LouisEly

Not to take the conversation in a different direction, but it is time to sit Pods down for a game or two. Might want to hold off on that idea for a while...

It's only through five innings, but this performance will hopefully rank a close second only to the Steve Woodard vs Roger Clemens debut as far as Brewer pitching debuts go. I gotta go with Jeff Peterek in 1989. 7 IP, 2H, can't remember against whom (think it might have been the Blue Jays). Pretty sure he had given up one hit through seven and opened the eighth with a hit, then Trebs came out and yanked him. I was listening to the radio and when Trebs came out they usually went to commercial but Ueck said, "We're going to stick around to listen to the ovation for this kid..." and they did delay going to commercial to listen to the standing ovation for him. That was cool. I also give him the nod because he wasn't considered a prospect. That start allowed him to hang around for four starts and 31 IP, but never appeared in the majors again after that season.

Is live chat working? It says I'm the only on on it. My stereo isn't hooked up so I can't listen...

So when are we going to hear the calls to replace Obemueller in the rotation? You can blame Obie for the hit given up to Clemens (that seems to be the M.O. of this team - giving up big hits to the opposing teams pitchers). But you can't blame Obie for the two balls that went over the head of Pods. Berkman can crush it - there's no excuse for playing so shallow that a ball hit by Berkman lands over your head but before the warning track (yes, it it deep in CF there, but the warning track is well ahead of the hill at ~ 400' where most CF fences are).

I was at the game and while Obie didn't have great command, I have to come to his defense on two points: 1) I missed the start of the sixth inning (bathroom line), but in the first five innings there was only one hard-hit ball off of him - the line drive RBI single by Bagwell. And it shouldn't have been an RBI - they obviously have Pods well-scouted and know he has a terrible arm. The ball was to Pods by the time the runner got to third - a halfway-decent throw would have gotten the runner. But Pods has a weak and innacurate arm, and the runner scored on a bad throw. Same thing happened later - poor, weak throw by Pods allowed another run to score that shouldn't have. But that was the only hard-hit ball off of Obie that I saw in the first five innings. Everything else was a bloop-hit. B) The home plate ump was terribly inconsistent. I know, because I was sitting right behind home plate. Obie wasn't getting any help from the ump. Command won't be linked with Obie any time soon (remember, he didn't take up pitching until his senior year in college), but he has good stuff and even the Astros great-hitting lineup had trouble getting good wood on the ball.

Al, perhaps the best reason for Wes to start the year at AAA is the fact that he is still learning how to pitch. IIRC, he didn't start pitching until he was a junior or senior in college. Poor mechanics (trying to throw hard instead of pitch), a result of lack of experience pitching, led to arm problems in 2000 and 2001 but no arm problems in 2002 or 2003. He is a very good hitter, so he could do well as a long reliever who won't need to be pinch-hit for. But from what I've seen, it seems like he starts games shaky and settles down after an inning or two (three hits in the first inning today, after that gave up as much as two hits in an inning only once), so maybe the pen isn't the best place for him. He could use more experience, so he should start 2004 where he could get the most experience (MLB long reliever or AAA starter), but it won't do him good to be the 5th starter in April getting skipped in the rotation. But with 8 quality starts in 11 outings, he has earned a shot at winning a spot in the rotation.

Sucks that Gonzales got hit (just barely... grazed the jersey apparently) and Sheets got a warning for that. Sosa should have gotten beaned as retaliation for the Sexson HBP. Our star gets one, so does theirs. But now beaning Sosa means an ejection for Sheets. The 5th inning is too early... bean Sosa in the 7th or 8th when we are due for a pitching change. The Gonzales slide was chicken$#!%... he wasn't anywhere near the bag (and wasn't anything near a slide as well).

Two against the reds, and 2 against the (bleepy) Cubs!!!! SPAULDING!!! LANGUAGE!!!!! While I would like to share in the optimism about Davis, take a look at the lineup that Cincy paraded out tonight and you'll see that one run on four hits really isn't that great of a feat. But I'll take it. Weak Cincy team (as well as demoralized) could easily lead to a 10-game streak heading back to Milwaukee. This weekend's games could be the most incredible and exciting thing we've seen from the Brewers during football season in 20 years.

God bless Mark Smith!!!!

Didn't last long until it became a typical Kinney game. Coast along for 5-6 innings, then bam multiple mistakes and before you know it 3 runs on the board. All the scoring was with 2 outs. Kinney doesn't lack the physical abilities, he just lacks the mental toughness to succeed at the Major league level. Poor play(s) by Pod led to three runs - was shaded well to right-center with catcher set up outside, plus poor fielding on the hop (sliding?) let the ball get away and let Fick get to third. Cheap single (IIRC) led to third run - if Fick is on second there's a play at the plate with Jenkins' arm. Pod plays it right and they don't get three runs - he plays closer to center and he catches the ball and they get no runs. Only one ball hit hard that innning, so its hard to fault Kinney. It is a statistical fact, that I have proven in previous posts, that a hitter's OPS rises the more often he faces a pitcher in a game (see Keith Ginter, Ritchie Sexson, etc.). That's not a lack of "mental toughness" by the pitcher, that's hitters making adjustments from seeing more pitches. It happens. I believe six innings with three or fewer runs, which this was, qualifies as a quality start. How can you fault a pitcher for a quality start? Were you expecting him to pitch a shutout into the seventh? How often does Curt Schilling or Pedro Martinez pitch a shutout into the seventh? David, you're the only guy I know who will complain about a quality start. Most of your complaints are warrented, but not this one.

BRING OUT THE CORKED BATS !! You know, there could be something to that. Just coincidental that Sammy got busted earlier this year and there's no "tape-measure shots". 5. Bad ballpark for a HR Derby . . . no upper deck or other targets. Exatctly. People "ooh" and "aah" at upper deck shots. Some of those may have been, but when you have one section of seats that goes back 30 rows, it never looks as deep as an upper deck shot. Yes, Miller Park cost a lot more than planned, but it could be worse - they could have built a ballpark the same time as the "new" Comiskey (late 80's/early 90's) and it could have cost a lot less, but they would have a ballpark that's not even 15 years old and already outdated and useless and still owe money on it. Maybe players (and critics/media) will see that Miller Park is a much better ballpark than they gave it credit for being.

Richie's getting awful pitches...

What's up with the camera angles that don't show the ball, only the player watching it? Yeah, is it the 1950's again where they show the hitter and not the ball? I know retro is in, but this is ridiculous. Show the frickin' hits you butt-nuggets!

I would rather see Burba starting right now then Ford. Matt seemed to pitch well in 1 inning situations. I think the thought process was that you don't know how many innings Ford will give you - maybe 5, maybe if he's wild and getting lit up only 2 - but you know Burba can give you at least 4 or 5 starting or relieving. So you start the inconsistent pitcher, see how long he can go, knowing that regardless of how long he can go Burba can come in and get you at least to the sixth, maybe longer. Billy Hall seems like a natural September call-up... If he can have his average up to .280 in AAA by then, he may have worked himself into the team's 2004 plans, and might make a decent utility guy in 2005. We can assume that Hardy will be at AAA next year, and probably the 2B they got in the KC trade too. So it's probably more useful for Hall to ride the pines at the majors than at the minors. Forget 2005, I think Hall would be a good fit for Ginter's (and Cruz's) role next year - the backup utility infielder who can play SS or 2B. I haven't looked at his defense this year, but he can't be that much worse defensively than Cruz and I think he could perform at least to Clayton's offensive level. Assuming the Brewers won't have a winning record by July I think you'll see him getting a lot of playing time at SS after the All-Star break (or after they trade/dump Clayton). I haven't checked what position he is playing at Indy lately - last I heard it was 2B, but if I were the organization I would have him playing at least as much SS as 2B in the second half of the season to prepare him for the utility role next year (assuming they have enough foresight to pencil in Ginter as the starting 2B for 2004 right about now).

So by PHing Brooks in the 8th, we could have PH VW in the 9th, and if walked and a lefty brought in to face Brooks, EY would have still been on the bench... Yep, and either Cruz or Ginter could have taken over at SS if they had tied it and went into extra innings with EY taking over at 2nd.

Nobody on live chat... I assume the reason Vandy didn't bunt is because they would have walked Helms and then they would have had to face those offensive juggernaughts named Osik and Clayton. I don't think we lost anything by having Vandy and Helms swing away.

Anyone else think Knox was chosen as an organizational soldier to go to Indy? Yep. Kind of like how Brandon Gemoll will be the organizational soldier promoted to AAA next year to make way for Nelson at Huntsville and Fielder at High Desert.

Scoop, what's the point of holding on to Jenkins to simply try and achieve the lame .500 goal?... He'll be 8M next year, and Jenkins always manages to wind up injured while trying to make some spectacular play. He's gone on record as saying he's not going to change how he plays the game. Why play for 2003, when there's a better chance for a legitimate shot down the road. Who did we get for Greg Vaughn again?

Great start by Franklin. What I noticed (when I was able to watch) was that he did a great job of working (and hitting) the corners of the strike zone. At one point they said something like a 68:28 strike-to-ball ratio. Almost Glavine-esque.

You're a good player, Wes Helms. Not perfect, but pretty darn solid Early in the season I noticed him hitting a lot of deep fly balls, as though he was hitting them off of the end of the bat. They looked good on contact, but died in front of the warning track. I had a feeling that he was "just missing" those, and that they would come. Proof of the "sampling size" arguement.

MIN is such a good fit for EY, it's all but guaranteed it;ll never happen. I was wondering who we could audition for them in hopes of prying one of their OF or C prospects. Unfortunately statistically their weakness is SP (Lohse the only one with an ERA under 5.00), but that's our weakness (one of them at least) as well. What would have been our best bets are out for the season (Ritchie) and at AAA (Rusch). I'm not against trading Sheets, but he's the only sure thing we have even if he is only a #3-caliber starter. We'd have to get the farm (almost literally) for him. I thought Lenny Harris was a good fit for them last year, so what do I know...