jlau20

Yeah I don't know if the Cubs would be able to pull that off. Especially considering you predict a 9-10 record til the break for the Brewers. The Cubs would have to do 5 games better than that (ish) to get within 1-2 games of the Brewers by then. I don't know if the Cubs have 19 or 20 games left or whatever til then, but I don't see them going 14-5.

What do I expect? I expect that the team will go atleast 10-9 in the next 19, given their talent and the way they've played so far this year. They've done too much so far to go below .500 in this next stretch of games before the break. What do I predict? I'll go with 12-7. 6-3 on the homestand, 6-4 on the roadtrip.

BRING BACK JOE WINKELSAS And holy dramatic camera work on the Brewers Live intro.

No way. This is amazing. If Counsellino would have blown that...

but the attitude of a 60-win team. At best. I couldn't believe that when I saw Zambrano take off his belt. That's just great for his image too (what's left of it). That team is just a complete circus. One of their top three players decides it's a good idea to swing at the pitcher on his way to first and another of their top three players thinks it's a good idea to take off his belt and look to whip a few players on the other team. Good thing it seems that their other best player doesn't seem all too interested in what city he's playing in so long as he's getting his paycheck.

Would I be able to get terrace or bleacher seats to a weekend game for $50? $100? I doubt it. I wouldn't be surprised if terrace level playoff tickets went for $125-150+. Especially if you can't get them from a connection and need to get them off eBay or elsewhere.

Need a 2004 Jim Gantner?

That's coming up. Straight ahead! On! Brewers. Live!

vs. RHP 1. Hart 2. Hardy 3. Braun 4. Fielder 5. Jenkins 6. Hall 7. Estrada 8. Weeks 9. Pitcher vs. LHP 1. Hart 2. Hardy 3. Braun 4. Fielder 5. Hall 6. Mench 7. Estrada 8. Weeks 9. Pitcher

I can't wait to hear some of Ned's comments. If he throws out any of the usual, I'm not going to be happy. I know it's not Ned's fault that no one got a hit but...let me guess Ned... 'We're playing hard, the ball just couldn't find the ground.'

bhf made one, should only be a couple pages in, if that. Edit: Link

I take back what I said about hitting rock bottom after Cordero having two blown saves in a row. We have now officially hit rock bottom. *Crosses fingers that tomorrow doesn't bring a perfect game (Counsellino batting 1, 2. Are you kidding me Ned.)

I might be willing to trade you a '06 Cooper for it, what kind of shape is the Fielder in as far as paint, how far forward is he leaning, etc. I already have one but he's leaning almost so far forward that he barely stays upright.

One of the older guys at my job constantly complaining about the summer help and how we get paid too much, right in front of us. Not only that, on the first day of work he kicked a woman out of "his" chair when there were none left and she had to sit on the floor.

I'd be very interested too, even if I don't get them, I'm sure we all appreciate your generosity in giving things away. Heck, I've been here 3 months and I've seen more free ticket offers than I can count off hand.

Money or trade?

Oh, and C.B. Buckner is a bad umpire. But a heck of a craftsman.

Just a few fun stats I discovered after using the better part of the last three hours putting together a spreadsheet on the lineups used so far this year... - 37 different lineups used - only 6 lineups used 3 or more times - only 2 lineups used 5 or more times - only 3 times this season has a lineup been used in back to back games (2-1 in games on the back end of a same lineup being used consecutively) - no lineup has been used 3 or more consecutive games - the lineup that has been used the most has been used 9 times - that lineup is: Weeks Hardy Fielder Hall Estrada Mench Hart Graffanino - that lineup averages 3.89 runs per game and 8.22 hits per game - a different lineup was used in the first 7 games that Ryan Braun played in - the lineup with 3 or more uses that puts up the most runs per game has 5.00 runs per game (Weeks, Hardy, Fielder, Hall, Mench, Hart, Miller, Graffanino) (5x), that lineup also puts up the most hits per game with 8.80 Of course, the problem with all of this is the extremely small sample sizes. But that's not my fault, I blame Ned.

OK I think I figured out why Ned uses so many different lineups. He's used 37 different lineups so far this year. The team's record in games in which a new lineup is used is 24-13, so based on that logic, if Ned uses a new lineup every day for the rest of the year we should have a pretty darn good season.

Not only that, the Vent thread has a 2 1/2 month-ish head start. Plus isn't it alway easier to be negative than positive.

This team will achieve the things we know its capable of when Yost either picks a same starting 8 that play 95% of the time or when Yost is shown the door. Whichever comes first. Couldn't agree more. Once Weeks is back, there is no reason that our lineup shouldn't be consisting of Estrada, Prince, Weeks, Hardy, Braun, Jenkins/Mench (preferably just Jenkins), Hall and Hart 6 out of 7 games a week. Give it a chance to work Ned.

What?

I just woke up from a poor night of sleep, mainly because I couldn't stop running through the last month or so for the Brewers. I think it might be safe to say this team has finally hit rock bottom based on how they started the season and how the season has gone since being 25-11. Coco was the one constant (I suppose Fielder can be considered here also) and even he had a meltdown last night. I fully expected that Cordero wasn't going to go 100% for saves on the season. It's just completely unfortunate that this had to happen when the team was already nearing the lowest point of the season as a whole. The positive I gather from this is that from here, the team almost has to start heading back up. I know alot of people support Yost, and alot of people don't support Yost. I'm torn. I think he's done excellent work developing our young talent over the past few years and for the most part he's done the right things in terms of getting them into the lineup. However, Yost never has and it seems never will impress me as an in-game manager. I don't really feel like listing the times, even just from this season, that he's made questionable calls as far as pinch hitting, making pitching changes, etc. And quite frankly when is it time he shows a little frustration in the dugout. Lately, IMO, it looks like he's living on a fantasy planet where losing games in ugly fashion is ok. Hopefully he can prove me wrong, get a set lineup and right the ship. We've gone from 14 games over .500 to 4 games over .500 and our division lead is down to 5 games with a few of those teams below us picking up some steam. Right now is the time for the Crew to either man up and say enough is enough and prove that this could be their year to make the playoffs. If they don't I still think that '08 is the year, but based on their hot start this is a team that is proving that they might have just been getting lucky for a little over a month.

OK, so I was falling asleep on and off toward the end of the game, and last thing I saw was Coco coming in and the Brewers up 3-0. Check the box score now, lose 4-3. I think even the most optimistic people would agree things aren't going that well right now. Time to look for a new closer.

"Counsell drives in Graffanino." Well, it finally froze over.