TooLiveBrew

I miss Harold Reynolds. NOOOOOOOOO!!! He HUGS people! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif This situation is strange -- I want to feel wronged, but at the same time: 1) As mentioned, no one outside of Brewers fans 'got' this 2) I reluctantly admit that I'm semi-impressed with this particular ESPN reference/dig

Get those write-ins... in!

He's more machine now than man... twisted, and evil

The ultimate lose-lose for Ricciardi. Dunn can laugh this off, but J.P. is now forever linked to Dusty-Baker-dom (or is that "dumb"?) & likely will be without a job come season's end.

My dad was watching the Brewer game on television, and he asked me if I wanted to see a "possum with no hair"...at least that is what I heard. Was CCR's "Bathroom on the Right" playing so loudly you couldn't hear him? That's funny stuff. Too bad for Bush today, but a fantastic outing. Of course the freaking ex-Brewer had to triple to break it up, and then the Jays erupted, but still -- got the win. Dave appeared to be fantastic today (at work, couldn't watch) -- I really wish I didn't miss this game. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif EDIT: Hey check out the Yahoo sports link for the recap article on the game today: "Brew loses no-hit bid, win" *rolls eyes* Come on folks. That's just poor, poor writing in general.

Cameron might yet come around, but i shudder to think that players with a line of .220/.330/.800 with 20-25 HR are worth $10 million per...... Cam is getting paid $5M this season; the option for '09 is $10M. And if an .800-ish OPS with stellar defense in CF isn't worth $10M in MLB dollars, I don't know what is. Lets face it, if someone is worth 12-15 or even 20M, there is a pretty good chance their current club with realize it and pay to keep them. That's just overstatement. There are so many factors that decide who's re-signed & who isn't. I won't even go into them here. What is it you don't like about Cameron? Is it the K's? I'd say the 8-10M per signings in free agency are almost always duds. Why pay for average. Resign your own elite players and try to group as many as possible together. I agree with you here. FA signings carry tremendous risk, since you almost always have to go multiple years to land a guy... yet another reason to be happy with Melvin's work in the past offseason.

Oh, shoot -- my fault. Thanks bc00.

Because, dude, I mean, come on -- they're better. If they weren't, McClung & Bush would be in the bigger market, not Gallagher & Marquis. Duuuhhh. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

It has to be a coincidence, though. If Russell had that kind of impact, we'd be 28-0 in those 22 games.

Call me crazy, but: isn't a team that is 6 games over .500 with a -4 run differential being effectively managed and making the most out of opportunities? I don't see anything there that jumps out at me to say that -- luck is probably a much bigger role than the Mgr. I would say the same if we were 8 games under .500 with a +4 or so. I doubt the manager has much if any impact on runs scored/allowed & Pythag. Then again, I'm not a numbers guru, so I could be wrong. Take today, for example -- was it Ned's fault that the Jays blew up for 6 in the 9th? No, and it wouldn't be his credit if it had been the Brewers that blew up for a 6-spot in one frame.

I've heard rumors that Brian Cashman may be a candidate for Seattle's GM spot if he doesn't feel like returning to the Yankees. Apparently Seattle is a pretty good place for a GM to land -- the owner is generally hands-off and hands you boatloads of cash (not as much as the Yankees, but they can afford to sign Ichiro to an $80 million extension and give out huge contracts to Sexson and Beltre without a sweat), they have one of the best parks in the American League, there's a passionate fanbase, they have a decent farm system, the media is generally calm unless your name is Bill Bavasi, and the city itself is beautiful. It would definitely beat having to answer to Crazy Hank and the New York media, but who knows if Cashman would want to switch coasts. Paul DePodesta is probably another candidate they should consider after suffering through the Bavasi era. That's interesting. I hadn't heard that. Cashman really is a good GM, but it's been hard to try & sift through what's been George's doings & what've been Brian's. The signing of Sheffield (Ca$hman had a deal in place with Vlad, but Stein went to dinner w/Sheff & signed him at the dinner) always will symbolize what Cashman had to deal with there. I'd hate to see him leave NYY, as he's finally been able to not have to live by the Steinbrenner 'Buy expensive veterans!' mantra, and the results so far have been solid. (imho)

Many people suffer from this affliction. I really have no idea why I love this thread so much. I am banning myself for 3 days to reflect. With the Yost threads, sometimes I too just have to walk away for a while. Heck, sometimes from the forum itself. The one thing I can glean from how heated the debates can get is that we all have a very unhealthy obsession with the Brewers.

TLB -- I hear what you're saying. But, allow me to live in ignorant bliss on this subject. I was trying to say (to at least myself) that if we played the same schedule as the Cubs to this point we wouldn't be discussing the wildcard as our best chance. Hehe -- sorry. Live on brother, live on! I wasn't trying to poop on your post. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif I realize that in the grand scheme of things our 2-7 record against Florida and Minnesota [wouldn't necessarily] be 4-3 if we were playing SD and COL. But, it might be. And then we'd only be three back with a whole lot of head to head matchups to play. It's plausible, if not likely. I re-phrased your wording so that I can agree 100% with ya. Anything can happen with this great sport -- just look at today's game. And I look at Chicago's roster, and it screams to me that they'll be coming back to Earth in a big way - even though Soto and Fukudome have been very nice upgrades for them this season. Heck, Soto is probably one of the Cubs most due to come back to earth. Then again, his BABIP has regressed all the way down to .342 (was .486 in '07!), so he's probably only going to get hotter. Kinda funny to note that right now Fukudome also sports a .342 BABIP. I can't see either Soto or Kosuke keeping their current pace through the rest of the season. EDIT: Some other Cubs' BABIPs, just for fun -- Theriot - .338 (that's been falling, too, iirc) DeRosa - .348 (he's shown some ability to sustain a higher one, though -- .322 career & no lower than .343 since '06) Ramirez - .327 (wtheck is up with his BBs?! 40! Doesn't he know his career high is 50?)** Lee - .300 (career .324) Soriano - .298 (career .312) Edmonds - .279 (career .332; not sure what his is just w/CHC, but for June '08, it's .438!) ** Aramis Ramirez's unfathomably well-improved BB rate has to be near the top of the list of reasons why the Cubs are up on us. The guy looks like a very much improved offensive player.

Holy freakin' moly what a finish! I had the gf 'call' the game for me over the phone since I'm at work. AAAAAAARhhrhhrghg! Glad to get a win. And a sweep! Great job Dave!

Whew, I was worried that DiFelice or Dillard would get sent down because they weren't "veteran-ey" enough. That's good stuff! I shared your concern. He was viewed as such today but a week ago there was some argument to be made who was really the worst. One of the hidden advantages of his last meltdown was that he proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was the worst. I don't think the move was made based on 2 IP, or even whatever Tavarez's IP total was with us. I think the braintrust viewed Tavarez as a type of rental to cover the time Riske would be out. And in that sense, the move doesn't bug me too much -- either signing him or DFA'ing him.

They've played 28 games vs PIT, COL, WASH, SF and SD. We've played 13 (10 of them on the road). That will end at some point here. While that's true, it's been discussed at length here & doesn't really have much impact on the odds that are being discussed right now (since the schedule is figured in). I think you're right that we should feast on the weaker opponents, and that the Cubs have gotten fat off some of them. However, I just don't think that adding up all the 'columns' like you did (& don't get me wrong, thanks for doing that number-crunching -- very interesting to read through) says much about how the rest of the season might go. It's still just early enough in the season (imo) that records aren't going to be reliable to use to determine if we can catch the Cubs. Their remaining schedule may be tougher, but they're also a better team than the Brewers this season (the Zambrano injury may change that some). I await the results of that MRI very anxiously, even though I'm not hoping for a serious injury (too tacky imo)

The 'Ned is blamed for anything he does' shtick is tired & soooooo 2007. It's absolutism like that that prevents discussion from carrying on smoothly, and I feel that would apply if it were an anti-Neddite saying, 'You all are just Ned lovers!'

I hate this pop psychologising. We have no idea how Prince was raised or what his father did to him. Some of the fragments we have heard are pretty bad though, so you judging him based on his not getting along with his father is bizarre. I remember seeing an article that said Cecil beat Prince's sister in public when she asked him about the divorce. I think that in general people are far too confident that they can tell what a guy is 'like' by watching him play on TV & listening to him in interviews. The fans need to get off Prince's back. He's the best hitter this city has seen in a long time, and might wind up being the best that ever came through -- one obvious exception. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Let's enjoy him while he's here -- because, as homer said, "maybe Prince doesn't want to be here but I really don't think it's obvious at all." He's got his own life going on & I really don't feel that he owes me anything. The writing has been on the wall since he made Boras his agent. Enjoy him while he's here -- we're probably getting his best seasons anyway.

The beautiful thing for the M's is that, since Dusty Baker is off the market, they can only move laterally or improve in hiring a new manager. Problem is, they need a good GM first & more dearly, and that's the tougher hire imo.

It's just so easy to get frustrated with a player or two & then declare that Melvin had a poopy offseason. I agree that Cameron's been good, Kapler has been surprisingly good, Kendall's defense alone justifies his contract, & Branyan obviously needs no introduction. I still like the Riske signing (funny to read it written that way), & you really can't declare anything about Gagne other than, 'He hasn't been good' -- there's really nothing to say that he can't get the ship righted, but his long time away has me concerned. Is Mrs. Gagne ok? I recall that her childbirth was given as the reason Eric didn't rejoin the team. Now we haven't heard anything -- I'm concerned on that front. Otherwise, the reason for him not returning would be injury, which could help explain his WOAHs thus far. I know not everyone (heck, or even many) agree with me on this, but I just don't think Gagne has pitched as poorly as his results. His control really hasn't been terrible, just inconsistent. Again, that's just mho. Back on-topic, I liked Melvin's offseason as it was happening, and I like it still. 'Missing' on one guy -- on whom I feel Doug might end up breaking even -- certainly isn't grounds for calling it a "Free Agency Failure"

Yeah, that was nice. I just can only giggle anymore when Russell mashes. It's becoming comical.

This is great for Seattle. I don't revel in anyone's misery, but McLaren is a knucklehead. Now only time will tell if the ownership will actually commit to finding a good GM, or if this is just change for change's sake.

TULL! Love it, or be doomed, mortals. If you want to get her some Jazz I have been listening to a lot of Joshua Redman lately. I really like it. Seconded -- I encountered Joshua Redman as a featured artist on the Rolling Stones' No Security live album. I bought Redman's Beyond as a flier, and still listen to it quite regularly. He's great on that sax, man. Also, unless you hate your daughter you should probably get some Cat Stevens in the mix. I'll say The Beatles fall under that classification, too.

The fact that the guy has been unable to stick on a major league roster, let alone never get a starting job just shows how much most baseball minds still rely on "old school" statistics to make their personnel decisions. Very well-said. Let us never again have to listen to someone say, 'Well, if he were good, he'd have caught on somewhere by now.' The Ricciardi--Dunn thread seems to have relevance here.

People talking about what they see as a flaw and wanting it to not be a flaw is complaining in my opinion. Well then we'll have to agree to disagree. Wishing my team's players will improve their weaknesses certainly isn't the same as complaining to me.