BREWERS FANS, PLEASE READ!!! | By William Contreras
转载声明：本文转载自 The Players' Tribune，版权归原作者及原媒体所有。
(Translated from Spanish)
Let me tell you something about baseball: No one knows f***ing anything.
Every year, it’s the spring, you hear people talk. “The Brewers, I’m thinking they got lucky to win all those games last year … until the end, and then their luck ran out. They went as far as they can go.” OK!!! I mean, I just have to laugh. The playoff series against the Dodgers, we got swept…… It was terrible. I understand why there was not so much belief in us after a loss like that. But if you want the truth, I’ll tell you, because I was there. I’m the one who saw it from both sides, right? I’m behind the plate for their side … and I’m at the plate for our side. Here’s the truth: The Dodgers were the lucky team last season.
No, I’m not saying they were lucky to be champions. Of course not. It’s a tremendous team, with tremendous players. I’ll take nothing away from them. But were they lucky to SWEEP us? That’s a different story. Between their team and our team, 4–0, that wasn’t the gap. But they made the plays, got the breaks, and by the end of the series we were in our own heads. We’re thinking, Those guys…….. they found the magic. How else do you explain it??? You can’t. After the series, though, a lot of people thought they could explain it. They were like, “That’s how it will always go when those teams play….. The Brewers will lose. It’s too many stars, too many Hall of Famers, too many great players.” People thought that four games told the whole story. And the story to them, it’s how we weren’t good enough. How we couldn’t win the World Series with this group.
But anyone who thinks that way....... to be honest, they don’t know baseball. OF COURSE we could win the World Series with this group!!! Come on. Just look at our wins since I’ve been here: 92, 93, 97, 103. To me, that says a lot about who we are. We’re always on top of our division, and always improving. And maybe that’s not exciting to some people … but it’s our sport. Grinding and making these little adjustments. Maybe you focus on a few things over the winter. Maybe you sign a few new guys. Maybe a few young guys step up. Maybe you grow a little mentally tougher, a little hungrier. And then you train in the spring, and then you see what you got in the summer, and then you try to capture some magic in the fall. And if it doesn’t go your way, then you get back to work in the winter and you do the thing over again. So I’m hearing people bury us after getting swept last season and I’m like, What??? That was four games. That’s a short story.
Baseball, it’s a LONG story.
Just ask Pat. He’s in the game all his life, it’s 65 years until someone gives him a chance to be the man!!! Then he gets his chance and now my guy is the best manager in the league. Or just ask Christian. He’s an MVP ... then he deals with these injuries, it’s so tough. But nothing tougher than HIM, he sets the standard and that’s our captain. Or just ask Jake. Dude is almost gonna retire…… wow. Then he comes back, to help his family out, and now he’s letting it rip. Or just ask Brewers fans. The most unbelievable fans. They’re so loyal. But a lot of them never seen a World Series game in Milwaukee!!! And they never won it all. It’s crazy. Or honestly, man...... even just ask me. 15 years ago? I’m a kid in Puerto Cabello, trying to catch the eyes of some scouts. 10 years ago? I’m a teenager in rookie ball, watching my big bro win his ring with the Cubs. 5 years ago? I’m a backup catcher in Atlanta, working to earn those big league at-bats. And now I’m here.
So it’s almost like, to get to THIS moment, we had to have those other moments. Had to take the long way, I swear. And I think the team we are now, how we play fearless, that’s where it comes from. We fear nothing, because we’ve experienced everything. When we got swept like that….. it’s disappointment, heartbreak, embarrassment, all those things. So then a year later, Brewers / Dodgers AGAIN, we win the first three but they go up 4–0 in Game 4 … of course we know what everyone’s thinking. About to be Red Sox / Yankees 2004. Dodgers won four in a row last year, they’ll do it again. OK. But what are WE thinking? What’s the vibe in OUR dugout? I actually won’t even say it was calm. It wasn’t calm! It was more, Nahhhhh..... LET’S END THIS. So that’s what we did.
And just like last year when they swept us, and I said they were lucky to do that, I know this year we were probably lucky to sweep them. I won’t sit here and tell you the Brewers are unstoppable. I’ve been around. I know how quickly things can change in this game. Being hot in your last series, it doesn’t mean you stay hot in your next one. But I’ll tell you this: We’re a great team. We’ve been a great team. It’s just that every year, we’ve run into a team where it’s like, Those guys……. they found the magic. Now it’s THE WORLD SERIES though — so I guess it’s only two options left??? Either we’re about to run into them, or we are them.