huntsvillefan

Kennard Bibbs dropped down the Stars second sacrifice bunt of the night. I know the small ball purists amongst you will heartily approve, but I am sick of watching this Star's team gift outs to the opposition. Ezi on second is quite capable of scoring on any sort of hit and Bibbs is playing well enough at the minute to get a hit. Also if Bibbs gets on base he has plenty of speed to give the Mudcats even more trouble. I am so tired of watching successive Stars managers micro manage the base paths badly! I used to love small ball, but Kremblas and Money have driven me into the Earl Weaver fan club!

One big difference between Callix and Mr Weeks - Callix actually can play second base. He has single handedly made my ballpark visits a thing of joy again. After watching the position butchered for a year, it is really sweet to watch Callix play it. (Yes I know Weeks has a tremendous upside that Callix probably doesn't, but that didn't make it any more fun to watch him murder 2B)

What DHonks said, plus he'll always bust his gut at least trying to make the play. I put him on a par with Lee & Jenkins, probably slightly ahead of Cruz. Remember I haven't seen that much of those three.

This was such a great game to watch, a perfect daygame. If the radar gun on the scoreboard is accurate, Sarfate hit 97 at least once. Callix Crabbe with two absolutely magnificent defensive plays, but really the whole team looked alive defensively. This is one area where I think stats really do stink, last years team started great defensively (by the stats available), but they really were a lacklustre crowd who gave their pitchers little to no extra help(IMO). It is early days yet, but this team just buzzes with defensive commitment, I've heard more than one of the pitchers mention how much they like the D they are getting. I'm not totally convinced by some of Don Money's base path decisions, but I love the attitude he has brought to this team. Last year I was starting to wonder why I bothered to go watch at all, days like today remind me just how good it can be.

IVinny Rotino with another pass ball. How long a leash do they give him? And why C over 3B? f they are serious, they should give him a season, he isn't going to learn to play catcher in a couple of weeks. I don't see it as any stranger than the decision to give Corey Hart a season at 3B and he's certainly no worse a catcher than Corey was a 3B. I just feel a bit sick for poor John Vanden Berg, he has given reasonable indication that he can hit AA pitching, yet he's condemned to sit around waiting to PH. I also find it strange that if they are really desperate for a catcher, that they didn't give Chris Barnwell an extended try last year. In his few outings behind the plate he looked superior to Rottino and it wasn't like Joel Alverado had any serious pretensions to make the majors. It is in details like this that I find the Brewers management of player development a bit worrisome and short sighted. Alverado gets to play a year for no good reason except he's around and Vanden Berg gets forgotten because someone up there fell in love with Vinny. I don't think it really required the Amazing Kreskin to work out that the Brewers needed a catching prospect - The Rottino experiment could easily have started last year & Barney could have been given a tryout as well. I can only presume its catcher rather than 3B, because that was the position the pin landed on when whoever it was up there decided to try another clancyesque experiment. I wish I thought that these decisions were arrived at after prolonged thought rather than on the basis of someone in Brewerland phoning Madame Cleo.

I keep swearing I just won't read Al's minor league posts & that I definitely won't bite, but his passion for revisionist history sets me off again.................... Oh Brian. Who could possibly have been saying that since he was drafted? Actually Al what you said was that he was a better prospect than Krynzel, I remember it well , because it was the first of many posts that led to lend & my defense of DK. So is TGJ a better prospect than Krynzel ? are you sticking with what you actually said shortly after he was drafted at the end of his first half season in Beloit.? Seriously though, Gwynn was drafted less than 2 years ago (as was Weeks). The overreaction to these two fellas supposed "failings" has been a sign of not understanding many players would still be in low A ball. Now I agree with that completely, but before we get too revisionist here as well - I would remind you that you said that 'you wouldn't be surprized if Weeks was up in Milwaukee to stay in September '04' Perhaps your gift for prophecy benefits from hindsight - as it does with most of us.

I'm starting to feel a lot better about my pennant chasing predictions for this year's Stars. They really have been fun to watch for the three games against Carolina.I'm hoping that their bad start was down to having to go on the road right away, without having settled in. Its a bit early to have much of an impression of individuals as yet. None of the position players really grab your attention the way Prince did last year, but they already have more of a team feel than last year's lot ever did. ( I know that is dreadfully unimportant in the great scheme of things, but its still very pleasant to watch) Parra certainly looked the genuine article on his outing, I think it is going to be a lot of fun watching the competition for the Ace of this rotation. Having watched his stuff today, I'm finding it difficult to drink Square's Khalid Koolaid - but its hard to argue with results and so far Khalid has been producing. Also great to see (though totally unimportant I know, I know!) was how well both Sarfate and Parra interacted with the fans when doing camera duty. Extremely polite and willing to sign autographs and answer questions with patience and a smile. I already like Don Money's running game a lot better than I liked Kremblas' (that won't surprize anyone ). The difference that I see so far was highlighted last night. Two successive, successful bunt singles and he was able to switch straight back to a conventional approach. If Frank had had 2 in a row like that, he couldn't have stopped himself - we'd have been watching bunts and suicide squeezes all night. If I had to pick out one position player who has made a big favorable impression it would be the other Cruz. The one that didn't get pre-season P50 raves. He's been fine with the bat and he's played some very, very pretty defense. Cruz to Crabbe to Gemoll hasn't quite the same ring as Tinker to Evers to Chance, but I'm willing to let it grow on me.

He doesn't need to duck - just stop leaning into them!

I'm actually a lot more excited by this team than I was by last years. The prospect depth isn't quite as tasty from a Brewerfan point of view, but I think if this team stays reasonably together, they're capable of winning a lot of ball games - no not 100, but enough to give them a run at a pennant. The Pitching could be awesome, the outfield should be stellar defensively at least and the infield looks very intriguing indeed. I can't wait to see them in action!

Bottom of the 9th, 4 runs down, one out, one on first, middle of the order coming up and a pitcher who is having trouble throwing strikes. So you send the guy on first to steal and gift them the second out. That is just one example of the tactical genius that is Frankie. Frank isn't just a bad base coach - he simply makes bad tactical in game decisions including the type you complain about with Coop. I'm quite prepared to believe that if he adapted some of his tactics slightly to suit the level he is managing at - that he might have a lot of success. It is his seeming inability to adapt that makes me think that he will have more problems the higher the level. At the minute he is a manager with only one tactical idea (steal, double steal, steal home). I'd like to see him extend his repertoire a little before I"m convinced of his ability. As for the development aspect, lets say that the humidity is a major factor, every manager and player in the SL has to cope with it - not just Frankie and his charges. I can accept that all or most of the slumps, poor baserunning, failure to address batting and defensive flaws etc. are down to the player or even the weather. My point is that the body of evidence is against him being a whiz at player development and there don't seem to be any huge success stories to counter balance that body of evidence. I'd personally like to see him get the Nashville Job. I think it would do him a lot of good to have to work with slightly older, more formed players. It would take a lot of the fundamentals coaching away from him and give him a chance to hone his tactics against good D. Despite my obvious reservations about him as a manager, I think that Milwaukee owes him the chance to sink or swim.

Personally, I could care less if a "manager trainee" is a very good base coach. It must have been an entirely different lend d. money, who wrote scathingly of Cecil Coopers' tactical ineptitude after watching Indy this year.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif And IIRC you were pushing Frankie for the Indy job based on Coop's tactical deficiencies. For the first-timers, a meltdown is understandable None of Hardy, Krynzel or Nelson were Huntsville first timers when they suffered their slumps. I'm not attributing those slumps to Kremblas either, slumps happen, but I do find it a bit weak to blame them on the weather. Basically, a "manager trainee" should be someone who can connect with the players, serve as a good teacher/leader, command player respect while at the same time getting them to perform to the best of their abilities I concur. I pointed out that Frank is well liked by his players and other managers. But having watched his charges for at least half their games for three straight years, I'm pressed to think of any position player who has shown, great improvement under his tutelage. I'm honestly not sure how much a manager /coach can do to improve players, my gut feeling is that they have very little effect one way or another, but I'm forced to repeat that I see very little evidence that Frank is 'getting the best out of his players'. BA and the other SL managers obviously do rate Frank highly, but that only tells me that he is good at baseball politics.

maybe huntsville will see how crappy Kremblas is and fire him too. Fortunately for Frank its not up to Huntsville - its up to the Brewers. I have very mixed feelings on Kremblas as a manager, he reminds me of Corey Hart - there is an awful lot of potential there, but will he ever fulfill that potential? The first thing to be said is that he is admired by his players and peers and by the local media. I sometimes worry that he is rather too well liked by his players to be totally effective, but that really is in the nature of a gut feeling and nothing I can substantiate. HIs tactical style is very agressive. To paraphrase things he has said - He believes in putting constant pressure on the opposition, putting them in a position where they will start to make errors. This is a style that I normally approve of and enjoy watching, but in my opinion Kremblas carries it to an extent where it becomes ridiculous. If you think back to T ball, it is worth sending the runner on every play, you can be sure the Defense will mess it up enough to let the kid steal a base. As the kids get older and defense gets better, you start to learn to pick your situations more carefully, though it is still worth running a lot of the time. The more experienced the players get, the better their Defense becomes - the harder it gets to successfully steal. Kremblas manages in AA as if the defenders were still T ball standard. More importantly he doesn't seem to learn from experience - he still sends runners today in exactly the same situations he sent them in 3 years ago (and presumably in the same situations he sent them in at HD, where the defense was a lot weaker and the ploy a lot more successful). I like his ideas and I like his agressive style - I don't like his inability to adapt to the higher standard. My guess is that this flaw is exactly what caught him out in the Mexican League. On the player development side of things, I have huge reservations. The guys like him a lot and seem to respond to him, but I see very litle evidence of players developing during the season (pitching excepted). In fact if you think of some of the recent prospects like Krynzel, Hardy & Nelson. The further the season went - the worse they got. I watched Hart leave Huntsville with the same hole in his swing that he arrived with and I watched Rickie Weeks get worse as they tampered with his swing and get better when they let him go back to his original stance. I watched two of the faster players I've seen , Krynzel & Weeks, leave Huntsville worse base runners than they were when they arrived. I'm not suggesting that Kremblas is to blame for any or all of this, that is impossible to know from the outside. But the exterior evidence makes it hard to credit him with any great skills at player development.

I'd heard that in the Arizona Fall League that losers were in danger of being ridden out on a rail, lynched or threatened with sixguns. But I'd always dismissed it as stereotyping http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Stars win 6-3. Weeks & Gwynn homer.

The wonder of what passes as argument and evidence in Al's world! obviously the best in WI. I've heard many say it's as nice as many AA parks. Now were these the same many you heard say Rickie would be up to stay in September, or a different but equally well informed many?

I just have one tiny query left - one tiny niggling doubt about your omniscience on AAA locations. Knowing all about the Yanks business plan and their avowed disinterest in Buffalo & Rochester (I bet George wonders how you pried that piece of info out of his staff) - Knowing all that - why on earth did you think that the team in Columbus Ohio was actually a Low A Indians affiliate rather than a AAA Yankees affiliate? Isn't the Columbus team in Ohio? Or is there a different Columbus (kinda like there's more than one Springfield) Thers numerous cities called Columbus, and 2 of them have minor league teams. I think the Indians have a Columbus in short season ball, it would make sense that its in Ohio.

the Yanks have never been intersted in Buffaloe or Rochester, as they think it would actually hurt there market size in NY. I just want to get this straight, Every other team in baseball wants their AAA affiliate as close as possible,(according to you) but not the Yankees. Because the Yankees are the only team that is worried that AAA team will hurt their market share? Well that logic certainly leaves me without recourse!

******on would appear to be 9th in average attendance in the Mid-West league. How does that make it such a wonderful organization? Their attendance couldn't be that low because they're playing 40% ball could it?

Colorado wouldn't give up Colorado Springs for nothing, and the same is true for Yankees/Columbus, Let me explain this slowly. The Yankees have a AAA team in Columbus. That is Columbus OHIO. They do not have a minor league affiliate in any other Columbus - just in Columbus O H I O. Why is Ohio such a site of prime importance for the Yankees as you assert? This is what we've tried to explain to you. you should just feel lucky Huntsville has a team. There was a time when that sentence would have annoyed me - Now I am just thankful to have such erudite baseball scholars as you to explain my blessings to me. Thank you for that statement, I assure you that I'll cherish it http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

I could give a rats behing who wins the game or the frisbee toss. I go to watch prospects And that's great - Its why you pay your money and good for you. What you've got to realise is that you're in the minority. Most people go to drink beer, eat hotdogs and watch the fireworks. They don't spend their time reading the stats or working out who the prospects are, they don't even know what team the opposition is affiliated to , unless its a glamor franchise. I always thought it was pathetic getting real attached to a minor league team of any sport, but I guess I'm spoiled by being from a state with 3 real teams This is the bit that gets me. Yes its different from the way you feel, but why on earh is it 'pathetic'? What should we all do? - move to a different state????? I'd have thought that being a Brewers' fan would have given you a bit more tolerance. The vast majority of Major league fans look down on people who are attached to the Brewers the same way you look down on fans who get attached to their minor league team. Hell! I've heard Cards and Cubs fans refer to Milwaukee as a nothing more than a farm team. Try being happy that people attend minor league ball for whatever reason. If they stop, your ability to indulge your prospect following fetish will be severely curtailed.

unless the Indians are enamored with the idea of Hardy, Weeks, Nelson & Fielder at AAA for next year. On the flip side, that might be more than enough to keep them around for another year. If I were the Indians signing the contract, I would be awfully hard-pressed not to sign that deal, even if 2006 looked bleak. I keep thinking that its a long time since I've seen a post from anyone who actually attends Indians games - maybe that is indication enough of how they feel. Speaking from what I see of minor league fans here in Huntsville, most people attending the games couldn't care less if someone is touted as a prospect, they only care about how he and the team performs. So just because Prince etc are great prospects, doesn't mean they'll have Indy jumping at the chance to see them. A lot might depend on how good a showing they put up in the second half of the Southern League. Can they keep the team competitive? Does it look like they can make Indy competitive? Even then, Indy were supposed to have a competitive team this year. Its down to bad fortune ( Hardy & Krynzel injuries etc.) that it didn't work out that way, but If the backbone of last years good SL team didn't give them success, why should they be optimistic about getting players from this years poorer performing side? The removal of Knox (who I heard was popular) and Childers in the midst of their other woes is unlikely to have endeared Nicholls & Melvin to them. And if they heard the quote that Al was bandying about the other day - something to the effect of Melvin saying that he couldn't care less if Indy didn't win a game - they'll be even less impressed. Milwaukee also simply isn't a glamorous affiliate. The Stars could easily double their attendance if they had the Braves as a partner. It doesn't matter that Milwaukee has a great farm system and the Braves' is terrible. People here are simply a lot more interested in the Braves than in Milwaukee. Most people don't read BA, their first interest is that night's promotion and after that, they want to be associated with a big name or success. When Cubs, Cards or Braves affiliates play in Huntsville, we get people here wearing that teams gear and cheering for them. I've never been at a ground where people turned up in Milwaukee gear cheering for the Stars. So my guess is that if Indy can get another partner they'll jump at the chance. It would take a lot more than a few prospects (some of whom might move on quickly anyhow) to make Milwaukee their ideal partner. However finding another partner who wants to come to Indy mightn't be that easy. ML teams usually aren't in a big rush to move unless their present facilities are ininadequate for their training and development needs. A new Stadium is usually the thing that attracts them and I don't think Indy are in a position to offer that. My constant fear is that Huntsville will lose out to a newer stadium. The second best thing about being a Milwaukee affiliate is that no-one is going to bust a gut to try and woo the Brewers away from us. (The best thing is of course Brewerfan) At the end of the day, it will all come down to economics, can Indy get a better deal from anyone else? You see the flip side of the coin we usually talk about here is that most Minor League owners don't give a rats a** about development. One additional thought is that, if Doug really is making that sort of quote about Indy, perhaps he already has thoughts of moving the AAA team elsewhere next year.

You'll be disgusted to know that the Stars have turned down my suggestion that the new scoreboard be converted to only show WHIP & OPS and leave the scoring out entirely! My representations to the Southern League that genuine prospects be given extra plate appearances and increased opportunities to steal, has also met with stony silence. These neanderathals obviously have no idea what the ML clubs want and it shall be their downfall!!!!http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif On a serious note - how many people think that Ned actually knows what OXS is?

Leading 8-7 in the bottom of the 9th They tie it up and go on to load the bases, but Novinsky works out of it somehow. Brad Nelson 3 run Bomb at the top of the 10th - we lead 11-8 - its all over! No it isn't - Greg Sain 2 run homer.................. but Novinsky hangs on to close it out - we win 11-10. If this wasn't just about development, it would have been one h*** of a ball game. (Homers from Knox & Prince as well & lots of other good stuff)

is it just me or does Josh Barfield have 13 of his 15 homers against the Stars in the last month...? 7 of them are against us (I think). I sometimes wonder if playing against Rickie makes him extra competitive!

Talking about a flair for the dramatic - I love the 'Yawn'http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif But you've got to give details. Is it one of those bored intellectual yawns? Or is it more of Big Daddy type full blooded yawn? I tend to imagine it as one of those yawns where a bit of drool trickles out, which probably isn't the effect you had in mind. So be more precise next time - paint the full picture. Which is really all I was saying about your statement on Hart. You knew darn well that his OPS was better than Grieve's, but it would have ruined the tone of your little diatribe to admit it. So you fudged it, just like you did when exaggerating Rickie's OBP. When people lie over such little trivial things its becomes hard to take the main thrust of what they are saying seriously. I wasn't one of the 'bring Corey up now brigade' any more than I was one of the 'Rickie will be in Milwaukee to stay in September brigade.' There isn't anyone here who hasn't got a prediction or two wrong Al. Anyhow, I'm off to flog myself with a wet lettuce leaf , for being silly enough to care about the results of AA game. (You do know that some people think its silly to actually give a rats a** about who wins Milwaukee games - Silly them, thats completely different http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif )