TooLiveBrew

Yeah, on top of giving a guy a hard time on his first MLB homer ball, you ask for a different player's autograph? That's what made me scratch my head. I can't imagine what Coghlan must have thought about that.

I would have guessed more San Diego fans since Portland is in their farm system. Guess you just miss out on seeing Gamel play next weekend. You'd think so, but I don't see even as many (let alone more) Pads hats as OAK/SFG. The Beavers barely market themselves at all, though. The guy that owns the team (former Sec. of Treasury Hank Paulson's kid... yay trust-fund babies) really doesn't seem to care much about baseball. Along with the Beavers, his company owns the Portland Timbers, which are a minor-league soccer team (& also play at PGE Park). If anyone follows MLS, Portland was just awarded a new MLS franchise (iirc beginning play in 2011), and that seems to be all Paulson cares about. If you had committed ownership to go with a MLB franchise, this city would eat it up. If nothing else has, the recent success of the Or. State baseball team has fostered a huge love of baseball in Oregon. If the Beavers marketed themselves at all, I think they'd draw much better, but clearly that's just not a priority to the ownership.

Cool... some more words of support & celebration here, lexi. Be sure to let Mat know how much the fanbase is rooting for him, and to IGNORE the idiot boo-birds if they come out on him. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

DFA Mrs. Logan

The same is true of the strike zone, there is a definition in the rule book but the game has evolved in such a way that the strike zone is really up to the interpretation of the umpire. If you change that by having a robot enforce the rulebook you are changing the way baseball has been played for 100+ years and I dont like that or think it is necesary. Can we let the 'game has been the same way for 100+ years' stuff go? The game has changed many times, and in many ways. I do want to underscore, however, that I agree with the rest of your point here. Maybe they wanted umpires to have be so in charge of the game that they could interpret some rules, you cant say the only reason there are umpires today is because they didnt have computers in 1876. Absolutely. You are assuming that every time some robot could make a call but doesnt it is some limitation of technology instead of an intended design of how the game is called and played. Not at all. I am saying that resisting technology because 'it wasn't around' & 'the game hasn't changed for __ years' is poor reasoning. I by no means -- as I stated -- am the 'robot ump lobbyist'. I think replay has been & will continue to be an invaluable addition to MLB. I also think that MLB should investigate (in great detail) all the ways in which adding something like what ATP (tennis) uses for borderline calls could/would help & hurt the game... not just resist it bc of some 'unwritten rules' interpretation. I would hope that if the idea seemed unlikely to be an overall positive, it would get scrapped. I would also hope, however, that if MLB felt it was a good idea, it would be instituted. I guess, to me, the 'integrity of the game' argument goes both ways. What about horrible, horrible calls that umps make? Aren't they insulting the integrity of the way baseball is meant to be played? Surely we don't simply have to settle for the status quo because some people don't like even the possibility of change.

Just because you can make things more accurate by using a computer doesnt mean you should. Well, the earliest versions of baseball utilized the best technology. They could draw foul lines so umpires wouldn't have to estimate as much what a fair/foul ball was... so they did. They couldn't exactly draw 'lines' in the air & create a standardized strike zone, so they did the best they could. Now, we essentially have the technology to 'draw' the strike zone in the air. I don't want to turn myself into the computerized strike-zone advocate, bc I really don't necessarily care. I just think a lot of the rationale used in opposition to new technologies in baseball is bad, and some of it seems unnecessarily alarmist. How can you compare scientific research like aviation to baseball? That is ridiculous and embarrassing. Did you read my post, I listed several reasons why it is impractical to have a robot call balls/strikes (because the hitters themselves do not know the striek zone that well) and other reasons why it removes some of the art from baseball which players learned and practiced since little league (like framing pitches as a catcher). What you're calling 'art' is really just the manifestation of the limitations of technology once upon a time. I don't see how you aren't fully aware that this argumentative stance is basically Luddite.

Portland has a AAA team right now. TLB could probably weigh in on how they draw. Maybe for minor league/AAA teams the Beavers draw well, but honestly the attendance is pretty crummy on the whole. The only nights the Beavs see good attendance is the weekend games or the Thirsty Thursday promotion. On the other hand, when Or. St. played a 3-game set against UGA last year at PGE Park (the baseball stadium in Portland), each game set a new OSU attendance record. The Blazers mania here is comparable to how the Cubs are loved in Chicago. I'm guessing that if a MLB franchise came here, it'd thrive. It's an odd concept that a baseball fan from Portland should be a Mariners fan. It'd be like Milwaukee without the Brewers, and then people would 'have to' be Cubs fans by almost default. There are a lot of baseball fans here, but seemingly for every M's hat you see, you see SFG/OAK hats too.

Bad calls are part of baseball. That's an awful reason to not seek ways in which to improve the officiating of anything, let alone baseball. Well, Orville, looks like this plane just doesn't fly. Guess we'll just have to get used to it. I guess you're right, Wilbur...

Hahaha... that's exactly what I was thinking, pretendastronaut. Rickie, uh, needs to, uh, think about the kinds of, uh, answers he gives in uh, interviews. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Suppose every call including every ball and strike were reviewed on replay to ensure they "get it right". What if all this made the average game last 5 hours. Would it be worth it to "get it right"? But what is the point of proposing this hypothetical situation that would realistically never happen? What does that have anything to do with whether or not replay is a good idea? Sure, it wouldn't be a good idea to change the rules so that a BB is only issued after 37 balls to a batter. The game would take an excruciatingly long time... but that's not going to happen, so why propose it as something to be worried about?

Yep. Perfect. Thanks, Yoda. Ha! Welcome, you are, wise Homer.

Would Cot's Baseball Contracts work?

Obviously I agree with your thoughts on workload, TheCrew, but here is my take on Kendall's 2008 (relative to his talent) -- Apr.: Good May: Bad June: Good July: Bad Aug: Good Sep.: Bad So, while his production was bad in September, it was also bad in May & July... which suggests to me that his being overworked played a role... just a marginal one.

I understand objections to expanding the role of instant replay in baseball (although I don't agree) but I can't understand objecting to how it's currently being used. A sport needs to eliminate obvious errors to officiating when it can. Totally agreed, & I wish people would stop obscuring the discussion with the 'bad calls are part of the game' & 'baseball has remained unchanged for __ years' stuff.

Just seems like last September I read September call ups don't count against something--just can't remember what it was! Rookie status

If the Brewers offered him a 4/$24 mil offer, I think there is a near zero chance of him accepting that. I disagree. I think the chances of him accepting that would be zero. If we could get him for a good price, I would love an extension for Weeks Agreed. Locking Rickie up semi-long-term would be a big help for this franchise, for exactly the reason you mention (pressure on needing seemingly all our positional prospects to pan out).

BoKnows is right. BF.net should have this in the FAQ if it isn't already. Any day of MLB service counts against a guy's service time. A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a major league club or clubs during the period of a 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service). In other words, if you interpret that last part, days of MLB service on the expanded 40-man don't count... towards a player's rookie status. To be a bit more on-topic, this is very exciting news. I'll hope that LouisEly & others are right in that the Brewers won't be losing Nelson. Getting him everyday PT at Nashville is exactly what he needs. In the meantime, GO GAMEL! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

I have only ever had digital cable, so not sure if the same applies to DirecTV... any time there was a free promotion like Invader is describing, I would have a message in the menu portion of my digital cable service describing the free trial. Either that, or there would be a scroll across the bottom of the screen (like when Extra Innings does their free previews) when watching said trial channel(s)

Was there something in the water in 1953 that made them so much more durable? What's the difference what year it is? The difference is that people now have an understanding of the long-term physical effects of overusing players like pitchers & catchers. Just because 'Rub some dirt on it!' sounds tough... doesn't make it solid medical advice.

The new ones I've had recently are the New Belgium brews. Love the Fat Tire, but I think that's to them what Spotted Cow is to New Glarus. It's what they're known for, but not their best beer. That's about as right-on as it could be stated, MNoD. This is exactly how I feel about New Belgium & their Fat Tire. It's one you can rely on as a fall-back option if you hit the beer aisle & your mind goes blank, but never one of my absolute favorites.

However, if he had not gotten off to a really hot start in 2008 his first half stats would have been just as bad as his 2nd half stats. Kendall is not a good hitter. For the record, Kendall had 3 decent months (Apr., June, & Aug.), and 3 bad months (May, July, Sept.) last season. It wasn't just a hot start, but obviously that helped. The main problem, though, is that Kendall's good months were just so-so, and his bad months were so bad you really can't get any worse for a regular player.

"... calm, at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack." "Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice."

From The DL Informer -- From Rotoworld --

I thought it might be worthwhile to have a place to discuss injuries & recoveries, as opposed to the occasional 'Player X injures _____; out y-z weeks/mos.' thread. I figure this would be a good way to keep up not only with the M*A*S*H unit this summer, but also the league as a whole. I think the most relevant discussion will come (obv.) from NL Central injuries/updates, but any injury story is clearly a fit. I'll just keep this short & try to not ramble. If others think this is a good idea, the thread will live... if not, it'll just fade into the oblivion known as 'anything not on page 1 of the MLB forum' http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Just an idea... if you're posting some info on a player, please try to remember to make the player's name bold so it's easier to find reading through this thread. Some references: - Rotoworld MLB page - The Disabled List Informer

I still say Mike Rivera must have hit on Yost's wife or something, the way he seemed to collect dust on the bench. Rivera & Branyan were in cahoots!