And the Big Pussy's Pick of the Week Goes To...

That collective noise you hear from the lakes region is one of "WAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!"

This week, the BPPOW goes to that team in the midwest that makes the Mets handling of the 2007 "collapse" and subsequent firing of Willie Randolph overnight on the West Coast look like a lesson in professionalism -- the Milwaukee Brewers!!!

For the past two seasons, the "buzz" in baseball fan land is that the Brew Crew are gonna be a tough team to beat. With young talent like Ryan Braun, Corey Hart and Prince Fielder leading the way, plus Ben Sheets and Jeff Suppan anchoring the rotation, you'd think this team is gonna give you a hard time.

So when the Mets went into town and swept them (without having to face the pitcher that has basically dominated the National League since he came over, C.C. Sabathia), of course, it had to with the fact that the Mets were superior and the Brew Crew were not all they were cracked up to be.

Until last weekend, when NL East arch rivals the Phillies came in and did the same exact thing.

This time, the sweep had many implications for all teams involved. One was that the Mets magic number could potentially go down without even having to win a game. Of course we should all know we can't rely on that happening when it comes to the Phillies (See: 2007 and the whole month of September).

Two was that the Phillies would gain ground on the Wild Card race and the Brewers would lose ground. You'd think that would be motivation enough for the Brewers to bring their A-game, right?

But yes, the Mets would certainly sweep the Braves (and would have, had it not been for that pesky bullpen) and send Larry Jones home teary-eyed in the place he named his son after. And we wouldn't need to pay attention to the Phillies/Brewers outcome, right?

Right?

No, alas, the Brewers took it one step further. Not only did they get swept into oblivion, the Wild Card race is tied...and now, the Mets can't seem to buy a run against the Nationals. Yes you read that right. The Nationals. The last scene I watched was David Wright killing a potential rally in the 8th inning. I am going on Mets sabbatical for the rest of this week because of it.

Oh yeah, and the Brewers fired their manager Ned Yost 13 games into the month...with 12 games left. In the middle of the pennant race.

Now, the irony of it is...the Brewers have had it a lot worse than the Mets did. Okay, so going through the "collapse" as fans...that was rough. And I mean, I went to Milwaukee last year and their fans are happy for effort (could you imagine that in New York?)...so I doubt their fans even really noticed. But there was one point in 2007 when the Brewers were up something like 8.5 games...and I guess because a.) they don't play in New York where everything is amplified and b.) it was in the middle of the season and not at the very last day of the season, Yost was left off the hook.

But there were also rumblings that Yost had lost his team. Shit, when I was there, Johnny Estrada and Yost fought in the tubes of the dugout. They came out and said everything was "all right." But when the dugout erupted again in August of this year...that should have been a sign. THINGS ARE NOT ALL RIGHT IN THE LAND OF BRATS BEER AND CHEESE.

But if there was a time to fire Ned Yost, it would have been last year.

So will the Brewers make the playoffs? I don't know. I almost hope not. It gives the Mets a chance to win either the division or the Wild Card.

I'd like to spank the Phils though in the division. That's just me.

So congratulations Brew Crew...you've made the Mets actually look professional. Aw right! Now let's see if Dale Sveum (???) can right that ship!