So I managed to do it. I was in attendance for an even more disgusting loss on Thursday than the one I witnessed on Wednesday afternoon. For those of you keeping count, I have now run my season record to a paltry 6-9 and currently have a nice little 18 Brewers scoreless innings in attendance streak going. If, and I say if, the Crew gets blanked tonight when I'm there, I'm officially retiring from The Keg for the remainder of the season. Well, I'll probably go for Lyle Overbay and Carlos Lee bobblehead nights.
Two consecutive 3-0 losses in a row...great. However, I'm going to really stick my neck out for one Victor Santos this time. It seems that when he was pitching really well early he received no run support, and as of late he gets shelled and loses in a shoot-out. I understand he gave up a 2-0 pitch yammie ball to the pitcher for the Giants, but please hear me out on this one and if you're not puking by the end of this I'll 100% question your loyalty to the Crew.
In the fatefull inning of the three-run dinger, Santos recorded one out and then struck out the next batter he faced. However, the ball got away from catcher Damien Miller who apparently couldn't find the ball and took so long retriving it that the batter (who just struck out remember) made it all the way to second base. I have never, EVER, witnessed a player who struck out take second on the play. And I'm talking little league, high school, open county rec leagues here folks. Occansionally the batter strikes out and does indeed leg it out to first base, but second? Absolutely uncalled for by the catcher, hands down.
With a runner on second and one out, Santos gets the number seven hitter to pop out, keeping the runner at second base. Seeing as though first base was open, the team chose to give the 8 hitter, Mike Matheny, a free pass to face the pitcher with two outs. Obviously I don't have to explain the rest.
The disgusting part is that Santos never should have even been in the situation to have to have two runners on base to begin with. The even more dizzying notion being that if the player who struck out and made it to second base would have (God forbid) fanned and been stationed at first, like what should have happened, the Brewers don't walk the 8 hitter. The sole reason they walked him being that first base was open. If the guy who struck out is only at first (like he should have been) Santos pitches to Matheny, who most likely doesn't go yard.
Oh yeah, the gopher ball to the pitcher broke up Vic's no hitter too. Did I mention that? Oops.
So yesterday's game was far from Vic's fault. I put about 99% of that game squarely on the shoulders of Filzen's favorite city's favorite son, Damien Miller. I definitely keep Santos in the starting rotation for awhile yet.
Getting back to the Giants lot and tailgating beforehand will hopefully prove to be the remedy for a Brew Crew W tonight.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Daily Brew 7/29
Kind of a slow sporting day, the Brewers lost again last night, 3-0 to the Giants. How did they lose you ask, Victor Santos gave up a three-run bomb to pitcher, read that again, PITCHER Brad Hennessy. WTF? It was a legitimate shot too. How much longer can you trot that guy out to the mound. It's becoming like the Glendon Rusch experiment in 2003, only his era isn't quite as bad. Every time Santos takes the mound you know the team is going to lose. Time to give Dana Eveland or Jorge de la Rosa a chance Ned.
Manny Ramirez wants a trade, and has reportedly made this request annualy during his tenure in Boston. His own wife said she didn't even know that was the case. Just another case of Manny Being Manny.
Tony Parker has proposed to Eva Longoria.
I was really starting to feel a void in my life on Thursdays (the O.C. doesn't return until September 8, and no more Thursday Night Sports Talk at Brothers) so I bought the first season of the O.C. on DVD just to get that back in my life. It is awesome, it's just like watching ESPN classic and analyzing a game with hindsight. I've already stumbled upon tons of gems with Gaddis. Ryan Atwood is introduced to us as a sort of idiot savant type guy who's an outsider and rough around the edges (Goodwill Hunting style), when he's busted for drinking who takes the drink from him? Kirstin, who if you saw season two we find out she has a drinking problem (foreshadowing?) The kids actually look like kids, and not models. Summer was a whore/lusch/bitch, Marissa has a younger sister who all of a sudden just vanishes from the episodes without any mention, and the biggest one of all Ryan Atwood becomes a good influence on these kids? Are we really supposed to believe that they all partied more, and got in more trouble before he arrived and less afterwords? There's no way thats happening in real life, but god do I love it. The big question is this, is the NFL still doing that Thursday night game to kick off the season? God I hope not, that would be the same Thursday as the season premire of the O.C.
Grady Jackson has asked for his release or a trade to which Ted Thompson quickly responded, "No." Just do it, if he wants a new contract and thinks he's worth more money than what he's already making, when he only played 36% or less of the downs last year, just axe him. Actually the more I think about it, I agree with Gaddis, keep him. Keep him and just don't play him. Don't give into him by granting his release and allowing him to play elsewhere, just sit him and then we'll see how easy it is to get a new contract when you're previous season totals were: 0 sacks, 0 tackles, o tackles for loss.
In other packers news, heres what the boys from profootball.com thought about Javon Walker's attempted holdout:
“Walker received more than $5 million from the Packers in 2002 and 2003, but started in only five games and caught only 64 passes. And, as far as we know, he didn't pay any of the money back. Even with his breakout season of 2004, his career totals (153 catches, 2417 yards, 22 touchdowns) are borderline laughable in comparison to the first three seasons of production generated by Randy Moss (226, 4163, 43).”
I'm sorry Javon, could you please repeat why it is you feel you're underpaid?
The Yankees acquired Shawn Chacon from the Rockies for two minor leaguers. Shawn Chacon. If that is considered news, this is going to be a very boaring trade deadline.
Gotta give a shoutout to fkrosters.com. I sent in my XBOX memory card to them about a week ago and just got it back last night. I now have all of the players named on NCAA Football 2006, even the historic rosters. This is freaking great, they did a dynamite job. If you're interested, check out the site, it's awesome.
So my prediction was right yesterday, and Bret Bielema will take over for Barry next year (only I thought in two years). I love this guy and I love this move. He is going to be an awesome coach and do a great job of recruiting. I met him a few times last year while covering Badger games, and he is intense. By the end of the interview he had me ready to go out and hit someone. It goes without saying, but we owe a lot of grattitude to Barry Alvarez. Before he arrived they averaged 4.5 wins per season, with him 7.2. His winning percentage .604, before him the schools was .540. He's appeared in 10 bowl games and won 7. Before him, six appearances and one bowl win. Three Rose Bowl wins, to bring the Schools total to...three. He has been the Vince Lombardi of the Badgers. Thank you Barry.
Lastly, this weekend the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame will induct it's 2005 Class. Wade Boggs, Ryne Sandberg, Jerry Coleman and Peter Gammons. As a self professed Cub hater, I will say this much, there were two Cubs I enjoyed watching. Mark Grace, and Ryne Sandberg. He made ten consecutive All-Star appearances, won nine consecutive Gold Gloves and won one MVP award. Ryno was a classy guy, and one of the greatest second basemen of all time. Congratuations.
Manny Ramirez wants a trade, and has reportedly made this request annualy during his tenure in Boston. His own wife said she didn't even know that was the case. Just another case of Manny Being Manny.
Tony Parker has proposed to Eva Longoria.
I was really starting to feel a void in my life on Thursdays (the O.C. doesn't return until September 8, and no more Thursday Night Sports Talk at Brothers) so I bought the first season of the O.C. on DVD just to get that back in my life. It is awesome, it's just like watching ESPN classic and analyzing a game with hindsight. I've already stumbled upon tons of gems with Gaddis. Ryan Atwood is introduced to us as a sort of idiot savant type guy who's an outsider and rough around the edges (Goodwill Hunting style), when he's busted for drinking who takes the drink from him? Kirstin, who if you saw season two we find out she has a drinking problem (foreshadowing?) The kids actually look like kids, and not models. Summer was a whore/lusch/bitch, Marissa has a younger sister who all of a sudden just vanishes from the episodes without any mention, and the biggest one of all Ryan Atwood becomes a good influence on these kids? Are we really supposed to believe that they all partied more, and got in more trouble before he arrived and less afterwords? There's no way thats happening in real life, but god do I love it. The big question is this, is the NFL still doing that Thursday night game to kick off the season? God I hope not, that would be the same Thursday as the season premire of the O.C.
Grady Jackson has asked for his release or a trade to which Ted Thompson quickly responded, "No." Just do it, if he wants a new contract and thinks he's worth more money than what he's already making, when he only played 36% or less of the downs last year, just axe him. Actually the more I think about it, I agree with Gaddis, keep him. Keep him and just don't play him. Don't give into him by granting his release and allowing him to play elsewhere, just sit him and then we'll see how easy it is to get a new contract when you're previous season totals were: 0 sacks, 0 tackles, o tackles for loss.
In other packers news, heres what the boys from profootball.com thought about Javon Walker's attempted holdout:
“Walker received more than $5 million from the Packers in 2002 and 2003, but started in only five games and caught only 64 passes. And, as far as we know, he didn't pay any of the money back. Even with his breakout season of 2004, his career totals (153 catches, 2417 yards, 22 touchdowns) are borderline laughable in comparison to the first three seasons of production generated by Randy Moss (226, 4163, 43).”
I'm sorry Javon, could you please repeat why it is you feel you're underpaid?
The Yankees acquired Shawn Chacon from the Rockies for two minor leaguers. Shawn Chacon. If that is considered news, this is going to be a very boaring trade deadline.
Gotta give a shoutout to fkrosters.com. I sent in my XBOX memory card to them about a week ago and just got it back last night. I now have all of the players named on NCAA Football 2006, even the historic rosters. This is freaking great, they did a dynamite job. If you're interested, check out the site, it's awesome.
So my prediction was right yesterday, and Bret Bielema will take over for Barry next year (only I thought in two years). I love this guy and I love this move. He is going to be an awesome coach and do a great job of recruiting. I met him a few times last year while covering Badger games, and he is intense. By the end of the interview he had me ready to go out and hit someone. It goes without saying, but we owe a lot of grattitude to Barry Alvarez. Before he arrived they averaged 4.5 wins per season, with him 7.2. His winning percentage .604, before him the schools was .540. He's appeared in 10 bowl games and won 7. Before him, six appearances and one bowl win. Three Rose Bowl wins, to bring the Schools total to...three. He has been the Vince Lombardi of the Badgers. Thank you Barry.
Lastly, this weekend the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame will induct it's 2005 Class. Wade Boggs, Ryne Sandberg, Jerry Coleman and Peter Gammons. As a self professed Cub hater, I will say this much, there were two Cubs I enjoyed watching. Mark Grace, and Ryne Sandberg. He made ten consecutive All-Star appearances, won nine consecutive Gold Gloves and won one MVP award. Ryno was a classy guy, and one of the greatest second basemen of all time. Congratuations.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Sound system at The Keg
Ok, so I suffered through being at my first of three games in a row at The Keg yesterday afternoon, watching a miserable game of offensive ineptitude and a thoroughly embarrasing defensive performance. I've come to expect an error charged to Rickie Weeks almost every game, but Overbay and a wild pitch with a runner on third? Please. Anyway, hopefully I got the loss out of me because my season record is suddently sinking again as it sits at 6-8. But onto another subject....the horrible sound system at Miller Park.
For a stadium that is still supposed to be every bit "state of the art" am I the only person who can't stand the horrendous sound system at the place? The only thing you can easily hear is inbetween innings when the team has that blond hottie do her in stadium promotions. Her microphone is apparently more amped up than everything else piped in over the sound system. When I've been to 14 games this season and I still can't shed any light whatsoever as far as what song is played when the Brewers hit a dinger, you know it's bad. And believe me, I've seen my fair shake of home team dingers, it is Miller Park people.
You'd think by this point that some token employee or usher from the team would have brought up the point that the stadium's sound system is for garbage and they'd be better served bringing back the speaker tower in center field ala County Stadium. Why has the team not noticed this? As if having seats that don't face the field isn't bad enough, having a miserable sound system just adds to a suddenly growing list of things that are frustrating about Miller Park. I am by no standards a sound board technician, but I don't think it takes a genious to simply turn up the volume of the main sound board. I'll check into that one with some local bands and get back to you.
When you sit in either of the loge bleachers sections at The Keg, it is truly awful, a fan can't hear a thing. This day in age, this shouldn't be the case and something should be done. The stadium has a convertible roof, I think someone can figure out how to have an adequate sound system within the walls of the park.
For a stadium that is still supposed to be every bit "state of the art" am I the only person who can't stand the horrendous sound system at the place? The only thing you can easily hear is inbetween innings when the team has that blond hottie do her in stadium promotions. Her microphone is apparently more amped up than everything else piped in over the sound system. When I've been to 14 games this season and I still can't shed any light whatsoever as far as what song is played when the Brewers hit a dinger, you know it's bad. And believe me, I've seen my fair shake of home team dingers, it is Miller Park people.
You'd think by this point that some token employee or usher from the team would have brought up the point that the stadium's sound system is for garbage and they'd be better served bringing back the speaker tower in center field ala County Stadium. Why has the team not noticed this? As if having seats that don't face the field isn't bad enough, having a miserable sound system just adds to a suddenly growing list of things that are frustrating about Miller Park. I am by no standards a sound board technician, but I don't think it takes a genious to simply turn up the volume of the main sound board. I'll check into that one with some local bands and get back to you.
When you sit in either of the loge bleachers sections at The Keg, it is truly awful, a fan can't hear a thing. This day in age, this shouldn't be the case and something should be done. The stadium has a convertible roof, I think someone can figure out how to have an adequate sound system within the walls of the park.
Daily Brew 7/28
Javon Walker announced late last night that he will indeed report to training camp. One Packers source said his contract was not reworked, but they are open to future discussions. There has to be something else going on that we are unaware of, otherwise the Packers officially made Drew Rosenhaus their bitch. Why would he all of a sudden give in and report with no new deal, and no promise of one in the near future. Other than the Packers reportedly willing to drop the fines for missing mandatory camps earlier, Walker gained nothing here. The fact that earlier in the week TO also announced that he would report, but he woulnd't be happy makes me believe something else is going on here.
The Badgers have scheduled a 1pm news conference today to make a significant announcement regarding the athletic department. It is believed that this will involve Barry Alvarez and one of his two positions (Head Coach and Athletic Director). Alvarez is 58, and this will be his 17th season at Wisconsin. Yeah, 17, has it really been that long? Wow. Speculation is that he will give up the AD position, but I think he will announce his intentions to step down as head coach within two years and turn the reigns over to possibly Brett Bielema.
The Brewers lost to the Diamondbacks yesterday 3-0. The Diamondbacks got only five hits, and scored thier runs on two errors and a wild pitch. F'ing Brewers. C'mon, we're not in little league anymore. I can understand that kind of a performance the first year you're not hitting off a tee, but this is the major leagues.
Before the game the Brewers announced that they have designated Ricky Botallico for assignment and have summoned up Rick Helling from AAA Nashville. Helling will do a good job of filling this years "Dave Burba" role. You know, the experienced vet who's pitched in the playoffs before and helps some young guys out. I like it. Botallico was becoming dead weight, and let's face it, he signed a one year deal and there was no way he was coming back next year. Helling will be used mainly as a long reliever, but I wouldn't be surprised if he made the rotation and replaced Victor Santos if he has a few more bad starts.
Another Brewers note, contrary to the information in the Brewers media guide, Lyle Overbay IS eligable for salary arbitration after this season. This leads me to believe he will be dealt in the offseason. The one positive to keeping Overbay around a little longer and giving Prince more time in AAA was the fact that Overbay was grossly underpaid. That soon won't be the case anymore.
The Redskins traded wide reciever Rod Gardner to the Panthers last night for a draft choice. Gardner had pretty much become dead weight in Washington, but still has a lot of promise and may benefit from a change of scenary. The Panthers now have a nice recieving corp or Gardner, Steve Smith and Keary Colbert. The Redskins however are now left with 5'8 Santana Moss, and journeyman David Patton. Has the game passed Joe Gibbs by?
Larry Brown has accepted the Knicks job and will officialy be announced as coach today. The deal is believed to be 5 years and $50-60 million. Five years? You know he's leaving after 3 at the most, so you're essentially giving him free money for two years when you buy out his deal like the Pistons did.
Amongst the many reasons why I can't wait for college football to start was SEC Media Day yesterday. The Ole' Ball Coach is back, and full of more one liners. Steve freakign Spurrier, man I've missed you. I can't wait for him to get the fued back in effect with Phillip Fulmer and Tennesse, and the much anticipated return to Gainsville. Did you see him mocking Kenny Rogers the other day, it was hillarious. College football missed this guy the last few years. I can't wait.
The Badgers have scheduled a 1pm news conference today to make a significant announcement regarding the athletic department. It is believed that this will involve Barry Alvarez and one of his two positions (Head Coach and Athletic Director). Alvarez is 58, and this will be his 17th season at Wisconsin. Yeah, 17, has it really been that long? Wow. Speculation is that he will give up the AD position, but I think he will announce his intentions to step down as head coach within two years and turn the reigns over to possibly Brett Bielema.
The Brewers lost to the Diamondbacks yesterday 3-0. The Diamondbacks got only five hits, and scored thier runs on two errors and a wild pitch. F'ing Brewers. C'mon, we're not in little league anymore. I can understand that kind of a performance the first year you're not hitting off a tee, but this is the major leagues.
Before the game the Brewers announced that they have designated Ricky Botallico for assignment and have summoned up Rick Helling from AAA Nashville. Helling will do a good job of filling this years "Dave Burba" role. You know, the experienced vet who's pitched in the playoffs before and helps some young guys out. I like it. Botallico was becoming dead weight, and let's face it, he signed a one year deal and there was no way he was coming back next year. Helling will be used mainly as a long reliever, but I wouldn't be surprised if he made the rotation and replaced Victor Santos if he has a few more bad starts.
Another Brewers note, contrary to the information in the Brewers media guide, Lyle Overbay IS eligable for salary arbitration after this season. This leads me to believe he will be dealt in the offseason. The one positive to keeping Overbay around a little longer and giving Prince more time in AAA was the fact that Overbay was grossly underpaid. That soon won't be the case anymore.
The Redskins traded wide reciever Rod Gardner to the Panthers last night for a draft choice. Gardner had pretty much become dead weight in Washington, but still has a lot of promise and may benefit from a change of scenary. The Panthers now have a nice recieving corp or Gardner, Steve Smith and Keary Colbert. The Redskins however are now left with 5'8 Santana Moss, and journeyman David Patton. Has the game passed Joe Gibbs by?
Larry Brown has accepted the Knicks job and will officialy be announced as coach today. The deal is believed to be 5 years and $50-60 million. Five years? You know he's leaving after 3 at the most, so you're essentially giving him free money for two years when you buy out his deal like the Pistons did.
Amongst the many reasons why I can't wait for college football to start was SEC Media Day yesterday. The Ole' Ball Coach is back, and full of more one liners. Steve freakign Spurrier, man I've missed you. I can't wait for him to get the fued back in effect with Phillip Fulmer and Tennesse, and the much anticipated return to Gainsville. Did you see him mocking Kenny Rogers the other day, it was hillarious. College football missed this guy the last few years. I can't wait.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
2005 Predictions: AL Revised
AL East
1. New York Yankees (100-62)
2. Boston Red Sox (92-70)
3. Baltimore Orioles (80-82)
4. Tampa Bay Devil Rays (70-92)
5. Toronto Blue Jays (68-94)
Revised
1. Boston Red Sox
2. New York Yankees
3. Baltimore Orioles
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The Yankees are just simply the best team in baseball, end of story. Their only weakness last year was pitching, and they substantially upgraded their bullpen and rotation.
The Red Sox improved too, but losing Pedro Martinez will be more of a loss than Boston faithfull want to believe. The Red Sox essentially dealt Martinez and Derek Lowe for David Wells, Matt Clement and Wade Miller, while that upgraded thier depth, it took away two "stoppers" and guys you could really count on. I'm not sure thats the case with any of those three.
The Orioles upgraded an already good offense, but again have very little pitching, stop me if you've heard that before. The Devil Rays should be fun to watch, their managed well and have a lot of young guys on the horizon. I'm not saying anything about the Blue Jays because they don't even deserve that much recognition.
Okay, so I was way off on the Yankees synopsis, but I did pretty well on the Orioles. My appologies to the Blue Jays, I thought you would be one of the worst teams in baseball, man was I wrong.
AL Central
1. Minnesota Twins (89-73)
2. Cleveland Indians (85-77)
3. Detroit Tigers (78-84)
4. Chicago White Sox (72-90)
5. Kansas City Royals (63-99)
Revised:
1. Chicago White Sox
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Cleveland Indians
5. Kansas City Royals
This division improved, well two teams did, but the Twins are still the class of the Central. I like the Indians a lot, but didn't have the guts to pick them ahead of the Twins. They have a good young offense (Boone, Haffner, Martinez, Bard) and a good young staff which got the addition of Kevin Millwood, but the Twins are solid.
Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer will be the best players at their respective positions in the next few years, Santana is one of the best pitchers in the league, and Lew Ford is the best player you've never heard of.
The Tigers will be interesting to watch. For the second straight year they made a big splash in free agency (last year it was Ivan Rodriguez, this year it's Magglio Ordonez). They have a very good offense and now a good bullpen to match (Ugeth Urbina, Kyle Farnsworth, Matt Ginter and Troy Percivil). Too bad they don't have good starting pitching, or they'd compete for the division crown.
The White Sox took a big step back by trading Carlos Lee for Scott Podsednik (Don't you have to get more for a young power hitter than a journeyman minor leager who is a one trick p0ny?) They also brought in Jermaine Dye, good luck with that. A.J. Pierzynski is one of the most hated teamates in the league and the Sox are embracing him with open arms. Mark Buhrle, Freddy Garcia, Jose Contrares and Orlando Hernandez (besides being the top 4 guys in their rotation) are all Jeckyl and Hides, Frank Thomas is hurt, Paul Konerko wants a new contract, the bullpen is shaky, I could keep going on. Sounds like a long year for Ozzie and the southsiders.
Man was I way off on that one, but in fairness, did any of you expect the White Sox to play like they have so far? No, you didn't. You thought they would be as bad as I thought they'd be. I may have overhyped the Twins and especially Indians a bit, but hey, I was dead on when it comes to the Royals.
AL West
1. Oakland A's (88-74)
2. L.A. of Anahiem Angels (87-75)
3. Seattle Mariners (81-81)
4. Texas Rangers (70-92)
Revised:
1. Oakland A's
2. L.A. of Anahiem Angels
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners
It would be too easy to pick the Angels to win this division, plus I have a hard time picking against Billy Beane. The A's pitching is still good, They improved their offense, and the bullpen will get a big shot in the arm when Huston Street becomes the closer at midseason.
I don't know what it is, but I just don't buy the Angels. The pitching staff is still suspect, they lost some key guys in the bullpen and are replacing the left side of their infield and their centerfielder. Yes, the new starters are better than what they had last year, but you still have adjusting to do. That, and I'm waiting for Steve Finley to break down.
The M's offense will be very good, but just like the Rangers and Orioles, they don't have any pitching to keep them from getting into 10-8 games.
This division was my work of art, I may have nailed it including the records. Not much to add besides that, you can't really argue with anything in the above paragraphs.
Wild Card: Boston Red Sox
Playoffs
ALDS: Yankees over A's
Twins over Red Sox
ALCS: Yankees over Twins
AL MVP: Eric Chavez
CY Young: Johan Santana
R.O.Y.: Nick Swisher (OF Oakland A's)
First Player Traded: Ugeth Urbina
First Manager Fired: Tony Pena
Don't Be Surprised If: The Royals are retracted during the season
Revised:
Wild Card: Angels
Playoffs
ALDS: Boston over A's
Angels over White Sox
ALCS: Boston over Angels
AL MVP: Manny Ramirez (who knows, Chavez does have a legitimate shot)
AL CY Young: Mark Buehrle
AL R.O.Y.: ? (Gustavo Chacin, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Rubin Gotay, all these guys have played well, but I can't really name any AL Rookies besides them)
First Player Traded: I think it may have been Urbina, who knows
First Manager Fired: Technically he resigned, but Pena was the first gone
1. New York Yankees (100-62)
2. Boston Red Sox (92-70)
3. Baltimore Orioles (80-82)
4. Tampa Bay Devil Rays (70-92)
5. Toronto Blue Jays (68-94)
Revised
1. Boston Red Sox
2. New York Yankees
3. Baltimore Orioles
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The Yankees are just simply the best team in baseball, end of story. Their only weakness last year was pitching, and they substantially upgraded their bullpen and rotation.
The Red Sox improved too, but losing Pedro Martinez will be more of a loss than Boston faithfull want to believe. The Red Sox essentially dealt Martinez and Derek Lowe for David Wells, Matt Clement and Wade Miller, while that upgraded thier depth, it took away two "stoppers" and guys you could really count on. I'm not sure thats the case with any of those three.
The Orioles upgraded an already good offense, but again have very little pitching, stop me if you've heard that before. The Devil Rays should be fun to watch, their managed well and have a lot of young guys on the horizon. I'm not saying anything about the Blue Jays because they don't even deserve that much recognition.
Okay, so I was way off on the Yankees synopsis, but I did pretty well on the Orioles. My appologies to the Blue Jays, I thought you would be one of the worst teams in baseball, man was I wrong.
AL Central
1. Minnesota Twins (89-73)
2. Cleveland Indians (85-77)
3. Detroit Tigers (78-84)
4. Chicago White Sox (72-90)
5. Kansas City Royals (63-99)
Revised:
1. Chicago White Sox
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Cleveland Indians
5. Kansas City Royals
This division improved, well two teams did, but the Twins are still the class of the Central. I like the Indians a lot, but didn't have the guts to pick them ahead of the Twins. They have a good young offense (Boone, Haffner, Martinez, Bard) and a good young staff which got the addition of Kevin Millwood, but the Twins are solid.
Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer will be the best players at their respective positions in the next few years, Santana is one of the best pitchers in the league, and Lew Ford is the best player you've never heard of.
The Tigers will be interesting to watch. For the second straight year they made a big splash in free agency (last year it was Ivan Rodriguez, this year it's Magglio Ordonez). They have a very good offense and now a good bullpen to match (Ugeth Urbina, Kyle Farnsworth, Matt Ginter and Troy Percivil). Too bad they don't have good starting pitching, or they'd compete for the division crown.
The White Sox took a big step back by trading Carlos Lee for Scott Podsednik (Don't you have to get more for a young power hitter than a journeyman minor leager who is a one trick p0ny?) They also brought in Jermaine Dye, good luck with that. A.J. Pierzynski is one of the most hated teamates in the league and the Sox are embracing him with open arms. Mark Buhrle, Freddy Garcia, Jose Contrares and Orlando Hernandez (besides being the top 4 guys in their rotation) are all Jeckyl and Hides, Frank Thomas is hurt, Paul Konerko wants a new contract, the bullpen is shaky, I could keep going on. Sounds like a long year for Ozzie and the southsiders.
Man was I way off on that one, but in fairness, did any of you expect the White Sox to play like they have so far? No, you didn't. You thought they would be as bad as I thought they'd be. I may have overhyped the Twins and especially Indians a bit, but hey, I was dead on when it comes to the Royals.
AL West
1. Oakland A's (88-74)
2. L.A. of Anahiem Angels (87-75)
3. Seattle Mariners (81-81)
4. Texas Rangers (70-92)
Revised:
1. Oakland A's
2. L.A. of Anahiem Angels
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners
It would be too easy to pick the Angels to win this division, plus I have a hard time picking against Billy Beane. The A's pitching is still good, They improved their offense, and the bullpen will get a big shot in the arm when Huston Street becomes the closer at midseason.
I don't know what it is, but I just don't buy the Angels. The pitching staff is still suspect, they lost some key guys in the bullpen and are replacing the left side of their infield and their centerfielder. Yes, the new starters are better than what they had last year, but you still have adjusting to do. That, and I'm waiting for Steve Finley to break down.
The M's offense will be very good, but just like the Rangers and Orioles, they don't have any pitching to keep them from getting into 10-8 games.
This division was my work of art, I may have nailed it including the records. Not much to add besides that, you can't really argue with anything in the above paragraphs.
Wild Card: Boston Red Sox
Playoffs
ALDS: Yankees over A's
Twins over Red Sox
ALCS: Yankees over Twins
AL MVP: Eric Chavez
CY Young: Johan Santana
R.O.Y.: Nick Swisher (OF Oakland A's)
First Player Traded: Ugeth Urbina
First Manager Fired: Tony Pena
Don't Be Surprised If: The Royals are retracted during the season
Revised:
Wild Card: Angels
Playoffs
ALDS: Boston over A's
Angels over White Sox
ALCS: Boston over Angels
AL MVP: Manny Ramirez (who knows, Chavez does have a legitimate shot)
AL CY Young: Mark Buehrle
AL R.O.Y.: ? (Gustavo Chacin, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Rubin Gotay, all these guys have played well, but I can't really name any AL Rookies besides them)
First Player Traded: I think it may have been Urbina, who knows
First Manager Fired: Technically he resigned, but Pena was the first gone
Daily Brew 7/27
The Brewers picked up another big win last night, and Rookie shortstop JJ Hardy is really starting to come around offensively. Where are all those "Bill Hall should start over JJ," or "Send JJ down to AAA" naysayers now? Hardy has been on an absolute tear as of late, he homered to give the Crew the lead on monday and then singled to give them the lead last night. His batting average has raised to .214, not great but considering where he was two months ago I'll take it. You had to expect some early offensive troubles from him, the guy basically missed a full year of baseball. Even when he was struggling the encouraging thing was he was never overmatched. He didn't look bad at the plate, and rarely struck out. He is going to be a .280 hitter and will probably replace Ricky Weeks in the two hole next year.
Greg Maddux picked up his 3000th career strikeout last night. He became the 13th member of this elite club, and it couldn't have happened a more appropriate way. Called strike three.
The Red Sox beat the Devil Rays 10-9 in 10 innings last night, but a real scare came in the third inning when Carl Crawford drilled a line-drive off the right side of Matt Clement's head. The game was delayed for 11 minutes while Clement layed on the mound only blinking his eyes. This is the scariest sight in baseball, and it's truely remarkable that it doesn't happen more often.
Sammy Sosa blasted his 586th career home run last night tying him with Frank Robinson for fifth place on the all-time list.
Larry Brown will be introduced tomorrow as new coach of the Knicks. It's still uncertain where this leaves Herb Williams, and why the two had lunch the other day. Why Larry? I understand this is who he is, but you leave the Pistons for the Knicks? Isiah Thomas has no idea what he's doing, the roster is in bad shape, and theres no real possibility of improving it anytime soon. There you go Larry, you got what you wanted.
I had the chance to see "Real Sports" on HBO last night and they ran a feature on our favorite agent, Drew Rosenhaus. It was on this taping where he announced that Javon Walker would not report, and where he spelled more ludacris statements. While asked by Bernard Goldberg "If you can hold out for more money when a player overperform their contract, what about when they underperform thier deal, will you give back money?" Good question, an argument all of us have made. Rosenhaus' answer was absolutely not, that player deserves that money, he worked for it. What? Isn't that a double standard? He also tried to make the arguement that no one cares when Tom Cruise makes $25 million for a movie but when TO wants to renegotiate his contract he's a villan. Well maybe becuase Tom Cruise isn't threatening to hold out and breaking his contract with MGM to make that movie, TO meanwhile is holding out and breaking his contract. He also said the longer this goes on with TO and Javon, eventually the teams will break because the games start to count and their jobs are on the line. The longer it goes on, the more I get the impression the teams will defeat Rosenhaus. If you're so highly underpaid and not making that much money, then it's really going to hurth when those game checks aren't coming in and you're still getting fined for breach of contract, isn't it?
Greg Maddux picked up his 3000th career strikeout last night. He became the 13th member of this elite club, and it couldn't have happened a more appropriate way. Called strike three.
The Red Sox beat the Devil Rays 10-9 in 10 innings last night, but a real scare came in the third inning when Carl Crawford drilled a line-drive off the right side of Matt Clement's head. The game was delayed for 11 minutes while Clement layed on the mound only blinking his eyes. This is the scariest sight in baseball, and it's truely remarkable that it doesn't happen more often.
Sammy Sosa blasted his 586th career home run last night tying him with Frank Robinson for fifth place on the all-time list.
Larry Brown will be introduced tomorrow as new coach of the Knicks. It's still uncertain where this leaves Herb Williams, and why the two had lunch the other day. Why Larry? I understand this is who he is, but you leave the Pistons for the Knicks? Isiah Thomas has no idea what he's doing, the roster is in bad shape, and theres no real possibility of improving it anytime soon. There you go Larry, you got what you wanted.
I had the chance to see "Real Sports" on HBO last night and they ran a feature on our favorite agent, Drew Rosenhaus. It was on this taping where he announced that Javon Walker would not report, and where he spelled more ludacris statements. While asked by Bernard Goldberg "If you can hold out for more money when a player overperform their contract, what about when they underperform thier deal, will you give back money?" Good question, an argument all of us have made. Rosenhaus' answer was absolutely not, that player deserves that money, he worked for it. What? Isn't that a double standard? He also tried to make the arguement that no one cares when Tom Cruise makes $25 million for a movie but when TO wants to renegotiate his contract he's a villan. Well maybe becuase Tom Cruise isn't threatening to hold out and breaking his contract with MGM to make that movie, TO meanwhile is holding out and breaking his contract. He also said the longer this goes on with TO and Javon, eventually the teams will break because the games start to count and their jobs are on the line. The longer it goes on, the more I get the impression the teams will defeat Rosenhaus. If you're so highly underpaid and not making that much money, then it's really going to hurth when those game checks aren't coming in and you're still getting fined for breach of contract, isn't it?
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
A case for Doug Melvin
Ok, so it's now no secret that JG is a large fan of the Oakland A's GM, Billy Beane, often referring to him as the smartest man in baseball. Now while I am in no way questioning his sports intelligence, I'd simply like to make a case for Milwaukee's own Doug Melvin as being mentioned in the same paragraph as Mr. Moneyball.
In case you don't know by now, the Brewers jetisoned utility man Keith Ginter last winter to the A's in exchange for two minor league prospects, OF Nelson Cruz and P Justin Lehr. Lehr was recently called up to the big leagues by the Brewers and after tearing up the AA league and appearing in the Futures Game, Cruz is now tearing up AAA. In fact, I don't think it's an exageration in the slightest to call Cruz the Brewers top prospect in their entire minor league system for anyone whose last name is not Fielder. Believe me, Cruz will be amongst the players called up when rosters are expanded in September.
Since being called up to the Nashville Sounds, he is batting .358 with four dingers and 10 RBI's in 67 AB's. The one big peg against him is that he apparently likes to strike out a lot, being K'd 16 times against drawing only 12 walks.
While Lehr certainly hasn't looked like a lights out hurler in the big leagues, as of yesterday he is carrying a 4.50 ERA through only 2 IP. He appears to have some decent stuff and is earning his stripes at this point. I don't think any Brewers fan is grumbling over having Lehr, someone with a fair amount of upside, in the bullpen instead of Tommy Phelps.
So what about Ginter you ask? Well the man Billy Beane acquired from Doug Melvin in exchange for two very legit prospects has already been sent down to AAA once this season, and is currently back with the A's, batting a paltry .168. Advantage Brewers...Big time. Keep in mind that Ginter was dead weight, pure and simple. Where would he have fit into this teams season/future in an infield already with a few log jams featuring Billy Hall, Russell Branyan and Jeff Cirillo at 3B, J.J. Hardy and Hall at SS and Rickie Weeks at 2B? Exactly, he doesn't. He probably would have been sent packing or designated for assignment at the end of spring training. How Melvin parlayed so much in return is case in point that Melvin could very well be the top GM in the game.
Now, before you all go frantically hitting the "post a comment" button, let me state that I fully understand every GM, no matter how great will take his share of lumps along the way, and that appears to have been the case here with Beane. His shrewd deals far outweigh his blunders, but make no mistake about Melvin getting so much in return from such an established baseballman.
The A's RF Swisher was batting .245 through yesterday's games. Don't you think Billy Beane might think of how nice Nelson Cruz might look in a white and green uniform right now with his team leading the AL Wild Card?
Time after time while overseeing the Milwaukee Brewers, Doug Melvin has proven his worth as one of the top men in the sport at this GM game. This trade might prove that to me more so than anything else he has done while at the helm of the Crew save the Richie Sexon deal.
I for one, am extremely excited for when Cruz is brought up to the big leagues.
In case you don't know by now, the Brewers jetisoned utility man Keith Ginter last winter to the A's in exchange for two minor league prospects, OF Nelson Cruz and P Justin Lehr. Lehr was recently called up to the big leagues by the Brewers and after tearing up the AA league and appearing in the Futures Game, Cruz is now tearing up AAA. In fact, I don't think it's an exageration in the slightest to call Cruz the Brewers top prospect in their entire minor league system for anyone whose last name is not Fielder. Believe me, Cruz will be amongst the players called up when rosters are expanded in September.
Since being called up to the Nashville Sounds, he is batting .358 with four dingers and 10 RBI's in 67 AB's. The one big peg against him is that he apparently likes to strike out a lot, being K'd 16 times against drawing only 12 walks.
While Lehr certainly hasn't looked like a lights out hurler in the big leagues, as of yesterday he is carrying a 4.50 ERA through only 2 IP. He appears to have some decent stuff and is earning his stripes at this point. I don't think any Brewers fan is grumbling over having Lehr, someone with a fair amount of upside, in the bullpen instead of Tommy Phelps.
So what about Ginter you ask? Well the man Billy Beane acquired from Doug Melvin in exchange for two very legit prospects has already been sent down to AAA once this season, and is currently back with the A's, batting a paltry .168. Advantage Brewers...Big time. Keep in mind that Ginter was dead weight, pure and simple. Where would he have fit into this teams season/future in an infield already with a few log jams featuring Billy Hall, Russell Branyan and Jeff Cirillo at 3B, J.J. Hardy and Hall at SS and Rickie Weeks at 2B? Exactly, he doesn't. He probably would have been sent packing or designated for assignment at the end of spring training. How Melvin parlayed so much in return is case in point that Melvin could very well be the top GM in the game.
Now, before you all go frantically hitting the "post a comment" button, let me state that I fully understand every GM, no matter how great will take his share of lumps along the way, and that appears to have been the case here with Beane. His shrewd deals far outweigh his blunders, but make no mistake about Melvin getting so much in return from such an established baseballman.
The A's RF Swisher was batting .245 through yesterday's games. Don't you think Billy Beane might think of how nice Nelson Cruz might look in a white and green uniform right now with his team leading the AL Wild Card?
Time after time while overseeing the Milwaukee Brewers, Doug Melvin has proven his worth as one of the top men in the sport at this GM game. This trade might prove that to me more so than anything else he has done while at the helm of the Crew save the Richie Sexon deal.
I for one, am extremely excited for when Cruz is brought up to the big leagues.
2005 Predictions: NL Revised
Way back in April you may recall I made my preseason predictions. Some have been fairly close while most have been horribly inaccurate. Here's a look back at where I went wrong.
NL East
1. Atlanta Braves (93-69)
2. Florida Marlins (92-70)
3. New York Mets (89-73)
4. Philadelphia Phillies (82-80)
5. Washington Nationals (75-87)
Revised:
1. Atlanta Braves
2. Washington Nationals
3. New York Mets
4. Florida Marlins
5. Philadelphia Phillies
So far I look to be pretty accurate on the Braves and Phillies, but the Nationals are making me look like a fool. They will end up above .500 while the Marlins may not. Overall, not too bad. (Believe me, it gets worse.)
NL Central
1. Chicago Cubs (92-70)
2. St. Louis Cardinals (90-72)
3. Milwaukee Brewers (81-81)
4. Cincinnati Reds (80-82)
5. Houston Astro (77-85)
6. Pittsburgh Pirates (73-89)
Revised:
1. St Louis Cardinals
2. Chicago Cubs
3. Houston Astros
4. Milwaukee Brewers
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
6. Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh has played far better than I thought they would, the Reds far worse, the Cubs have been too banged up and have underachieved. The Cardinals pick looks good, except for standing, and the Brewers pick is almost right on. The Houston Astros continue to make me look like a fool.
A lot of people have the Reds as a darkhorse in this division, but I don't see it. Griffey won't stay healthy, Rich Aruilla's best days are behind him, same with Joe Randa, and they still don't have good enough pitching. Don't tell me Eric Milton, he can't carry a staff.
Wow, what happened to the Astros. Berkman is hurt, Kent and Beltran are gone, and Biggio and Bagwell are in the twilight of thier careers. Roger Clemens will wonder why he came back. Before the All-Star break.
Not bad, the paragraph is pretty dead-on in terms of how the Reds season has gone (sans the Griffey Jr comment.) The Astros comment is also 100% accurate but yet they are still winning.
Overall, not that bad, Brewers should be around .500, Reds and Pirates will be towards the bottom, but the Cubs won't win this divison and the Astros may come in second.
NL West
1. San Diego Padres (88-74)
2. San Francisco Giants (84-78)
3. Arizona Diamondbacks (82-80)
4. Los Angeles Dodgers (74-88)
5. Colorado Rockies (70-92)
Revised:
1. San Diego Padres
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Los Angeles Dodgers
5. Colorado Rockies
The Padres win this division by default. They are a good team, but not good enough to win a division, not even good enough to win a wild card. They still have a good bullpen and rotation and now add a dimension of speed with Dave Roberts. Was Brian Giles really worth Jason Bay and Oliver Perez?
The Giants should win this division, but they're too old and we don't know how many games Bonds will play in this year, if he even plays at all. This is the last season you will see this Giants team, its time to rebuild.
Arizona could sneek up on some people. I love Brandon Webb, he is a guy who's been victimized by Ben Sheets' disease throughout his career. He pitches great, but gets no run support. Toss in Javier Vazquez, Russ Ortiz and Shawn Estes and you have yourself a good rotation. The offense has some bopers, but Craig Counsell and Royce Clayton are your first two hitters in your lineup? Looks like a lot of solo home runs.
The Dodgers...What is Paul DePodesta doing? Can we stop this whole "Moneyball" Thing. The A's are winning because they have good players, not some formula. I read the book, I heard the lunacies, but the bottom line is Eric Chavez, Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, Durazo, Damon, Giambi, those guys were all good players. The things the Dodgers are doing here, and I know what it is, eliminating speed and steals for on base percentage and big hitters, it's just dumb. They went from a great defensive team to a bad one, and even worse they brought in sinker ball pitchers. So you want pitchers who will get ground balls when you have a bad defense?
The Rockies are bad. Just bad. Here's a thought, trade Todd Helton for some young pitching. You won't get sucess out of any free agent pitchers, because pitching in Coors is a mental thing now. You need a youngster who doesn't know anybetter and can be tought to use off speed pitches. Plus, you haven't won with Helton, so you might as well lose without him.
You can't argue with they way I picked this division. If Barry Bonds would have played this year, the Giants would be in 2nd or 3rd in that division. Overall, pretty good.
Wildcard: Florida Marlins
Playoffs:
Marlins over Braves
Cubs over Padres
NLCS: Marlins over Cubs
World Series: Yankees over Marlins
MVP: Nomar Garciaparra
Cy Young: Ben Sheets
ROY: JJ Hardy (would have picked Garret Atkins but he's already starting the season on the DL)
First palyer traded: Willy Mo Pena
First Manager Fired: Jim Tracy
Don't be surprised if: The people in Florida remember they have a baseball team.
Wildcard: Astros or Cubs
NLCS: Cardinals over who ever else shows up.
MVP: Derek Lee (right team, wrong guy)
Cy Young: Chris Carpenter
ROY: Rickie Weeks (again right team, wrong guy)
I believe Placido Polanco was the first to be traded, and no one in Florida cares about baseball, still.
NL East
1. Atlanta Braves (93-69)
2. Florida Marlins (92-70)
3. New York Mets (89-73)
4. Philadelphia Phillies (82-80)
5. Washington Nationals (75-87)
Revised:
1. Atlanta Braves
2. Washington Nationals
3. New York Mets
4. Florida Marlins
5. Philadelphia Phillies
So far I look to be pretty accurate on the Braves and Phillies, but the Nationals are making me look like a fool. They will end up above .500 while the Marlins may not. Overall, not too bad. (Believe me, it gets worse.)
NL Central
1. Chicago Cubs (92-70)
2. St. Louis Cardinals (90-72)
3. Milwaukee Brewers (81-81)
4. Cincinnati Reds (80-82)
5. Houston Astro (77-85)
6. Pittsburgh Pirates (73-89)
Revised:
1. St Louis Cardinals
2. Chicago Cubs
3. Houston Astros
4. Milwaukee Brewers
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
6. Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh has played far better than I thought they would, the Reds far worse, the Cubs have been too banged up and have underachieved. The Cardinals pick looks good, except for standing, and the Brewers pick is almost right on. The Houston Astros continue to make me look like a fool.
A lot of people have the Reds as a darkhorse in this division, but I don't see it. Griffey won't stay healthy, Rich Aruilla's best days are behind him, same with Joe Randa, and they still don't have good enough pitching. Don't tell me Eric Milton, he can't carry a staff.
Wow, what happened to the Astros. Berkman is hurt, Kent and Beltran are gone, and Biggio and Bagwell are in the twilight of thier careers. Roger Clemens will wonder why he came back. Before the All-Star break.
Not bad, the paragraph is pretty dead-on in terms of how the Reds season has gone (sans the Griffey Jr comment.) The Astros comment is also 100% accurate but yet they are still winning.
Overall, not that bad, Brewers should be around .500, Reds and Pirates will be towards the bottom, but the Cubs won't win this divison and the Astros may come in second.
NL West
1. San Diego Padres (88-74)
2. San Francisco Giants (84-78)
3. Arizona Diamondbacks (82-80)
4. Los Angeles Dodgers (74-88)
5. Colorado Rockies (70-92)
Revised:
1. San Diego Padres
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Los Angeles Dodgers
5. Colorado Rockies
The Padres win this division by default. They are a good team, but not good enough to win a division, not even good enough to win a wild card. They still have a good bullpen and rotation and now add a dimension of speed with Dave Roberts. Was Brian Giles really worth Jason Bay and Oliver Perez?
The Giants should win this division, but they're too old and we don't know how many games Bonds will play in this year, if he even plays at all. This is the last season you will see this Giants team, its time to rebuild.
Arizona could sneek up on some people. I love Brandon Webb, he is a guy who's been victimized by Ben Sheets' disease throughout his career. He pitches great, but gets no run support. Toss in Javier Vazquez, Russ Ortiz and Shawn Estes and you have yourself a good rotation. The offense has some bopers, but Craig Counsell and Royce Clayton are your first two hitters in your lineup? Looks like a lot of solo home runs.
The Dodgers...What is Paul DePodesta doing? Can we stop this whole "Moneyball" Thing. The A's are winning because they have good players, not some formula. I read the book, I heard the lunacies, but the bottom line is Eric Chavez, Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, Durazo, Damon, Giambi, those guys were all good players. The things the Dodgers are doing here, and I know what it is, eliminating speed and steals for on base percentage and big hitters, it's just dumb. They went from a great defensive team to a bad one, and even worse they brought in sinker ball pitchers. So you want pitchers who will get ground balls when you have a bad defense?
The Rockies are bad. Just bad. Here's a thought, trade Todd Helton for some young pitching. You won't get sucess out of any free agent pitchers, because pitching in Coors is a mental thing now. You need a youngster who doesn't know anybetter and can be tought to use off speed pitches. Plus, you haven't won with Helton, so you might as well lose without him.
You can't argue with they way I picked this division. If Barry Bonds would have played this year, the Giants would be in 2nd or 3rd in that division. Overall, pretty good.
Wildcard: Florida Marlins
Playoffs:
Marlins over Braves
Cubs over Padres
NLCS: Marlins over Cubs
World Series: Yankees over Marlins
MVP: Nomar Garciaparra
Cy Young: Ben Sheets
ROY: JJ Hardy (would have picked Garret Atkins but he's already starting the season on the DL)
First palyer traded: Willy Mo Pena
First Manager Fired: Jim Tracy
Don't be surprised if: The people in Florida remember they have a baseball team.
Wildcard: Astros or Cubs
NLCS: Cardinals over who ever else shows up.
MVP: Derek Lee (right team, wrong guy)
Cy Young: Chris Carpenter
ROY: Rickie Weeks (again right team, wrong guy)
I believe Placido Polanco was the first to be traded, and no one in Florida cares about baseball, still.
Daily Brew 7/26
Alright lets start with the obvious here, what the hell is Ned Yost doing calling for a squeeze play with one out and his pitcher at the plate? You're in the 4th so you've gotta assume you'll have more scoring opportunities in this game, there's already one out, Brady Clark (who already had two hits at that point) is on deck, there are two strikes, and possibly the worst hitting pitcher in baseball is at the plate. Why? How many times has Ned managed his team out of scoring opportunities this year? Once again though, Yost will catch a free pass on this one because his team bailed him (and for once Ben Sheets) out and won. If the Brewers honestly expect to contend for the wild card in the next year or two, this can't happen. Maybe Yost is not the manager to lead this team to the playoffs. Just because you managed under Bobby Cox doesn't mean you learned anything from him, and I think that's what we're seeing here.
Ricky Williams answered questions from the media yesterday, and I was very impressed. He sounded well spoken, articulate and intelligate and basically admitted he was returning for the money. Listen, if Ricky would have retired in February the whole marijuana thing wouldn't have been an issue, but because he did it so late people made him out to be a "pot head" who quit to get high all the time. I have no problem with what he did, if you don't love the game then don't steal a check, get out. He did, he just did it too late into the offseason.
Phil Nevin killed his potential trade to the Orioles last night, despite the fact that the Padres pleaded him not to and essentially told him if he does kill the deal they won't play him and are going to start Xavier Nady over him. Who is walking into a more awkard situation in their clubhouse today, Nevin or Sidney Ponson? I mean Ponson had no control over this, so that situation has to be really wierd. "Hey Sidney, glad you're still here buddy, sorry about that whole trade thing."
In other baseball news last night, the Cubs got another impressive late inning win over the Giants. Did you see this game? How many pitchers did Felipe Alou use, I swear some of those guys were summoned from AAA. The Curt Schilling experiment took another step backward as the Devil Rays got to him in the 10th and picked up a win, and my team on the west coast picked up another win. It goes without saying but seriously folks, Billy Beane knows what he's doing and he is the smartest man in baseball. Oh yeah, and now there's talk of him making a deal to acquire Adam Dunn.
Alex Smith inked a 6 year $49.5 million deal with the niners and the 32nd pick Logan Mankins also signed with the Patriots meaning the first and last picks of the draft have signed. Is this not the longest we've gone before a pick from the draft has signed?
Larry Brown and Herb Williams are meeting over dinner to "discuss" the Knicks job. Why is Larry meeting with Herb? To tell him he's sorry for stealing his job, and that he has no room for him on his staff?
Raise your hand if you watched Monday Night Golf last night. Okay keep em up, one, two, three, four, fi....oh you were scratching. Four people.
Kerry Wood was placed on the DL again and the Cubs announced when he returns it will be out of the bullpen. I agree with Gaddis on this, just because a guy throws hard doesn't mean he'd be a good bullpen guy. Wood is too erratic and walks too many guys for late innings bullpen appearances.
One more Yost note, did you happen to see who was behind the plate last night? It was Damian Miller, not Sheet's personal catcher Chad Moeller. When asked why Yost said he didn't want to give Miller two consecutive days off, and he noticed his team didn't score that many runs for Sheets so he wanted his better offensive catcher in. Wow, he finally realized what we all did three months ago, but it took you to mid July to do this?
Ricky Williams answered questions from the media yesterday, and I was very impressed. He sounded well spoken, articulate and intelligate and basically admitted he was returning for the money. Listen, if Ricky would have retired in February the whole marijuana thing wouldn't have been an issue, but because he did it so late people made him out to be a "pot head" who quit to get high all the time. I have no problem with what he did, if you don't love the game then don't steal a check, get out. He did, he just did it too late into the offseason.
Phil Nevin killed his potential trade to the Orioles last night, despite the fact that the Padres pleaded him not to and essentially told him if he does kill the deal they won't play him and are going to start Xavier Nady over him. Who is walking into a more awkard situation in their clubhouse today, Nevin or Sidney Ponson? I mean Ponson had no control over this, so that situation has to be really wierd. "Hey Sidney, glad you're still here buddy, sorry about that whole trade thing."
In other baseball news last night, the Cubs got another impressive late inning win over the Giants. Did you see this game? How many pitchers did Felipe Alou use, I swear some of those guys were summoned from AAA. The Curt Schilling experiment took another step backward as the Devil Rays got to him in the 10th and picked up a win, and my team on the west coast picked up another win. It goes without saying but seriously folks, Billy Beane knows what he's doing and he is the smartest man in baseball. Oh yeah, and now there's talk of him making a deal to acquire Adam Dunn.
Alex Smith inked a 6 year $49.5 million deal with the niners and the 32nd pick Logan Mankins also signed with the Patriots meaning the first and last picks of the draft have signed. Is this not the longest we've gone before a pick from the draft has signed?
Larry Brown and Herb Williams are meeting over dinner to "discuss" the Knicks job. Why is Larry meeting with Herb? To tell him he's sorry for stealing his job, and that he has no room for him on his staff?
Raise your hand if you watched Monday Night Golf last night. Okay keep em up, one, two, three, four, fi....oh you were scratching. Four people.
Kerry Wood was placed on the DL again and the Cubs announced when he returns it will be out of the bullpen. I agree with Gaddis on this, just because a guy throws hard doesn't mean he'd be a good bullpen guy. Wood is too erratic and walks too many guys for late innings bullpen appearances.
One more Yost note, did you happen to see who was behind the plate last night? It was Damian Miller, not Sheet's personal catcher Chad Moeller. When asked why Yost said he didn't want to give Miller two consecutive days off, and he noticed his team didn't score that many runs for Sheets so he wanted his better offensive catcher in. Wow, he finally realized what we all did three months ago, but it took you to mid July to do this?
Monday, July 25, 2005
Daily Brew 7/25
Ned Yost strikes again. You remember when Ned said he "needed" to see more from de la Rosa and others so he "didn't have" to overuse guys like Wise, Botallico and Santana? de la Rosa, Dana Eveland and at times even Justin Lehr have all looked very impressive lately, so what does Ned do yesterday? He goes with Julio Santana, the same Santana who has pitched in 6 of the last 9 games, but Ned doesn't want to overuse him. End result, walk off home run by Adam Dunn.
Lance Armstrong won the Tour De France for the 7th time yesterday. Does anyone really care? The first win after the comeback from cancer was great, moving and truely heroic, but I stopped caring exactly six years ago.
More news in the "Like I Care Category," the Cubs got a big win last night over the Cardinals. Another bullpend mishap only to find Nefi Perez bail them out with a grand slam. F'ing Cubs.
John Heder (Napolean Dynamite) is appearing in another movie. I saw the trailer for it before Wedding Crashers, and the introduced him as "Napolean Dynamite's John Heder." When they have to remind people who you played or what movie you were in, you career is officially almost over.
The MLB does not test for Human Growth Hormones, but they do test for steriods. Jason Giambi meanwhile has been on a tear. I hope I'm wrong, but hmmm...
The A's have now won six in a row, and are only 5 1/2 back of the Angels. The Angels are officially crapping thier pants.
This time in the "Like Anybody Cares" category, Ben Crane won the US Bank Championship yesterday. How much longer until the PGA Championship returns to Whistling Straits? Yeah, wake me up in 2011.
Too bad Penny Hardaway's career went into the toilet, because it meant no more Lil Penny.
Andrew Bogut's summer league stats: 13.2 ppg, 10.0 rgp, 1.4 bpg.
Marvin Williams summer league stats: 7.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 28% shooting percentage.
Again, if Andrew Bogut wasn't white, this pick wouldn't even have been a debate.
Lance Armstrong won the Tour De France for the 7th time yesterday. Does anyone really care? The first win after the comeback from cancer was great, moving and truely heroic, but I stopped caring exactly six years ago.
More news in the "Like I Care Category," the Cubs got a big win last night over the Cardinals. Another bullpend mishap only to find Nefi Perez bail them out with a grand slam. F'ing Cubs.
John Heder (Napolean Dynamite) is appearing in another movie. I saw the trailer for it before Wedding Crashers, and the introduced him as "Napolean Dynamite's John Heder." When they have to remind people who you played or what movie you were in, you career is officially almost over.
The MLB does not test for Human Growth Hormones, but they do test for steriods. Jason Giambi meanwhile has been on a tear. I hope I'm wrong, but hmmm...
The A's have now won six in a row, and are only 5 1/2 back of the Angels. The Angels are officially crapping thier pants.
This time in the "Like Anybody Cares" category, Ben Crane won the US Bank Championship yesterday. How much longer until the PGA Championship returns to Whistling Straits? Yeah, wake me up in 2011.
Too bad Penny Hardaway's career went into the toilet, because it meant no more Lil Penny.
Andrew Bogut's summer league stats: 13.2 ppg, 10.0 rgp, 1.4 bpg.
Marvin Williams summer league stats: 7.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 28% shooting percentage.
Again, if Andrew Bogut wasn't white, this pick wouldn't even have been a debate.
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