Pen and Mike Luncheon

My coworker asked me yesterday to accompany him to a Pen and Mike Luncheon at the Milwaukee Athletic Club. I asked him what it was, and he told me it was a club for sportswriters and sportscasters, hence the name "pen" and "mike." Do I qualify as a sportswriter?

At any rate, I went with him and enjoyed some chicken parmesan while listening to Doug Melvin, who was the featured speaker. Since the Journal Sentinel and the Brewers' website have already fully covered Doug's remarks about the pitching staff, I want to tell you what he said about Rickie Weeks.

When asked what area the Brewers needed to improve, he answered, "Defense." He went on to talk about the errors, and specifically Rickie. He mentioned that Robin Yount had 44 errors in his second year in the majors, and told Rickie not to feel like he needed to break that record. (which, of course, prompted much laughter throughout the room) Well, Rickie is definitely on pace to do just that. With another error last night, Rickie now has a total of 13, and is on pace for 54 for the season.

Mr. Melvin also spoke about his time playing baseball, and how he became a general manager. He talked about some of his favorite trades (Richie Sexson from Arizona, from which we are still profiting), how hard it was to trade away the popular players every year (Richie, Scott Podsednik, Lyle Overbay), and how important it is for all of us to buy tickets, because more revenue = higher payroll = we get to keep good players (think Carlos Lee!). He didn't say the part about Carlos. That's just my own opinion.

So that's about it for the Pen and Mike Club luncheon. Until next time, go Brewers!