batman

For those that are interested, here's the game thread over at Northside Baseball: northsidebaseball.com/For...hp?t=11789 Remember, though... http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/graphics/moran.jpg Will there be a Nomar sighting? An Orlando Cabrera sighting? An Alex Gonzalez sighting? We'll have to wait and see. Three days without the Brewers is harsh, but hopefully everyone is refreshed and ready to kick off a tough stretch of second half games. I hope the players are ready, too. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Have a nice day, everybody! ~Bill

07/15/2004: Brewers (Davis) at Cubs (Prior) The second-half kicks off today as the Brewers take on the Cubs. An enhanced (but 100% natural, THG-free) series preview is available at the Daily Brew... use the link on the homepage or view it directly at: www.brewerfan.net/ViewDai...portId=278 Cork Sucks. So do the Cubs. Go Brewers. ~Bill

Final: Billings (Reds) 6, Helena 3 I wonder if the Helena gang knew that they were the only Brewers' affiliate with a game today. Regardless, they really let us down. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Anyway, I hope MassBrew got some sleep today... I'll take care of the Helena details. Helena Box Score: Josh Baker with a rough outing, allowing three runs in three innings..... Robert Hinton was the hard-luck loser despite holding the Mustangs to five hits in his five and two-thirds innings of work, but that's what you get for tossing two gopher balls, I guess..... Offensively, the Brewers got solid contributions from Charlie Fermaint (2-for-4, 2B), Adam Mannon (2-for-3), and Jake Serfass (1-for-2, 2 BB)..... GAME DATE: 7/12/04 BIL at HEL BILLINGS 6 AT HELENA 3 YTD YTD BILLINGS AB R H BI AVG HELENA AB R H BI AVG P.Gentry LF 5 1 2 0 .186 A.Escobar SS 5 0 0 0 .247 B.Key 3B 4 1 1 0 .175 S.Sollmann 2B 3 1 1 0 .292 B.Szymanski CF 4 0 0 0 .091 A.Festa 3B 4 1 0 0 .309 R.Mosby DH 4 2 2 1 .280 G.Richardson 1B 3 1 0 0 .363 T.Gutierrez 1B 3 1 1 1 .313 A.Mannon RF 3 0 2 0 .301 T.Kaats RF 4 0 0 0 .172 C.Lozada DH 4 0 1 1 .327 J.Mejia 2B 4 0 1 1 .308 C.Fermaint CF 4 0 2 1 .253 P.Janish SS 4 1 2 1 .262 A.Segura Cor CAT 3 0 0 0 .286 C.Ziemendorf CAT 4 0 0 1 .250 J.Serfass LF 2 0 1 0 .200 J.Meque PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Baker PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 T.Johnson PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 R.Hinton PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 R.Ramirez PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Murray PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 36 6 9 5 TOTALS 31 3 7 2 BILLINGS 0 2 1 1 1 0 1 0 0- 6 9 0 HELENA 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0- 3 7 2 E--A.Festa, J.Serfass. DP--BILLINGS 3, HELENA 1. LOB--BILLINGS 5, HELENA 10. 2B--C.Lozada (3), C.Fermaint (4). HR--R.Mosby (8 ), P.Janish (2). SB--B.Key (1). HBP--S.Sollmann 2, A.Festa, G.Richardson. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BILLINGS J.Meque 2.2 2 3 3 3 1 0 5.65 T.Johnson (W,1-0) 1.1 2 0 0 0 1 0 3.60 R.Ramirez (S,1) 5.0 3 0 0 2 3 0 2.54 HELENA J.Baker 3.0 4 3 3 2 3 0 5.09 R.Hinton (L,1-2) 5.2 5 3 2 0 9 2 4.22 B.Murray 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.71 HB--J.Meque 3, R.Ramirez. WP--J.Meque, T.Johnson. BALKS--J.Meque. SO--P.Gentry, B.Szymanski 2, R.Mosby, T.Gutierrez, T.Kaats 2, J.Mejia 2, P.Janish 2, C.Ziemendorf, A.Escobar, A.Festa 2, C.Fermaint, J.Serfass. BB--B.Key, T.Gutierrez, G.Richardson, A.Mannon, A.Segura Cor, J.Serfass 2. T--2:46. A--1541Helena Game Log: It looks like a wild one early, but after a few frames both sides seemed to settle down..... The Helena offense was stymied in the fifth; with the bases loaded and only one out, they were unable to get a run home..... Twin killings in the sixth and seventh erased leadoff baserunners and another ended the eighth..... www.sportsnetwork.com/mer...MEID=16568 No game stories yet, but the Billings' organization does a nice job with those so look for one sometime on Tuesday. ~Bill

Here's a direct link to the only Futures Game box score I could find. gd2.mlb.com/components/ga...score.html It is formatted oddly, but it is at least readable and complete. Prince Fielder went 1-for-3 with a single and a strikeout and Rickie Weeks went 0-for-1. ~Bill

I'm sure you will concede it screams small sample size Of course. But to argue that he hasn't been effective as a reliever isn't true, and that's really what I was trying to get at. That, and some friendly jabs at RoCo. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Tough game. Crappy way to head into the break. But I'm with Peavey. The pen has been phenomenal all season, and this team is so much better than anyone expected that its hard to get too upset. Fun game thread, guys... thanks for hanging out today! ~Bill

Now Bill, you are the last perosn I would think who would say throw @ a guy. If the Pitcher can't get em out, then why get mad @ the hitter. If you don't like Willy mo doing the "Slow Mo" on teh bases, then get him out. Yeah, you're right... it was a knee-jerk, emotional reaction. I wouldn't throw at him... I don't like it when people get thrown at, period. But that Slow Mo deal is really unprofessional, and I don't like it. One of the veterans on the Reds club needs to take him aside and let him know that it isn't cool. I don't mind a little ManRam/Griffey "admire it for a second" styling at home plate. But to do a little dance at every base and generally act like a total baffoon is unacceptable. Thanks for keeping me in check, davego. ~Bill

Nice job, Jeff Bennett. I feel obligated to make up for my previous indiscretions against you by pointing it out everytime you do something good. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif I still can't believe what just happened... It was a lot easier to handle with Mike DeJean, 'cause we all expected something like this to happen every few days (or more often, last year). With Kolb, its been just automatic. Same with Mike Adams, for that matter, although to a lesser extent. At least we get to face Danny Graves. C'mon, Griever. ~Bill

I feel like I've been run over by a truck. I was looking ahead to the bottom half, looking up matchups, and generally just taking it for granted that Kolb would hold the Reds' scoreless. This must be how the Dodgers' fans felt when Gagne blew a save. I don't like it. ~Bill

Well that was certainly unexpected. *** just happened? And Wily Mo needs to get his cocky behind thrown at. If he struts around the bases like that one more time, I might drive to Miller Park and attack him myself. He'd rip me limb from limb, but its about the principle http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif . ~Bill

So who is still available on the bench? Moeller, Grieve, and Erickson, right? It sure is nice to have that extra position player... can't say enough about that move, 'specially since not a lot of other teams have done the same thing. That's gotta be an error on Po'... no way that's a double. EDIT: And RoCo, I'm just giving you a hard time. Reasonable folks can disagree. ~Bill

I don't care what the stats say about Kinney's pen work, I wouldn't have brought him in there. Why don't you care what the stats say? I would at least want to know how Kinney has *actually* performed in close and late situations before deciding that he can't handle that level of pressure... wouldn't you? Kinney *has* been an above-average (and not just by a little, by a good bit) relief pitcher. If something pointed to him being unable to handle that situation, I haven't seen the numbers. And before you get all anecdotal on me, remember the game against the Mets (05/0http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/glasses.gif when he came on with the bases loaded and one out? He gave up a single and walk, but then struck-out Mike Cameron and Ty Wigginton to end the inning. So yes, he allowed two inherited runners to score. But he still turned in a pretty "clutch" performance. Don't hate the numbers, RoCo! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif EDIT: About Wise, he just hasn't been that successful out of the pen. This is the first time in his career that he's been a reliever, so that's understandable... while he's looked good in his starts (sans the one in Pittsburgh) and in most of his relief outings, he has also struggled on a number of occasions. The numbers don't lie... Kinney has been better out of the bullpen than Wise. ~Bill

Wise I can buy, but Burba's looked like crap lately, and it was probably too early for Viz. Actually, Kinney is probably a superior option to Wise, too. It wasn't ideal, but I can't really fault Nedley for that decision. I would have brought in Danny Kolb, but I'm crazy progressive like that. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ~Bill

Chris Magruder has been about as good as one could possibly be since his call-up. He's now 2-for-2 with 2 walks, and he's seen 22 pitches in 4 plate appearances. How insanely good is that? ~Bill

The Reds are a good offensive ballclub, but the Reds that are on the field today are really not. No Austin Kearns, no Sean Casey, no Junior Griffey... with all due respect (?) to Wily Mo and Tim Hummel, this is a much weaker lineup than it could be. We could've, should've, would've done better against them, but its hard to place too much blame on the pitching staff after they've had such a fantastic first half. On an unrelated note, has anyone noticed how the Reds' are defensing Geoff Jenkins? Why doesn't he lay a bunt down the third base line and take first? The way he's hitting, that defensive alignment is lights out... they have two second-baseman and a shortstop, and 95% of Jenks' batted balls are grounders to second (I'm exaggerating, but I bet his hitting chart would bear out a staggering percentage). And how 'bout Overbay? Dude is an All-Star... don't care what the record book is going to say. The abundance of talent at first this season is awesome, and its too bad that Overbay couldn't sneak his way in. ~Bill

I agree with you, Roco. EVERY team has luck, good and bad. Every team sees slow bouncers get through the hole. Every team has to deal with the same vaguaries of chance, and saying "if only" doesn't change it. The thing is, though, that in this case folks were debiting Matt Kinney because of that base hit. My point was that he didn't do anything wrong, and therefore didn't deserve said debiting. It happens to every pitcher and every team, and it happened to Acevedo in the first. You're 100% right. But it doesn't change the fact that Kinney has been a very solid reliever and that he did his job against Valentin. We just got a bad break. If that ball had been caught and the side retired, would folks be praising Kinney? Probably. But there wasn't really any difference between those two scenarios other than a few feet of defensive positioning. That's all I'm saying. ~Bill

BTW, its nice to see John Vander Wal back healthy and in the big leagues. He was a good Brewer, and a solid representative of the organization in the community. Its great that he was able to bounce back from that freak knee injury... lots of hard work, I'm sure, and the fact that he's back in the big leagues is a testament to his perseverence. Kudos to you, Vandy! I just wish you wouldn't have hit a double. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ~Bill

Hell, the Reds could say the same thing about the first inning, couldn't they? Sure, but what's the pitchers job? To get a groundball. All of the DIPS work has demonstrated that pitchers have little control over whether balls in play are converted into outs... as long as they keep the ball in the ballpark and on the ground, and limit walks, they will do okay. In this case, Kinney got Valentin to bounce weakly into the hole between first and second. He did his job. The defense just wasn't in position to make the play. That's why luck has such a big impact on baseball games. Its one thing if that hit is a line shot, or even a humpback liner like Jimenez'. But it wasn't. Sometimes, you just gotta throw up your hands and hang with 'em. ~Bill

So Yost should realize that even though Kinney was brought in two other times in this series to work out of big jams and did so successfully? It depends on how highly you value those previous two relief appearances relative to his other 15 relief appearances. Taken as a whole, he has been below average at preventing inherited runners from scoring. I'm sure Nedley didn't even look at those numbers, though, as he has on several occasions noted that he doesn't look at stats; most recently on July 7th in a Tom Haudricourt Notes Column: Manager Ned Yost, who doesn't pay much attention to statistics, figured that Grieve's numbers had been climbing. "I know they're up there," Yost said. "That's why he's playing so much." So I would assume that Yost placed a lot of value on Kinney's last two appearances and very little on previous appearances in which the results were different. Regardless, the hit from Valentin was a seeing-eye bouncer. If that ball is a few feet in either direction, he might have gotten out of the inning. ~Bill

Mike Adams picked a bad time to suck. ~Bill

I realize that there is a lot of latent hatred for Matt Kinney from his days as a starter, but I don't get the venomous reaction to his relief work. Endaround is correct in asserting that Kinney has had difficulty preventing inherited runs from scoring... coming into today' game, he had allowed 1.7 inherited runners to score below average. At the same time, however, his Adjusted Runs Prevented total of 4.9 is third-best on the team, behind only Dan Kolb and Mike Adams. He has been *better* than Vizcaino, though the Dealin' Dominican has been very good at preventing inherited runners from scoring. This was a bad situation to put Kinney into... Vizcaino or Adams would have been preferable in an inherited runners situation, definitely. But there's no reason to hate on Kinney... he's been doing his job well. Not so much today, but that's no reason to release him. ~Bill

Vic should wear sunglasses when he pitches during the day. Some Ray Ban aviator shades would do the trick nicely, methinks. And Nintendo is good. ~Bill

Remind me why Bennett is thought to be good defensively? He's old? ~Bill

Not a good outing at all for LHP Ryan Costello... Wait... LHP Ryan Costello is in our Double-A rotation, not LHP Manny Parra? My bad. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ~Bill

Just to be sure Peavey, your instincts still tell you that Sleepy's gonna get the job done tomorrow? I don't think I'll survive another game if you don't provide a prediction. What are you lately, like 25-1? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ~Bill

This is still fun. Unlike Geoff Jenkins grounding out to second, winning never gets old. Ginter with a pick on "an absolute shorthot smash" with "base hit written all over it" to end it. I'm down with that. Anybody see it? I love this team. ~Bill