Nottso

Gomez in tonight's lineup. http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=mil

Tonight. http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=mil

It sounds like she's a sensible young lady. Good for you.

First of all, congratulations. May the two of you be as happy as my wife and I have been and for the rest of your lives. Now I'd like to throw some old fart wisdom (or insane ramblings) your way. I'd be willing to bet that your betrothed doesn't really care if you buy her some big, fancy, color-this and clarity-that ring. It's the REST of the women that care; and believe me, they care. The size of the stone(s) and the perceived cost of the ring will be dissected and discussed at length. It's what they do (ladies, please don't kill me... you know this is how it works). I am extremely fortunate that my wife and I both understand that there are very fundamental differences in men and women. Women over analyze everything; every word, every tone, every gesture and every facial expression. Men are idiots. We stumble along blindly, usually thinking about nothing deeper than a nap and a sandwich. Here's how this all ties into your current situation. We bought our rings at Walmart of all places (and it was even her idea!). Mine is as plain and simple as can be, while hers looks like it was quite expensive but it wasn't. I think it was just under $400. It has one medium sized diamond, surrounded by a bunch of smaller diamonds, laid out brilliantly. It looks as good, or better than, most of her friends' and coworkers' much more expensive rings. Of course, the jewelry stores will tell you that you need such-and-such color as well as such-and such-clarity, but do you really? I don't believe there's a human being on the planet that can tell the difference with the naked eye. So in our case, everybody won. We didn't spend a ton of money needlessly and she didn't end up feeling guilty about it. She knows that I love her dearly and we are every bit as married as anyone else is. And, "the rest of the women" were satisfied with the level of financial misery that I seemingly endured in order to "prove how much I love her." If your future bride is as pragmatic as my wife is, maybe this could work for you too. Although how you would broach the subject, I have no clue. It could definitely be a slippery slope. Like I said, my wife is the one that suggested we buy inexpensive rings (thank Jeebus). Maybe some of the ladies here will chime in. Me? I'm going to have a sandwich.

And it just may have been THE greatest signature line ever. Edit: For those that weren't around, his signature was a quote from the linked article, which read: "That's when you start looking around the roof of the stadium for snipers, because gunpoint is the only place where that kind of decision makes sense."

Fixed.

That was my thinking as well.

You could just burn the place to the ground and be done with this nonsense.

I see torches and pitchforks in your immediate future.

My optimism is starting to frighten me. Last night's win over the Cubs was a thing of beauty. The Crew beat a weaker team in the manner in which a weaker team should be beaten; a manner that would make it tough to be beaten by anyone. Extremely solid pitching, few to no mistakes and taking advantage of every opportunity that falls your way. No big inning, no heroics, just good, solid baseball.

The Deadspin piece is hilarious. Thanks for posting it up.

I have really enjoyed BA and I hope he stays for a long time. Realistically, though, I don't think that's going to happen. He's just too good to not get snatched up by a bigger market or to land a national gig with someone. That being said, I really like Matt Lepay as well. If BA were to leave I wouldn't mind the TV job going to Lepay, although as others have mentioned, I think he's probably in line for Uecker's spot and I don't know how that works. If he takes the radio gig and then BA leaves, would they move Lepay to TV?

I really hope to see some "Free Maldonado" signs in the stands.

If you don't make it there, at least you'll never be saddled with the regret that most humans are, the woeful regret of not having taken a shot. If you do make it there, you'll have great stories for the grandchildren someday ("Why, I walked barefoot in the snow to get to NC... 3 times!"). I personally believe that you're going to make it as you're clearly too hard-headed to give up. And I mean that in a good way. Carry on.

I would have to think that the aggressive base running, while at times costing runs and/or outs, is firmly entrenched in the heads of opposing managers, pitchers, catchers and infielders. That would be a good thing, right?

On the audio, before Cole ever gets to Gomez at 3b, I can hear someone (I assume the ump) yelling at Cole "Get back to the mound! Don't come over here!" or words to that effect. Has anyone else caught it?

"Miller Park is out dated" would be a tough pitch to the taxpayers in 10-15 years. Surely they will ask "why?" and "how?" and there won't be, or shouldn't be, any good answers to those questions. County Stadium died a slow, methodical, mechanical death. All of the mechanicals were just done in. There was almost no money for maintenance or repairs. Everything was patched together as inexpensively as possible just to keep it alive for another year; and then another and another and another. It finally got to the point that it just couldn't be patched together any further. When County was built, there were no real thoughts of future expansion or future technologies and amenities. Stadiums just weren't built like that back then. Miller Park was built with all of that in mind, as that is the custom of the day. A new owner may threaten to move the team, using a (then) 20-25 year old Miller Park as leverage, but even then I think he would have to show "why" and "how" it was outdated. I just can't see that case being made, barring some revolutionary new technology that makes all existing buildings outdated. Or, I've lost what's left of my mind. It's gotta happen sometime. Now if I could only find my teeth...

Miller Park should last for many, many years as it was built with an almost unheard of level of forward thinking. All of the mechanical systems (heating, cooling, electric, etc) were built with enormous capacities that will make future additions/expansions extremely simple and inexpensive (relatively speaking). A lot of extra money was spent but that money will end up being a huge bargain over the life of the stadium. The roof, while it certainly had its growing pains, is a masterpiece of simplicity (mechanically speaking). The panels simply ride on wheels that are driven by electric motors. There's nothing fancy or complicated about it when one gets right down to it. The roof moves so slowly, over such a limited range of motion, so few times per year that the pivot point and all other bearings should remain healthy almost indefinitely with proper maintenance. Electric motors can last a lifetime. If one of the motors in the roof at MP does go bad it's an easy enough swap. It's pretty much the same as changing any other electric motor, just on a much larger scale. As for the roof's computer controls, I have no clue. That would be for people much smarter than I.

The best uni they've ever worn is the "Milwaukee Bears" uni worn during the annual tribute to the Negro Leagues. Beyond that, I think they will indeed make a lot of coin off of the retro if they keep wearing it and if they keep winning. It's what the bandwagoners will identify with, and if they keep winning there will certainly be bandwagoners (which, distasteful as it may be to some, can only help the team).

I don't know how I'd feel about that and not just because I like Estrada, which I admittedly do. Pitching, especially starting pitching, has been such a sore spot for so long that I'd be almost afraid to deal any capable starter. I'm pretty sure that too many capable starters would be a good problem to have, although I'm not 100% sure about that, because I can't remember the last time we were faced with such a dilemma... if ever.

I really like Estrada. A few years ago, when it came down to a choice between Estrada and Narveson for the 5th spot in the rotation I felt that we should have gone with Marco right away. Now to get back on topic... I can't see how anyone would think that Thornburg could be more valuable as a reliever, or even as a closer, than he would be as a starter. Who wouldn't trade a good reliever or a good closer for a good starter? A good starter is much more difficult to come by.

Oh, you think so? *pauses to gaze at the navy at upper left* I clearly have the best title. Ever.

On pace for 126 wins.

I like it. A lot. It's a bunch of fun silliness and silliness is good. I still like the song as well. We live at the end of the world and we only get 1 radio station, which doesn't play the song, so I'm not yet over saturated. I get the feeling that Gomez probably walks around like that all the time. I love that guy.

I hope they play at least the chorus to this.