Milwaukee Brewers Tickets

That the Brewers broke their string of 12 losing seasons in 2005 is purely a matter of semantics. The team finished .500, eight games out of the playoffs and 19 games out of first place in the National League Central. What was important was that Milwaukee finally showed real signs of progress, winning 14 more games than the year before and introducing the first wave of impact talent that has been developing in the farm system.
The Brewers handed over their middle infield to top prospects J.J. Hardy and Rickie Weeks early in the season, and while they were inconsistent, they showed plenty of potential. Hardy came back from a terrible start and nagging injuries to hit .305 in September, raising his average by 60 points after July 15. Weeks, on the other hand, got off to a hot start after he was called up in June before slumping. It ended up a bad thumb was the cause of many of his problems, and he had surgery in October to repair it. By the end of the season, first baseman Prince Fielder and young pitchers like Jose Capellan and Dana Eveland also were in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee got bigger contributions in 2005 from its veterans, some of whom will be part of the team's long-term future. Lefthander Chris Capuano was one of the leading winners in the NL, going 18-12, 3.99, and outfielder Carlos Lee proved to be a good acquisition after coming over from the White Sox, hitting 32 home runs with 114RBIs.
The Brewers will continue their building project in 2006, as they traded away Lyle Overbay to clear room for Fielder at first. It still might be a year early to expect playoff contention, but losing seasons should be a thing of the past in Milwaukee.