batman

Wait...I thought Doug Davis was unbeatable. There must be some mistake. Blasphemy, SoCal! He's our number two starter, remember? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif , ~Bill

SWEEEEET!!!! Bruso and Saenz: two more reasons to love the farm system. This is great to hear coming off the abomination that occurred today at Miller Park. I guess I can be happy again http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . ~Bill

That was one of the most horrible games I've ever been to. I can't remember the last time I left a game early, but I was gone after 8 innings this afternoon. I was embarrassed to be a Brewers' fan... not only because the team laid down for the Cubs, but also because the stadium was literally 95% Cubs' fans. And I honestly don't think I'm overestimating that figure. What an absolutely awful day to be a Brewers' fan. It will be a sweet day when it's the Brewers sweeping the Cubs at Wrigley en route to a playoff appearance of our own. ~Bill

I'll be unavailable as well... I'm feeling the need to torture myself by accompanying 30,000 Cubs fans to Miller Park this afternoon. Best of luck to the Stars, Snappers, and Rookie-Brewers, though... we'll all need some goods news after enduring another day of Wrigley Field North! ~Bill

I'll be there... my guess is that this one will have about 15k "Brewers fans", of which a good percentage will probably be better described as "non-fans". The other 30k will be obnoxious, stupid, annoying, arrogant, incompetent, (insert descriptor here) Cubs fans. I hate Cubs fans. ~Bill

Did I mention that I hate Cubs fans? Oh, good. ~Bill

You guys are totally right... but I hate Cubs fans. And I hate the Cubs. And I hope they collapse down the stretch and don't make the playoffs for another millennium. But yeah... I'll take their money. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ~Bill

PRAISE MELVIN! Sutton just informed us that Billy Hall is our starting shortstop for the rest of the season. Melvin met with Clayton and thanked him for playing well, apparently, and then informed him that he was going to be relegated to bench duties. This has been a long time coming... and, if it isn't obvious, should make Brewers' fans very happy. ~Bill

Speaking of the lineup: CHICAGO CUBS MILWAUKEE AVG HR RBI AVG HR RBI Kenny Lofton CF .290 10 38 Scott Podsednik CF .316 6 44 Mark Grudzielanek 2B .310 3 25 Keith Ginter 2B .265 11 34 Sammy Sosa RF .292 32 88 Brady Clark RF .310 4 36 Moises Alou LF .288 20 84 Richie Sexson 1B .266 36 105 Eric Karros 1B .292 11 32 Mark Smith LF .320 3 8 Aramis Ramirez 3B .269 21 87 Wes Helms 3B .256 19 58 Alex Gonzalez SS .227 18 54 Bill Hall SS .282 3 13 Damian Miller C .239 8 35 Keith Osik C .242 2 18 Juan Cruz RHP .000 0 0 Ben Sheets RHP .085 0 2 (1-5, 5.40) (10-11, 4.27) Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. This should be the lineup for the rest of the season... the only exception is that Perez will obviously split time with Osik and Conti and Zocco should get a good amount of time in the outfield. I'd say that Enrique Cruz should get some playing time, but why bother? I'm assuming the days off for Clayton and Vander Wal are just one-day things... but if not, kudos to Nedley! ~Bill

What's up with Nic Carter? Is he a position player? Or a pitcher? It sure is weird how the organization is handling him. Is the conversion to pitching going to continue next year? At what level? Thoughts? ~Bill

Riddle me this batman, is there any evidence that Ned Yost's brain is alive. LOL... I'm not sure. Sometimes it seems like he's just an android programmed to repeat the word "battle" in different contexts. I hope that Melvin takes an active role in dictating how the on-field product is managed... he doesn't have to tell Yost when to put on a sacrifice or send a runner, but providing some guidance on playing time or overall philosophy would be nice. That is assuming Melvin feels differently about these things than Yost does, of course. And while I have a feeling that's true, I don't really have any evidence. ~Bill

My condolances Bill, I didn't know you were one of the handicapped. Don't despair, by the time OS MX is out Apple would have caught up with Windows 2000. LOL... keep dreaming. Any *nix OS this pretty is good enough for me, regardless. Anyway, I don't want to get into that debate... how 'bout this one: Is Enrique Cruz alive? I've seen pictures of him, or someone purportedly him, but I can't be sure. His last plate apperance was on August 13th. He got a total of 4 plate appearances in the month of August. That's following a month of June wherein he received 11 plate appearances. He hasn't received a start since July 13th. So... is he alive? ~Bill

Yeah, thanks much... gotta watch out for us OS X users http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ~Bill

Brian (or someone else), Can you fix the link in the first post of the thread? It's making the screen require a horizontal scroll... just check the "convert URL links" thing and it should make it shorter. Thanks ya', ~Bill

After Ginter's home run, the TV folks just (accidently) showed a shot of Wes Helms with his pants down (literally). Anybody else catch that? ~Bill

Bid'ness as usual: CINCINNATI AT MILWAUKEE -- LINEUPS CINCINNATI MILWAUKEE AVG HR RBI AVG HR RBI Ryan Freel CF .270 3 6 Scott Podsednik CF .316 6 44 Juan Castro SS .256 9 31 Keith Ginter 2B .264 10 32 D'Angelo Jimenez 2B .309 4 17 Brady Clark LF .307 3 34 Russell Branyan 1B .215 6 16 Richie Sexson 1B .265 36 102 Tim Hummel 3B .316 1 4 John Vander Wal RF .261 14 44 Dernell Stenson LF .297 2 5 Wes Helms 3B .251 19 58 Jason Larue C .226 15 45 Eddie Perez C .266 9 40 Wily Mo Pena RF .175 1 5 Royce Clayton SS .222 11 36 Paul Wilson RHP .120 0 1 Wes Obermueller RHP .167 0 1 (8-10, 4.62) (0-4, 4.71) ~Bill

Is Wes Obermueller really pinch hitting for Sheets? ~Bill

That one had me on the floor. Me as well... kudos, Brian http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . How is Sheets throwing today? Any comments from JP? Any obvious indications of injury? I hate being reliant on this gamecast... argh. ~Bill

It's not so much what Billy Hall is doing as much as it is the person he should be replacing. That said, both Hall and Ginter have played some very unspectacular defense lately. I'm certainly not ready to jump off either bandwagon, but it is a legitimate concern. ~Bill

The Cubs' bench for today includes: Randall Simon - 28 Paul Bako - 31 Tony Womack - 33 Doug Glanville - 33 Troy O'Leary - 34 Moises Alou - 37 Those numbers aren't the first two digits in their on-base percentages, although they are remarkably close, but rather the number of years each player has been on earth. If I were a Cubs fan, I'd be mighty happy that this kind of veteranness is so prevalent on my club. Combine that with the astounding suckiness, and there's a Dusty Baker recipe for a playoff push! But hey, at least most of those guys are black, right? I mean, it looks like a pretty hot day down there at Wrigley. EDIT: I'm easily amused today. The Cubs' starting outfield consists of: Kenny Lofton - 36 Tom Goodwin - 35 Sammy Sosa - 34 Average age, obviously, is 35. The infield consists of: Eric Karros - 35 Alex Gonzalez - 30 Ramon Martinez - 30 Aramis Ramirez - 25 Average age, obviously again, is 30. I don't know why I find that interesting, but I do. ~Bill

I'm going to be unable to catch this one on the radio or TV... anyone know the reason for Ginter's absence? Is he still hurting from yesterday? Routine day off? He died? Curious, ~Bill

So this is what they call a winning streak? Cool. ~Bill

Night off for the Helena guys. PIO PROVO AT HELENA NOTE: THE GAME HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO RAIN AND WILL BE MADE UP AS PART OF A DOUBLEHEADER ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 23 AT 4:00 PM EDT. ~Bill

Arizona Brewers 6, Arizona A's 4 Willy had some control problems but otherwise pitched very well. Gilbert Acosta continues his torrent hitting. ATHLETICS 4 AT BREWERS 6 YTD YTD ATHLETICS AB R H BI AVG BREWERS AB R H BI AVG J.Mejia 2B 5 1 2 0 .374 C.Fermaint CF 5 1 1 1 .333 J.Beauregard CF 4 0 1 2 .294 G.Acosta SS 4 0 3 1 .354 J.Grabowski DH 2 1 1 1 .500 F.Plasencia LF 3 1 0 0 .290 V.Spanos 3B 4 0 0 0 .125 A.Mannon RF 3 2 1 1 .268 J.Acosta SS 1 0 0 0 .241 W. Lewis DH 3 0 1 1 .230 A.Ogando RF 5 0 3 0 .333 T.McCormack 3B 4 1 1 1 .269 B.Winslow SS 4 0 0 0 .323 S.Guhring CAT 3 1 0 0 .231 B.Winslow 3B 1 0 0 0 .323 R.Pijuan 1B 3 0 0 0 .203 J.Herrera LF 3 1 1 0 .220 B.DePaula 2B 4 0 0 0 .220 T.Klipnstein PH 1 0 1 1 .261 T.Wilhelmsen PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 E.Macha 1B 5 0 1 0 .154 T.Morrison PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 R.Arias CAT 3 1 1 0 .259 B.Rauch PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 K.Perez PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Granado PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 38 4 11 4 TOTALS 32 6 7 5 ATHLETICS 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1- 4 11 5 BREWERS 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 X- 6 7 1 E--V.Spanos, B.Winslow 2, E.Macha, R.Arias, C.Fermaint. DP--ATHLETICS 0, BREWERS 1. LOB--ATHLETICS 13, BREWERS 7. 2B--J.Beauregard (10), J.Grabowski (1). 3B--A.Mannon (4). SB--F.Plasencia (12). CS--W. Lewis. HBP--J.Herrera, W. Lewis. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA ATHLETICS K.Perez (L,1-5) 5.0 7 6 1 3 2 0 6.16 J.Granado 3.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 8.10 BREWERS T.Wilhelmsen 2.2 1 0 0 4 2 0 4.50 T.Morrison (W,1-3) 4.1 6 3 3 1 3 0 6.55 B.Rauch (S,1) 2.0 4 1 1 0 1 0 4.00 HB--J.Granado, T.Wilhelmsen. WP--K.Perez. SO--J.Beauregard, J.Acosta, A.Ogando 2, R.Arias 2, F.Plasencia, W. Lewis, R.Pijuan. BB--J.Beauregard, J.Grabowski 3, R.Arias, F.Plasencia, A.Mannon, S.Guhring, R.Pijuan. T--2:39. ~Bill

Carolina (Marlins) 4, Huntsville 3 Three in a row... that's not good. What's up with Mr. Krynzel? Two more strikeouts and again hitless in four at-bats. Jason Shelley with another quality start and two hits of his own - what can't this guy do? Machado and Hart both add a pair of hits but no Stars player drew a walk. Yikes. GAME DATE: 8/22/03 HUNTSVILLE 3 AT CAROLINA 4 YTD YTD HUNTSVILLE AB R H BI AVG CAROLINA AB R H BI AVG A.Machado 2B 5 0 2 0 .256 B.Hall 3B 1 1 1 0 .237 D.Krynzel CF 4 0 0 0 .270 B.Hall CF 2 1 1 0 .237 J.Hardy SS 4 0 1 1 .276 J.Medrano 2B 3 0 1 0 .260 C.Hart 3B 4 0 2 0 .303 M.Padgett RF 3 0 1 3 .280 B.Gemoll 1B 4 0 1 0 .265 C.Aguila LF 3 0 0 0 .310 N.Varner RF 4 1 1 0 .276 P.Magness 1B 2 0 1 0 .220 B.Nelson LF 4 1 1 0 .202 C.Ambres PR 0 1 0 0 .249 M.Kremblas CAT 3 0 0 0 .191 C.Ambres CF 1 0 0 0 .249 J.Shelley PIT 2 0 2 2 .167 D.Niles 1B 0 0 0 0 .268 C.Barnwell PH 1 1 1 0 .250 D.Niles 3B 2 0 0 0 .268 R.Miller PIT 0 0 0 0 .286 K.Polcovich SS 2 0 0 0 .000 J.Hundley PIT 0 0 0 0 .500 B.Harper CAT 1 1 0 1 .253 D.Clark PH 1 0 1 0 .233 N.Ungs PIT 1 0 0 0 .091 J.Cueto PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 F.Gracesqui PIT 0 0 0 0 .667 J.Willingham PH 1 0 0 0 .393 S.Fesh PIT 0 0 0 0 .333 M.Flannery PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 36 3 12 3 TOTALS 22 4 5 4 HUNTSVILLE 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0- 3 12 0 CAROLINA 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 X- 4 5 0 DP--HUNTSVILLE 0, CAROLINA 1. LOB--HUNTSVILLE 8, CAROLINA 4. 2B-- C.Hart (35), J.Shelley (1). SB--A.Machado (9), J.Hardy (3), B.Hall 2 (41). CS--M.Kremblas, C.Aguila, P.Magness. HBP--M.Kremblas, P.Magness. SF--M.Padgett, B.Harper. SH--D.Krynzel, J.Medrano, K.Polcovich, J.Cueto. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA HUNTSVILLE J.Shelley 6.0 2 2 2 3 7 0 1.96 R.Miller 1.0 1 1 1 1 1 0 3.38 J.Hundley (L,1-1) 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 0 1.64 CAROLINA N.Ungs 5.0 8 2 2 0 5 0 3.94 J.Cueto 1.2 3 1 1 0 2 0 3.58 F.Gracesqui 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.66 S.Fesh (W,9-1) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.00 M.Flannery (S,21) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.52 HB--J.Shelley, J.Cueto. SO--D.Krynzel 2, J.Hardy, C.Hart, N.Varner 2, B.Nelson, M.Kremblas, B.Hall, C.Aguila, D.Niles 2, K.Polcovich, B.Harper, N.Ungs, J.Willingham. BB--B.Hall, C.Aguila, D.Niles, B.Harper. T--2:52. A--4224More details later. ~Bill