batman

Ok, well this really sucks. Brady and Wes, defensive specialists. Burgleflickle. ~Bill

Um... Grieve could have done that. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/ohwell.gif ~Bill

No chance, that's what he's got... no chance at all. One more, Vizdog! ~Bill

95mph? Somebody's jacked up for the game today. I think its 'cause the game's on Telemundo. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Vizdog... represent! ~Bill

123 pitches for Clement, 69 of them strikes. His line is mighty impressive, too. 7 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 6 BB, 10 K Not great control, but wicked stuff. C'mon, Vizdog! ~Bill

Big Ben is done with 115 pitches, 77 strikes. How aboot this line, eh? 7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 12 K Ho, hum. It's like he's Ben Hendrickson or something. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif EDIT: I agree with Nedley here... 115 is enough for Ben. Another inning could have gotten him up over 130, and that ain't cool. If Vizzy can't do the job, that's his problem... not Big Ben's. ~Bill

Before everyone gets too excited about our offensive struggles today, keep in mind that opposing batters are hitting .220/.294/.320 against Matt Clement this season. That's a 615 OPS. By comparison, Big Ben has allowed an opponent OPS of 590. Sheets is fourth in the NL, Clement is fifth. The Brewers have done an admirable job of running up Clement's pitch count. He's tired, and so we'll either face him at less than 100% or a middle reliever in the seventh. That's a job well done. EDIT: Just to further demonstrate the point, it looks like Mike Wuertz is going to pitch the seventh. He is allowing an opponent OPS of 1008. ~Bill

So how many pitches will Clement throw today? 120? 140? 160? Closest wins a Dusty Baker bobblehead. ~Bill

How good is Ben Sheets? A better questions is "who's better than Ben Sheets?" NOBODY. You da' man, Big Ben! ~Bill

Big Ben is DEALIN'!!! Take a seat, Corky. You, too, DLee. Owned! ~Bill

CHICAGO CUBS MILWAUKEE AVG HR RBI AVG HR RBI Todd Walker 2B .284 11 29 Scott Podsednik CF .255 9 26 Ramon Martinez 3B .261 2 22 Craig Counsell SS .266 1 12 Sammy Sosa RF .271 14 33 Geoff Jenkins LF .248 11 44 Derrek Lee 1B .308 11 47 Lyle Overbay 1B .343 9 61 Corey Patterson CF .280 10 34 Ben Grieve RF .288 4 19 Michael Barrett C .286 9 41 Keith Ginter 2B .266 8 29 Jose Macias LF .260 1 10 Wes Helms 3B .269 2 15 Rey Ordonez SS .133 1 5 Chad Moeller C .243 4 21 Matt Clement RHP .100 0 0 Ben Sheets RHP .036 0 1 (7-6, 2.93) (7-5, 2.58)

I encourage everyone to simulcast the game on WGN and WTMJ radio. *Do Not* (I repeat *Do Not*) subject yourselves to the monster that is Chippy and Stoney. I decided not to brave the crowds today, but hopefully a good portion of the Brewerfan faithful will be loud and proud at the Keg. Leeeeeet's get it on! ~Bill

Hey, I think we've found a useful role for Adrian Hernandez... He's like Trent Durrington, only he can switch hit. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif ~Bill

Ho, hum... another dominant performance from Little Ben. I'm sure glad he's still at Triple-A, 'cause he so much to learn about getting outs and preventing runs. Oh wait. No, he doesn't. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ~Bill

From the Urban Dictionary: suck: to be really really crappy That team last night really sucked. They just plain sucked. I've seen teams suck before, but they were the suckiest buncha sucks that ever sucked. Yep. That about covers it. ~Bill

He came through with a big base hit, but let's do a little fact checking nonetheless. Bill Schroeder: "Brady Clark does most of his damage with two strikes." Is that true? Let's see. Hits with two strikes: 17 Total hits this season: 39 Extra-base hits with two strikes: 3 (all doubles) Extra-base hits this season: 7 (3 doubles, 4 homers) RBI with two strikes: 5 Total RBI this season: 19 Nope. Not hating on Brady, hating on Bill Schroeder for a lack of preparation and for spouting off about something of which he has done zero research. That just took me about 2 minutes... and I don't get paid to do it. He's got all of these numbers sitting right in front of him (or on the computer, obviously). Too much effort to "fact check" your assertions for yourself, Bill? Let's Go Brew-ers. ~Bill

Coors Field Effect plus PNC Park Effect equals bad. ~Bill

You gotta hand it to him... he's consistent. Ole' reliable, I tell ya'. ~Bill

Is the Wes Obermueller nightmare over yet? If this was last year, he'd be one of our best pitchers... but this year? Which one of these is not like the others..... ~Bill

In case anyone missed it, Junior Spivey is out with an injured shoulder. No word yet on what exactly is wrong, how severe it is, or how long he'll be out. Sounded like day-to-day, though. ~Bill

Aaron Gleeman discussed the relative merits of Beane and Ryan's cases for "best small market GM" last week on his blog. aarongleeman.com/2004_06_...3321225003 Here's a tidbit: I love that the Twins are winning, I think they have done a nice job and I really believe they have the players in place to continue to compete for playoff spots for the rest of this decade. But what the A's have done and are doing is on a completely different level. You know, there's something special going on in Oakland. Someone really should write a book about it. I think it's worth a read, and it's especially interesting because Aaron is a huge Twins' fan and also a fan of Billy Beane. Check it out. ~Bill

http://www.annabenson.net/gallery/gall2h.jpg Is it tomorrow yet? ~Bill

I don't want to talk about clutch hitting anymore. I don't want to talk about how much Ben Grieve sucks. I don't want to talk about sweep suits, or 2001, or how much I hate the Pirates. What this thread needs is more Anna Benson. http://www.annabenson.net/gallery/gall2j.jpg Before anyone makes an angry post or starts a bitter argument, just think of the children... err, rather think of Anna Benson. Thanks, MassBrew... I think we all needed that. ~Bill

From Rob Neyer (link): First, it should be noted that by "clutch hitters," all the analysts are thinking of players who perform better under pressure than when not under pressure. This is the standard, I think, although one can certainly argue that a good clutch hitter is a hitter who hits well under pressure, regardless of what he does the rest of the time. However, by that definition, the best clutch hitters would almost always the best hitters, period. At least within the range of statistical chance. And speaking of statistical chance, we already know that some hitters have performed particularly well under pressure. We would expect this, for the same reason that if you flip a coin one hundred times, over and over again, eventually you'll get heads 75 times in 100. The question here is whether hitters who have hit well under pressure will hit well. And as I've been saying, no such tendency has been demonstrated, at least not to my satisfaction. Anyway, Jeff, you're right. People perform in the clutch every day, and in many capacities. What happens to people who perform well under pressure in their jobs? Right, they tend to be promoted, and then promoted again. What are major league baseball players? Essentially, they're athletes who have been promoted as far as they can be promoted. There is no higher league. You know what I think? I think that in the great majority of cases, baseball players who can't handle pressure simply don't reach the major leagues. Those guys get weeded out on the way up, because in essence every professional at-bat is a "pressure situation." Wouldn't you agree that standing at home plate with thousands of eyes watching, and a behemoth throwing a baseball 95 miles an hour at you from 60 feet away, is a "pressure situation"? If you can relax, stay focused in that situation, even if it's the first inning and the bases are empty, is it a giant leap to stay relaxed and focused in the bottom of the ninth with the winning run in scoring position? I respectfully submit that it's not. You know what else? I think that this obsession sports fans have with "clutch hitters" and "money players" is yet another manifestation of what I will call our "need for explanation." We humans simply aren't content with thoughtless gods like Dame Fortune and The Great Unknowable. They scare us. Give us the willies, the creepy-crawlies. So we invent mythical creatures like "the clutch hitter," in hopes that maybe the dreaded Imps of Ramdomland will leave us alone, at least while we're watching the ballgame in the presumed safety of our own homes. Hey, I'm keeping an open mind, just like I have an open mind when it comes to the Loch Ness Monster, and Bigfoot, and flying saucers piloted by little green men. But you know, it's funny; people offer, as evidence, blurry photos of those things, and when you look at them, really look at them with the tools available to men of science, you find out that the Loch Ness Monster is a log in the vague shape of plesiosaur, Bigfoot is a big guy in a monkey suit, and the flying saucer is a flying Frisbee. And if you look, really look at the "evidence" of clutch hitting as a true ability rather than happenstance, you find out that, at best, it's a bunch of blurry photos, in the form of poorly constructed studies presented by people who desperately want to believe. Like I said, I'm keeping an open mind. But to this point, all I've seen are blurry photos. When you've got more than that, you'll know where to find me. I'll be home watching "The X-Files," waiting for the episode where Mulder thinks he's finally found a real clutch hitter, and Scully doesn't believe him. The truth is out there. -- What he said. ~Bill

Chin up, brewerfan nation. Tomorrow is another day, and this is only a brief setback on the road to the World Series. (Sarcastically?) Yours, ~Bill