Ahh, spring training...

What could be more uplifting, in the middle of an especially brutal Wisconsin winter, than seeing the boys of summer trot onto the emerald green grass this morning for the first official pitchers and catchers workout of the new year?

From 2,000 miles away, Brewers fans can bask in two glorious words that form the basis for Commissioner Bud Selig's utopian dream for every franchise -- hope and faith. (ABC should apologize for with a similarly titled sitcom starring the woman from "Murphy Brown" and Regis Philbin's sidekick).

The slate is clean. The grass is green. The veterans are in tip-top shape. The prospects look promising. Put me in, coach. Let's play two...

What's that?

Yovani Gallardo is hurt already?

You've got to be @$%#& kidding.

A lateral meniscus tear of the left knee? He's going to have surgery in Milwaukee on the day of the first pitchers and catchers workout of the spring?

Well, so much for that hope and faith malarkey.

Upon hearing the news of Gallardo's injury, which occurred during a pre-game workout and will sideline the second-year righty for about a month, many Brewers fans are fighting the urge to concede the Central Division title to the Cubs and second place to the Reds.

Chances are, a good number of fans are trying to find some way to blame Gallardo's injury on manager Ned Yost.

But, wait, something good can come of this.

Really.

While it would be foolish to consider Gallardo's injury a positive development, it does provide a few timely reminders:

The 162-game baseball season is brutally long and filled with ups, downs, peaks, valleys, slumps, surges and in-betweens.

Teams prepare for the 180-day grind by spending six weeks in spring training. That can be brutally long, too, and also marked by ups, downs and flyballs lost in the high sky.

Injuries are an unavoidable part of the game and fans should expect to lose key players every year, usually at the worst time imaginable.

Pitching is a precious commodity in the major leagues. Anybody who ripped Brewers general manager Doug Melvin for carrying a surplus of potential starters into camp rather than making a trade should apologize to him today. Go ahead. We'll wait ...(fingers tapping on desk). Nicely done. Now, we can proceed.

Gallardo, who has pitched 20 big-league games as a rookie last year, was expected to be a mainstay of the Brewers' rotation. That's a lot of pressure for a young player to handle. It's a lot for a veteran. (Ask Jeff Suppan what it was like to wrestle expectations last year). Heaping heavy expectations on young players often leads to disappointment.

When young players don't perform, it creates opportunity for someone else. (Paging Chris Capuano, Dave Bush, Carlos Villanueva and Manny Parra to the white courtesy telephone). As is so often the case, the expectation situation has a flip side.

At some point this season, the Brewers will get a contribution from a pitcher or player who is not currently on anybody's radar. That player might not even be in the organization. It happens every year. (Had the Brewers won the division last year, Joe Dillon would have been a cult figure).

While knee injuries certainly are serious, you'd rather see a pitcher tear a lateral meniscus than a rotator cuff or ulnar collateral ligament. There are no guarantees, but Gallardo has a solid chance to rejoin the roster before centerfielder Mike Cameron's 25-game suspension expires.

The Brewers could use Gallardo during early series against the Cubs, Reds, Mets and Cardinals, but pennants aren't won or lost in April.

If Gallardo's injury ends up being the first in a series of spring setbacks for the Brewers, remember what happened 11 months ago. The Cubs put Mark Prior and Kerry Wood on the disabled list toward the end of camp. Chicago fans grimaced from the gut punch. The Cubs won the division with little help from either player.

At some point this afternoon, the Brewers will issue a press release indicating that Gallardo's surgery was a success. The announcement will be overshadowed by whatever Eric Gagne says or doesn't say during his first meeting with reporters.

Gagne's comments will be scrutinized in Wisconsin and overlooked by the rest of the baseball world, which will focus on Andy Pettitte's arrival at Yankees camp.

The Brewers will make headlines for the first 10 days of camp, and then move to the backburner while high school and college basketball takes center stage. About the time your bracket is busted, it'll be time to start finding designated drivers for opening day.

If all goes well, Gallardo will face hitters by then. If all goes really well, by the time the all-star break rolls around nobody will remember that he got hurt before practice started.