The Western Division playoff picture is a really big mess;

The team that wins at the end of the season could be .500 or less.

This includes your Timber Rattlers, who are currently;

Racking up wins with great alacrity.

Four in a row and seven of their last eight at last count;

Meanwhile, losses by the teams in front are starting to mount.

Attendance is way up and a record may break;

And there are plenty of chances for glory and for heartache.

The weather may be turning from summer to fall;

Who cares? It's time for This Week in Timber Rattlers Baseball.

Instead of a recap of the games this week, I'm going to do a top five stories/themes from the last week.

1.)  Yes, they are still in it.  I wrote this post at Rattler Radio on Tuesday before the game against Beloit. At the time, the Rattlers were four games out of the wild card and had 20 games left in the season.  In that post, I stated that 35-35 may be the winning number to get into the second half wild card spot.  To get there, the Rattlers would need to go 15-5 over their last 20 games.  Wisconsin is 2-0 since that post was written and they are out of the cellar and they are only two games out of the wild card.

2.) Brett gets bumped.  Timber Rattlers fans had to deal with their own Brett leaving them for another team.  Brett Lawrie was promoted to Double-A Huntsville after Monday night's game.  Yes, there was wailing and gnashing of teeth but there are two types of fans that are doing this.  The first type sees a 2008 1st round pick, who is -- arguably -- the best player on the team, being promoted away from the team just as he is warming up and helping this team make a playoff push.  The other type of fan is the one who follows the minor leauges, looks at Lawrie's numbers this season and says, "He hasn't earned a trip up to Double-A."

My response to fan type #1 is:  The Rattlers played 19 games without Brett Lawrie in the starting lineup this season.  They were 13-6 in those 19 games.  They played 18 games in which he did not play at all in a game.  Wisconsin was 13-5 in those games.  Of those 18 games in which Lawrie did not play, seven were against the Kane County Cougars, the eventual Western Division Champions in the first half.  Wisconsin was 5-2 in those seven games without #13 against the Cougars.  I think that the Rattlers -- much like that team up at Lambeau -- will be alright without their Brett.

My response to fan type #2 is:  Take a look at this Rattler Radio post.  Ignore Player C and Player D.  One is comment bait over there and the other is an attempt at humor.  Here is the comparison if you don't want to click through and give me a little traffic.

Player A, a supplemental 1st round pick, turned 19 in late in the season in which he put up these numbers in his first Midwest League season:

.267-11-72 and 8-for-12 in stolen bases in 130 games. Walked 33 times and struck out 124 times

Player B, a high first round pick, turned 19 in January before the season in which he put up these numbers in his first Midwest League season. A season that also happened to be his first as a professional:

.274-13-65 and 19-for-30 in stolen bases in 105 games. Walked 41 times and struck out 70 times.

Player A was an AL All-Star and is going to be a very good player in the major leagues for a very long time.  Player B is Brett Lawrie.  I think that, just like a certain other Brett, this one is going to be just fine.  I just hope he isn't involved in a trade like the one that sent Player A to his crrent team.

3.)  BROCK!

Brock Kjeldgaard is white hot in August.  He has had an eight game hitting streak and is currently on a nine-game hitting streak that is a hit in 17 of 19 games this month.  He hit his 19th homer of the season last night and is tied for third on the franchise single season home run list.  In August, Kjeldgaard is 28-for-78 (.359) with three homers and 13 RBI.  The most impressive thing about this is that Kjeldgaard entered August with a .213 average.  He's got it up to .241 after Thursday night.  An almost 30 point jump in a batting average is easy to do early in the season.  But, this has been a significant move up with 400+ at bats.  That'spretty good.

4.) Rehab...The good kind.  Jeff Suppan pitched for the Rattlers last Saturday against Beloit.  He allowed four runs on five hits.  Four of the five hits were for extra bases.  The most important thing about this appearance was that he threw without discomfort and is on track to rejoin the major league rotation.  Dave Bush made his second rehab start for the Rattlers on Tuesday.  Very sharp over three scoreless and hitless innings.  Then, Cody Scarpetta took over and pitched six more scoreless innings with two hits for a 1-0 win.  Total attendance for the three rehab starts this season = 16,117

5.) Attendance record in sight.  The Timber Rattlers will most likely break their single season attendance record on Sunday.  The old record is 233,797 and that was set in 1996.  After Sunday there are three games remaining in the regular season.  Then, maybe the playoffs.  Then, start planning for 2010 because the schedule for next season is out already.  Thursday, April 8 @ 6:35pm against Kane County is Opening Night, 2019.

The Timber Rattlers playoff chances as related by a 70's sitcom character

Two out with 18 to play?  I'll take those odds.  So, you want some coffee with that?

The Week ahead in Bullet Points:

• FRI, 8/21 vs. Cedar Rapids @ 7:05pm FIREWORKS
• SAT, 8/22 vs. Cedar Rapids  @ 6:35pm FIREWORKS
• SUN, 8/23 vs. Cedar Rapids @ 1:05pm Silent Auction for the game-worn, Brewers-themed jerseys the team has been wearing on Sundays all season long.
• MON-THU @ Burlington with a resumption of the suspended game from July 7.  That restart is on Tuesday.
  

Now a little something from a million years ago when I was at WSUP.

So long, everybody.