TooLiveBrew

Is it a Harry Carey impersonation or an impersonation of Will Farrel doing a Harry Carey impersonation? Yeah, you kinda hit the nail on the head as to why I wasn't in love with it. To be fair, though, almost every HK impression in the post-Will-Ferrell-HK-impression-era seems to be based on Ferrell's

I'm not going to back away from my initial impression because people write good things about the young man. Loud & clear. For me, the specific note made about Jungmann in the PG piece was new & relevant information. I tried to make it abundantly clear that that was my only point to you on Jungmann, but oh well.

I don't think one can look at 1 year of UZR or UZR/150 data & come to the conclusion that a player has played good or bad defense in that season. Defense is still far better evaluated subjectively, at least until FieldingF/X data becomes public. The difference in terms of defensive talent & ability between Sea Bass & Yuni is huge. At this point, I think the best way to explain my own personal expectations would be Gonzalez fielding SS at a grade of roughly a B or B+, with Yuni being closer to a D/D-/F. Each guy could perform better or worse, but this is a wide gulf in defensive ability. Pardon me if I'm being presumptuous, but I wonder if people who aren't convinced Gonzalez's defense will be that significant an upgrade have seen much of Gonzalez play. Yes, he's older at 35, but this is a guy who has been about as good as it gets at defending SS (outside of superfreaks like Tulo/Omar Vizquel) for almost his whole career... imo he's has been one of the most overlooked defenders in MLB during his career (microfracture knee surgery in '08 has probably been the biggest agent of change in his abilities). He wasn't Jeter, he wasn't A-Rod, he played for the Marlins, etc. But his defensive skills have been at an elite level for basically his whole career, so even in his decline, he's still very much a plus fielder. He's not top tier, but he's close enough to it that he's going to help save a lot more runs in 2012.

It's one thing to be able to sound like someone else's voice. It's another thing entirely to clinically send up a guy, complete with his verbal patterns, squeaks, & the types of stat nuggets he uses. Even something as simple as clearing his throat -- because the timing was killer -- got a huge laugh. I don't know exactly why, but 'the throat clear' had me laughing as hard as anything else. Dillard has a gift for impressions. To be honest, I thought the Harry Caray shtick was his calling card, & I got kinda tired of it. I was guilty of assuming this dude had no range... how wrong I was!

He hasn't been too successful as a starter either, though, that's a big part of the problem (his BB & K rates scream reliever at this point, imho). If the Brewers could somehow ensure that he could apply his great stuff & pitch deep into games, that'd be fantastic. But my personal belief is that it's time to cut bait with trying to see if he'll pan out as a starter & just make sure you get some MLB service out of his fantastic arm.

I apologize if this has already been posted, but I saw this video of Tim Dillard's Tim Kurkjian impression posted on reddit. Link The real Kurkjian deserves credit for just having fun while Dillard absolutely nailed him in the impression. I cackled several times.

Right, but it's more national exposure on-air, more contacts & relationships developed off-air. He's obviously very well-regarded at TBS, & seemingly around the 'industry' as a whole. I don't think he'd be leaving anytime soon, but it seems clear to me that he's going to have another opportunity before long.

I wasn't, so thanks for the heads-up, pebadger. It's nice to see BA get so much work, but at the same time I fear he's going to leave for a bigger market & paycheck before long.

I agree with reilly, 6 professional seasons pitching for Rogers (8 total, counting '07-'08) has been long enough to see he's not a good fit for a starting position. His body just hasn't been able to hold up, for whatever reasons. But his stuff is dynamite, & I'd love to see him in the MLB bullpen as soon as he's fully healthy.

It's actually kind of amazing to me that he was able to stay healthy for so long, given his long track record of injuries. The guy threw over 230 IP the past two seasons, & averaged 221.2 IP for the past three. Also, it's unreal to me that, not only is there another Chris Carpenter who's a MLB-caliber pitcher (the guy the Cubs sent to BOS for Theo Epstein)... but both guys are named Christopher John Carpenter. Maybe the odds on that happening are less extreme than I'm imagining, but that seems pretty unlikely. Oh, pardon me, I mean, 'How will the Chris-es Carpenter explain that to their sons?'

Thanks, patrickgpe & chadomac, for the pulse pitching explanations Holy moly. Sounds like I need to start using the power swing! I had no idea.

I think your best bet would be to contact guest relations at the Brewers' Maryvale complex. Link

Parra & Kintzler are two more guys who can get their FBs up into the mid-90s. I think there's a good chance two of Parra/Kintzler/Rogers/Braddock make significant contributions to the 2012 MLB 'pen.

It was all downhill after the injury though. Too bad. I distinctly remember watching that injury happen, in-game. I was horrified, but even with that I didn't think the injury would basically end TJ's career (as a top-flight PG). one more *shudder*... that was a bad injury

And I think the portion I bolded, as possibly unsettling/unpleasant/"rude" as it is, nails exactly what I was trying to ramble about in the post I just made.

First of all, let me say that you addressing us as "gentleman" makes me regret my lack of owning a monocle. Secondly, all I want is objectivity -- in all things, but especially when it come to my geek-dom of baseball. I don't think this is an objective discussion by any stretch of the imagination. I feel like last season I tried to stay away from calling the 'support Yuni' crowd unreasonable, or irrational, just out of touch with reality, or (worse, to me...) not objective. But honestly that's how I feel about it... and I sincerely doubt I'm alone. I feel like facts & evidence weren't enough to explain to *some* folks just how bad Betancourt was, is, and will likely continue to not be. None of that matters, because certain people had allied themselves with supporting Yuni only because he got so much hate. I don't begrudge people feeling like a player is being unfairly singled out. What I do begrudge people is ignoring the evidence presented. This isn't a case of lots of fans lining up to rail against Betancourt, and then there needs to be 'an opposition'. This wasn't a large group of fans coming up with some preconceived agenda (imo, unlike the 'defend Yuni' camp). This was a large number of very well-informed, intelligent baseball fans examining the evidence available & then coming to a logical conclusion. I do honestly feel that some, or even many people have been fair & objective about Yuni (whether they loathe him, or feel that he's wrongly dogged). However, some have just hitched their wagons up to oppose almost whatever bad is said about Betancourt, because, goshdangit, he doesn't deserve so much criticism. The criticisms of him are very much based in facts, reality, & objectivity. I think the defending or touting of him is based in delusion, I really do. You really have to invent ways to explain how Betancourt was actually not a horrible player last season. And I do genuinely apologize for being so confrontational on this, but I think the BF.net crowd that sees Yuni for the incompetent MLB SS that he is he has 'played nice' in this discussion for far too long. I think this is important, as the discussion centers around whether or not fans/posters are able to be objective, & accept factual evidence as proof of something. I think that's really important to the larger discussion(s) that take place at BF.net. Also, I think you've opened up a huge can of worms by bringing in the Gooden comp. The NBA/Bucks fans here will feel a LOT differently about Gooden, if I have to guess (based on reading the Bucks/NBA thread this winter in the OT forum).

What is "pulse pitching"? I feel like the analog pitching was a new & (relatively) complicated addition to the game, so why are they moving away from it already? It took a while for me to "master" (aka not totally screw up every time), and felt rewarding once I did. The analog style at least makes sense to me, in terms of replicating what it takes to deliver an effective pitch in baseball (release point, arm action, etc). "Pulse pitching" sounds like something that's on an infomercial at 2:27am.

The problem I have with all you Yuni haters, Leading off a post like this doesn't exactly engender good discussion. The problem I have with you, specifically, here... or Yuni-apologists in general, is the apparent lack of seeing what's obvious to the '99%' in this discussion. I honestly don't think this is overstating it... if you didn't see Betancourt as the biggest 'regular player' weakness on last season's team, I don't think you watched enough games. It was that evident. He's bad by stats... he's bad by the 'eye test' ... he's bad by scouts. There's no objective evidence of anything remotely close to "Yuni Betancourt just gets a bad rap from you young people who don't have enough fan cred as me". This isn't something you can lump in as the "stats people" being elitist snobs who just don't understand the nuances of baseball that you do, having watched for 50 seasons. The guy is a bad player at the MLB level -- on defense & offense. This isn't up for debate. This is clinging to the idea that you're fighting the good fight against the irrational masses who just don't see that twinkle in Yuni's eye -- and stats -- that you, one of the educated few, see. The 'Yuni lovers' lined up, rank & file, prior to the dude playing one inning for the Brewers. When he stunk basically all season long, objectivity be damned, the people who called him out for sucking were just wrong -- they don't 'get it'. And especially the people who (correctly so) said he was a bad player as soon as he was acquired... before he'd played a single game for the Brewres. They were, and apparently are, still 'just wrong'. It's annoying, because I feel the objectivity in the Yuni discussions is decidedly one-way, & it's certainly not the Yuni apologists who are being objective here.

I'm more like chadomac. I've found I hit the ball better if I just essentially ask the video game player to stay within himself & not swing for the fences. If the guy has HR pop, if I put a good 'normal' swing on, it usually has enough carry to get out. Not just talking wall-scrapers here; the guys with HR clout can (obviously) knock it out without the power swing... at least in my personal experience. The power swing just tends to lead to more weak outs than I can stand.

Then call me dude #2. The potential here is really exciting, even if I know I should be tempering my expectations for both of these guys.

That's right, trwi. He PLAYS THE GAME THE RIGHT WAY. Unlike you sabr-stat guys -- always trying to just clog the bases & hit a HR!

1. Nice Guys Finish Last 2. The Braves' Trash Is NEVER Your Treasure I'm not sure how the list goes after that, but I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head, dlk.

Last season's NCAA Men's hoops tourney was the busted-iest my brackets have ever been. I sure hope I fare better this season.

I like Lucroy, but it wasn't like he had good months & bad months last season, he had a good first month-&-a-half basically, and then was terrible as a hitter the rest of the season. To further underscore how much the good start to the season shouldn't be overstated, we're talking samples of 139 PAs v. 329 PAs. And, ostensibly, Luc should've performed better as the season wore on, since his Spring Training was essentially the month of April. He has a long way to go as a hitter; I'm just not convinced he has the raw bat speed to ever be more than just an average hitter for a catcher.

I'm so sorry, Menotti. Cleo's lucky to have had you in her life, and you're lucky to have had her. It takes time, but try to remember her in happy ways.