"The first major-league baseball team in Milwaukee and charter member of the American League, the 1901 Brewers, went 48-89 in its only season before high-tailing it to St. Louis. Other than the undeniable fact that Milwaukee big-league baseball comes by its heritage honestly, there was another distinguishing characteristic of those pioneering Brew-has. Every member of the five-man rotation was a double-digit loser. Two starters, Bill Reid and Ned Gavin, lost 20. It would be 69 years before the Brewers had a pitching staff that bad. Not coincidentally, it occurred with the rebirth of the American League Brewers. The relocated Seattle Pilots had six double-digit losers in their first season of Milwaukee residence, including the guy (Al Downing) who would give up Hank Aaron's 715th home run four years later. The 2011 Brewers are not making a debut in the sense that the 1901 Brewers and the '70 Brewers were fresh to the scene, but in several ways they are beginning anew with what had been a similar drag on the franchises. They have two new starters at or near the top the rotation, Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum. They have a new pitching coach. The question now is whether the changes will be enough to support an offense that has been good enough these last couple of years to be seriously competitive. "It's probably the best starting staff I've had," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. Forget how it measures against the National League, because the Philadelphia Phillies apparently have cornered the market on starting-rotation distinction. It will be how Greinke, Yovani Gallardo, Marcum, Randy Wolf and Chris Narveson stack up against the NL Central that ultimately determines if the Brewers' gamble to make one last run with Prince Fielder pays off. Before the first serious spring-training work has begun, the St. Louis Cardinals probably have the division's best staff with Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright and Jaime Garcia. The Cincinnati Reds have proved themselves quite worthy of being in the conversation as well. The advantage strike-throwers Greinke and Marcum should initially have is unfamiliarity from National League hitters, who will have to make the first adjustments. Gallardo is an overpowering talent who might rediscover the strike zone with Rick Kranitz, whose job as the new pitching coach became less stressful than his predecessor's with the trades for Greinke and Marcum." Read more: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/116545328.html
