So I had my day all planned for today. I was going to go down to Chicago and see the Brewers and Chris Capuano take on the Cubs at Wrigley. I was a little concerned about the forecast for rain all day, but I thought I'd just wait and see. I checked the weather last night before going to bed, and again first thing this morning. The weather channel online predicted 80-90% chance of rain every hour, all day today. Not wanting my first experience at Wrigley to be cold and wet, I decided to stay home and watch the game on TV.
Well lo and behold, after a 30 minute rain delay, the game started, (with no rain), and now in the 5th inning, there is still no rain. I'm trying not be frustrated, because this is the only day game I could attend at Wrigley this season. I guess I have to look at this as Murphy's Law. Because I didn't go, it's not raining. But had I gone, it would probably have rained all day and they wouldn't have played. I guess I'll have to settle for seeing the Brewers play the Cubs at Wrigley during a night game.
Just wanted to get that off my chest. I'm going back to watch the Brewers stomp the Cubs. The score is currently 7-0 going into the bottom of the 5th. I'll be back after the game with my comments on the series. Go Brewers!
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Number Crunching
So I was checking out the Brewers page on ESPN.com, and found a list of the players' salaries for this season. Putting it mildly, that was some interesting reading. I'd like to break this down a bit.
Rickie Weeks will cash in for $1,220,000 this season. I wonder how much per error that will equal out to? Rickie currently ranks 90th in the National League for hits, at 16. He's at 127th for RBI's with 5. His batting average of .242 puts him at 169th. He does rank in the top ten for a couple of stats, though. Strikeouts, for instance. He ranks 6th, with 23. And he checks in at 2nd for errors, not just in the National League but in all of baseball, with 7. He's bettered in this category only by Edwin Encarnacion of the Reds, who has 8. These stellar stats are worth $1.2 million dollars?
Now let's take a look at JJ Hardy. He's going to bring in around $355,000 this season. Rickie's making about 3 1/2 times more than JJ. JJ is tied with about 135 other guys, including Prince Fielder, with one error. This is in both leagues. Hardy presently has 22 hits, as do about 6 other guys in the National League, which lands him about 35th, and his nine RBI's put him at 9th. JJ sits in the 117th spot for batting average, at .272, and 49th for his 13 punchouts. Not super fantastic stats, but clearly better than Weeks, who brings home a much larger paycheck. How is that fair? But wait, it gets better!
Prince Fielder, still a rookie, leads the league in hits, with 30. He ranks third of all Major League batters. He's tied with 9 other players in the National League with 13 RBI's, good for 33rd place, and his batting average is currently .361! This puts him 30th, but only nine players ranking above him have played in more than 10 games. Granted, he's 10th for K's, with 21, (remember his 1 for 11 start to the season?), but those are still some pretty damn good stats, no matter how you shake it. So does Prince bring home a king's ransom? Nope. He's the lowest paid player on the team, bringing home a paltry (yeah right!) $329,500 this year.
Let's look at this now. Hardy has the most experience in the majors, and Prince is playing the best of all of our Baby Brewers, but Rickie makes more than three times what they do? How about the accountants start docking Rickie $10K each time he makes an error? I wonder how that would affect his defense?
So what do all of these numbers mean? Nothing really. I just thought it was interesting that this guy who keeps screwing up so badly makes so much more money than guys who play solidly every day. What's even more interesting is that Rickie is, I think, the 10th highest paid player on the team. You'd think for $1.2 million a year, Rickie would take time for a little extra fielding practice, or extra batting practice. You'd think he'd do whatever he needed to do to earn that paycheck. Ned Yost doesn't seem to be worried about Rickie's current situation. At least that's what he tells the reporters. He keeps saying that he expects Rickie to struggle.
I want to know for how long? How long will he wait for Rickie to find his swing or his glove or whatever? Our payroll is not huge. This is a well known fact. I can't see Doug Melvin continuing to throw good money after bad. Doug has been all about getting the most for the money. Look at the Koskie deal and what a bargain that was! Rickie's not signed to a multi-year deal, at least not to the best of my knowledge. He keeps playing like he has been and he probably won't be, at least not with the Brewers. Seriously, Rickie, get it together.
Rickie Weeks will cash in for $1,220,000 this season. I wonder how much per error that will equal out to? Rickie currently ranks 90th in the National League for hits, at 16. He's at 127th for RBI's with 5. His batting average of .242 puts him at 169th. He does rank in the top ten for a couple of stats, though. Strikeouts, for instance. He ranks 6th, with 23. And he checks in at 2nd for errors, not just in the National League but in all of baseball, with 7. He's bettered in this category only by Edwin Encarnacion of the Reds, who has 8. These stellar stats are worth $1.2 million dollars?
Now let's take a look at JJ Hardy. He's going to bring in around $355,000 this season. Rickie's making about 3 1/2 times more than JJ. JJ is tied with about 135 other guys, including Prince Fielder, with one error. This is in both leagues. Hardy presently has 22 hits, as do about 6 other guys in the National League, which lands him about 35th, and his nine RBI's put him at 9th. JJ sits in the 117th spot for batting average, at .272, and 49th for his 13 punchouts. Not super fantastic stats, but clearly better than Weeks, who brings home a much larger paycheck. How is that fair? But wait, it gets better!
Prince Fielder, still a rookie, leads the league in hits, with 30. He ranks third of all Major League batters. He's tied with 9 other players in the National League with 13 RBI's, good for 33rd place, and his batting average is currently .361! This puts him 30th, but only nine players ranking above him have played in more than 10 games. Granted, he's 10th for K's, with 21, (remember his 1 for 11 start to the season?), but those are still some pretty damn good stats, no matter how you shake it. So does Prince bring home a king's ransom? Nope. He's the lowest paid player on the team, bringing home a paltry (yeah right!) $329,500 this year.
Let's look at this now. Hardy has the most experience in the majors, and Prince is playing the best of all of our Baby Brewers, but Rickie makes more than three times what they do? How about the accountants start docking Rickie $10K each time he makes an error? I wonder how that would affect his defense?
So what do all of these numbers mean? Nothing really. I just thought it was interesting that this guy who keeps screwing up so badly makes so much more money than guys who play solidly every day. What's even more interesting is that Rickie is, I think, the 10th highest paid player on the team. You'd think for $1.2 million a year, Rickie would take time for a little extra fielding practice, or extra batting practice. You'd think he'd do whatever he needed to do to earn that paycheck. Ned Yost doesn't seem to be worried about Rickie's current situation. At least that's what he tells the reporters. He keeps saying that he expects Rickie to struggle.
I want to know for how long? How long will he wait for Rickie to find his swing or his glove or whatever? Our payroll is not huge. This is a well known fact. I can't see Doug Melvin continuing to throw good money after bad. Doug has been all about getting the most for the money. Look at the Koskie deal and what a bargain that was! Rickie's not signed to a multi-year deal, at least not to the best of my knowledge. He keeps playing like he has been and he probably won't be, at least not with the Brewers. Seriously, Rickie, get it together.
Brewers Tomahawk Braves in Series Sweep
The Brewers’ pitching staff was certainly on top of its game this week as Big Ben Sheets closed out the series with his first win of the season, and recorded the team’s first-ever sweep of the Atlanta Braves. This was not only the first sweep of Atlanta, but also the first time the Brewers have won a series against the Braves in Milwaukee since moving to the National League. This was an outstanding series for Brewers pitchers.
Southpaw Chris Capuano started things off on Monday with his outstanding performance, and right hander Tomo Ohka tossed a beauty on Tuesday. Ohka pitched seven strong innings, giving up seven hits, two runs and walking none. Jose Capellan, who has looked great in his last few outings, pitched a hitless frame, as did closer Derrick Turnbow to notch his seventh save of the season in as many attempts.
Big Ben looked phenomenal today, starting off the game with three straight strikeouts in the first inning. His speed is back up; one pitch registered 96 miles an hour in the sixth, and his curve ball is as nasty as it ever was. Sheets fanned nine in his six innings of work, giving up only six hits and two runs. Ben walked one, but it was his first walk of the season. That’s one walk in 18 innings pitched, with 25 punchouts, and only eight earned runs. It looks to me like Benny is back.
Dan Kolb threw a scoreless seventh inning, giving up only one hit, to set things up for Matt Wise. Matt, thank goodness, looked to be back to top form today as he tossed a hitless frame for the Crew, striking out two along the way. Once again, the save went to Derrick Turnbow, who got into a little bit of trouble and gave up a couple of runs, but he was able to pitch out of it to record his eighth save of the season.
The last three starts by our pitchers are known as 'quality starts,' a phrase discussed during the pre-game interview with Chris Capuano last night. According to Chris, this is a somewhat newly created statistic. A quality start is when a starting pitcher throws at least six innings, and gives up three or fewer runs. These last three quality starts by our pitchers mean our bullpen got lots of much needed rest. That's great news as we head into a three game series against the Cubs at Wrigley this weekend.
Dave Bush, who was spectacular in his last start, throwing a complete game shutout, goes up against veteran Greg Maddux on Friday. Maddux is currently sitting on an ERA of 0.99. This should be an interesting match up, as both of these right handed pitchers have done extremely well so far this season. None as well as Maddux, obviously, who leads Major League starters with his ERA. The Brewers are looking to improve their all time record against the Cubs, which is currently 62-61, in favor of Chicago. We won nine of 16 last season, but dropped four of six at Wrigley. We have to do better than that this season guys!
Well that's it for now. I hope to see some of you out at Wrigley this weekend to cheer on our guys. Until next time, go Brewers!
Southpaw Chris Capuano started things off on Monday with his outstanding performance, and right hander Tomo Ohka tossed a beauty on Tuesday. Ohka pitched seven strong innings, giving up seven hits, two runs and walking none. Jose Capellan, who has looked great in his last few outings, pitched a hitless frame, as did closer Derrick Turnbow to notch his seventh save of the season in as many attempts.
Big Ben looked phenomenal today, starting off the game with three straight strikeouts in the first inning. His speed is back up; one pitch registered 96 miles an hour in the sixth, and his curve ball is as nasty as it ever was. Sheets fanned nine in his six innings of work, giving up only six hits and two runs. Ben walked one, but it was his first walk of the season. That’s one walk in 18 innings pitched, with 25 punchouts, and only eight earned runs. It looks to me like Benny is back.
Dan Kolb threw a scoreless seventh inning, giving up only one hit, to set things up for Matt Wise. Matt, thank goodness, looked to be back to top form today as he tossed a hitless frame for the Crew, striking out two along the way. Once again, the save went to Derrick Turnbow, who got into a little bit of trouble and gave up a couple of runs, but he was able to pitch out of it to record his eighth save of the season.
The last three starts by our pitchers are known as 'quality starts,' a phrase discussed during the pre-game interview with Chris Capuano last night. According to Chris, this is a somewhat newly created statistic. A quality start is when a starting pitcher throws at least six innings, and gives up three or fewer runs. These last three quality starts by our pitchers mean our bullpen got lots of much needed rest. That's great news as we head into a three game series against the Cubs at Wrigley this weekend.
Dave Bush, who was spectacular in his last start, throwing a complete game shutout, goes up against veteran Greg Maddux on Friday. Maddux is currently sitting on an ERA of 0.99. This should be an interesting match up, as both of these right handed pitchers have done extremely well so far this season. None as well as Maddux, obviously, who leads Major League starters with his ERA. The Brewers are looking to improve their all time record against the Cubs, which is currently 62-61, in favor of Chicago. We won nine of 16 last season, but dropped four of six at Wrigley. We have to do better than that this season guys!
Well that's it for now. I hope to see some of you out at Wrigley this weekend to cheer on our guys. Until next time, go Brewers!
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Capuano Thrills, Mother Nature Chills, and Rickie Reeks
JR Radcliffe thought perhaps the drop in temperature in the 8th inning last night was Mother Nature’s homage to Corey Koskie, the native Canadian who blasted a 7th inning homer to propel the Brewers to victory over the visiting Atlanta Braves. This win put the Brew Crew back at .500, and notched another win for leftie Chris Capuano, a win that Rickie Weeks seemingly tried to throw away with both hands.
Capuano was hot, hot, hot last night (and yes I’m talking about his pitching!), and Rickie Weeks was not, not, not. Chris was, again, near flawless in this outing, throwing 105 pitches in seven innings, 76 of them for strikes, allowing one hit, one run, one walk and fanning six. In fact, his strike to ball ration was 3.6 to 1. Chris now owns the top spot for strikeouts, not just in the National League, but in all of MLB. Pretty impressive, Chris!
Unlike Rickie Weeks, who racked up two more errors last night, bringing his official total up to seven for the season. Ned Yost said this is to be expected from Rickie, and has no concerns. I’m hoping that’s just the sound bite that he gave to all the reporters for Rickie’s sake, and that behind closed doors something is being done about this situation. Rickie simply cannot continue at this pace.
Last night’s flubbed double play could have lost the game had Matt Wise not been able to pitch out of the bases-loaded situation Weeks’ error put him in. A spectacular play to first by Corey Koskie on an Andruw Jones ground ball ended the inning and preserved the lead. Matt Wise was just a bit off of his usual level of fierceness at the mound, but much better than his last outing in Houston when he gave up five runs, and Dave Bush’s win. It’s nice to see Matt pretty much back to form.
The save, of course, went to “Rock Star” Derrick Turnbow, who is now 6-6 for the season. It’s amazing to see what happens to the crowd at Miller Park when Derrick comes through that bullpen door. I think all 11,660 fans in attendance were on their feet as Turnbow jogged out to the mound. Of course, it might have been in an effort to keep warm as the wind picked up and temperature dropped, but I doubt it. Derrick Turnbow has become a hero in Milwaukee, and I’m thrilled he’s going to be around for a while.
Tomo Ohka hopes to improve his record to 2-1 as he takes the mound tonight against fellow right-hander Tim Hudson. Tomo currently has an ERA of 4.09, while Hudson is sitting on 6.08. Both have struggled through some early starts so tonight should be an interesting match up.
I have to send a thank you out to the fan sitting in front of me last night for the headline. I had been trying to figure out how to comment on Rickie’s errors in a way that incorporated his name, and the guy in front of me last night shouted out “Rickie Reeks!” So thanks! That’s all I have for today Brewer fans. Head out to the park or tune in to FSN tonight to cheer our guys on to another victory. Until next time, go Brewers!
Capuano was hot, hot, hot last night (and yes I’m talking about his pitching!), and Rickie Weeks was not, not, not. Chris was, again, near flawless in this outing, throwing 105 pitches in seven innings, 76 of them for strikes, allowing one hit, one run, one walk and fanning six. In fact, his strike to ball ration was 3.6 to 1. Chris now owns the top spot for strikeouts, not just in the National League, but in all of MLB. Pretty impressive, Chris!
Unlike Rickie Weeks, who racked up two more errors last night, bringing his official total up to seven for the season. Ned Yost said this is to be expected from Rickie, and has no concerns. I’m hoping that’s just the sound bite that he gave to all the reporters for Rickie’s sake, and that behind closed doors something is being done about this situation. Rickie simply cannot continue at this pace.
Last night’s flubbed double play could have lost the game had Matt Wise not been able to pitch out of the bases-loaded situation Weeks’ error put him in. A spectacular play to first by Corey Koskie on an Andruw Jones ground ball ended the inning and preserved the lead. Matt Wise was just a bit off of his usual level of fierceness at the mound, but much better than his last outing in Houston when he gave up five runs, and Dave Bush’s win. It’s nice to see Matt pretty much back to form.
The save, of course, went to “Rock Star” Derrick Turnbow, who is now 6-6 for the season. It’s amazing to see what happens to the crowd at Miller Park when Derrick comes through that bullpen door. I think all 11,660 fans in attendance were on their feet as Turnbow jogged out to the mound. Of course, it might have been in an effort to keep warm as the wind picked up and temperature dropped, but I doubt it. Derrick Turnbow has become a hero in Milwaukee, and I’m thrilled he’s going to be around for a while.
Tomo Ohka hopes to improve his record to 2-1 as he takes the mound tonight against fellow right-hander Tim Hudson. Tomo currently has an ERA of 4.09, while Hudson is sitting on 6.08. Both have struggled through some early starts so tonight should be an interesting match up.
I have to send a thank you out to the fan sitting in front of me last night for the headline. I had been trying to figure out how to comment on Rickie’s errors in a way that incorporated his name, and the guy in front of me last night shouted out “Rickie Reeks!” So thanks! That’s all I have for today Brewer fans. Head out to the park or tune in to FSN tonight to cheer our guys on to another victory. Until next time, go Brewers!
Monday, April 24, 2006
Reversal of Fortune
Anyone watching the Brewers play the Reds on Sunday after Saturday’s amazing win could only be wondering one thing. What happened? Did the guys get over confident? Did they stay out too late celebrating Saturday night? Are the retro uniforms not such a great idea? (The Brewers have yet to score even one run in the “new” Sunday uniforms.) I guess one good turn deserves another and the Reds returned Saturday’s favor on Sunday, stomping the Brewers 11-0.
First of all, what’s going on with Doug Davis? His last two outings have been absolutely disastrous, not something we want to see from our #2 pitcher three weeks into the season. His effort wasn’t helped Sunday afternoon by the pea-sized strike zone determined by home plate umpire Greg Gibson. Davis’ attempts to nibble around the outside corners of the plate were denied repeatedly, and batter after batter was walked. Milwaukee pitchers walked a total of 13 batsmen yesterday, nine by Davis alone, who tied a club record. Four of those walks ended up scoring runs.
Some batters made it to first after being hit. Three Cincy batsmen got free rides after taking one for the team, two in the case of Austin Kearns, who, as Bill Schroeder put it, “has a home and a condo on the disabled list, and doesn’t want to visit either of them.” One of the runners put on base after being hit scored a run for the Reds. Combine that with the walks that scored runs and we have a total of five runs being scored on zero hits. Amazingly enough, the Reds stranded 15 runners throughout the course of the game. I guess we were lucky we didn’t lose by more than just eleven.
The loss this time really can’t be blamed on bad calls by the umpires either. Larry Vanover was safely at third, and we never got runners far enough for him to screw up a call for us, so he wasn’t a factor today. There was one stinker at first though. I can’t remember exactly which inning or who threw the ball to Prince, but it was early in the game, and the runner was clearly out. Even Daron Sutton laughed during the instant replay and said over and over, “he’s out!” But that one out that wasn’t would have had little effect on yesterday’s outcome.
I do have a theory of my own, and you all are welcome to debate this with me. Baseball is a very superstitious game, full of routines and streaks. I personally believe in jinxes, and it seems that Bill Schroeder and Daron Sutton are guilty of committing a few of them. Take yesterday for example. Aaron Harang was pitching on three days rest, and Bill and Daron took us threw Harang’s different stats after four and five days rest. They noticed that he pitched better with more rest, and said that maybe we could take advantage of the fact that he’s pitching after only three days rest. Jinx. Harang carved up our batters like a Thanksgiving turkey.
Later in the game, no sooner than Derrick Turnbow took the mound did Daron say he hadn’t given up a single run all season. Jinx. Turnbow gave up a three run homer.
During Davis’ fourth start in Houston when he gave up nine runs, once he left the game, Daron and Bill commented that every time he’s pitched, the team has been behind when he left the game and they always came back and won. Jinx. The Brewers lost that game 13-12.
Is anyone else seeing a pattern here? There are lots more times that this has happened during broadcasts. These are just the most recent examples. Maybe I’m being overly superstitious, but Bill and Daron, I’m begging you. When you make statements that like, knock on wood, throw salt over your shoulders or something. Our guys need all the help they can get right now! Better yet, save the comments till afterward and avoid the threat of a jinx altogether.
Of course I could just be grasping at straws, trying desperately to explain why my team is playing so erratically. But baseball is a superstitious sport. Crash Davies said it best in “Bull Durham.” “If you believe you're playing well because you're getting laid, or because you're not getting laid, or because you wear women’s underwear -- then you are!” Hmmm, think someone should get Doug Davis a garter belt?
In other news, Rickie Weeks committed another error yesterday. I know you’re all in shock over that one. Officially, he’s committed only five errors, but we all know it’s closer to eight or ten. But thanks to hometown scoring in other parks, and the need to give their batters hits, he’s officially saddled with only five. So to emulate Daron Sutton, Rickie is on pace to end the season, ‘officially,’ with 42.6 errors. Figure in hometown scoring and he’ll likely screw up closer to 55 times. Way to go Rickie!
My favorite pitcher takes the mound tonight against Atlanta, and I’ll be there to cheer him on, proudly wearing my #39 jersey, with fingers crossed that he can get us back to .500. (knock on wood!) Good luck tonight, Chris, and go Brewers!
First of all, what’s going on with Doug Davis? His last two outings have been absolutely disastrous, not something we want to see from our #2 pitcher three weeks into the season. His effort wasn’t helped Sunday afternoon by the pea-sized strike zone determined by home plate umpire Greg Gibson. Davis’ attempts to nibble around the outside corners of the plate were denied repeatedly, and batter after batter was walked. Milwaukee pitchers walked a total of 13 batsmen yesterday, nine by Davis alone, who tied a club record. Four of those walks ended up scoring runs.
Some batters made it to first after being hit. Three Cincy batsmen got free rides after taking one for the team, two in the case of Austin Kearns, who, as Bill Schroeder put it, “has a home and a condo on the disabled list, and doesn’t want to visit either of them.” One of the runners put on base after being hit scored a run for the Reds. Combine that with the walks that scored runs and we have a total of five runs being scored on zero hits. Amazingly enough, the Reds stranded 15 runners throughout the course of the game. I guess we were lucky we didn’t lose by more than just eleven.
The loss this time really can’t be blamed on bad calls by the umpires either. Larry Vanover was safely at third, and we never got runners far enough for him to screw up a call for us, so he wasn’t a factor today. There was one stinker at first though. I can’t remember exactly which inning or who threw the ball to Prince, but it was early in the game, and the runner was clearly out. Even Daron Sutton laughed during the instant replay and said over and over, “he’s out!” But that one out that wasn’t would have had little effect on yesterday’s outcome.
I do have a theory of my own, and you all are welcome to debate this with me. Baseball is a very superstitious game, full of routines and streaks. I personally believe in jinxes, and it seems that Bill Schroeder and Daron Sutton are guilty of committing a few of them. Take yesterday for example. Aaron Harang was pitching on three days rest, and Bill and Daron took us threw Harang’s different stats after four and five days rest. They noticed that he pitched better with more rest, and said that maybe we could take advantage of the fact that he’s pitching after only three days rest. Jinx. Harang carved up our batters like a Thanksgiving turkey.
Later in the game, no sooner than Derrick Turnbow took the mound did Daron say he hadn’t given up a single run all season. Jinx. Turnbow gave up a three run homer.
During Davis’ fourth start in Houston when he gave up nine runs, once he left the game, Daron and Bill commented that every time he’s pitched, the team has been behind when he left the game and they always came back and won. Jinx. The Brewers lost that game 13-12.
Is anyone else seeing a pattern here? There are lots more times that this has happened during broadcasts. These are just the most recent examples. Maybe I’m being overly superstitious, but Bill and Daron, I’m begging you. When you make statements that like, knock on wood, throw salt over your shoulders or something. Our guys need all the help they can get right now! Better yet, save the comments till afterward and avoid the threat of a jinx altogether.
Of course I could just be grasping at straws, trying desperately to explain why my team is playing so erratically. But baseball is a superstitious sport. Crash Davies said it best in “Bull Durham.” “If you believe you're playing well because you're getting laid, or because you're not getting laid, or because you wear women’s underwear -- then you are!” Hmmm, think someone should get Doug Davis a garter belt?
In other news, Rickie Weeks committed another error yesterday. I know you’re all in shock over that one. Officially, he’s committed only five errors, but we all know it’s closer to eight or ten. But thanks to hometown scoring in other parks, and the need to give their batters hits, he’s officially saddled with only five. So to emulate Daron Sutton, Rickie is on pace to end the season, ‘officially,’ with 42.6 errors. Figure in hometown scoring and he’ll likely screw up closer to 55 times. Way to go Rickie!
My favorite pitcher takes the mound tonight against Atlanta, and I’ll be there to cheer him on, proudly wearing my #39 jersey, with fingers crossed that he can get us back to .500. (knock on wood!) Good luck tonight, Chris, and go Brewers!
Saturday, April 22, 2006
One for the Record Books, Literally!
Of all the games to not go to. I went last night, of course, and look what happened today. But then we couldn't look because this was one of the 40 or so games this season not on television. So only the 35,000 fans in attendance had the extreme joy of seeing our beloved Brewers hit five, count 'em, five home runs in one inning to go down in the record books as only the 5th team in baseball history to achieve that goal. The fans definitely got their money's worth today as the Brewers pounded the Reds 11-0.
I was listening at home, and couldn't believe my ears when I kept hearing Jim Powell say over and over "it's gone!" The Brewers definitely made up for the lack of offense last night! I hope they didn't overdo it and have plenty left for tomorrow. Doug Davis needs a win guys!
And talk about pitching. How about Dave Bush today? Nine complete shutout innings, only four hits, two walks and nine strikeouts. He even pitched in on the offensive with a base hit and a run scored. Sheets pitching into the 7th last night was big, but Bush tossing a complete game today was huge for the bullpen, giving them some much needed rest. I don't know about the rest of you, but that Overbay trade is looking better and better to me. Nothing against O, but Dave Bush and Gabe Gross have been tremendous additions to this Brewer lineup. Gross needs only one more pinch hit home run to tie the Brewers' all time record!
Since we're on the subject of great players, how about Damian Miller today? 4-4 today with a three run double, two more doubles , and a solo home run to top it off to give him 5 RBI's for the game. What a stellar day for Damian. Good job!
My favorite fielder Brady Clark finally hit his first home run of the season today. It looks like Brady is finally finding his stride. JJ Hardy, Bill Hall and Prince Fielder also contributed to the record setting (or rather record tying)4th inning today with their home runs.
What a day for Brewers baseball. Makes you almost feel sorry for Claussen. Almost. Go Brewers!
I was listening at home, and couldn't believe my ears when I kept hearing Jim Powell say over and over "it's gone!" The Brewers definitely made up for the lack of offense last night! I hope they didn't overdo it and have plenty left for tomorrow. Doug Davis needs a win guys!
And talk about pitching. How about Dave Bush today? Nine complete shutout innings, only four hits, two walks and nine strikeouts. He even pitched in on the offensive with a base hit and a run scored. Sheets pitching into the 7th last night was big, but Bush tossing a complete game today was huge for the bullpen, giving them some much needed rest. I don't know about the rest of you, but that Overbay trade is looking better and better to me. Nothing against O, but Dave Bush and Gabe Gross have been tremendous additions to this Brewer lineup. Gross needs only one more pinch hit home run to tie the Brewers' all time record!
Since we're on the subject of great players, how about Damian Miller today? 4-4 today with a three run double, two more doubles , and a solo home run to top it off to give him 5 RBI's for the game. What a stellar day for Damian. Good job!
My favorite fielder Brady Clark finally hit his first home run of the season today. It looks like Brady is finally finding his stride. JJ Hardy, Bill Hall and Prince Fielder also contributed to the record setting (or rather record tying)4th inning today with their home runs.
What a day for Brewers baseball. Makes you almost feel sorry for Claussen. Almost. Go Brewers!
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Friday night's game against the Reds left a lot to be desired in the Brewers' 'runs' column, but there are lots of things to discuss besides the final score. I'll start with the ugly and work my way to the good.
The ugly - a lot of the calls made tonight. How about Larry Vanover at first base? I kept asking myself what game he was watching, because it certainly wasn't the one being played at Miller Park. In my estimation, and that of about 25,000 other people, he missed several calls at first base, some that weren't even close. I was tempted to offer to buy him a baseball rule book to help him out. It seems this season a lot of the umpires are having a hard time remembering that ball in glove + foot on bag = runner out. Or maybe they're just tired of hearing the hype about this season's Brewer team and want to make it difficult for them to live up to it.
Another ugly - the call against Prince Fielder during one of his last at-bats. Seemed obvious to me that he was moving to avoid being hit, but the home plate umpire, Charlie Reliford, said he swung. At least that's the way it seemed. For those of you who watched at home on television and had the benefit of instant replay, please email me if you can clarify what this call was actually all about.
The bad - no offense. I guess those analysts were correct in saying that when the Brewers hit, they can't pitch and vice versa, because there was absolutely no offense to back up Sheets' brilliant outing. I'll get to that later. Gabe Gross started the game off on an extremely high note, but that was the only offense the Brewers would muster all night. Of course, this was due in part to the stellar pitching of Bronson Arroyo. I hate to admit it but you all know it's true. Let's move now to the good.
The good - in a word, (or two) Ben Sheets. How outstanding did he look? Seven innings, six hits, two runs, no walks, and ten strikeouts. Ten! Not to mention throwing only 97 pitches, and 73 of them strikes. It doesn't get much better than that my friends. I don't think I've ever seen a pitcher throw a game like that and have to take a loss. On a high note, he did limit the high-scoring Reds to only two runs. More good news is that it looks like the old Ben is back and we'll have lots of chances to see his stuff throughout the season. I have to give Ben his props, but Chris, if you're reading, you're still my favorite.
More good - speaking of Chris Capuano, he was one of the Brewers out signing autographs before the game during the first autograph Friday of the season. I have a hat for my nephew, who loves baseball, so I go to most autograph Friday nights to get it signed for him. I think I'm up to about 14 now. Chris was sweet enough to not only sign the hat, but to take a picture with me, which I had to include. Once again, he was gracious and charming not only to me, but to everyone in line. All that and talent too. He is certainly a credit to the Brewers, and baseball for that matter, in this day and age of big contracts and even bigger egos. Doug Melvin, for the love of all that is holy, give this guy a multi-year deal!
So that's all I have for today. Until next time, go Brewers!
The ugly - a lot of the calls made tonight. How about Larry Vanover at first base? I kept asking myself what game he was watching, because it certainly wasn't the one being played at Miller Park. In my estimation, and that of about 25,000 other people, he missed several calls at first base, some that weren't even close. I was tempted to offer to buy him a baseball rule book to help him out. It seems this season a lot of the umpires are having a hard time remembering that ball in glove + foot on bag = runner out. Or maybe they're just tired of hearing the hype about this season's Brewer team and want to make it difficult for them to live up to it.
Another ugly - the call against Prince Fielder during one of his last at-bats. Seemed obvious to me that he was moving to avoid being hit, but the home plate umpire, Charlie Reliford, said he swung. At least that's the way it seemed. For those of you who watched at home on television and had the benefit of instant replay, please email me if you can clarify what this call was actually all about.
The bad - no offense. I guess those analysts were correct in saying that when the Brewers hit, they can't pitch and vice versa, because there was absolutely no offense to back up Sheets' brilliant outing. I'll get to that later. Gabe Gross started the game off on an extremely high note, but that was the only offense the Brewers would muster all night. Of course, this was due in part to the stellar pitching of Bronson Arroyo. I hate to admit it but you all know it's true. Let's move now to the good.
The good - in a word, (or two) Ben Sheets. How outstanding did he look? Seven innings, six hits, two runs, no walks, and ten strikeouts. Ten! Not to mention throwing only 97 pitches, and 73 of them strikes. It doesn't get much better than that my friends. I don't think I've ever seen a pitcher throw a game like that and have to take a loss. On a high note, he did limit the high-scoring Reds to only two runs. More good news is that it looks like the old Ben is back and we'll have lots of chances to see his stuff throughout the season. I have to give Ben his props, but Chris, if you're reading, you're still my favorite.
More good - speaking of Chris Capuano, he was one of the Brewers out signing autographs before the game during the first autograph Friday of the season. I have a hat for my nephew, who loves baseball, so I go to most autograph Friday nights to get it signed for him. I think I'm up to about 14 now. Chris was sweet enough to not only sign the hat, but to take a picture with me, which I had to include. Once again, he was gracious and charming not only to me, but to everyone in line. All that and talent too. He is certainly a credit to the Brewers, and baseball for that matter, in this day and age of big contracts and even bigger egos. Doug Melvin, for the love of all that is holy, give this guy a multi-year deal!
So that's all I have for today. Until next time, go Brewers!
Miller Park
I am happy to report that the powers that be at Miller Park obviously care about what the fans want. Some of you may remember that I commented recently on the new LED panels that were installed during the off season, and how the pitch count scoreboards were gone, except for one above the Press Box. The location of that one board made it difficult for some, and impossible for others, to keep track of the number of pitches thrown.
I recently had to call Miller Park for an unrelated reason, and mentioned this fact while on the phone. The gentleman with whom I spoke said he had had about a dozen similar complaints, and that the techies were still working out the kinks.
Well I was very happy to get to the ballpark Friday night and see that each end of the LED panel had been reprogrammed to display the pitch counts. So now, no matter where you are sitting in the park, if you're a dork like me, you can keep up with exactly how many balls and strikes your favorite pitcher has tossed. So thanks to the techies for resolving that issue, and thanks to the folks in charge at the park for really listening to the fans. Good job!
I recently had to call Miller Park for an unrelated reason, and mentioned this fact while on the phone. The gentleman with whom I spoke said he had had about a dozen similar complaints, and that the techies were still working out the kinks.
Well I was very happy to get to the ballpark Friday night and see that each end of the LED panel had been reprogrammed to display the pitch counts. So now, no matter where you are sitting in the park, if you're a dork like me, you can keep up with exactly how many balls and strikes your favorite pitcher has tossed. So thanks to the techies for resolving that issue, and thanks to the folks in charge at the park for really listening to the fans. Good job!
ESPN The Magazine
I have a complaint with ESPN's magazine. They apparently don't care when they print incorrect information, and they aren't concerned with making corrections either.
The April 10th issue ran a story called "Deep Inside the Brewers Clubhouse," and in this story the writer referenced the Brewers' previous losing streak. He wrote that the Brewers had gone "14 years without a winning record." Well we Brewer fans know that is wrong. So I called and left a message, and got no response. I emailed, and got no response.
I got the next issue and looked for a correction. Not there. I called again and left another message, with no response. I sent another email and, you guessed it, no response.
Now please correct me if I'm wrong, but unless I forgot how to count, the Brewers had a losing record for 12 seasons, then the .500 season last year. In my world 12+1=13. 13 years without a winning record, but only 12 years of losing records. Now again, tell me if I'm wrong, but I think the Pirates hold the record with 13 consecutive losing seasons.
I'm not sure why the magazine is unwilling to print a correction. Think maybe the writer is embarrassed that a girl caught his mistake? Maybe they think it's ok to print inaccurate statistics. Who knows? I'm just going to keep bugging them until they acknowledge the error. I know we were crappy for many years, and have no problem admitting that. I just ask that ESPN The Magazine state the correct level of crappiness.
The April 10th issue ran a story called "Deep Inside the Brewers Clubhouse," and in this story the writer referenced the Brewers' previous losing streak. He wrote that the Brewers had gone "14 years without a winning record." Well we Brewer fans know that is wrong. So I called and left a message, and got no response. I emailed, and got no response.
I got the next issue and looked for a correction. Not there. I called again and left another message, with no response. I sent another email and, you guessed it, no response.
Now please correct me if I'm wrong, but unless I forgot how to count, the Brewers had a losing record for 12 seasons, then the .500 season last year. In my world 12+1=13. 13 years without a winning record, but only 12 years of losing records. Now again, tell me if I'm wrong, but I think the Pirates hold the record with 13 consecutive losing seasons.
I'm not sure why the magazine is unwilling to print a correction. Think maybe the writer is embarrassed that a girl caught his mistake? Maybe they think it's ok to print inaccurate statistics. Who knows? I'm just going to keep bugging them until they acknowledge the error. I know we were crappy for many years, and have no problem admitting that. I just ask that ESPN The Magazine state the correct level of crappiness.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Capuano delivers
Sports writers and analysts have all been saying that when our guys are pitching, they're not hitting, and when they're hitting, they're not pitching. They say they haven't been able to do both at the same time. Well they did it last night. Chris Capuano turned in a stellar performance, pitching 7 2/3 innings, giving up only 2 runs, 5 hits and striking out 8. Incidentally, those 8 strikeouts put him at the top of the National League.
The bats came out again last night as well. Jenkins was the only Brewer besides Cappy who didn't get a hit last night, but that's ok. Geoff has done more than his fair share in recent games, and Cappy pitched well enough that his lack of hits is perfectly acceptable. What impressed me the most last night was that all those runs we scored were the result of small ball. The barrage of home runs was fun Tuesday night, even though we barely lost that one, but home runs can't be counted on to win games. Small ball, however, can get it done every time. As can effective pitching.
Capuano was near flawless in his outing last night. He is known as a "streak stopper" and pitches well under pressure. I've even read that he pitches better when he's down in the count because he thrives on that pressure. Thankfully, he managed to pitch deep into the game, taking pressure off of our somewhat exhausted bullpen. When interviewed after the game, he was, as always, his gracious and modest self, choosing not to discuss his own performance, but rather how glad the team was to get this win and get back home. But then again, as you all know, I can't say enough good things about our talented leftie.
Of course I can't post anything without mentioning Rickie Weeks. What was that play on Tuesday and resulted in a hit for Craig Biggio? Clearly an error (another one!!) on Rickie. I listened to a radio show yesterday, and the host kept asking at what point does the "rookie mistake" excuse stop being valid. Well those of you who read this know my views on that subject. Rickie's "rookie mistake" window has closed. The time has come to get it together. Again, I point to JJ Hardy. He's never been accused of making rookie mistakes. Is he just a better player than Rickie? Time will tell. He certainly plays better defense. In my opinion, a rookie mistake is throwing to first instead of second and blowing a double play, not bobbling a ground ball or mis-throwing to first.
I could deal with Rickie making mistakes, but what he's doing is just plain screwing up, and that has to stop. Little things like that can leave a man on base, and that comes back to haunt you when that man scores a run, and you know he would have been out but for your screw up. So once again I say, get it together Rickie. Get there early for extra practice. Stay late for extra practice. Do whatever you need to do to get it right.
Now that I've gotten that out of my system. All in all, this road trip pretty much stunk. But we did play against three of, if not the best three, teams in the League, and we avoided being swept. On a high note, the Crew never got completely annihilated. They were in every game till the end. I guess that's something. At least the guys are heading home now for a 7 game homestand, then quick trip to Chicago, and back home for 4 more. Best of all, while slimmer than when they left, they come home with their winning record still intact.
Ohka takes the mound tonight against the Reds, then we'll see Ben Sheets making his first start this season at Miller Park tomorrow night. I will certainly be there to cheer him on. Until next time, go Brewers!
The bats came out again last night as well. Jenkins was the only Brewer besides Cappy who didn't get a hit last night, but that's ok. Geoff has done more than his fair share in recent games, and Cappy pitched well enough that his lack of hits is perfectly acceptable. What impressed me the most last night was that all those runs we scored were the result of small ball. The barrage of home runs was fun Tuesday night, even though we barely lost that one, but home runs can't be counted on to win games. Small ball, however, can get it done every time. As can effective pitching.
Capuano was near flawless in his outing last night. He is known as a "streak stopper" and pitches well under pressure. I've even read that he pitches better when he's down in the count because he thrives on that pressure. Thankfully, he managed to pitch deep into the game, taking pressure off of our somewhat exhausted bullpen. When interviewed after the game, he was, as always, his gracious and modest self, choosing not to discuss his own performance, but rather how glad the team was to get this win and get back home. But then again, as you all know, I can't say enough good things about our talented leftie.
Of course I can't post anything without mentioning Rickie Weeks. What was that play on Tuesday and resulted in a hit for Craig Biggio? Clearly an error (another one!!) on Rickie. I listened to a radio show yesterday, and the host kept asking at what point does the "rookie mistake" excuse stop being valid. Well those of you who read this know my views on that subject. Rickie's "rookie mistake" window has closed. The time has come to get it together. Again, I point to JJ Hardy. He's never been accused of making rookie mistakes. Is he just a better player than Rickie? Time will tell. He certainly plays better defense. In my opinion, a rookie mistake is throwing to first instead of second and blowing a double play, not bobbling a ground ball or mis-throwing to first.
I could deal with Rickie making mistakes, but what he's doing is just plain screwing up, and that has to stop. Little things like that can leave a man on base, and that comes back to haunt you when that man scores a run, and you know he would have been out but for your screw up. So once again I say, get it together Rickie. Get there early for extra practice. Stay late for extra practice. Do whatever you need to do to get it right.
Now that I've gotten that out of my system. All in all, this road trip pretty much stunk. But we did play against three of, if not the best three, teams in the League, and we avoided being swept. On a high note, the Crew never got completely annihilated. They were in every game till the end. I guess that's something. At least the guys are heading home now for a 7 game homestand, then quick trip to Chicago, and back home for 4 more. Best of all, while slimmer than when they left, they come home with their winning record still intact.
Ohka takes the mound tonight against the Reds, then we'll see Ben Sheets making his first start this season at Miller Park tomorrow night. I will certainly be there to cheer him on. Until next time, go Brewers!
Monday, April 17, 2006
Bad call gives Astros victory (?)
Ok, it always sucks to lose, but I can admit defeat when my team gets beaten. I'm not so sure that's what happened tonight. According to the scoreboard, we got beaten. But anyone watching the game tonight knows that the 1st base umpire decided the outcome of the game with his horrible call at first base.
Don't get me wrong. Matt Wise, who is usually wicked in his outings, had a horrible 7th tonight. It happens to the best of them. But the final score was Houston winning by one run, one run that would not have scored had Jeff Nelson gotten the call right at first base. This is a prime example of why baseball needs instant replay. And I know a lot of you don't agree with that, and when the error goes in favor of my team, I probably wouldn't either. But in the end, the call was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. If the call had been made correctly, Tavares would have been out, and Lane would have gotten a two run homer in the 7th instead of three, and the game could have had an entirely different outcome.
Sure the Astros could have scored another way. But best case, if everything played out the same, this game could have gone into extra innings, and we could have taken it. All I ask is that the game be decided on the field, by the players, not by the umpires, which is exactly what happened tonight.
I also think Ned Yost is a great manager, but he should have pushed the issue a little more with Nelson, I think. It didn't seem like he tried too terribly hard to make his case. I don't know that an umpire has ever changed a call in a situation like that, but something more should have been done. Koskie did not deserve that error; he didn't make an error. No one deserved an error. Not to mention the fact that Bush pitched a beauty and was on track for the win tonight. I'm not saying we would have won, but it would have been nice to have had the opportunity to find out.
Jeff Nelson must be from the same school of umpiring as Mark Carlson. Ball in glove + foot on bag doesn't equal an out in their world. If you recall, Mark Carlson was on the team that umped our first series against Pittsburgh and made some questionable calls, all in favor of the Pirates.
So with this loss tonight, the Brew Crew falls to 7-6 overall, and 2-5 on this road trip. We need to win at least one of the remaining games against Houston to come back home with our winning record still intact. Two wins would be better, winning at least one road series, but at minimum I don't want to see the guys fall below .500 this early in the season.
On a more positive note, kudos to Gabe Gross for once again getting it done as a pinch hitter with his three run blast. And lest we forget Carlos Lee and his solo shot, and Geoff Jenkins, who has now hit three home runs in as many games. Keep it up guys! We're gonna need it tomorrow and Wednesday if we're gonna get past Houston. Until next time, go Brewers!
Don't get me wrong. Matt Wise, who is usually wicked in his outings, had a horrible 7th tonight. It happens to the best of them. But the final score was Houston winning by one run, one run that would not have scored had Jeff Nelson gotten the call right at first base. This is a prime example of why baseball needs instant replay. And I know a lot of you don't agree with that, and when the error goes in favor of my team, I probably wouldn't either. But in the end, the call was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. If the call had been made correctly, Tavares would have been out, and Lane would have gotten a two run homer in the 7th instead of three, and the game could have had an entirely different outcome.
Sure the Astros could have scored another way. But best case, if everything played out the same, this game could have gone into extra innings, and we could have taken it. All I ask is that the game be decided on the field, by the players, not by the umpires, which is exactly what happened tonight.
I also think Ned Yost is a great manager, but he should have pushed the issue a little more with Nelson, I think. It didn't seem like he tried too terribly hard to make his case. I don't know that an umpire has ever changed a call in a situation like that, but something more should have been done. Koskie did not deserve that error; he didn't make an error. No one deserved an error. Not to mention the fact that Bush pitched a beauty and was on track for the win tonight. I'm not saying we would have won, but it would have been nice to have had the opportunity to find out.
Jeff Nelson must be from the same school of umpiring as Mark Carlson. Ball in glove + foot on bag doesn't equal an out in their world. If you recall, Mark Carlson was on the team that umped our first series against Pittsburgh and made some questionable calls, all in favor of the Pirates.
So with this loss tonight, the Brew Crew falls to 7-6 overall, and 2-5 on this road trip. We need to win at least one of the remaining games against Houston to come back home with our winning record still intact. Two wins would be better, winning at least one road series, but at minimum I don't want to see the guys fall below .500 this early in the season.
On a more positive note, kudos to Gabe Gross for once again getting it done as a pinch hitter with his three run blast. And lest we forget Carlos Lee and his solo shot, and Geoff Jenkins, who has now hit three home runs in as many games. Keep it up guys! We're gonna need it tomorrow and Wednesday if we're gonna get past Houston. Until next time, go Brewers!
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Ask and Ye Shall Receive!
Wow, could it really be that easy? Simply post a column begging the Brewers to play better and they deliver? Doubtful, but something got the guys going today, and they delivered the Mets a crushing 8-2 loss.
Everyone keeps saying that the Brewers' victories thus far have been the result of pitching and good defense, that their bats haven't heated up yet. To say that they heated up today is an understatement. They were on fire! Every starting player got a hit. Every single one. Koskie didn't get his till the 9th, but he got it. Chad Moeller had two, and even Tomo Ohko notched his first hit and RBI of the season. Geoff Jenkins finally got his first home run, and Prince Fielder went 3-5 today. Talk about hot bats!!
Tomo Ohko pitched an outstanding game against the Mets today. He's not my favorite pitcher, but he was on today. He was pitching in and out and up and down, giving up only five hits and fanning five over his seven inning stint at Shea. Incidentally, Ohka's win today marks his first at Shea in eight starts. The always fierce Matt Wise finished it up, giving up only one hit over his two frames.
Aside from two errors committed by Ohko and (shocker!) Rickie Weeks, today was the best I think I've seen our guys play. The defense was there, the hitting was there, and the pitching was certainly there. Like I said yesterday, these guys can play, and play well, but I think sometimes they forget. Today should have been a resounding reminder!
Now about Rickie and those errors. I know he's a rookie and all that, but so was JJ Hardy last season, and you didn't seen him committing 21 errors. Rickie now has four errors in eleven games. If he keeps up this pace he'll finish the season with 58 errors, (one in every 2.75 games). That is unacceptable. JJ Hardy can play solid defense. Prince Fielder has been phenomenal at first base. The rookie excuse is played out and will not fly anymore. Time to get it together Rickie.
So all in all, a fantastic day for Brewers baseball. One more game in Brooklyn, and then our guys are off to Houston to face Roy Oswalt and Andy Pettitte. Wouldn't it be great to go into Houston on a two game winning streak? I'm sure Ben Sheets would love to get a win in his first outing of the season. Hopefully, today was an indication that the bats are officially on, and Ben can get some run support tomorrow to finish out the series on a high note. Until tomorrow, go Brewers!
Everyone keeps saying that the Brewers' victories thus far have been the result of pitching and good defense, that their bats haven't heated up yet. To say that they heated up today is an understatement. They were on fire! Every starting player got a hit. Every single one. Koskie didn't get his till the 9th, but he got it. Chad Moeller had two, and even Tomo Ohko notched his first hit and RBI of the season. Geoff Jenkins finally got his first home run, and Prince Fielder went 3-5 today. Talk about hot bats!!
Tomo Ohko pitched an outstanding game against the Mets today. He's not my favorite pitcher, but he was on today. He was pitching in and out and up and down, giving up only five hits and fanning five over his seven inning stint at Shea. Incidentally, Ohka's win today marks his first at Shea in eight starts. The always fierce Matt Wise finished it up, giving up only one hit over his two frames.
Aside from two errors committed by Ohko and (shocker!) Rickie Weeks, today was the best I think I've seen our guys play. The defense was there, the hitting was there, and the pitching was certainly there. Like I said yesterday, these guys can play, and play well, but I think sometimes they forget. Today should have been a resounding reminder!
Now about Rickie and those errors. I know he's a rookie and all that, but so was JJ Hardy last season, and you didn't seen him committing 21 errors. Rickie now has four errors in eleven games. If he keeps up this pace he'll finish the season with 58 errors, (one in every 2.75 games). That is unacceptable. JJ Hardy can play solid defense. Prince Fielder has been phenomenal at first base. The rookie excuse is played out and will not fly anymore. Time to get it together Rickie.
So all in all, a fantastic day for Brewers baseball. One more game in Brooklyn, and then our guys are off to Houston to face Roy Oswalt and Andy Pettitte. Wouldn't it be great to go into Houston on a two game winning streak? I'm sure Ben Sheets would love to get a win in his first outing of the season. Hopefully, today was an indication that the bats are officially on, and Ben can get some run support tomorrow to finish out the series on a high note. Until tomorrow, go Brewers!
Friday, April 14, 2006
Fewer LOB's please!
I try to tell myself it's only the 10th game. I try to remember that it's only April, and there are still 152 games to go. It just doesn't work though. I sit on the edge of my seat during every rally and cross my fingers during that last at bat. I yell at the TV and jump up and down in my living room. And then after games like tonight, I have to sit back and try to figure out why my guys just can't seem to get it together sometimes.
How does a team consistently out hit their opponents and not win the games? The colum right next to it is why, the LOB column, or runners left on base. We had ten, TEN!! runners left on base tonight. The Mets had 3. This is the same thing that happened last season. We'd get runners on base, and then leave them there.
We also had a disastrous 5th inning. How many outs did we give the Mets, 5, 6? Bill Hall got too excited about a potential double play, which not only didn't happen, he threw badly to Rickie Weeks and the runner advanced to third. It's amazing that only one run scored during that inning.
Chris Capuano seemed to be as frustrated with the offense tonight as I was. The rest of the team couldn't get anything going for Chris, so he did it for himself. Reminded me of that game against St. Louis last September when Chris had a couple of RBI's. Of course we rallied to come back and win that game, which didn't happen tonight, and my favorite pitcher falls to 1-2.
I can only hope that that Butch Wynegar can get the Brewer bats going tomorrow. I know he had film of Tom Glavine. I know he told the guys what to expect. Seems they didn't listen, cause our guys were chasing balls all over the place tonight. Maybe tomorrow they should pay closer attention. Maybe Ned should have another meeting. Maybe I should take a deep breath and remind myself that it's only April.
How does a team consistently out hit their opponents and not win the games? The colum right next to it is why, the LOB column, or runners left on base. We had ten, TEN!! runners left on base tonight. The Mets had 3. This is the same thing that happened last season. We'd get runners on base, and then leave them there.
We also had a disastrous 5th inning. How many outs did we give the Mets, 5, 6? Bill Hall got too excited about a potential double play, which not only didn't happen, he threw badly to Rickie Weeks and the runner advanced to third. It's amazing that only one run scored during that inning.
Chris Capuano seemed to be as frustrated with the offense tonight as I was. The rest of the team couldn't get anything going for Chris, so he did it for himself. Reminded me of that game against St. Louis last September when Chris had a couple of RBI's. Of course we rallied to come back and win that game, which didn't happen tonight, and my favorite pitcher falls to 1-2.
I can only hope that that Butch Wynegar can get the Brewer bats going tomorrow. I know he had film of Tom Glavine. I know he told the guys what to expect. Seems they didn't listen, cause our guys were chasing balls all over the place tonight. Maybe tomorrow they should pay closer attention. Maybe Ned should have another meeting. Maybe I should take a deep breath and remind myself that it's only April.
No Sweep for Cards
Carlos Lee robbed the Cardinals of the first hit in their new Busch Stadium. Bill Hall robbed them of the first home run, and yesterday, Carlos robbed them of their first sweep. Carlos made an unbelievable catch that denied Encarnacion a game winning home run to keep the game alive, and eventually won it for the Brewers.
I was all set to sit down yesterday before the game and post a tirade about how the Brewers play against the Cardinals. I was supremely frustrated because I know our boys can play ball; we've all seen it. But it seemed like they had some sort of inferiority complex when playing the Cardinals, and their game suffered. I even sent an email to Jim Powell and Bob Uecker asking their opinion about what it's going to take to get the Brewers to remember that they have talent. Apparently, whatever Ned Yost said to them in the locker room before the game was it.
I can't comment too much on the game because, unfortunately, we didn't get to watch it here in Milwaukee. But I did listen to it with bated breath, and my cheers of excitement could be heard all throughout my office when Carlos made his catch, and later his home run. I was also guilty of swearing out loud when Rickie Weeks made yet another error.
So because FSN broadcast only one game of this series, and we don't want to talk about that one, I'm going to focus on the Mets series. I'm hoping the Brew Crew can take the momentum from this last win into New York. Yeah I know the Mets are 7-1, but looked who they've played! Their schedule hasn't exactly been the most demanding. Washington and Florida?? Come on. Tonight, though, they have to get past Chris Capuano, and you all know I can't say enough good things about him. And I'm hoping the Mets will be facing the team that we all saw the first week of the season, the one with confidence and determination, not the one we saw Monday and Wednesday in St. Louis.
That's it for now Brewer fans. I'm going to go camp in front of my television for the next two or three hours and watch our guys play some ball, as soon as the rain lets up. Here's to the Brewers taking a big bite out of the Big Apple and the Mets. It's baseball time! Go Brewers!
I was all set to sit down yesterday before the game and post a tirade about how the Brewers play against the Cardinals. I was supremely frustrated because I know our boys can play ball; we've all seen it. But it seemed like they had some sort of inferiority complex when playing the Cardinals, and their game suffered. I even sent an email to Jim Powell and Bob Uecker asking their opinion about what it's going to take to get the Brewers to remember that they have talent. Apparently, whatever Ned Yost said to them in the locker room before the game was it.
I can't comment too much on the game because, unfortunately, we didn't get to watch it here in Milwaukee. But I did listen to it with bated breath, and my cheers of excitement could be heard all throughout my office when Carlos made his catch, and later his home run. I was also guilty of swearing out loud when Rickie Weeks made yet another error.
So because FSN broadcast only one game of this series, and we don't want to talk about that one, I'm going to focus on the Mets series. I'm hoping the Brew Crew can take the momentum from this last win into New York. Yeah I know the Mets are 7-1, but looked who they've played! Their schedule hasn't exactly been the most demanding. Washington and Florida?? Come on. Tonight, though, they have to get past Chris Capuano, and you all know I can't say enough good things about him. And I'm hoping the Mets will be facing the team that we all saw the first week of the season, the one with confidence and determination, not the one we saw Monday and Wednesday in St. Louis.
That's it for now Brewer fans. I'm going to go camp in front of my television for the next two or three hours and watch our guys play some ball, as soon as the rain lets up. Here's to the Brewers taking a big bite out of the Big Apple and the Mets. It's baseball time! Go Brewers!
Sunday, April 09, 2006
All Good Things Must End
They say the clothes make the man, but it appears that the uniforms didn't make the team today. The Brewers' winning streak was snapped today as our team fell 7-0 to the Diamondbacks in the last game of the series during "Retro Sunday" at Miller Park. Everything old was new again, except the winning record.
Chris Capuano got off to a great start, giving up only two hits over six innings, but started to waiver just a bit in the seventh. The inning should have ended with the score still at 1-0 Diamondbacks, but a costly error by (surprise surprise) Rickie Weeks extended the inning, and the carnage, by three batters and three runs. With two on and one out, a routine grounder to JJ Hardy seemed like a gift from the Gods, an easy double play to end the inning. But Weeks dropped the toss, and fumbled the play. Sadly, this was very reminiscent of last season, when shaky defense allowed opposing teams to get four or five outs per inning.
Things went downhill from there. My favorite hurler, Capuano, couldn't seem to recover after that. He walked in a run and former Brewer Craig Counsell whacked a two run double that upped to score to 4-0 Arizona before Yost called the bullpen and brought in Justin Lehr to finish out the inning. Cappy had the unfortunate honor of being the first Brewer pitcher to notch a loss this season. Guess my #39 jersey wasn't so lucky for him today.
Lehr finished out the frame, and Jared Fernandez pitched a hitless 8th, but the wheels fell off in the 9th when he gave up three runs. With Sheets scheduled to come off the DL in the next week or so, it looks like Fernandez may have just pitched himself back into AAA.
Today was an ugly loss, to say the least, but on the upside, the Brew Crew finished their first homestand 5-1, and that ain't too shabby. Now the nail biting starts, as our diamond boys take off on a nine game road trip that includes three of the top teams in the National League- New York, St. Louis and Houston. They also get the honor of being the first team to play in the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis. How sweet would it be for our guys to beat St. Louis in their home opener in their new stadium? Here's hoping!
On a positive note, the Brewers are still first in their division, and since Detroit lost today too, they're still tied for the best record in baseball. And on a very pleasant note, St. Louis currently sits in 5th place in the Central Division. Ok, I know they won't stay there, but it sure is nice to see, if only for a few days.
So our first winning streak of the season is over. There will be others. We had to lose sooner or later. At least now it's out of the way. Time to get back that confident, "get it done" attitude and go into St. Louis tomorrow and kick some Cardinal butt. Go Brewers!
Chris Capuano got off to a great start, giving up only two hits over six innings, but started to waiver just a bit in the seventh. The inning should have ended with the score still at 1-0 Diamondbacks, but a costly error by (surprise surprise) Rickie Weeks extended the inning, and the carnage, by three batters and three runs. With two on and one out, a routine grounder to JJ Hardy seemed like a gift from the Gods, an easy double play to end the inning. But Weeks dropped the toss, and fumbled the play. Sadly, this was very reminiscent of last season, when shaky defense allowed opposing teams to get four or five outs per inning.
Things went downhill from there. My favorite hurler, Capuano, couldn't seem to recover after that. He walked in a run and former Brewer Craig Counsell whacked a two run double that upped to score to 4-0 Arizona before Yost called the bullpen and brought in Justin Lehr to finish out the inning. Cappy had the unfortunate honor of being the first Brewer pitcher to notch a loss this season. Guess my #39 jersey wasn't so lucky for him today.
Lehr finished out the frame, and Jared Fernandez pitched a hitless 8th, but the wheels fell off in the 9th when he gave up three runs. With Sheets scheduled to come off the DL in the next week or so, it looks like Fernandez may have just pitched himself back into AAA.
Today was an ugly loss, to say the least, but on the upside, the Brew Crew finished their first homestand 5-1, and that ain't too shabby. Now the nail biting starts, as our diamond boys take off on a nine game road trip that includes three of the top teams in the National League- New York, St. Louis and Houston. They also get the honor of being the first team to play in the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis. How sweet would it be for our guys to beat St. Louis in their home opener in their new stadium? Here's hoping!
On a positive note, the Brewers are still first in their division, and since Detroit lost today too, they're still tied for the best record in baseball. And on a very pleasant note, St. Louis currently sits in 5th place in the Central Division. Ok, I know they won't stay there, but it sure is nice to see, if only for a few days.
So our first winning streak of the season is over. There will be others. We had to lose sooner or later. At least now it's out of the way. Time to get back that confident, "get it done" attitude and go into St. Louis tomorrow and kick some Cardinal butt. Go Brewers!
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Swept Away!
That's right Brewer fans! Prince Fielder recovered from his hitting slump just in time to propel the Brew Crew to their first 3 game sweep of the Pirates since August 2003. It was another knuckle biter of a game last night as the Brewers battled more bad calls, errors and Pirate home runs, but they emerged victorious, and are now 3-0 as they take Thursday off before facing the Diamondbacks this weekend.
My least favorite umpire, Mark Carlson, was moved to home plate last night, and surprise surprise, the bad calls continued. I thought maybe it was just me being a little biased in favor of our beloved Brewers. However, during last night's telecast, Bill Schroeder echoed my sentiments when he commented that a pitch thrown by Tomo Ohko, called a ball, was a deemed a strike when thrown by Pirates starter Zach Duke. Schroeder went on to discuss the very calls that I've been mentioning, and how every close decision was called in favor of Pittsburgh. At least I'm not the only one who thinks Carlson is blind. The rest of the umpire team did a good job last night, but I'm still glad to see them go!
Prince Fielder finally got his first hit of the season, and it couldn't have come at a better time, as his bloop single to right field provided the winning run. Hopefully that hit broke through whatever mental block he was battling, cause we all know that boy can knock the stuffing out of a ball! And I know I was skeptical after the Overbay trade, but I have to admit that Prince has been pretty outstanding in terms of his defense at first base. He displayed a bit of hesitancy during his first play on Monday, but he's been sharp as a tack ever since.
Unlike Jenkins last night. I'm still not sure what happened with that pop up that he missed that cost the Brewers a run. Maybe it got lost in the bright colors of the LED panels on the club level.
Speaking of bright colors, I saw that the bright green screen in left field has been changed to blue. Guess the IT guys are working overtime to fix the kinks in their new toy. Now if they could just move that pitch count scoreboard. . . . .
But I digress. Tomo Ohko pitched a beauty of a game last night, allowing only one earned run. Matt Wise was fierce, as usual, but then Derrick Turnbow pitched himself into a jam in the 9th. Luckily he was able to reel it in before any damage was done, and notched his 3rd save in 3 attempts.
Dare I say it? Is it too soon to predict a wild card berth? Maybe a bit. I'll hold off on that prediction, even though Mike Downey of the Chicago Tribune picked Milwaukee to surprise everyone and finish first. I will say that even though we're only three games in, it is so very sweet to see Milwaukee not only at the top of the NL Central, but also posting the best record in all of baseball, for now.
Enjoy your day off, guys, you've earned it! I'll see you all at the ballpark Friday night when our Brewers take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. Go Brewers!
My least favorite umpire, Mark Carlson, was moved to home plate last night, and surprise surprise, the bad calls continued. I thought maybe it was just me being a little biased in favor of our beloved Brewers. However, during last night's telecast, Bill Schroeder echoed my sentiments when he commented that a pitch thrown by Tomo Ohko, called a ball, was a deemed a strike when thrown by Pirates starter Zach Duke. Schroeder went on to discuss the very calls that I've been mentioning, and how every close decision was called in favor of Pittsburgh. At least I'm not the only one who thinks Carlson is blind. The rest of the umpire team did a good job last night, but I'm still glad to see them go!
Prince Fielder finally got his first hit of the season, and it couldn't have come at a better time, as his bloop single to right field provided the winning run. Hopefully that hit broke through whatever mental block he was battling, cause we all know that boy can knock the stuffing out of a ball! And I know I was skeptical after the Overbay trade, but I have to admit that Prince has been pretty outstanding in terms of his defense at first base. He displayed a bit of hesitancy during his first play on Monday, but he's been sharp as a tack ever since.
Unlike Jenkins last night. I'm still not sure what happened with that pop up that he missed that cost the Brewers a run. Maybe it got lost in the bright colors of the LED panels on the club level.
Speaking of bright colors, I saw that the bright green screen in left field has been changed to blue. Guess the IT guys are working overtime to fix the kinks in their new toy. Now if they could just move that pitch count scoreboard. . . . .
But I digress. Tomo Ohko pitched a beauty of a game last night, allowing only one earned run. Matt Wise was fierce, as usual, but then Derrick Turnbow pitched himself into a jam in the 9th. Luckily he was able to reel it in before any damage was done, and notched his 3rd save in 3 attempts.
Dare I say it? Is it too soon to predict a wild card berth? Maybe a bit. I'll hold off on that prediction, even though Mike Downey of the Chicago Tribune picked Milwaukee to surprise everyone and finish first. I will say that even though we're only three games in, it is so very sweet to see Milwaukee not only at the top of the NL Central, but also posting the best record in all of baseball, for now.
Enjoy your day off, guys, you've earned it! I'll see you all at the ballpark Friday night when our Brewers take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. Go Brewers!
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Bring out the brooms!
The Brewers have a shot tonight at their first sweep of the season after defeating Pittsburgh again last night, 7-5. It was a hard-fought win, but the Brew Crew once again displayed that "get it done" determination and battled back, and are now primed for their first Pittsburgh sweep since 2003.
Our boys in blue had white-hot bats last night, collecting 16 hits over 8 innings. My favorite outfielder, Brady Clark, went 3-5 last night, as did Geoff Jenkins and Rickie Weeks. Two others, Damian Miller and Corey Koskie had two hits apiece, and every other starter managed at least one hit, except Prince Fielder and Chris Capuano. Capuano, however, did deliver a nice sac bunt that advanced Miller to second. He also threw 87 pitches over six innings, striking out 7, allowing only two runs, and no walks to notch his first win of the season. (only 19 more to go!) I'll have to be sure to wear my #39 jersey every time he pitches!
Gabe Gross, acquired in December in the Lyle Overbay trade, announced his presence with authority last night. While he technically entered the game on Monday in the Cirillo pinch-hit fake out, last night marked the first time he actually swung the bat in a Brewer jersey, and boy oh boy, did he make an impression. Bob Uecker declared that the Brewers needed more insurance runs, because "the last policy ran out," and Gabe Gross delivered, blasting a 420-foot, 2-run bomb to center field. Gross is now the 5th player in Brewer history to homer in his first at bat. Congratulations Gabe, and welcome to Milwaukee!
Although the outcome was sweet, everything wasn't peaches and cream for the Brewers last night. The umpires, once again, left their glasses at home. Wally Bell made the calls at home plate, and while his strike zone was a bit more consistent than Hirschbeck's the night before, he still missed a few really sweet pitches. Must have gotten some of that dirt in his eyes too.
Mark Carlson, who made such horrible calls at second base on Monday, made the same bad calls at first last night. Capuano threw gorgeous pickoffs to first, but according to Carlson, the runner was safe. Again, ball in glove + foot on bag does not equal an out in Carlson's book. The throws were there by split seconds, but the point was, there were there, and Carlson blew the call twice. At least he's consistent.
In contrast, Larry Young decided Brady Clark was out at second base when he tried to steal, even though it appeared to me, (and most of the other 15,514 people in attendance last night), that Brady was safe. There didn't seem to be any doubt that Brady made it, but I guess Young thought that he should have been standing and brushing the dirt off of his pants by the time the tag was made to be really sure he was in there.
Prince Fielder again struggled at the plate, fanning in three of his five at bats. From what I've read, no one is worried yet, but 0-9 isn't a great way to start off the season. Rickie Weeks also posted his first error of the season last night, overthrowing to first, but luckily veteran catcher Damian Miller was there to save the day, making the throw to get the runner at second.
Our guys did manage to catch a couple of breaks last night. Some key errors by the Pirates allowed us to get runners on base, and eventually score. Derrick Turnbow caught a rocket in the 9th, which held the two runners in place, and then easily finished out the game to post his second save in as many attempts.
Smart base running was also a factor last night. Third base coach Dale Sveum did an outstanding job of directing the runners, and that is going to be key for the team this year. So many people want to see the big home runs and doubles and triples, but small ball wins games, and that’s what our guys need to focus on this season. Granted, we did have a couple of home runs on Monday and one last night, but as evidenced by the Pirates’ loss (even though they had two home runs last night), long balls don’t always get it done. They’re certainly exciting and make it fun to go out to the park, but I’m glad to see that Yost and the rest of his coaching team are going back to basics, and focusing more on the fundamentals.
Now about these new LED panels on the club level. I’ve read that some of the players aren’t too jazzed about them, and the more I see them, the more I agree. Some of the displays are ok, but some are very bright and distracting. Unless you’re sitting in the outfield boxes or bleachers, you can pretty much forget about watching the pitch counts. The scoreboards tracking pitches were visible from anywhere in the stadium last year, but that information is now displayed solely on the LED panel directly above the press box. Fan that I am, I like to keep track of the pitch count, and percentages of strikes to balls, so I found myself having to lean forward and look back at the panel to see what was going on. I found this very annoying, not only because of the inconvenience, but it forced me to take my attention away from the game. A call to the ballpark confirmed that I’m not alone in my opinion. Apparently there have been several complaints about the location of this scoreboard, but a simple reprogram can fix the problem. The gentleman with whom I spoke told me that a new layout is already being discussed, and the IT team is still working out the kinks in the “new toy.”
I don’t think I’m going to make it out to the stadium tonight, but you can bet I’ll be watching at home with my broom at the ready! A sweep would be a fantastic way to start off our season, so let’s all cheer our guys on to victory! Go Brewers!
Our boys in blue had white-hot bats last night, collecting 16 hits over 8 innings. My favorite outfielder, Brady Clark, went 3-5 last night, as did Geoff Jenkins and Rickie Weeks. Two others, Damian Miller and Corey Koskie had two hits apiece, and every other starter managed at least one hit, except Prince Fielder and Chris Capuano. Capuano, however, did deliver a nice sac bunt that advanced Miller to second. He also threw 87 pitches over six innings, striking out 7, allowing only two runs, and no walks to notch his first win of the season. (only 19 more to go!) I'll have to be sure to wear my #39 jersey every time he pitches!
Gabe Gross, acquired in December in the Lyle Overbay trade, announced his presence with authority last night. While he technically entered the game on Monday in the Cirillo pinch-hit fake out, last night marked the first time he actually swung the bat in a Brewer jersey, and boy oh boy, did he make an impression. Bob Uecker declared that the Brewers needed more insurance runs, because "the last policy ran out," and Gabe Gross delivered, blasting a 420-foot, 2-run bomb to center field. Gross is now the 5th player in Brewer history to homer in his first at bat. Congratulations Gabe, and welcome to Milwaukee!
Although the outcome was sweet, everything wasn't peaches and cream for the Brewers last night. The umpires, once again, left their glasses at home. Wally Bell made the calls at home plate, and while his strike zone was a bit more consistent than Hirschbeck's the night before, he still missed a few really sweet pitches. Must have gotten some of that dirt in his eyes too.
Mark Carlson, who made such horrible calls at second base on Monday, made the same bad calls at first last night. Capuano threw gorgeous pickoffs to first, but according to Carlson, the runner was safe. Again, ball in glove + foot on bag does not equal an out in Carlson's book. The throws were there by split seconds, but the point was, there were there, and Carlson blew the call twice. At least he's consistent.
In contrast, Larry Young decided Brady Clark was out at second base when he tried to steal, even though it appeared to me, (and most of the other 15,514 people in attendance last night), that Brady was safe. There didn't seem to be any doubt that Brady made it, but I guess Young thought that he should have been standing and brushing the dirt off of his pants by the time the tag was made to be really sure he was in there.
Prince Fielder again struggled at the plate, fanning in three of his five at bats. From what I've read, no one is worried yet, but 0-9 isn't a great way to start off the season. Rickie Weeks also posted his first error of the season last night, overthrowing to first, but luckily veteran catcher Damian Miller was there to save the day, making the throw to get the runner at second.
Our guys did manage to catch a couple of breaks last night. Some key errors by the Pirates allowed us to get runners on base, and eventually score. Derrick Turnbow caught a rocket in the 9th, which held the two runners in place, and then easily finished out the game to post his second save in as many attempts.
Smart base running was also a factor last night. Third base coach Dale Sveum did an outstanding job of directing the runners, and that is going to be key for the team this year. So many people want to see the big home runs and doubles and triples, but small ball wins games, and that’s what our guys need to focus on this season. Granted, we did have a couple of home runs on Monday and one last night, but as evidenced by the Pirates’ loss (even though they had two home runs last night), long balls don’t always get it done. They’re certainly exciting and make it fun to go out to the park, but I’m glad to see that Yost and the rest of his coaching team are going back to basics, and focusing more on the fundamentals.
Now about these new LED panels on the club level. I’ve read that some of the players aren’t too jazzed about them, and the more I see them, the more I agree. Some of the displays are ok, but some are very bright and distracting. Unless you’re sitting in the outfield boxes or bleachers, you can pretty much forget about watching the pitch counts. The scoreboards tracking pitches were visible from anywhere in the stadium last year, but that information is now displayed solely on the LED panel directly above the press box. Fan that I am, I like to keep track of the pitch count, and percentages of strikes to balls, so I found myself having to lean forward and look back at the panel to see what was going on. I found this very annoying, not only because of the inconvenience, but it forced me to take my attention away from the game. A call to the ballpark confirmed that I’m not alone in my opinion. Apparently there have been several complaints about the location of this scoreboard, but a simple reprogram can fix the problem. The gentleman with whom I spoke told me that a new layout is already being discussed, and the IT team is still working out the kinks in the “new toy.”
I don’t think I’m going to make it out to the stadium tonight, but you can bet I’ll be watching at home with my broom at the ready! A sweep would be a fantastic way to start off our season, so let’s all cheer our guys on to victory! Go Brewers!
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Play Ball!
Here we go Brewer fans! It’s been a long, boring semi-cold winter waiting for baseball to return to Milwaukee, but it’s finally back, and yesterday, it was better than ever. Our beloved Brewers played some late inning small ball to beat the Pirates 5-2 in front of 45,023 screaming fans.
Ned Yost said yesterday that it’s only one game of 162, but that one game was probably the most anticipated game in years. After the 81-81 season last year, (snapping the 12 year losing streak), and all the buzz that was generated in the off season about this up and coming Brewer team, fans were absolutely rabid for a victory yesterday. Those fans were not disappointed. Not only did our boys get the win, but a dramatic, come-from-behind win provided by a 2-run single from veteran Jeff Cirillo, and cemented by a towering 2-run homer from Carlos Lee.
The team that took the field yesterday had a different energy about them than last season. While there were some Opening Day jitters, (Prince Fielder going 0-4, all strikeouts), there was also confidence, and determination to get it done. And get it done they did, despite some questionable calls by what must have been a Pittsburgh-based umpire team. The strike zone seemed to move, as if by magic, during the time it took Doug Davis to replace Perez on the mound. Either that or home plate umpire John Hirschbeck had dirt in his eyes every time Davis pitched.
And apparently 2nd base umpire Mark Carlson seemed to think that something more had to be done to tag a runner than have the ball in your glove and your foot on the bag. JJ Hardy stretched like Rubber Man to make an amazing play at second base, clearly tagging Jason Bay in time. Clear to everyone except Carlson that is, who decided that Bay was safe.
Carlos Lee was determined to not strike out during his 11-pitch at bat. He said after the game that when you hit foul ball home runs, you generally end up striking out, but he wasn’t going to strike out. He was determined to hit the ball, and hit it he did, to the tune of about 405 feet.
Speaking of hitting the ball, how about Doug Davis yesterday? While he never got on base, he hit the ball solidly, not once but twice. And he managed to pitch 6 solid innings as well. It was definitely a welcome sight to see Davis handle the ball with as much authority at the plate as he did on the mound. Doug said he didn’t like being considered a guaranteed strikeout, so he worked a lot on his batting mechanics during spring training, and it seems to have paid off. Let’s hope that this trend will continue for Davis and for all of our pitching staff.
While we’re on the subject of our pitching staff, I must mention Derrick Turnbow, who, according to Matt Wise, is officially a rock star. The energy level in the stadium was significantly amped up when Derrick walked out of the bullpen before the 9th inning. Every time he walks out onto the field, I’m reminded of the movie “Major League” and the scenes featuring Charlie Sheen as the ‘Wild Thing’ pitcher. That’s the way Derrick Turnbow affects the fans here in Milwaukee, and with good reason. 99 mile-an-hour fastballs are impressive no matter how you look at it. Couple that with his easygoing manner and good old boy attitude and you definitely have a winning combination. I spoke with Derrick at length back in December, and he is just as nice as he is talented, and I for one am thrilled that he’ll be with us for three years. I also read that Derrick got married during the off-season, so congrats to Derrick on the new contract and the new wife.
I’m off to the park again tonight to see Chris Capuano face off against former Brewer Victor Santos. I couldn’t miss Cappy’s season debut, and it gives me a chance to wear my newly autographed #39 jersey. Tonight should also mark the first time we’ll get a look at new Brewer Corey Koskie at third base. I’m looking forward to seeing him in action. Congrats on the Opening Day win guys. Let’s get another one tonight! Go Brewers!
Ned Yost said yesterday that it’s only one game of 162, but that one game was probably the most anticipated game in years. After the 81-81 season last year, (snapping the 12 year losing streak), and all the buzz that was generated in the off season about this up and coming Brewer team, fans were absolutely rabid for a victory yesterday. Those fans were not disappointed. Not only did our boys get the win, but a dramatic, come-from-behind win provided by a 2-run single from veteran Jeff Cirillo, and cemented by a towering 2-run homer from Carlos Lee.
The team that took the field yesterday had a different energy about them than last season. While there were some Opening Day jitters, (Prince Fielder going 0-4, all strikeouts), there was also confidence, and determination to get it done. And get it done they did, despite some questionable calls by what must have been a Pittsburgh-based umpire team. The strike zone seemed to move, as if by magic, during the time it took Doug Davis to replace Perez on the mound. Either that or home plate umpire John Hirschbeck had dirt in his eyes every time Davis pitched.
And apparently 2nd base umpire Mark Carlson seemed to think that something more had to be done to tag a runner than have the ball in your glove and your foot on the bag. JJ Hardy stretched like Rubber Man to make an amazing play at second base, clearly tagging Jason Bay in time. Clear to everyone except Carlson that is, who decided that Bay was safe.
Carlos Lee was determined to not strike out during his 11-pitch at bat. He said after the game that when you hit foul ball home runs, you generally end up striking out, but he wasn’t going to strike out. He was determined to hit the ball, and hit it he did, to the tune of about 405 feet.
Speaking of hitting the ball, how about Doug Davis yesterday? While he never got on base, he hit the ball solidly, not once but twice. And he managed to pitch 6 solid innings as well. It was definitely a welcome sight to see Davis handle the ball with as much authority at the plate as he did on the mound. Doug said he didn’t like being considered a guaranteed strikeout, so he worked a lot on his batting mechanics during spring training, and it seems to have paid off. Let’s hope that this trend will continue for Davis and for all of our pitching staff.
While we’re on the subject of our pitching staff, I must mention Derrick Turnbow, who, according to Matt Wise, is officially a rock star. The energy level in the stadium was significantly amped up when Derrick walked out of the bullpen before the 9th inning. Every time he walks out onto the field, I’m reminded of the movie “Major League” and the scenes featuring Charlie Sheen as the ‘Wild Thing’ pitcher. That’s the way Derrick Turnbow affects the fans here in Milwaukee, and with good reason. 99 mile-an-hour fastballs are impressive no matter how you look at it. Couple that with his easygoing manner and good old boy attitude and you definitely have a winning combination. I spoke with Derrick at length back in December, and he is just as nice as he is talented, and I for one am thrilled that he’ll be with us for three years. I also read that Derrick got married during the off-season, so congrats to Derrick on the new contract and the new wife.
I’m off to the park again tonight to see Chris Capuano face off against former Brewer Victor Santos. I couldn’t miss Cappy’s season debut, and it gives me a chance to wear my newly autographed #39 jersey. Tonight should also mark the first time we’ll get a look at new Brewer Corey Koskie at third base. I’m looking forward to seeing him in action. Congrats on the Opening Day win guys. Let’s get another one tonight! Go Brewers!
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Brewers on Deck
Faithful fans braved the clouds and rain this morning to head out to the ballpark and get their first glimpse of the 2006 Milwaukee Brewers. Fans turned up in the thousands for a shot at autographs from their favorite players at today's "Brewers on Deck" event at Miller Park.
I, too, headed out to the park this morning on a mission to get a couple of autographs for myself. I attempted to get an autograph from Brady Clark, but he was herded away (5 minutes ahead of schedule!) when I still about 6 autographs away. I was none too happy about this. The schedule for the day had Brady signing until 11:05, so myself and the few people in front of me were more than a little disappointed when he was replaced by Chad Moeller and Tomo Ohko at 11:00.
Signs indicating which Brewers would be where were difficult to see with all the people milling about, and the program offered to fans as they came in the door provided little help. I noticed one staging area wasn't listed on the program at all. I talked to more than a few people who had been waiting patiently in line to see Rickie Weeks, only to find out they were waiting in the wrong line, and on the wrong floor! The short amount of time allotted to each player also left many, many fans still waiting in line when the sessions ended.
Other than these few snafus, it seemed to be a worthwhile event for all in attendance. Fans were given a chance to try their hand at broadcasting, little ones were entertained by face painters and clowns offering balloon animals, and fans could stay and watch the team's first workout of the season at Miller Park. FSN North was on hand for live interviews while the team took batting practice. Owner Mark Attanasio took a few minutes to speak with Bill Schroeder and Darren Sutton, as did third base coach Dale Sveum, and General Manager Doug Melvin.
Aside from missing my Brady Clark autograph, I still managed to leave the park happy. I arrived at the park clutching my new, special-ordered, #39 Capuano jersey with the hope of getting it signed. After missing Brady by mere feet, I went straight back to the end of the line, determined not to miss Chris. Happily, I made it to the front of the line with plenty of time to spare.
I was watching Chris while still waiting in line, and I was pleased to notice that he had a smile and a word or two for every fan who came in front of him. The most gracious and handsome of all Brewers looked very pleased when he saw the personalized jersey I presented for signing, and even took a minute or two to check it out, commenting "You don't see many of these," with a big smile on his face. When I told him I had special ordered it, he graced me with that same big smile and said thanks. Needless to say, I was quite twitterpated (thanks for the word Jodie!) when I walked away, newly autographed jersey in hand. I'm sure looking forward to seeing Chris in action when he takes the mound against Pittsburgh Tuesday night.
I never did find the silent auction that I had heard so much about. I walked around most of the field level, checking things out so I could report back to all my readers, but I couldn't find the auction. And as I mentioned earlier, the program offered no help. I can only assume that the auction was located on another level of the park. I hope other people managed to find it so some money could be raised for the Brewer Charities.
The new screens on the club level that were installed during the offseason were in full force today, and with any luck, will provide lots of distraction for the visiting teams. The old NL and AL scoreboards in the outfield were gone, left field now sporting a colorful new display screen and right field is the home of the new party area. I've heard that the area is sold out for every home game this season, and has been for some time now. All in all, the improvements around the park all looked fantastic. Of course, concession prices jumped a bit too. Guess those improvements still need to be paid for!
In other Brewer news, Derrick Turnbow will be wearing number 59 for the next three seasons. Turnbow and the Brewers finally came to terms on a multi-year contract that keeps Turnbow in Milwaukee through the 2008 season. The new contract replaces the one year deal that Turnbow signed recently, and buys out his first two years of arbitration eligibility.
Well that's it for now Brewer fans. Judging by the excitement of the fans today, it's safe to say that tomorrow will be one loud, fun Opening Day. In fact, tomorrow marks the first time since 1995 that the Brewers have opened a season at home, and the first time ever that Miller Park has hosted the season opener. I'll certainly be there to cheer on Doug Davis as he throws out his first pitch, and I hope to see all of you there as well! Less than 24 hours before baseball is officially back. Go Brewers!
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