People outside of Milwaukee don't quite understand what's happening with the Brewers. Sure, you could say they have a great young bullpen and a solid batting rotation, but does that alone explain how a small-market team straddling the bottom third in active payroll has the second-best record in baseball?
In speaking with reporters from Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin, first baseman Jake Bauers peeled back the curtain on the winning formula that's inspired the best start to a season in Milwaukee Brewers history.
"The chemistry in here is something that I haven't experienced any place else. There's no egos involved," Bauers explained. "Everybody wants to get better on a daily basis, everybody wants to contribute and everybody wants to win, and so I think when you've got 26 guys pulling on the same rope, it's never going to be a bad thing."
Culture only goes as far as the players and coaches take it. You can say you want to have a certain culture or win by playing and acting a certain way, but that doesn't mean anything unless you actually go out and execute on it. From the top of the org chart to the vendor tossing out brews and brats, there's something extremely special happening in Milwaukee. It's almost like they've caught lightning in a bottle, except it doesn't seem like it'll run out any time soon.
The Milwaukee Brewers experienced ego death and came out on the other side.
Some of you might read that heading and think, 'What the heck is this guy talking about?' Fair enough.
The short version is that ego death is the concept of disassociating with one's self, tossing your self-image out the window and understanding your place as a spec in the grand scheme of the universe around us. It's hard to know how one would act in that state. For some, it means achieving a deeper meaning and peace with your place in the world. For others, it's the end of all meaning and the start of a long walk down the road of cynicism.
Back to baseball. This concept of ego death is emblematic of what the Milwaukee Brewers players, coaches and leadership have embodied during this era of Brewers baseball. No one is bigger than the team, and everyone has their place within its structure. Sure, you might have a defined role, but that role isn't guaranteed. It's up to you to fulfill that role on a night-to-night basis to keep proving you deserve it.
This is the mentality that Manager Pat Murphy has instilled in his team over the last several years. Opportunities aren't given but earned, and everyone is subject to scrutiny. That doesn't mean everyone has a short leash, or that a cold streak will ruin your goodwill with the team. It almost means the opposite, frankly.
The Brewers' player development staff is among the best in professional sports right now. They're unrelenting in their pursuit of greatness for every player on the team, from the rookie just entering the lineup to the veteran whose number will go into the rafters.
When you take the ego away, all you're left with are people. Just people. Individuals who all come from different walks of life, but share the common bond of the game they love and the work they put into their craft in order to reach this point.
Sometimes, baseball is about statistics. Other times, it's about money. But for the Milwaukee Brewers, it's all about brotherhood and the love of the game. It might sound cheesy, but we oftentimes lose track of the human element in professional sports, but not in Milwaukee. Honing in on the human element is what has the Brewers in a position to contend for a World Series appearance this season, and that's not something to be taken lightly.
So long as they push ego to the side, build on their momentum, and keep the brotherhood alive, there's nothing too foreboding for the Brewers to tackle.
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