batman

OAKLAND (1) AT MILWAUKEE (3) OAKLAND AB R H BI MILWAUKEE AB R H BI M Kotsay cf 2 0 0 1 B Clark cf 2 0 0 0 A Morrissey 3b 1 0 0 0 D Krynzel cf 1 0 0 0 E Fahrner p 0 0 0 0 J Spivey 2b 1 0 0 0 T Johnson p 0 0 0 0 R Weeks 2b 2 0 0 0 J Clark lf 3 0 1 0 L Overbay 1b 2 0 0 0 J Duchscherer p 0 0 0 0 P Fielder 1b 2 0 0 0 F Bynum 2b 1 0 0 0 C Lee lf 2 0 0 0 J Kendall c 2 0 2 0 C Magruder lf 1 0 0 0 O Quintanilla ss 1 0 0 0 G Jenkins rf 2 0 0 0 S Hatteberg 1b 3 0 0 0 C Hart rf 1 1 1 0 D Johnson 1b 1 0 0 0 J Cirillo 3b 2 1 0 0 M Ellis 2b 3 0 3 0 R Helling 3b 2 1 1 0 J Baker c 0 0 0 0 C Moeller c 2 0 0 0 K Suzuki c 1 0 0 0 T Durrington pr 0 0 0 0 C Thomas rf 4 0 1 0 P Borders c 1 0 1 1 M Scutaro ss 4 0 0 0 J Hardy ss 1 0 0 1 B Smith 3b 2 1 1 0 J Lehr p 0 0 0 0 H Bocachica cf 2 0 0 0 J Housman p 0 0 0 0 B Zito p 0 0 0 0 D Turnbow p 0 0 0 0 R Robnett ph 1 0 0 0 W Obermueller p 0 0 0 0 J Serrano p 0 0 0 0 M Adams p 0 0 0 0 S Garrett lf 2 0 0 0 B Kieschnick ph 1 0 0 0 G Glover p 0 0 0 0 R Branyan ph 0 0 0 0 B Hall ss 1 0 1 0 TOTALS 33 1 8 1 TOTALS 26 3 4 2 OAKLAND 000 010 000 -- 1 MILWAUKEE 000 010 200 -- 3 E--J Spivey, B Hall, A Morrissey 2. DP--MILWAUKEE 2. LOB--OAKLAND 7, MILWAUKEE 6. SB--J Spivey 1 (1), B Hall 1 (1), J Clark 1 (1). S--D Krynzel, J Housman. SF--J Hardy, M Kotsay. IP H R ER BB SO HR OAKLAND B Zito 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 J Serrano 2 0 0 0 1 3 0 J Duchscherer 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 E Fahrner (L,0-1) 1 3 2 2 1 1 0 T Johnson 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 MILWAUKEE W Obermueller 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 M Adams 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 G Glover 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 J Lehr 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 J Housman (W,1-0) 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 D Turnbow (S,1) 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 WP--T Johnson, E Fahrner. HBP--C Magruder by T Johnson. T--2:29. A--4,752.

Here's another good article: www.mercurynews.com/mld/m...055051.htm ~Bill

LOL, maybe The Nugget Miner is taking his closer factory to the next level. I still kind of hope that Turnbow makes the team... how many floppy-eared relievers can you pick up for free that can throw 100 miles per hour? If Maddux can help him put things together, he's got the stuff to be an elite hurler. And even if he just flashes his potential for a month or two, the fact that he hits triple digits on the radar gun will make him very attractive in trade talks. Anyway, hopefully we'll see a box score soon. EDIT: Oh, and a huge thanks to ja002h for the in-game updating.... much appreciated!!! ~Bill

Sawlid. CAC FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - OAKLAND 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 8 2 MILWAUKEE 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 x 3 4 2 FINAL WP - JEFF HOUSMAN (1-0) LP - EVAN FAHRNER (0-1) SAVE - DERRICK TURNBOW (1) TIME: 0:00 ATT: 4,752 Quick game, eh? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ~Bill

Here's the JS recap... it's a Tom/Drew tag-team effort, something I can't remember seeing before. www.jsonline.com/sports/b...306966.asp ~Bill

Here's the Oakland box score. MILWAUKEE (12) AT OAKLAND (8) MILWAUKEE AB R H BI OAKLAND AB R H BI B Clark cf 2 2 1 0 E Byrnes rf 4 1 1 2 S Moss cf 1 0 1 0 J Perry rf 2 0 0 0 J Spivey 2b 3 2 1 1 B Crosby ss 3 0 0 0 C Crabbe 2b 1 0 0 0 M Rouse ss 2 0 1 0 P Fielder 1b 3 1 2 4 F Bynum ss 1 0 0 0 J Brady 1b 2 0 0 0 E Durazo dh 3 0 0 0 C Lee dh 4 2 3 4 N Swisher ph 2 0 0 0 A Heether ph 2 0 0 0 E Chavez 3b 1 1 0 0 W Helms 3b 3 1 0 0 B Smith 3b 2 1 0 0 T Durrington 3b 1 0 0 0 K Ginter 2b 3 2 3 0 C Magruder lf 4 1 2 2 M Scutaro 2b 1 0 0 0 A Mannon lf 2 0 0 0 D Johnson 1b 4 0 2 1 C Hart rf 3 1 0 0 H Bocachica cf 2 1 1 1 N Cruz rf 0 0 0 0 S Garrett cf 1 0 0 0 B Hall ss 2 2 1 0 M Watson lf 3 1 1 2 S Scarborough ss 1 0 0 0 R Robnett lf 1 0 0 0 C Moeller c 4 0 1 1 A Melhuse c 1 1 1 1 J Mosquera c 1 0 0 0 J Brown c 2 0 1 0 J Baker c 1 0 0 0 TOTALS 39 12 12 12 TOTALS 39 8 11 7 MILWAUKEE 340 221 000 0-- 12 OAKLAND 052 100 000 x -- 8 E--C Magruder, J Spivey, B Smith. LOB--MILWAUKEE 12, OAKLAND 13. 2B--B Clark, C Magruder, A Melhuse, M Watson, K Ginter. HR--C Lee 1 (1) (off D Meyer), P Fielder 1 (1) (off D Meyer), E Byrnes 1 (1) (off B Hendrickson). SB--C Hart 1 (1). SF--P Fielder. IP H R ER BB SO HR MILWAUKEE B Hendrickson 2 4 5 5 1 0 1 J De La Rosa (W,1-0) 1 2-3 3 3 2 3 1 0 B Diggins 1-3 0 0 0 2 0 0 M Wise 2 4 0 0 0 2 0 S Narron 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 L Pena 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 D Eveland 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 OAKLAND D Meyer 2 6 7 7 2 2 2 K Yabu (L,0-1) 2 3 2 2 1 0 0 R Rincon 1 0 2 2 3 0 0 O Dotel 1 2 1 1 1 1 0 B Sylvester 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 K Calero 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 H Street 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 HBP--B Clark by R Rincon, B Hall by O Dotel. SO--MIL: W Helms, J Spivey, C Hart, A Mannon, C Crabbe. OAK: J Perry 2, M Watson, J Brown, N Swisher, S Garrett. BB--MIL: B Clark 2, J Spivey 2, W Helms, C Hart, N Cruz, B Hall, T Durrington. OAK: H Bocachica 2, B Smith, E Chavez, M Scutaro, R Robnett, D Johnson, J Brown, N Swisher. T--3:26. A--5,237. How 'bout that Ginter kid, huh? ~Bill

And here's the other one. CAC FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - MILWAUKEE 3 4 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 12 12 2 OAKLAND 0 5 2 1 0 0 0 0 x 8 11 1 FINAL WP - JORGE DE LA ROSA (1-0) LP - KEIICHI YABU (0-1) HOME RUNS: MIL - PRINCE FIELDER (1) OFF DAN MEYER IN THE 1ST CARLOS LEE (1) OFF DAN MEYER IN THE 2ND OAK - ERIC BYRNES (1) OFF BEN HENDRICKSON IN THE 2ND TIME: 3:26 ATT: 5,237 More prettiness. ~Bill

Hopefully we'll see box scores shortly... in the meantime, this sure looks pretty, doesn't it? CAC FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - SEATTLE 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0 MILWAUKEE 2 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 x 8 14 0 FINAL WP - CHRIS CAPUANO (1-0) LP - JOEL PINEIRO (0-1) TIME: 2:20 ATT: 3,045 ~Bill

That's a great idea, Brian. ~Bill

Maroon by itself I think I can get used to... Maroon bolded is very distracting. I still like the blue best, but given monitor differences I can understand why people wouldn't like that. ~Bill

I like this a lot better. I agree, try maroon (the color in the menu at the top). If neither of those is cool, I still think the hover is better than nothing or all underlines. Thanks for playing around with it, Brian! ~Bill

I'd actually be down with nothing, too, if that's an option. Savvy ezBoard users can always manually add an underline, bold, or color to their links. ~Bill

I'm sure we could get used to it, but I actually agree with Patrick. There are a couple of other things you could try that might look better: A) Use a different color for links, like the dark blue used in the header/background/images/etc. This could also be used in combination with: B) Use a:hover to add underlines and/or change the color of links when the user scrolls over them. Together, that would look something like this: a:normal, a:visited { background: transparent; color: #(whatever the code for that blue is); text-decoration: none; } a:hover, a:active { background: transparent; color: #(either the blue or a lighter blue); text-decoration: underline; } I think that might look spiffier while still making links apparent. Just my $.02, ~Bill

Jim Mecir is the only current big league pitcher who prominently features a screwball, AFAIK. The other pitch to add is a cutter, especially because it is a favorite of Mike Maddux. A variation of the two-seam fastball, a cutter moves much like a slider but is thrown with a fastball release and so is much easier on the arm and tougher to pick up for the hitter. It's Doug Davis' bread and butter. ~Bill

Those were two awesome games between the Canes and Gators. Lots of impressive players, but I agree with Patrick re: Braun. He looked fantastic at the plate... his bat speed is ridiculous. He looked lost at third to me, but I have no doubt that he has the physical tools to succeed at the position given that he was supposed to be a pretty solid shortstop. The announcers were adamant about his speed and basestealing ability, too. Here's a weird question about the Gators: do they teach their relievers to throw submarine, or did they just recruit a pair of submariners in O'Day and Falkenbach and turn them into late relievers/closers? It was weird to see their two best relievers with basically the same submarine throwing motion. Anyway, thanks again to Patrick for the reminder... it was great to see baseball again (even if its going to start snowing outside again). ~Bill

Thanks for the heads-up, Patrick. According to my cable guide, the game will also be broadcast tomorrow at 11AM. I'm not sure if it will be a repeat or if it is tomorrow's game (which is at that time), but I think it's the latter. So we get to see *two* games. Beauty. ~Bill

I *heart* Taylor Teagarden. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Thanks much for the post, Anders... great photos, too. ~Bill

I'm going to go ahead and assume that TGJ will be back at Huntsville for the purposes of sharing this article. ~batman "Pop, where's my swing?" The San Diego Union-Tribune By Chris Jenkins, February 9, 2005 Available Online at: www.signonsandiego.com/sp...gwynn.html At the age of just 22, after little more than one full season in the minor leagues, Anthony Gwynn already has done something his famous father never could. Tony Gwynn could hit like nobody since Ted Williams, winning eight batting titles and a few Gold Gloves. But on his best month ? his best year ? he couldn't grow a beard to save his collection of Silver Bats. Still can't, actually, aside from the few specks of salt on his chin. Like father, unlike son. "The beard," said Anthony Gwynn, rubbing the considerable growth on his cheek and jawline, "represents the struggles I've had." Because he is very much his father's son, Anthony Gwynn punctuated his sentence with a chuckle, his voice pitched high by heredity. But, also like much of what his father said in playful jest, there was a deeper truth to the lad's mention of his "struggles." "How messed up was Anthony last year?" said Tony. "Man, he was messssssssssssed up." Now, there are families in which that could mean any number of things, all of them bad and all of them suggesting more serious problems. But this particular dad was talking about the trouble with his son's swing of the bat, and in that household, few things are given such importance. To be sure, Anthony has had some serious disappointments since being whisked away from his father's program at San Diego State by the Milwaukee Brewers, who drafted the swift outfielder in the second round in 2003. Almost every day since Dec. 1, Anthony has been back at San Diego State, hitting the weights and hitting baseballs off the tee in an effort to keep 2004 from happening again. The younger Gwynn was impressive enough in his professional debut, skipping over Rookie Ball and still batting .280 in an abbreviated season with Class A Beloit (Wis.), but the jump to Double-A last year went miserably (.243). Things got even worse (.167) in the Arizona Fall League. "I did bad, and when I say bad, I mean really bad," Anthony said. "Oh, God. It started in spring training. I got to Arizona and my mechanics were not good. I still made the Double-A squad, but by the end of the season, I was just trying to get through it. "I'd never dealt with failure like that. I hit .400 in high school and improved my game every year in college. But then I'm in a minor league park, looking up at the scoreboard and it says .250. It was eating me up, eating me alive. I couldn't sleep. I'd go back to my room and sweat and toss and turn all night. My cell phone bills were ridiculous." His speed dial, naturally, was set to Poway. "At first the calls were once a week, then three times a week, then damn, the phone's ringing again," said Tony. "You could hear it in his voice. He'd hit the skids." Tony and Anthony's mother, Alicia, went to Alabama to see their son play and give him a boost. They found a normally unflappable kid flinging his bat and helmet in frustration. When he visited Anthony in the Arizona Fall League, Tony went armed with a bag full of Wiffle balls. Slumps and bad mechanics don't just go away, simple as that, even when the man trying to help you through was the greatest contact hitter of his era. Also your dad. "My swing was so out of whack," Anthony said, "I needed to come home to Pops." As he spoke, Anthony was sitting in the empty stands of the SDSU diamond that also bears the name of his father, the Aztecs product and Padres great who's a couple of years away from certain enshrinement in Cooperstown. Big cleats to fill. "Nobody's ever said, 'You're supposed to hit like your dad,'" said Anthony, "but in the back of their mind, you know they're thinking I should be able to hit like he did. That's not to say I could never hit the way he hit. But there's only one Tony Gwynn, and that's Tony Gwynn. Tony Gwynn was one gifted individual." The long-suffering Brewers may be generating some hype, but not doing the prospect any favors, by having Anthony referred to as Tony Gwynn Jr. For his part, Anthony said he has grown accustomed to dealing with the inevitable references to his dad. Indeed, he always seemed happy and proud to be alongside his father at Qualcomm Stadium, even taking an active part in the many testimonials to the Padres right fielder as his career wound down. On the night of his retirement ceremony, the lineup from Tony's first Padres game was reunited in the field. The one coming out to take his place in center field, where Tony made his major league debut, was Anthony. Only now, though, can the son truly appreciate what the father went through just to get to The Show. "Being a professional player has made me respect even more what my dad did so well, and for so long," Anthony said. "He did it at such a high level, and he made it look so easy. I mean, he worked hard at his craft, but he even made the grunt work look easy. It's like it wasn't work for him. It's fun. That's what he imparted on me. That the game is fun." Clearly, too, the Brewers are big believers in baseball genes. When first reporting to Class A, Anthony struck up a fast friendship with Prince Fielder, a former Milwaukee first-round pick and son of ex-major league slugger Cecil Fielder. The second-generation players shared a room in Beloit as well as famous parentage, but they came from far different circumstances as far as their father-son relationships. A couple of years ago, stories were widespread about Cecil Fielder blowing his millions in gambling and leaving his wife to deal with creditors. "With all the stuff he was going through, Prince said he admired the stability I had in my family," Anthony said. "He said he wished his family was like mine. I'm a little older than him, so I kind of took on the big-brother role for him. "At the same time, having him there took the focus off me. If not for him, everything might have been on me, simply because my name's Gwynn. He had to go through that alone the year before. Once we were together, we sort of split the 'son' thing." Chances are, they'll be split this year. Approaching his third professional season, Fielder is ticketed for Triple-A, along with celebrated Brewers prospect Rickie Weeks. Each could be with the parent club before the end of the season. Gwynn is headed back to Huntsville, Ala., and he goes with no complaints about anything except last year's average. After years of hearing major leaguers tell horror stories about the minors, Gwynn said he was "petrified" when first going off to play for pay, but he's found it a surprisingly positive experience in most respects. Likewise, whatever reticence he might have had about playing in the Deep South were allayed by the people of Huntsville, who he said have treated him graciously. For just a hint of home, Gwynn most enjoyed the games against Mobile, the Padres affiliate that was co-champion of the Southern League last year. He said he had most of his best games against the BayBears, including a homer off prized pitching prospect Tim Stauffer, and some of his best outings came with Padres General Manager Kevin Towers, player-development director Tye Waller or scout "Chief" Gayton in the stands. But then there were many other Southern nights that weren't so gentle. Such as that series at West Tennessee. "I had six straight strikeouts to start out," Gwynn said. "After each of the four strikeouts (the first night), I went back to the dugout and everybody was encouraging, saying I'd get 'em next time and all that. After the strikeouts in the first two at-bats the next night, there was total silence in the dugout. They were waiting for me to go nuts. "They were ugly at-bats, too. Strike one, strike two, swing at a ball in the dirt. Just horrendous . . . but I still had my defense." By virtually all accounts, Gwynn's play in center field already is big-league caliber, and he's becoming more of a force as a baserunner. Whereas his father made his living with his eye-hand coordination, Anthony says his game is in his legs. Then again, according to the Brewers' minor league hitting instructor, Gwynn's offense wasn't nearly as bad as Gwynn makes it sound. "(Anthony) is his own worst enemy," said Jim Skaalen. "He has a very nice swing. When he's off, he's so close, but he feels like he's way off. Fact is, he was playing at a very young age in a pretty darn good league last year, and a lot of players in Double-A are going straight to the majors these days. I thought he did a nice job, too, although I'm sure he thought it was terrible." Gwynn said he felt fortunate to have Skaalen, a North County resident, on his side. Formerly the player-development director of the Padres, Skaalen clearly had no problem with this case of a father coaching his son. "Tony Gwynn has formed so many of my thoughts as a hitting instructor," Skaalen said. "I've stolen nearly everything I've ever heard come out of his mouth and tried to apply it to what I do. Everything he ever said about hitting makes so much sense to me." Skaalen's presence is yet another reason Anthony is with the right organization at the right time. For all their desultory history, the Brewers are fertile ground for young players, and the trade of Scott Podsednik to the Chicago White Sox moved Gwynn up the chain of outfielders. Milwaukee's starting center fielder this season is expected to be Brady Clark, a 1996 graduate of the University of San Diego. Some things, though, just are not to be rushed. Such as a swing gone bad. Or a really good beard. "You go in with a timetable for your career," Anthony said, "and after half a season in the minors, you throw that timetable right out the window."

Is it possible that Google's search plug-in could be modified to search within a specific domain? If it is, it could in effect become a substitute for sites that don't use the 'get' method. Yeah, that's what I was trying to explain. For example: www.google.com/search?q=s...ube.com+%s will seach thebaseballcube.com for your seach query. If you modify it to: www.google.com/search?q=s...+%s&btnI=I it will do an "I'm Feeling Lucky" search and so return the first result for your keyword on thebaseball.com domain. ~Bill

Yeah, I tried to make one of these for Baseball Cube a while ago... I even emailed the webmaster. No luck, though, unfortunately. I created a custom search that does an "I'm feeling lucky" google search on the term on the baseball cube site... it works okay, usually at least returning a page with a link to the player's profile page. I find myself using these things all the time, so when I'm not on one of my computers its like I forgot how to use the interweb. Thanks much, Brian. And definitely download/use firefox, everyone. ~Bill

That really sucks... for us, not for Robert. He oozes awesomeness and will really be missed. Isn't it ironic that he is moving to our former Triple-A team? Best of luck, Robert, and thanks for lots of wonderful broadcasts and interviews - they were very much appreciated! Hopefully the next news we hear about you involves a promotion to the big leagues! ~Bill

Here's a solid article from BA that's relevant to this thread: www.baseballamerica.com/t...pulse.html Interesting stuff - worth reading if you're reading this thread. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ~Bill

I wish the MLB would prohibit drafted players from signing Major League contracts that require them to be added to the 40-man roster. Even more so than the money, that seems to be the biggest sticking point in many negotiations. It's certainly great for the player, but it's not great for the club; one of the toughest parts of being an effective GM, I think, is effectively managing the 40-man. Adding players prematurely makes it more difficult to retain players and still juggle open spots so as to make acquisitions and waiver claims possible. It would be wonderful if we didn't have to worry about draft picks eating up spots, too. All that said, I still think top-flight college pitchers are worth the hassle of extended negotiations. I think the innings issue that Patrick points out is enough of a benefit to justify postponing the signing until late enough that the pitcher doesn't being his professional career until the following season. College pitchers are still closer to the big leagues than their high school peers despite the delay, and hopefully their experience with advanced opponents will make their climb up the system quicker. I don't hate the selection of high school pitchers as much as I used to, but I still think productive college pitchers are a good investment. Given the choice of selecting a very talented guy like Humber or a less-talented but easier-to-sign and doesn't-require-a-40-man-spot guy, I still think the better decision is to select the former. It's certainly a good question/debate, though. $.02, ~Bill

I know I'm late to the party, but I think this change is really sweet. Nice work. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ~Bill

Bad tag by Moeller. Congratulations to Big Ben on breaking Teddy Higuera's franchise record for strikeouts in a season. He fanned Larry Walker to tie the mark and Albert Pujols to break it... that's awesome. Hooray, Ben! ~Bill