As Slim Pickens once said in "Blazing Saddles," what in the wide, wide world of sports is a-going on here?

Slim wasn't talking about the 2001 Brewers, but we sure are. The Brew Crew has lost 10 in a row, the most consecutive defeats since year five of the Garner regime (August 1996). A year that looked promising and even exciting just one month ago has crashed headlong into the rocks on the bottom of the NL Central. OK, they're not in last yet, but how long until this listing ship sinks there?

Ten straight losses isn't the half of it. Wait, I guess technically it is. Because the true extent of this malodorous run reaches back 26 games into late June, the day after the Brewers had swept first-place Chicago at Wrigley Field. Since that sunny Sunday, it's been a hailstorm of losses that even Miller Park's roof can't repel -- 21 of 'em in 26 tries. That's basically a full month of sub-.200 ball, a shockingly dismal winning percentage (.192) that truly says it all.

It's been a grimace-inducing year for Burnitz and the Brewers

What happened? No doubt, the city got ahead of itself with the opening of Miller Park, and I'm at the top of the list of this spring's naive, blind supporters of what was basically last year's team plus Jeffrey Hammonds. Yet to the naked eye, this is still a group of mediocre-and-above major leaguers, surely not one capable of the season's longest losing string and records for batting ineptitude. Uhhh ... right?

Think again. (And before you do, shelve the injury excuse: Boston has flourished with a Triple-A lineup and Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez both on the DL). The Brewers are, simply put, one of the worst hitting teams in the majors. And, in many ways, they are the worst.

The three linchpins of the lineup -- Richie Sexson, Jeromy Burnitz and Geoff Jenkins -- are hitting a combined .252 with 284 punchouts. They have managed to hit 58 homers, but have drawn just 101 walks -- 52 of them Burnitz's. Jenkins' regression is by far the most troubling: after hitting .313 and .303 with 21 and 34 homers in his first two seasons, Jenkins has fallen into the .270s and has been a poor hitter since suffering a shoulder injury in late April.

By now, we're all well aware of the Brewers' record-setting strikeout pace, but we knew that would be a problem going into the season. And as Davey Lopes mentioned this spring, there has been a corresponding increase in power (129 homers). In fact, the team's homer pace would give them 213 for the year, the most since Harvey's Wallbangers crashed 216 in '82. But the '01 Brewers will be the 19th straight Milwaukee team to miss the playoffs since that aging bunch (Note: the 1992 team, aka the last Milwaukee team to reach .500, hit a measly 82 homers).

Homer totals are inherently misleading as a gauge of offensive prowess, and the Crew's dingers often go for naught anyways. Why? Since the team's .316 on-base percentage is tied with Kansas City for the worst in baseball, many of them are solo shots after the team is already down three runs. The low OBP is a direct result of their flailings with two strikes, which clearly come at the expense of walks. Milwaukee has earned just 280 free passes, better than only the castle-less Royals (244). On the recent five-game trip through California, the Crew drew two walks in 169 at bats.

Think they need an average hitter in the house? Tyler Houston (.298) doesn't count, because he, too, strikes out a lot: 57 times in 225 ABs. Oh, and he's out till September anyways. Just think, this is the same franchise that put Paul Molitor (lifetime .306) and Robin Yount (.285) in the Hall of Fame.

Admittedly, it's tough to see any positives sitting at the bottom of a double-digit losing streak. And a team can get away with playing .500 ball for four to five months of the year as long as they have a stretch of 30 games or so when they play out of their minds, which is essentially what the Cubs have done to hold first in the Central. In a different way, it's also what David Duval did this weekend to win the British Open; he sat at even par Friday evening, but was at 10-under when he hoisted the trophy Sunday.

Still, the streak -- in progress and threatening a 14-gamer back in 1994 -- has exposed all the team's ugly warts. They can't move runners over. There is no speed on the basepaths. There is no long-term answer in center field. The pitching is promising, but achingly fragile. Position help from the minors is non-existent. And, worst of all, none of the team's stars have even remotely risen to the challenge of turning things around.

It might be just another losing year in Brewtown -- eight years going on nine, 18 empty Octobers primed for 19. But the weight of expectations and promise symbolized by the new stadium make the '01 Brewers the most disappointing edition in recent memory.