hawing

Of the two extremes, I would say a wacky slugfest (like last night) seems more plausible than a pitchers' duel. But they don't play games on paper.

Well, I like that Maldy is catching Wily today. Maybe that will help? or not hurt more? It's also two years today since Martin hit the cover off a ball: Happy Memory Link

So...can we say the Brewers STOLE one from Mike Leake, or would he have had to give up the GW runs himself? Or are "retail theft jokes about Mike Leake" too much yesterday's news? (I see now that episode was from 2011! But I see or hear his name and, fairly or otherwise, think theft. Just as I see or hear Moises Alou's name and instinctively look for hand sanitizer.)

In a season where there's no true ace [sarcasm](Chris Capuano excepted, of course)[/sarcasm], setting the rotation is kind of eeny-meeny-miney-moe...but I would have started Jimmy on Monday too. Fortunately, we'll be at game 2, so we'll get to see his first 2016 start anyway.

http://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/56963165.jpg

"Assassination" is used when a prominent person is the victim. "Murder" is for the rest of us. Edit: To me, "assassination" strongly implies premeditation. Many murders are premeditated, but not all.

I'm imagining either very small type on Monday, to fit all the "Brewers Injury Report" names on one screen, or a scroll.

James Noble died Monday. And now Patty Duke, today. Link

Does anyone else feel like the pace of this thread is accelerating lately? Anyway, the most recent "TV treasure" loss is Earl Hamner, Jr., who created The Waltons and Falcon Crest. He narrated the beginning and end of every Waltons episode, and the John-Boy main character was based on his life.

Man. I haven't heard that theme in AGES.

I don't think so. Swelling has to subside and such. (Alliteration is always awesome.)

Rymer was released from the hospital Monday and even stopped by Maryvale to see teammates and staff: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/rymer-liriano-released-from-hospital-a-day-after-being-beaned-b99691580z1-373018691.html Of course, this doesn't mean he's done with treatment, but I hope it means he's out of big-time danger.

Looks like you chose well.

Sorry in advance for the downer nature of this. We had to have one of our cats euthanized last week. He was diagnosed with an unidentifiable growth on his liver last summer, the vet said he had "months" left, and he made it about 6.5 months. We've been through the loss of a pet before, but this is the first time we've had a surviving pet - another cat. The two cats were not littermates, but were fostered together and we adopted them together 12 years ago, so they spent all but the first few months of their lives together. So far we're just kind of keeping an extra eye on the surviving cat. He's not acting very much out of character. He meows a lot, but that has always been normal behavior for him. He's snuggly with me, which is also normal. He's eating a little less, we think, but he's not refusing food and water or anything. I read up on pet grief (for lack of a better term) once we knew the sick cat's diagnosis, and came away with the basic impression that another pet's reaction can range all the way from full-on grief to "guess I get the whole house to myself now. Sweet." I'm just wondering if the Brewerfan universe has experience with dealing with pets who survive the loss of another pet. If you do, but it's too sore a subject for you to want to contribute, that's okay. Thanks.

Thumbs-down to that column, and not only for the dog puns: If it weren't another terrible pun, my opinion of that writing effort would be WOOF.

I'm right there with you, having turned 50 myself this year... I think it is a generational thing for sure. Can we start a BF.net "50 in 2016" club? Because I'm in it too - two weeks ago yesterday - and Jimbo also got in earlier this week. Oh, right...this is about Gossage. Dude needs to cuss less if he wants me to take him seriously.

You mean the Walk of Fame? That gives notice to people that gave a decent amount of their time to the organization? Jeez....why so harsh? And to answer your question I am pretty sure he is not eligible. The Brewers have multiple avenues for honoring team personnel. Walk of Fame honorees get a granite "home plate" on the sidewalk outside Miller Park. That group is made up of pretty big Brewers and Milwaukee Braves names. Randy won't be joining them. Wall of Honor honorees get a metal plaque on the exterior wall of Miller Park near the Friday's/3B entrance. The Wall of Honor accommodates not only greatness but also longevity as a Brewer. The criteria for pitchers are 1000+ innings pitched or 50 appearances as a pitcher. Randy's made enough appearances to qualify for this, hasn't he? Then again, so has Jeff Suppan, and having the Soup on a wall or walk of Brewers distinction seems all kinds of wrong. The real tragedy here is that with Randy Wolf retiring, Wolfottaras is no longer possible. Welp, thanks for playing.

So I'm not the only one wondering how a kid that age has a phone that size? I'll just go order my GET OFF MY LAWN t-shirt now.

If I lived in Milwaukee and didn't already have 20 packs in seats we love, I'd totally give this a shot.

New post for new "not bugging me" thing: A really awesome and genuinely sweet thing just happened and I was part of it. Last year I discovered that one of my grade school teachers is (still alive and) a Facebook user, so we became Facebook friends. On Sunday he messaged me to ask a favor. His uncle is turning 100 in a few weeks and one of the things he most likes to talk about still is Badger football. My teacher was hoping I could (1) verify his uncle's graduation year and (2) see if the athletic department could send his uncle a birthday greeting or signed photo or something. I had the tools to verify Uncle's graduation date, and I sent a semi-random inquiry to athletics yesterday - and it's all working out. Athletics is sending Uncle a card and some photos, and my teacher just called me a sweetheart in an email. He was so kind to me in elementary school (and I can cite specific kindnesses) that I'm just glad I could start to repay him at all. Isn't that cool?! The Internet is used for good for a change.

When the SO and I first house hunted in the 1990s, we found it useful to each make a list of absolute needs and absolute dealbreakers. That can save you some time. Also (and as you said before, stalton, this can probably go in either "bug" category), expect some degree of drama. A seller might wait until the 11th hour/59th minute to respond to your offer, or come up with a late request/demand or something like that. There seems to always be some drama (I wonder sometimes if Realtors plan on it) but it's almost always resolvable. Just keep your mind open. Good luck.

I'm sure this just proves how much I don't get it, but couldn't someone from the Brewers have simply said "Same dog. He's microchipped" earlier in the week and pre-empted the hand wringing and need for an actual press conference? Thanks for the insights into grooming and breed differences, though. I won't pretend I knew that much about it before.

Even with just Friday's small sample under Tim's belt, I'm genuinely hoping there's a way to get him in some kind of Brewers broadcasting booth once he's ready to hang up the glove.

You know, as soon as (let's call him) Suburban Hank made an appearance later in 2014, I thought right away, "whoa, grooming!" I haven't shared a home with a dog since high school, but I'm open to the idea that professional grooming can make that much of a difference. Hank's diet no doubt improved substantially once he joined the Wronski family. Even if the Brewers aren't paying for any of Hank's upkeep, his family can likely afford to treat him well. So I lean toward Street Hank and Suburban Hank being the same dog. Having said that, a few things have planted a seed of doubt in my mind: - The pair of photos in the BCB column which show Street Hank and Suburban Hank in a dugout next to a red phone. Besides looking whiter and fluffier, Suburban Hank looks like he has a bigger frame. You don't get bigger bones through grooming and diet. I realize it could be just the angle of the photos, but that pair of photos gave me the most pause. (Not paws.) - Let's say Street Hank DID meet an untimely end sometime in 2014. If you were the Brewers, would you announce it right then? I mean that seriously. The on-field performance was already a slow-motion train wreck by then, leaving Hank as one of the bright spots. At that point, bad news about Hank would not only have been a distressingly apt metaphor for the 2014 Brewers' overall fortunes - it would have driven away the Hankhead portion of the fan base. They're kind of weird (I don't mean people who like dogs are weird, but people who suddenly decided to come to games solely because the Brewers had a dog? Kind of weird)...but their money counts just as much. If Suburban Hank really is a separate dog from Street Hank, I can understand why the Brewers didn't want to bring that particular revenue stream to a screeching (and frankly depressing) halt. I have to admit, just from a PR standpoint, I'll be interested to see what on earth they have to say on Friday, even if there are way too many "pup culture" references.

I think Uecker-esque longevity has become increasingly unlikely to repeat itself, in this or other markets. Younger generations (i.e. folks younger than the examples you cited) are simply more mobile in all kinds of employment fields. Having said that, I too am hoping for less frequent booth turnover for Brewers announcers than we've seen over the last decade. But I won't consider it a failure if none of the non-Uecker guys stays for 45+ years. Yet another way in which we've been spoiled by Uecker, and so fortunate to have had him this long.