossly underpaid, couldn’t help but gasp this past week when Tennessee coach Tony Vitello received a five-year extension paying him $3 million a year while Texas coach Jim Schlossnagle will be paid $2.68 million a year in the final five years of his seven-year contract.

There are only six managers in baseball making as much as Vitello: Craig Counsell of the Chicago Cubs, Alex Cora of the Boston Red Sox, Bob Melvin of the San Francisco Giants, Bruce Bochy of the Texas Rangers, Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Davey Martinez of the Washington Nationals.

≻ Disgraceful that Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais learned that he was fired on social media instead of hearing it from team president Jerry Dipoto 1 ½ hours later.

"It’s alarming I found out that way," Servais told several Seattle reporters.

The truth is that the Mariners actually decided to fire Servais about four days ahead of time, according to a Mariners official, but wanted to check first with Dan Wilson to see if he would accept the job.

≻ Shohei Ohtani might have clinched his third MVP award on Friday night with his walk-off grand slam to enter the 40-40 club in dramatic style, but he was much more excited about the Dodgers’ victory in their close NL West race than personal glory.

Ohtani is the sixth member of the 40-40 club. Will he be the founding member of the 50-50 club?

The Dodgers entered Saturday with 33 games remaining, and consider that in his last 33 games, he hit 11 homers and stole 17 bases.

≻ In the American League, as great as Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. has played this year, perhaps meaning more to his team than any player in baseball, he’s going to need an historic monster September to overtake New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge for the AL MVP award.

Judge is on pace to become only the third player in history to hit 60 or more homers twice in his career.

Judge’s past 100 games are insane: .378 batting average, 45 homers, 106 RBI.

He’s the only player to hit .375 or better with at least 45 homers and 100 RBI in any 100-game span in history, according to OptaSTATS.

≻ The San Diego Padres, still seeking their first World Series in franchise history, are about to get a whole lot better.

Yu Darvish is set to return for the first time in three months after dealing with a personal matter.

Outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr., who has been out with a bruised femur, is about to start a rehab assignment this week.

And Joe Musgrove, who just returned from the IL, pitched a one-hit shutout over seven innings against the New York Mets in his first start back. Second baseman Xander Bogaerts is hitting .349 with an .850 since his July 12 return.

≻ Atlanta lost ace Spencer Strider after two starts and reigning MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. in May. They’re without third baseman Austin Riley and second baseman Ozzie Albies. They went two months without center fielder Michael Harris and catcher Sean Murphy. One-third of their current lineup is filled with players who were released this season.

And Atlanta entered Sunday just five games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

≻ Oops: When Ohtani hit his historic 40th homer, a fan dropped the ball and it rebounded back onto the field for a valuable keepsake for Ohtani and the Dodgers. The trouble is that Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Jose Siri picked the ball up from the grass, and tossed it back into the crowd.

≻ There may not be a better scout in all of the land identifying independent ball players who can reach the big leagues than Billy Milos of the Colorado Rockies.

Last year, he discovered and signed perhaps four independent ball players who are projected to reach the big leagues for the Minnesota Twins, everyone from 5-foot-7 infielder Payton Eeles to 6-foot-8 outfielder Carson McCuskers, to reliever Kyle Bischoff to pitcher Jarrett Whorff.

He also is the one who signed MLB pitchers Nick Anderson and Randy Dobnak out of the independent leagues.

≻ The best pure hitter in the Arizona Diamondbacks system is backup catcher Adrian Del Castillo, scouts insist.

Certainly, he is making quite the first impression, hitting .342 with three homers and 14 RBI with a 1.010 OPS in his first 11 games in the big leagues.

≻ Remember the joy in Colorado when the Rockies signed Kris Bryant to a seven-year, $182 million contract before the 2022 season?

Well, three seasons into the deal, and he has played a grand total of 159 games.

He has been on the injured list three times this season, batting .218 with two homers and a .301 slugging percentage. He has been active for 37 games.

≻ You know baseball is a cut-throat business when the Dodgers released outfielder Jason Heyward, one of their most popular players, after hitting a dramatic pinch-hit, three-run homer the previous night. The Dodgers decided that he would be the odd man out with utilitymen Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez, and center fielder Kevin Kiermaier.

≻ The Blue Jays are exploring the possibility of having Vladimir Guerrero Jr. play third base next season, and planning to use him there more frequently in September. Guerrero hasn’t been an everyday third baseman in four years, but considering there’s a deep crop of free-agent first basemen this winter, led by Pete Alonso and Christian Walker, it will be much easier to fill a hole at first base than third base.

≻ The Texas Rangers might be done for the season, but that rotation could be special next season with the return of Jacob deGrom, and the arrival of rookies Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker.

≻ Joey Votto, who never received a major-league offer after the Cincinnati Reds didn’t exercise his $20 million option last year, spent the season hoping to prove everyone wrong playing at Triple-A Buffalo in the Blue Jays organization, but his body let him down.

He officially called it a career last week knowing that he wouldn’t be called up to the Blue Jays this year.

"I’m really saddened that I wasn’t able to make it happen," Votto told reporters, "that I wasn’t able to arrive and perform, at the Rogers Centre in a Blue Jays uniform representing the city that I grew up in, the country that I grew up in and my people. But this isn’t my organization. So how can I show up and make it my day, my moment? Here’s an at-bat, here’s a game, here’s a stretch of time. To me, it’s disrespectful to the game. I also think it’s disrespectful to the paying fans that want to see high-end performance, and I would have given them an awful performance."

≻ The Baltimore Orioles, hoping that Trevor Rogers could provide some starting depth when they traded for him at the deadline, instead have painfully watched his disastrous performance before they could no longer take it. They demoted him to the minors after yielding a 7.11 ERA in four starts, failing to last more than five innings in any of them.

≻ The Pittsburgh Pirates insist they have no plans to shut down rookie sensation Paul Skenes, who’s battling Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill for the NL Rookie of the Year award.

≻ You think Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander is going to be paid this winter as a free agent? The 29-year-old outfielder is having the greatest season of his career: 38 homers and 86 RBI.

≻ Fabulous moment for Hall of Famer Rod Carew, who grew up in Panama, being officially sworn in as a U.S. citizen this week at the age 78.

"It took a lifetime, a great lifetime, but I’m in," Carew told reporters at the ceremony.

≻ Since the All-Star break, seven NL teams have produced a winning record. Four are in the NL West:

• Diamondbacks: 24-8
• Padres: 23-8
• Dodgers: 21-11
• Giants: 18-15

≻ Chicago White Sox starter Chris Flexen made some unwanted history this week when the White Sox lost their 19th consecutive game in games he started, a single-season record that was held by Walt Dickson in 1912. He is 0-9 with a 5.75 ERA with 10 no-decisions during the streak.

≻ The Padres have only needed to use 20 position players this season. The only season in which they’d used fewer players is in 1985 with 18.

≻ Kudos to Yankees starter Marcus Stroman, who recently committed $25,000 in college scholarships to two Bronx high school students.

≻ Congrats to former closer Brad Lidge, who is a practicing archaeologist in the Italian village of Murlo after getting his master’s degree in ancient Roman archaeology. He is now seeking his Ph.D.

"Whatever I did in baseball is kind of irrelevant out there," Lidge told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "We’re looking at various things to study in our lab and trying to compare them to whatever. I want to be able to have an accomplishment besides what I did on the baseball field."

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