hawing

Ned's penultimate game as Brewers' manager, yes; but also arguably his "last straw" game. Congratulations on the find, Stevo. The lineup cards were the one thing I didn't look through at the sale.

I know nothing about him (yet), but my grandparents were Egans, so I would totally wear a Brewers jersey with Egan on the back. Go Pat!

I know nothing about him (yet), but my grandparents were Egans, so I would totally wear a Brewers jersey with Egan on the back. Go Pat!

OWBC could practically put the bf.net seal of approval on his resume.

Who here doesn't look forward to Ned praising "Francy" in his post-game pressers?

During a second-half time out in the Wisconsin-UWM game tonight, the two schools' chancellors had a free throw shooting contest. Biddy Martin put on a show, pounding down twelve free throws in a minute to beat the UWM (interim) chancellor. It was a sight to behold.

Who would know better? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Will any casual fans think, "Nieves...that no-hitter dude is still around? Sweet."

We have been customers at Citywide Pet Clinic on Monona Drive (near the Monona Drive exit off the Beltline) since the early 1990s, and have always been happy with their service, including when we had an admittedly difficult (biter) cat. 608-222-VETS. If you have further questions, send me a PM.

Shaun does research? He's won me over. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

I'm glad for brewerfan.net and the internets, because there is almost no chance the Madison media will have room for this story amid all the football (although admittedly the Rose Bowl is one of the better reasons to push baseball off the radar).

Ah, nuts, I hadn't even thought of that.

So...with the first advisory-worthy snowfall of the season on its way, each local newscast has to run the annual obligatory story on how stores are being slammed by customers needing snowblowers, shovels and ice melt. I understand the ice melt (you use it up, you eventually have to replenish). I'm guessing the new snowblower sales are to people whose old snowblowers died suddenly, or who decided that THIS is finally the year they're going to cave in and get a snowblower. I don't understand the annual run on shovels. Do people throw their shovels away after each winter and start fresh every year? Are these only the people who buy cheap crappy shovels which are less likely to last more than a year? Are the new-shovel sales primarily to new property owners who have not had to shovel before?

This is exactly why I got the Bob Apodaca nameplate for my brother. He worked at a Brewers Radio Network station for at least part of the Apodaca-as-pitching-coach era, and liked to imitate Bob Uecker saying "Baaaaaahb A-po-DA-ca!" Also, you may not want to know this by now, but I did see an Echevarria nameplate in the $5 box...along with the likes of (among many others) Tyler Houston, Jerry Royster, Eric Young, Paul Bako, Dave Krynzel, Royce Clayton, Ronnie Belliard, David Pember, Sweet Lou Collier, Lenny Harris, Chris Magruder, and the first major leaguer ever named Trent.

I enjoyed the sale today. We were there from about 11:30 to 12:30 and never encountered a line, or particularly large crowds. I never felt like I couldn't move or anything. I did not see any game-worn jerseys marked as low as $50, so either those went quickly or they were marked differently during the season ticket holder presale (which we were unable to attend). I gave the white game-worn Inglett jersey a longish look, but at $250 (after he was nontendered!) it was easy to say no. If he's on the $50 rack in 2011, then I might be down with it. Jerseys that fit guys like Inglett actually have a chance of fitting me. The jerseys I saw started at $150 (for the gray Macha) and the priciest one I saw was a Hart for $400. I was kind of surprised to see the Brewers asking $250 for the likes of Mike Burns or David Riske jerseys, but that is slightly better than last year's prices. The selection this year, by the time we arrived at least, didn't include much in the way of never-weres, such as your Winkelsases or Demarias. There was a decent bat selection, but acquiring bats has never interested me, so I didn't peruse them. There were a few boxes worth of smallish locker nameplates of the past ($5-$10), which is where the has-been/never-were selection really stood out. Quevedo. Mouton (either). L. Lopez. Sanchez. Ritchie. Those brought back some shake-your-head memories, which is entertaining but not necessarily worth $5 (except for the Quevedo, of course, and the Bob Apodaca my brother will be receiving at Christmas http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif). The locker spaces around the perimeter of the clubhouse were full of former-player tees and some jerseys (as has been mentioned above): Lots of Hardy yet, lots of Looper shirts - I've got to wonder if those ever sold even during the 2009 season - lots of Kendall and Cameron too. There was a locker full of Davis #25 shirts, and even I couldn't bear to part with money for those. The emptiest of these lockers originally held the Edmonds shirts, and the "former catcher roundup" shirts (Zaun and Rivera). There was a locker for McClung shirts, finally, and I was happy to leave that locker a bit more empty. It seemed like there was more unsold fan clothing (not player tees) than in years past. The cap selection seemed broader too, and while they were pretty much closeout-type styles, nothing was as ugly as the black lace stripper caps of '08 and '09. Some third world country must be tolerating those. We scored a set of logoed melamine bowls for $15.00 and a 2010 yearbook. We bypassed the logoed titanium patches that the packaging said would give us more energy when applied to our joints, and the stuffed "pizza slices" which made me shake my head when I saw them in the regular team store during the season. We took the phone number of the employee who really, really wanted us to reserve a $100 pair of Miller Park seats. The price isn't beyond us, but we'd have to figure out where on our property they would fit before it really made sense to make the purchase. I didn't encounter any jaw-dropping steals or truly remarkable merchandise, but I left with more stuff than last year, for less than I paid last year, so I was satisfied; and we were overdue for a day trip to Milwaukee anyway, so it was worth our while. I was hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of the new-scoreboard work, but all I could see from the regular Team Store windows was guys at work underneath the scoreboard's eventual location. As we waited at the elevator to head out of the service level, who should walk up (to also take the elevator) than Commissioner Selig. He was headed up to the club level for something. We remarked on our way to Gilles for lunch that if Bud was at a club level meeting, he was probably being fed there and wouldn't be eating lunch at Gilles. But then his black Lexus pulled in at Gilles as we were finishing up. We exchanged niceties in the elevator, and he did not make eye contact with anyone at Gilles but Gilles staff. Two brushes with celebrity (albeit the same celebrity) in the space of a couple of hours!

Listening to Ron pretty much drove me crazy, but I respect his passion for the Cubs, even though I don't share it; and he certainly had more than his share of physical ailment to bear. I always thought if the Cubs actually "won it all" while he was in the booth, that he might not survive it, though at least he'd die happy. I was mildly surprised to see this in the Chicago Tribune online obituary: When I heard the news on the radio this morning, I thought of tomwopat's avatar immediately: http://images.yuku.com/image/png/ffa15f91825790cee6c119425654fd6d5b9278a_t.gif Rest in peace, Ron.

Maybe they'll mark down the Inglett jerseys, now that he's non-tendered. I'd go for that!

Ohh, Voodoo Joe. At least no one can take the memory of your August 6 9th-inning home run away from me. Thanks for playing.

I'd have to recheck the 2009 sale thread to double check, but the Branyans last year were like $300-$350. $50 is both "more like it" and "an insult for one of the greatest men to ever don the Brewers' polyester." Ehh, I still want to go. We haven't been to Milwaukee since September 26 and I could use a reminder that the ballpark still exists.

The John and Cait blog now has an entry with a preview of some of the merchandise available at the sale. For some reason, the black lace stripper caps were not featured.

And the blue of the Winter Storm Watch once again returns to the NWS Sullivan map. 6-8" possible southwest of a line from the Dells to Madison to Lake Geneva. So counties north and east of Columbia/Dane/Jefferson/Walworth are not in the watch...so far.

Well, you know that wasn't on Shouse's head.

Ohhh...our Shouse, in the middle of the eighth. I enjoyed that cheesy line. Thanks for playing, Brian.

Yep. I was hoping to take Thursday afternoon off but now I can't leave early enough to make the trip to Milwaukee worthwhile. So Friday it is.

It's nice of you to peek up north when you get the chance, OWBC. I saw the Christmas lights on the AOS satellite dishes tonight and thought of you. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

This isn't plausible in the context of the lead post, but if I had my choice of any Milwaukee consumable right now, I'd order up a fancy sundae from Gilles Frozen Custard, probably either the Butter Fudge Crunch or my favorite custom sundae, hot fudge with raspberries. I think I can make it to Friday. Maybe Bud will be there at lunch time.