hawing

Looks like you had a nice trip. Thanks for sharing!

I love how news of the Counsell Crush (and yes, that was the first phrase that came to my forum-oriented mind as I watched the ball land in the Nats' bullpen) broke in this thread. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif It's not every day that we can say about a game that the Craig Counsell grand slam made the difference. I realize that the ten-spot was at least as much about Jason Marquis' crappiness as anything. I decided to go against the grain of half the posters here lately and enjoy it anyway. As the Nats fans seated around us behind center field began to openly throw in the towel, I knew that the same thing could easily have happened to Sharpie - and was relatively happy that he got as far as he did. After sitting through Saturday's game, I chose to take what I could get. I actually wondered whether Macha would have Vargas bat for himself (the lead was big enough at the time, and the Brewers could then try to squeeze a little more out of Claudio on the mound), so I wasn't as surprised when he did it. I was more surprised, but in the end not disappointed, when he did the same with Villa. I began fearing an 8th inning Hawkins appearance around the time Sharpie was taken out, so I was just glad to see Villa. Fun facts: When Craig Counsell hit his last home run (last July 30 vs. WAS in Milwaukee), I was at that game; and I was also at the 2001 game when the Brewers last had a ten-spot inning. I'd like to think this means something, but know it probably doesn't. Of the three games we attended, I was happiest with the seats we had today, and not only because of the on-field results. We were in the center of the fourth row of section 100 (in yellow below): http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/was/images/ticketing/y2010/nationals_parkmap_640px.jpg These turned out to have waitstaff service and padded seats that were a few inches cushier than the MP club seats. I've yet to find indication of this on the Nats' website or in their equivalent of the Gameday program, so it was a nice surprise. I was happy with the view (also figured it was just as well we couldn't see the miss of the fly ball that led to the Nats' first run). Had we been on the left side of the section, we could have kept an eye on the Brewers' bullpen, but with another sub-20000 crowd (this was the "big" crowd at 18,789), it was easy to walk over and peek without getting in anyone's way. Being across the field from home plate, we did not get a good look at the "Carlos Gonzalez-to-Jeff Zaun" play, but on the Baseball Tonight replay it looked gritty. Way to hang on, Jeff. The Nationals kept advertising a "Citizen of NatsTown" package which sounds a bit like a kids' fan club for adults. Basically you get a Gameday Audio subscription plus minor Nats-specific perks for the price of a Gameday Audio subscription. I'd spring for that if the Brewers offered it.

I don't feel motivated to read any Cardinals-based in-game thread for that game, but it's bound to be entertaining.

Stop the madness! Start the movie! Edit: There you go! 6:53 is your time of the game. If the Brewers are ever in a game this long again, I hope they win.

Just like it wasn't just us with Ubaldo Jiminez? That's tough for the high schoolers, though.

Keep this up, and the non-Brewers IGT will be longer than that for the Brewers today. Either way, it helps me forget!

That Cardinal dugout looks altogether too enthusiastic for their usual level of class.

Should have left Felipe on the mound, Tony.

Does anyone think Tim McCarver really hand scores games nowadays?

I'd root for that especially if either team were facing Milwaukee next. But sure, why not? Anyone want to chat about it?

I'm seeing some empty seats in Classy Stadium. What's wrong with those fans?!?

This is really entertaining. It'd be more so for me if the Mets can prevail.

I did hear a few comments similar to what the Rev heard (about the Brewers looking like the Nats usually do). I suppose it's possible this 6-5 record is the first over-.500 mark for the Nats. Have they really gotten out to a slow start every year since moving to Washington? You'd think they'd have been 1-0 at least once.

No wonder the Brewers had trouble with him on Opening Day? Wow, 15 pitchers used and 34 strikeouts in this Mets-Cards game. Plus it's messing up the prime time programming on FOX!

Stellar baserunning by Ryan Ludwick to send the NYM-STL game to a 17th inning.

Seconded on the Brewer fan turnout. I saw at least one Gallardo jersey between Friday night and today, maybe it was yours, BrewerTerp. Those of you who found this one hard to follow on TV, radio or internets might want to be glad you weren't at Nationals Park (although it's true that the home fans haven't been a hassle...I think they're too delighted at winning). This was a game to try a fan's soul, especially a fan who traveled hundreds of miles to watch in person. cnycerveceros, I don't think your post was ranty. (Phrases like "putrid garbage" fall more into the category of rant.) Today's game inspired similar thoughts in my head, and I wonder how the organization might respond if the road trip continues to suck. Can they feel confident that enough guys will rebound enough to turn things around, at least to the point of respectability; or would "staying the course" harm 2010 fan revenue too much (for a franchise that depends on it so heavily)? There are already some in this forum who have vowed not to buy another Brewers ticket in 2010,and a dismal April or April/May is bound to have some effect on ticket sales and related revenue later in the season. I will say that every time I attended a Doug Davis start in person the last time he was a Brewer, he always did well. That scraping noise you hear is me at the bottom of the barrel, looking for something positive to say.

After one night, I can see why people said to prepare to be underwhelmed. It's not bad by any means, just not overly distinctive. Perhaps I was merely "whelmed." The scoreboard was pretty nice, and made us wonder how similar the next scoreboard at MP might be. The S.O. had a veggie (grain) burger which he enjoyed. I had a hot dog which was nothing special. Later we found a stand with a $7.00 bratwurst but didn't feel motivated to try it. We started in section 107 and moved a little closer to CF after a while. I was a little dismayed that the Nats sold 107 to all latecomers, leaving several fair-territory LF sections at least half empty. The most popular player gear was for Ryan Zimmerman, followed closely by Strasburg. Nats Nation is certainly pinning its hopes on him, even though he's wearing #37. I also saw an official looking jersey for Screech the mascot (an eagle, not the Saved by the Bell nutso), which I suppose is arguably backing more of a winner than would be the case for many recent players. Last night was rainy, today's supposed to be windy. With no sun last night I have no sense of what direction the park faces yet.

So, you still use the Canons. I was starting to think you had gone fully hipsta.

Again, we somehow managed to pick a part of the ballpark that was relatively shielded from the rain. Plus the temperature was really nice (79 at game time, and it didn't drop much despite the rain). All of 17,234 paid to see that one.

Well, we sat out just beyond the left field pole, which turned out to be handy because some part of the park was blocking a lot of the rain from us. The novelty of being outdoors for a ball game again (first time for us since spring training 2007) helped dull the pain of the 8th inning a bit. I was a little irked to see Todd Coffey warming up once things began to unravel during Hawkins' stint. Tip of the cap: there were quite a few Brewers fans. We didn't stand out at all. If FSWisconsin showed the two guys in straw sombreros, we were a few sections to their right. One of them had his sombrero on inside out late in the game - that's right, a rally sombrero. All right, another chance in a little over 12 hours.

Dang it! That was probably my big break, not to mention Brewerfan's. It's a little stormy, but so far the weather seems to be staying just north of DC. When was the last time the hawing party had to worry about weather during a Brewers game? Come on, Brewers. This stands to be my first-ever road game. Yo, you could start by neutralizing Nyjer Morgan. And psst, all Brewers: if you don't load the bases with Nats, they can't hit any grand slams. Just saying. Anyway...off we go to navigate Metro and get seats. The S.O. is wearing a polo shirt with the ball glove logo. I'm rocking a navy jersey from last winter's clubhouse sale, and a non-matching ball-glove cap.

Catching a cold while on a vacation trip is a drag and a half. I'm hoping it doesn't bring me down enough to have to bypass the Brewers.

I agree more with Blindcheck. Soup was adequate, which exceeded the expectations of some here, mine included. How long "adequate" will last, and how long it will take team personnel to react should Soup cease to be adequate, are two valid questions. We'll just have to see how they play out.

I'm uneasy with having Edmonds on the team too, at first because of his CHC-STL past, then more so because of the feeling I keep getting that he's dictating his own playing time more than a player should. I don't boo him for stepping up to the plate, but to date I haven't done more than a golf clap for him. If he were to make a playoff-clinching play, I don't think I'd be less happy, but I probably wouldn't go out of my way for a jersey or even t-shirt (as I've done with other players). If the Brewers had a whole roster of guys whose circumstances were similar to Edmonds', I don't know how I'd react if they won it all. I think it would be harder for me to get behind the team the way I do now. Fortunately, I think the odds of a whole roster like that are not too good.

As a bonus, the world is one save closer to losing that countup-to-600 banner in the MP outfield. See you Friday, Brewers.