Elite 8, Regions 3 and 4: Least Liked Brewers of the Last Decade Bracket

On the right half of the “Least Liked Brewers of the Last Decade” bracket, the Hammonds and Suppan Regions are ready for Elite 8 action with the winners squaring off against each other in the Final Four. I’m not sure many people would have predicted all 4 of the Brewers that remain alive in these regions.

In the Hammons Region, the Cinderella story continued for 9^th-seeded Juan Francisco. After upsetting top-seed Jonathan Villar in round 2, Francisco knocked out 5-seed Randy Wolf in the Sweet 16, as well. And really, it wasn’t close. Francisco earned 69% (nice) of the vote, and he might have a secret society of haters that is leading him to victory after victory.

The other matchup in the Hammonds Region pitted 2-seed Wily Peralta with 3-seed Alex Gonzalez. The contest remained close for a while, but Peralta’s failed expectations was just too much for Gonzalez’s general crappiness. Can Peralta finish off an impressive run with a trip to the Final Four?

#2 Wily Peralta vs. #9 Juan Francisco

While it would seem Peralta has a big edge in this battle, we have underestimated Francisco for the first 3 rounds of this tourney already. Does the big lefty have enough left in him to take Peralta deep or will he whiff – again?

If Peralta just continues to be his normal, usual self, there is likely no stopping him. Of course, we have seen this story before where Brewers fans have such hope and anticipation of continued success from Peralta, and then he fails miserably. Can he finally turn the tide in his career?

Over in the Suppan Region, fans were in for quite a shock as top-seeded Matt Garza fell to the 4-seed, Jonathan Schoop, by 57%-43% final tally. Garza just didn’t have it – a common theme in his time with the Brewers. Many thought Schoop would be a worthy opponent, but few actually would have predicted a Sweet 16 victory over Garza. Did Garza’s family hear about the poll or something?

Meanwhile, 2-seed Manny Parra and 3-seed Logan Schafer were neck and neck throughout their contest. They sat in a 50-50 virtual tie for the final 12 hours, with Parra snagging the save with a 9 vote margin of victory. Most analysts anticipated a comfortable win for Parra in the Sweet 16, so maybe his chances of a Final Four berth have diminished, even sitting one win shy of that level.

#2 Manny Parra vs. #4 Jonathan Schoop

Another Elite 8 pitcher vs. hitter battle on this side of the bracket. Good pitching normally beats good hitting – so how does poor pitching match up with poor hitting? This Elite 8 battle is likely to come down to who makes the fewest mistakes, which between these two, is tough to gauge.

Like Peralta, Parra has a tremendous opportunity to put all of his Brewers’ failures behind him. A berth in the Final Four would have to mean a lot to him – or not – I’m still confused how we should phrase these victories (or losses). Anyway, plenty of fan anger has been geared toward these 2 men, and now we’ll see who has earned the most angst.

By the end of this voting, we will have pared our field of 64 down to just 4 Brewers to determine the “Least Liked Brewers of the Last Decade.” Still plenty to be decided in the tournament, but you can see how everyone has fared thus far.