{image1}Nearly six months to the day -- and in the very same place -- the 2005 season began, the Milwaukee Brewers have finally ended the streak of 12 losing seasons.

And with the team finishing at that magical .500 mark for the first time since 1992, let there be little celebrating.

It's OK to crack a smile and finally believe the corner has been turned, but at the same time, there should be a lot of disappointment ... and that's not a bad thing.

While finishing with a non-losing record is quite an accomplishment for a franchise that has suffered as much as the Brewers, a look at the final Wild Card standings should make fans more than just a bit angry.

Nobody in their right mind would have expected this team to qualify for the post season, but a closer look at the record should pose the question "why not?"

This team, which dropped the last two games of the year to finish 81-81, could easily have made up the eight games between them and Houston, who earned the NL Wild Card. In fact, as General Manager Doug Melvin put it, the distance was only four games; had the Brewers won four, while Houston needed to lose four.

How many times did Victor Santos stroll out to the mound with excellent stuff, only to lose by a run or two? Or how about the plight of Doug Davis, who's is among the league leaders in quality starts over the past two years; if only the Brewers could have found even a handful of runs during those two stretches, Miller Park might be playing host to October baseball.

No doubt, there is a lot to be happy about this season. Fans finally got to put faces to the names of the kids who the franchise is counting on to bring good times back to Miller Park.

Well over two million of you believed enough in what the team was building to go out and buy tickets. And that, in return, inspired new owner Mark Attanasio to buy more than 26,000 of you a ticket to the home finale last Thursday.

But with all of that goodwill, and all of that appreciation, should come higher expectations. Merely finishing .500 should not be talked about during the months leading up to the first spring training workout.

Instead of talking about the Brewers turning the corner in 2005, discussion should instead focus on what didn't happen. That shouldn't be construed as a way to diminish what the team accomplished over the past few months.

But Attanasio told his players, his employees and the team's fans, that with an increase in payroll would come higher expectations. Perhaps it is fickle, but the season is over, and why not look ahead.

Yost told fans that his team would compete to the very end, and to their credit, the players have lived up to that billing. Rickie Weeks and J.J. Hardy look to be everything they have been rumored to be. Bill Hall has transformed himself from a raw but promising utility player to a guy that can step in and start every day.

Carlos Lee fulfilled Melvin's prophecy of a dangerous right-handed hitter in the middle of the lineup (and it's worth mentioning, by the way, without on hint of the attitude that allegedly plagued him with the White Sox). While not only making the adjustment to right field, Geoff Jenkins rebounded with one of the best second half's in recent memory to look more like the hitter that warranted the long-term extension last season.

Lest anybody forget the effort that Chris Capuano put in this year, flirting with the magical 20-victory plateau and solidifying himself as the No. 3 man in the Brewers' rotation.

Things, indeed, were good this year. The "loser" tag now hangs solitary in the visitors' clubhouse at PNC Park, where -- like the Brewers -- the Pirates haven't had a winning season since 1992.

Things were really good, but when you look at the long and short of it, things could have been much, much better.

And there's nothing wrong with thinking that.