TooLiveBrew

Oh no. I'm so sorry, Buc. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif

What was the name of our previous, very successful, AAA manager? Frank Kremblas. Got a 'call up' as a bench coach at one point iirc.

The idea that the Brewers have some team quality that allows that to beat poor teams more often than expected but better teams less often seems silly. I guess I would call that "team quality" depth of talent

Up until this series, the Brewers were the second best. They had the second-best record. Doesn't mean they were/are the second-best team. The truth is that this team has fattened its record playing bad teams & been handled pretty easily by good teams. EDIT: providing support... record v. opponent -- ARZ: 3-4 ATL: 3-5 BOS: 1-2 NYY: 0-3 PHI: 3-4 SFG: 3-3 STL: 9-9 Combined: 22-30 (.423); drops to 27-38 (.415) if you include Cincy

Just make the DH standard in both leagues & move on. I really don't care one way or the other, but it's a clear advantage to have the DH, so why not even out the playing field?

After the insanely good run, a little run of sub-par was bound to occur. The good run came against the weakest part of the schedule, & the struggles have come against the harder portions. I haven't crunched the S.O.S. numbers, but the early part of the Brewers' schedule this season was tough, & this last month or so is pretty tough as well. Carpenter -> Hamels -> Halladay isn't a 1-2-3 punch you run into all that often.

I know that doing this day in and day out throughout the course of the baseball season is no easy task. Amen. For anyone that thinks it wouldn't be that hard, check how many times I didn't do the Helena post in the Link Report this season. And all I had to do was report on maybe two of the farm teams, not build the daily L.R. thread, link to other stories, pictures, etc. Jim & Eric deserve the lion's share of credit for this season's L.R. They are, simply put, machines.

“[Weeks] hasn’t seen any live pitching,” Roenicke explained. “He hasn’t seen anyone throw hard. I told him I didn’t want to put him in a situation where it’s really crucial.” Yeah, wouldn't want Weeks to have to face a good pitcher when you have the perfectly competent Josh Wilson instead. I want to like Roenicke, I really do. But he's just so indefensible.

Final (13 innings): @Billings 2, Helena 1 Box Score Selsky! Steven Selsky hit a walkoff homer against Tom Keeling to win it for Billings tonight, in the bottom of the 13th. In the 11th, Selsky had been thrown out at the plate to end the frame & keep Helena in the game. Tyler Cravy was dominant, & crept into a tie for 2nd place in the league for K's: seven innings, five hits, one run (earned), one walk & three strikeouts. No wild pitches, either, and the WPs can pile up pretty quickly at this level. He finishes the season with 81 strikeouts, tied with Gustavo Gomez (Ogden/LAD), and eight behind league leader Brian Peacock (Idaho Falls/KCR). David Goforth struck out four batters and allowed just one hit in his two scoreless innings. Alex Jones also worked two scoreless, including the close call in the 11th. Tom Keeling worked one scoreless inning, got the leadoff man out in the 13th, but then Selsky knocked the solo shot out to left. Ben McMahan was the only Brewer with more than one hit; he went 2-5 with a homer and one RBI. Parker Berberet singled & drew a walk. Steve Felix also singled and walked (intentional BB). Robbie Garvey walked twice; Mike Nemeth, Adrian Williams, and Gant Elmore each walked once. Play-by-Play Williams had a rough final night: 0-4, and if that weren't enough, two costly outs on the basepaths. The first came in the 7th: Helena Top of the 7th Pitcher Change: Christopher Joyce replaces Carlos Gonzalez. Adrian Williams walks. Yadiel Rivera flies out to right fielder Kyle Waldrop. With Benjamin McMahan batting, Adrian Williams picked off and caught stealing 2nd base, pitcher Christopher Joyce to first baseman Robert Maddox to shortstop Juan Perez. Benjamin McMahan homers (7) on a fly ball to left field. Parker Berberet singles on a line drive to right fielder Kyle Waldrop. With Steve Felix batting, wild pitch by Christopher Joyce, Parker Berberet to 2nd. Steve Felix lines out to shortstop Juan Perez. Ouch. But wait, there's more: Helena Top of the 13th Robert Garvey hit by pitch. Adrian Williams grounds into a force out, fielded by shortstop Cristobal Rodriguez. Robert Garvey out at 2nd. Adrian Williams to 1st. Yadiel Rivera lines out to right fielder Kyle Waldrop. With Benjamin McMahan batting, Adrian Williams caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Yovan Gonzalez to second baseman Ryan Wright. Enjoy the offseason, Adrian. (He closed the season strong, with an OPS of .836 in September)

Helena & Billings don't want their seasons to end -- entering play in the top of the 13th, tied 1-1. Check out this game-saving defensive play: Billings Bottom of the 11th Steven Selsky walks. Ryan Wright out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Alex Jones to first baseman Michael Nemeth. Steven Selsky to 2nd. Jon Matthews singles on a line drive to left fielder Benjamin McMahan. Steven Selsky out at home on the throw, left fielder Benjamin McMahan to third baseman Adrian Williams to catcher Tyler Roberts. Jon Matthews to 2nd on the throw. Sean Buckley strikes out swinging.(Alex Jones with the punchout to end the inning)

Shaun Marcum isn't exactly chopped liver. No, but you only have him for one season, then you really have to pay him. The Yankees might do Hughes for Marcum, straight-up. But definitely not with Montero in the picture.

I don't think it's that bad. Hughes has not even come close to living up to his hype. It's not about Hughes, it's about Montero. That's like paying Brett Lawrie + two talented young arms.

Nice! Welcome back Rickie! http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0g6fd684PRbOf/439x.jpg

Yeah, the Brewers can't afford to lose three of these four with Philly. It's all well & good that the division is locked up, but home field in one postseason series is incredibly important. Combined remaining opponents' W%- AZ: .477 MIL: .491 Arizona's schedule doesn't include anything close to 4 games against the best team in the NL. The only edge I see that the Brewers have is three days off remaining, to Arizona's two. We are all now huge Padres, Giants, & Dodgers fans.

Best comp for Gamel at this point is Ross Gload or Dan Johnson. Or, you know, Lyle Overbay. I realize it's more fun to be sensationalistic about it, but come on.

This will be an interesting start to watch for Tyler. Three pretty good starts in a row, Pioneer League Pitcher of the Week, & now closing out the season for Helena. Here are his other two starts this season against Billings -- June 24th (7-6 win): 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R/ER, 1 BB, 5 K June 29th (4-2 win): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K Could possibly move to #2 in strikeouts in the Pioneer League. Cravy needs [three, not four] punchouts to move to second place amongst league leaders. He'd need 12 K's to overtake league leader Brian Peacock of Idaho Falls (KCR) [EDIT: he'd have needed four K's to hold 2nd place alone. Sorry.]

Both very deserving, but I give the nod to Player A ... I also vote for Fiers. Peralta is the better prospect, but Fiers had better production at both levels. Fair enough. The main factor that put Peralta ahead of Fiers for me is age at level.

Marcum and Gamel for Hughes, Montero and Banuelous? That's just... well, I'll go with not going to happen in any reality. This would be akin to the Brewers trading Thornburg, Peralta, & Gamel (& that doesn't even match the package you assembled from the Yankees) for someone like... well, Marcum.

I'm really looking forward to watching this game. I hope he does things that Chris Carpenter won't know how to explain to his son.

For Roenicke, this is really shaking things up, so kudos. Looks like Green still has to prove he's better than McGehee, though.

Huge jump: almonte Erick Almonte? I'm confused. And to add to the "huge jump" category... Santo Manzanillo

Josh Prince didn't have an amazing season or anything, but posted a similar slash line to Gennett with BC: .281/.332/.386/.718 (249 AB), 24/32 (75%) on SB attempts. Prince had enough of a bat for a SS at the advanced A level this season. Since he was repeating at BC in '11, I'd have to guess he'll be pushed to Huntsville next season. 2012 will be his age-24 season, & obviously immensely important for Prince if he wants to make an impact at the MLB level.

Final: Helena 8, @Great Falls 2 Box Score A slow but steady offensive attack & a strong outing from starter Andy Moye led to the defeat of the first-place Voyagers. With the loss, Great Falls's lead over second-place Billings shrunk to two games. The Brewers scored twice in three separate innings, and their first three hitters combined to go 9-18, on the way to the win. Leadoff man Adrian Williams went 3-6 with one RBI & one steal. Yadiel Rivera was 4-6, Ben McMahan 2-6 with a SB; both added one RBI. Steve Felix & Mike Nemeth each doubled & had two RBI. John Dishon was 2-4 with a homer & a walk. Robbie Garvey doubled & swiped a base; Parker Berberet added a single & stolen base. Max Walla went 0-4 with one walk. Moye worked six innings, striking out seven, walking none, and allowing just one run. He surrendered just three singles, one double, two HBP, & one runner that reached on an error by Rivera. Seth Harvey... just another day, just another effective multi-inning relief appearance: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R/ER, 2 BB, 5 K. If Harvey can perform at Wisconsin next season like he has at Maryvale & Helena, I'd have to guess he'll have a shot at moving up to BC and Huntsville in 2012. Play-by-Play Two runs after two outs in the 7th pushed the lead to 7-1: Helena Top of the 7th Pitcher Change: Jon Gulbransen replaces Kevin Rath. John Dishon strikes out swinging. Michael Nemeth grounds out, first baseman Martin Medina to pitcher Jon Gulbransen. Robert Garvey doubles (11) on a fly ball to center fielder Qualon Millender. With Adrian Williams batting, Robert Garvey steals (9) 3rd base. Adrian Williams singles on a line drive to center fielder Qualon Millender. Robert Garvey scores. With Yadiel Rivera batting, Adrian Williams steals (12) 2nd base. Yadiel Rivera singles on a fly ball to center fielder Qualon Millender. Adrian Williams scores. Benjamin McMahan singles on a ground ball to center fielder Qualon Millender. Yadiel Rivera to 3rd. Parker Berberet flies out to center fielder Qualon Millender.

At the very least, Gamel & Gindl have better gap power than Kotsay. I think they have better power, & are just better hitters overall, but that's just me.

That second catch by Franklin Romero was incredible. And thanks, Chris. Your coverage is second to none.