Umps, Drunks and Soup

Wow, so many things going on in my head, I don't even know where to start. Jeff Suppan, bad umpires, Brady getting booed. I'll start with Soup.

How great was it to see him in a Brewer uniform? Granted, he didn't start off sharp, but he did what he was hired to do: keep the team in the game. He really reeled it in after the third inning or so and carved up the Dodgers, and kept the Brewers within two. Sadly, Carlos Villanueva blew that. I don't recall Carlos ever pitching that badly!

Of course, his bad pitching could have been the result of bad calling. I don't know how it looked on TV, but from where I was sitting at the game, it seemed the home plate umpire was flipping a coin to decide balls and strikes. His strike zone seemed hugely erratic, and he was definitely not calling both ways.

Yes it was disappointing to not get the sweep, and several drunks around me started yelling to give up the season. But the way I look at it, we started off 5-0 last year and the season went to crap, so maybe it's a good thing we got that first loss out of the way. Just my opinion.

Speaking of drunks, what the hell was up with booing Brady Clark last night? He didn't trade himself! He didn't ask to be traded, and wasn't a free agent looking for money. So all of you who were booing Brady last night need to become better informed before you open your mouths!

Maybe Brady even knows something we don't. He signed my homerun poster for me before the game, and I told him I wasn't happy with Doug Melvin about the trade, and he told me he'd be back next year. Sounds to me like Brady wants to be in Milwaukee, but I can only hope he'll be back. Such a class act, and I wish him only the best.

Getting back to those drunks, I gotta say there's nothing better than going to a game and being surrounded by them. Especially drunks who talk a lot. Drunks who talk a lot who have no friggin' clue what they're talking about is even better! ( hopefully by now you're picked up on the sarcasm!) I had a lovely group of young men sitting in front of me last night who were razzing Jenkins every time he came up to bat about his strikeouts. I finally asked them if they recalled that Jenkins was hitting over .400 in spring training, and was 1-2 at that point in the game. Then they complained about Bill Hall and his strikeouts, totally overlooking the fact that Hall didn't strike out until his last at bat. (that's an improvement for Hall!) Listening to them makes me not want to drink at games anymore. Almost.

Then there was the father and son sitting behind me who were talking nonstop during the game. Again, they had absolutely no clue what they were talking about. Do I know too much about baseball, or am I just too impatient with people who don't bother to educate themselves?

Who knows? All in all, it was a fantastic series against a damn good team. Turnbow seems to have his stuff back. Bill Hall isn't striking out at much, nor is Jenkins. Hardy seems back to full form. The defense looked great, as did the offense and pitching. This could be a really good season.

I'm looking forward to beating the crap out of the Cubs this weekend when Miller Park is once again invaded by FIB's. I'll be there Friday to check out the first of many "Retro Fridays" and collect my little Charlie Moore bobblehead. Dave Bush gets his first start of the season against Rich Hill. These two faced off in the last meeting of the season last year, and Bush was spectacular. Here's hoping he can do it again. Until next time, go Brewers!