Sports as religion: During the Brewers’ 9-4 loss to the Phillies last night, it occurred to me that if Jeff Suppan is ever going to be consistently effective on the mound, he’ll need to master baseball’s version of the Hail Mary pass — the Hail Mary pitch.

It would be fitting for him to have such a pitch in his repertoire as he is a devout Catholic and he is among those featured on the “Rosary Stars” DVD during which celebrities pray the Gospel. Given his  7-11 record and 5.04 ERA, it is ironic that “Soup” leads the Joyful Mysteries on the DVD.

Maybe next year the Miller Park scoreboard operator could air one or two of Suppan’s Hail Marys while the righty takes his warm-up pitches each inning. If you have a better idea, I’m sure the Brewers would be interested in hearing it.