DuWayne Steurer

When I was a kid, I had a fairly strong belief that "prospects" like Billy Jo had statistics in AA and AAA that would translate rather simply to major league success. That being said, I had no idea that "park factor" was a thing, and that certain leagues in the minors were more hitter friendly or anything like that. I saw Billy Jo's stats for El Paso, and was CONVINCED he was going to be the next Don Mattingly, at the *very least*. Needless to say, I, like all Brewers fans, ended up with nothing but disappointment, but that never stopped me from using Billy Jo's mug for my avatar at the old site for like 5-6 years.

The Brewers traveled to Philly after sweeping the Pirates and played a three-game set against the Phillies. Series Recap Brewers/Phillies The Brewers came into the weekend series at Philadelphia to keep the momentum going, having won four games in a row after sweeping the Pirates and still trying to get the offense jump-started. Coming into the series, the Crew is still averaging just 3.53 runs per game and slashing just .205/.289/.338 as a team. Despite the anemic offense, the Brewers arrive at 8-5 and look to win in Philly, where they have struggled recently. Game 1: Phillies 4 - Brewers 2 Freddy Peralta put together an excellent start in his third go-round. He pitched five innings and gave up just one run on only three hits with six punchouts. Pitch count got the best of him, as he reached eighty-nine pitches by the end of the fifth and had to give way to the bullpen. Still, it’s encouraging to see Freddy put together an excellent start with six punchouts and limiting baserunners. Peralta struggled in the first yet again, giving up a run-scoring double to Bryce Harper and walking JT Realmuto, but he popped up Kyle Schwarber to get out of the jam. Peralta cruised through the next four innings, striking out the side in order in the second and only allowing two more baserunners overall. Aaron Ashby came in in the sixth and was called on to pitch multiple innings in relief. He allowed multiple baserunners in the sixth and walked a runner in the seventh. It can be questioned if he should have been brought out for the eighth with just a one-run lead, and after the first three Phillies reached base, Aaron Ashby struck out Schwarber, giving the Brewers the chance to turn a double play and get out of the jam. Craig Counsell turned to Brad Boxberger, who gave up back-to-back singles, and three runs later, the Crew were down two. Boxberger got out of the jam with no further damage, but this is an obvious situation where Devin Williams would be used if not struggling in the early season. Former Brewer Corey Knebel put the Crew down in the top of the ninth to finish the comeback for the Phils and end the Brewers' four-game winning streak. Game 2: Brewers 5 - Phillies 3 Adrian Houser got off to a rocky start, giving up three runs in the first three innings tonight, but the offense picked him up, putting up a four-spot in the fifth, and tacking one on later on a Hunter Renfroe solo home run. The bullpen pitched three scoreless innings, and the Brewers put the blown save from the day before behind them. Houser gave up a run in the first on the double to Nick Castellanos and two more runs in the third inning on an RBI single to former Brewers shortstop Jean Segura and a sacrifice fly to Castellanos. Phillies starter Zack Wheeler held the Brewers offense in check until the fifth inning when they busted through with three runs to tie the game on RBI singles by Jace Peterson, Willy nineAdames, and Christian Yelich. The Brewers weren’t done just yet, as they took the lead on a beautifully executed double steal with Yelich taking second and Adames swiping home on the delayed steal. Hunter Renfroe extended the lead in the sixth with his second homer of the still-young season. Renfroe’s hot streak has brought his slash line to a respectable .260/.309/.460, which is probably right in line with what most people expected of Renfroe when he was acquired in the Jackie Bradley Jr. trade. After his early-season struggles mainly looked like a small sample size, and batted ball data shows his exit velo shows he’s been hitting into his fair share of bad luck, hopefully, the extra-base hits start piling up, and we get the Renfroe we expected. After getting touched up a bit in the first three innings, Houser settled in and pitched well enough to work through six innings, giving up the three runs on five hits and just one walk. The bullpen combo of Trevor Gott, Devin Williams, and Josh Hader locked down the last three innings. Hader earned his seventh save in seven tries. Game 3: Brewers 1 - Phillies 0 Brewers get a prime-time game in the Sunday night ESPN slot in the series finale against the Phillies. Eric Lauer and Aaron Nola put on a stellar pitching duel, with Lauer notching a career-high thirteen strikeouts in just six innings. Lauer pitched six innings and didn’t allow a run, scattering five hits and a walk. Phils starter Nola was just as effective, striking out nine Brewers in seven innings himself, allowing just a lone double to Tyrone Taylor and walking one. After Brad Boxberger and Devin Williams pitched the seventh and eighth scoreless, the game went to the ninth without a tally. The Brewers put men on the corners with one out and finally broke through with a sacrifice fly from Christian Yelich. Both pitching staff seemed to benefit from the *generous* strike zone from home plate umpire Angel Hernandez over the game. Kyle Schwarber took issue with the zone's expansion in the ninth inning and was tossed for his protestations. Josh Hader nailed down the final out and secured the 1-0 victory for the Crew, getting the series win. The Brewers head home to play just one game against the Giants, now standing at 10-6 overall on the season. View full article

The Brewers came back to American Family Field for the home opening series of 2022, taking on the rival St. Louis Cardinals. The entire rotation looks to get on track after a rough go-around the first time through, and the offense is looking to find a rhythm as the squad comes into the series with a record of 3-3. Easter weekend Cardinals @ Brewers recap Game 1 Brewers 5 - Cardinals 1 https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cardinals-vs-brewers/2022/04/14/661292#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=661292 Woodruff pitches five strong Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff bounced back from a rough first start of the season to pitch five strong innings, allowing three hits and walking one. The Brewers struggling offense struck for four runs in the first three innings and tacked one in the sixth. The bullpen pitched four innings, surrendering just one run on a solo shot by Tommy Erdman in the eighth inning to hold on for a solid 5-1 win in the series opener. After Woodruff worked a quick 1-2-3 top of the first, The Brewers looked to squander a great scoring opportunity after Kolten Wong led off with a triple. Willy Adames popped out, and Christian Yelich’s struggles continued until new addition Andrew McCutchen delivered an RBI single with two outs to open up the scoring The Crewadded another run in the second on Omar Narvaez’s first home run of the 2022 campaign. After struggling down the stretch in 2021, Narvaez getting off to a good start could be a big boost for the struggling offense. Narvaez delivered in the third inning with an RBI double to put the Brewers up 4-0. Wainwright was done after 4 ⅓ innings, having already surrendered eight hits and his pitch count already up to 86 pitches. Kolten Wong added an RBI base hit in the sixth to extend the lead to 5-0. Putting aside his first week of the season struggles, Wong went 2 for 4, with a triple, run scored, RBI, and a stolen base. After Woodruff left the game after five strong, new bullpen arm, Trevor Gott was impressed with two innings of work, striking out two and allowing a lone single to Nolan Arenado in the seventh. The lone Cardinals run led off the eighth, a solo home run by Tommy Erdman off of cleanup man Jandel Gustave. Gustave didn’t seem rattled and retired the next six batters to close out the series-opening win for the Crew. Woodruff picks up his first win of the season, improving to 1-1. Game 2 Cardinals 10 - Brewers 1 https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cardinals-vs-brewers/2022/04/15/661267#game_state=final,game_tab=box,game=661267 Rough first inning sinks Peralta Young starter Freddy Peralta looked to rebound from his rough first start in his home opener, and well, let’s say things didn’t go according to plan. Another rough first inning where Peralta struggled with location put the Brewers in a 4-0 hole early, and they never got back into the game. Offensively, the Crew didn’t fare much better. Cards starter Miles Mikolas spread three singles out over six ⅔ innings, and the Brewers never really threatened after getting down eight runs. Trouble started early for Peralta. After retiring the first two Cards batters, he surrendered a double to Tyler O’Neill and walked the next two batters. Three consecutive singles later, Peralta and the Brewers found themselves in a quick 4-0 hole. After the Crew went down quickly in the bottom of the first, Peralta struggled in the second, hitting Dylan Carlson, giving up two more hits and two more runs. It’s hard to gauge how much the shortened spring and reduced number of early off-days impact Counsell and other managers' decisions and bullpen management. Peralta didn’t have it in this game. He worked to get through three innings, throwing 77 pitches. It’s questionable whether or not the game was still within reach after the first inning at 4-0, and Counsell has to consider the availability of the arms in the bullpen going into the tail end of a four-game series. We'll have to hope whatever is going on with Peralta in his first few starts of the season is just an anomaly, and the Crew gets closer to 2021 Peralta going forward. The bullpen picked up six innings in this one, with new Brewer Jose Urena tossing three innings and giving up two runs and a home run. Hoby Milner cruised through two innings on just 18 pitches, striking out a batter and giving up just one single. The Crew avoided the shutout, with Omar Narvaez pushing McCutchen across with an RBI single in the seventh. Infielder Mike Brousseau provided a fun highlight at the end of the game, pitching the ninth inning for the Crew, allowing a hit and a walk, but putting up a scoreless frame. Game 3 Cardinals 2 – Brewers 1 Offensive struggles continue The Brewers looked to rebound with noted Cardinals killer Adrian Houser on the mound from their game two loss. Houser threw 5 ⅔ strong, allowing just one run on four hits and three walks, striking out four, but again, the offense scuffled to put men on base, and the Crew fell, 2-1 to the rival Cards. Houser and Cardinals starter Steven Matz dueled scoreless until the fourth when the Cards broke through with an RBI double by Paul DeJong. With men on second and third and two outs, Houser struck out Ryan Bader to end the threat and keep the game within one run. Houser struck out the side in the top of the fifth, mowing through Knizner, Erdman, and Carlson.However, through the fifth inning, the Brewers had mustered only two baserunners themselves and had advanced nobody past second base.The game stayed 1-0 Cardinals until the eighth inning. Jake Cousins struggled with his control, walking one and giving up an RBI single to Corey Dickerson. In the bottom of the frame, new Brewers backstop Victor Caratini got the Brewers on the board and back within one with his first homer in a Brewers uniform. Unfortunately, it would be the last run of the night for the Crew. Willy Adames led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, and Hunter Renfroe popped out on the infield. With one out and a man on first and the potential go-ahead run at the plate, Craig Counsell chose to pinch-hit for Keston Huira with Rowdy Tellez. In and of itself, that’s an easy, almost no-brainer decision. However, in the wider lens, it says a lot about where Christian Yelich is in the pecking order right now. The offense is scuffling for runs, and your MVP from just a few years ago is on the bench in a one-run game while a mid-season injury replacement for Dan Vogelbach takes your at-bats. Game 4 Brewers 6 – Cardinals 5 Offense breaks through in support of Ashby In the series finale, the Brewers offense didn’t erupt, but the bats broke through for six runs, and it was just enough as the Crew held on for a 6-5 win. Aaron Ashby struggled with his command, throwing 34 pitches in the first inning, and lasting only four innings. He settled down after the first but gave up a three-run home run to Albert Pujols in the third after an error by Kolten Wong extended the inning. Still, some positive signs for Ashby. He struck out four, gave up only two hits, and probably got out of the third inning with no damage without the error by Wong. On the positive side, the Brewers broke through early today, punching three runs across the plate in the first. Cards starter Dakota Hudson was even wilder than Ashby, putting on Brewers leadoff man Kolten Wong with a hit by a pitch, followed by Willy Adames and Christian Yelich taking walks to load the bases with nobody out. Andrew McCutchen delivered the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Instead of squandering the scoring opportunity, Rowdy Tellez lined a double into the left-center gap, scoring another run. Keston Huira flew out to shallow right field, and a throwing error on Cards catcher Andrew Knizner allowed Yelich to score. Albert Pujols struck in the third with a three-run homer to tie the game, but the Brewers took the lead back in the bottom of the fourth with Willy Adames drawing a bases-loaded walk. Ashby left after four, having already thrown 77 pitches. The Brewers bullpen held things down until the seventh inning, with Cousins, Gustave, and Brad Boxberger throwing a scoreless inning. In the bottom half of the frame, it looked like the Brewers would frustratingly toss out another scoring chance. With runners on second and third and no one out, Rowdy Tellez and Keston Huira both struck out. Tyrone Taylor picked up the offense, however, and delivered a clutch two-run double into the left-field corner Devin Williams’ early-season struggles continued in the eighth inning as he walked three and surrendered two runs before Trevor Gott notched the final out of the inning to hold the lead at 6-5. Only ten games into the season, but skipper Craig Counsell may have to make an early decision on using Williams in high leverage situations moving forward as he continues to have trouble getting outs, and his ERA has now ballooned to over 12. It's hard to say yet what's going on with Williams. There's not a lot of data to sift through yet. Three innings pitched isn't just a small sample size; it's barely a sample. Watching the games, it looks like batters are looking for that change. Looking at the pitch data numbers, he's throwing the fastball and change roughly the same percentage, and his fastball velo isn't down an appreciable amount. As noted, it's not enough of a sample size to draw conclusions from yet, and everyone will have a different theory at this point, but it's important to note that it's ten games into the season and three innings from Williams. He started slowly last season as well, and by mid-season, he was as unhittable as he was in 2020 when he was the NL reliever of the year. Is it the lack of a full Spring Training? Is he fully back from the broken hand? Only the Brewers and Williams know the answers to these questions, but hopefully, he returns to form sooner rather than later. Josh Hader came on in the ninth and went through the heart of the Cardinals order, striking out Tyler O’Neill and Nolan Arenado to end the game and secure the win and the series split. Splitting the series with the Cards has the Brewers standing at 5-5 at the end of Easter Weekend, and given how the offense has struggled, setup man, Devin Williams can’t get outs, and key starter Freddy Peralta has gotten rocked both times out, standing at 5-5, ten games in could almost be looked at as a small miracle. Moving on to face the Pirates starting Monday, the Brewers look again to get over .500. View full article

Like Gorman Thomas before him, Rob Deer was my favorite Brewer during his tenure. His dingers were never wall scrapers. He hit some monster, monster shots deep into the County Stadium bleachers.

Like Gorman Thomas before him, Rob Deer was my favorite Brewer during his tenure. His dingers were never wall scrapers. He hit some monster, monster shots deep into the County Stadium bleachers.

I'm holding out hope that Olave falls to them at 22. If they grab Raimann at 28, I'll consider that an excellent practically A+ first round. After trading Adams and (so far) only grabbing Watkins, they've pretty much put themselves in the position of absolutely NEEDING to draft a WR in round one, and you hate having to do that. Those are the drafts when you see trades and runs on positions, and suddenly you end up holding the bag. I know the whole "draft the best player available" philosophy, but with what the Pack has at WR right now, they've put themselves in a position where the best player available REALLY needs to be a WR.

While I would have liked to have seen what Feliciano could do with some part-time at bats, I'm good with this move. Backup catcher shouldn't amount to more than 1/2 a win to a win over 80 games, one way or the other. Caratini is pretty much the definition of a mid-tier, average back up catcher. For all the hand wringing over Severino's suspension caused, backup catcher who's going to start 22 - 30 games for half a season just isn't going to impact enough AB's/plays/games to make enough of a difference in the W/L column.

While I would have liked to have seen what Feliciano could do with some part-time at bats, I'm good with this move. Backup catcher shouldn't amount to more than 1/2 a win to a win over 80 games, one way or the other. Caratini is pretty much the definition of a mid-tier, average back up catcher. For all the hand wringing over Severino's suspension caused, backup catcher who's going to start 22 - 30 games for half a season just isn't going to impact enough AB's/plays/games to make enough of a difference in the W/L column.

While I would have liked to have seen what Feliciano could do with some part-time at bats, I'm good with this move. Backup catcher shouldn't amount to more than 1/2 a win to a win over 80 games, one way or the other. Caratini is pretty much the definition of a mid-tier, average back up catcher. For all the hand wringing over Severino's suspension caused, backup catcher who's going to start 22 - 30 games for half a season just isn't going to impact enough AB's/plays/games to make enough of a difference in the W/L column.

While I would have liked to have seen what Feliciano could do with some part-time at bats, I'm good with this move. Backup catcher shouldn't amount to more than 1/2 a win to a win over 80 games, one way or the other. Caratini is pretty much the definition of a mid-tier, average back up catcher. For all the hand wringing over Severino's suspension caused, backup catcher who's going to start 22 - 30 games for half a season just isn't going to impact enough AB's/plays/games to make enough of a difference in the W/L column.

I think it's safe to say that almost ALL fiction has some political undertone (except maybe Thomas the Train Engine!) so I think let's just discuss what we like, what we're reading, be cool about it, and not derail the thread. That being said, the last couple two-tree years (damn you Sveumrules!) I've dove head first back into graphic novels (or "comic books" if you will) as I often do. I'll take a 3-4 year hiatus, and then see what's cool, relevant, or trending, and then grab a 6 - 12 month supply. I just finished the last volume of "Low" by Rick Remender not too long ago. If you're into Sci-Fi, the art is simply stunning. It's got a really limited color palette that kind of forces your perspective, and at times, it's simply bizarre. I've heard reviewers say the last volume felt rushed and incomplete, but I didn't get that feeling at all. The story says what it has to say without feeling like it limps along and it's a really good 5 volume, complete story for Sci-Fi fans. Also just finished up "East of West" by Johnathon Hickman. Another excellent sci-fi/fantasy Series. A little longer ( I think 10 volumes/60-ish issues) but the pacing is excellent, and it's got (again) a really excellent palette that brings the art to life and helps tell the story. I have 3 huge Omnibus volumes of Usagi Yojimbo (signed!) that I'm only about half way through. Stan Sakai is such a great storyteller. The art sometimes leaves a little to be desired. He's going for a serious, sometimes violent morality tale, and the art is really 'kiddy', so it clashes, and it's hard to mesh the two sometimes (for me, at least) but it's such good storytelling that I keep going back. And I'm sure if you're reading this and you read graphic novels, you're reading "Saga", so you don't need me to tell you to get into it.

Film Fest Friday again.... Nightmare Alley -- I find Guillermo del Toro movies hit or miss. This one really hit the mark for me. Excellent cast, really dark period piece (which I'm into lately, for some reason), and it didn't have a monster with eyes in it's hands. Really enjoyed it, and not being familiar with the original source work, I was able to go into this one fresh, and not really know how the ending was gonna pop.

Haha yes. I avoided talking too much about the movie in case there are those who haven't seen it yet. Despite the massive box office haul, I'm sure there are those that didn't see it in theaters.

Good sunday morning my movie watching friends! Watched the new Spider Man flick this weekend, and boy do I have thoughts. I enjoyed the movie. Tom Holland has been without a doubt, the best Peter Parker. I think they crammed a lot (maybe a little too much) into a 2 1/2 hour movie. I think so far, the MCU and Feige and the writers have done a *pretty good* job of avoiding plot holes and contradictions with 24-25 movies and a bunch of tv shows, but this multi-verse business is going to make things pretty sticky (IMO, of course). We'll see how it goes. I'm looking forward to the new Dr. Strange flick. Watched The Courier after that as a cool down. Cold War era spy flick. And honestly, seems kind of relevant right now.... This was an excellent movie. Kinda flew under the radar (as a lot of movies have during the pandemic) and I really enjoyed it. There's a very intentional pacing and tension that builds pretty quickly and keeps you hanging on. Pretty interesting story too, based on a couple of real dudes who put in some on-the-ground grunt work to try to stop the Cuba missile crisis.

Watched "The Green Knight" this afternoon. My goodness what an audio and visual feast. So many people have complained and downvoted this movie for not having enough action and fight scenes, but if you know the story of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, you'd know going in that it's not really an action/adventure story, but a story of discovery. Within that framework, it's an absolutely mesmerizing film that just crushes the visual aspect, and if you have surround sound, just absolutely crank it. Disappointed I missed this one in the theater, because it feels like it deserves that kind of viewing experience.

The middle one (IMO of course) was the weakest. It wasn't bad, but it it just didn't pop the way the first one and the new one did. I loved this movie today. It has a lot less focus on the action and more on building the world and the story, but there's still plenty of set pieces that move along with the story. Ralph Fiennes is simply an amazing actor, and I have never seen a movie he's in that wasn't great.

"Nobody" was great. The end set piece was utterly ridiculous and fantastic. Christopher Lloyd taking part in a violent gun-fight set piece was nothing short of awesome. I know everyone else has said it, but convincingly turning Bob Odenkirk into a bad-ass action guy ..... wow! Movie #1 down on film-fest Friday. Movie #2 is going to be The Kings Man

Peacemaker season 1 was absolutely awesome. The finale lived up to all the hype and then some. Gonna be hard to follow up with a season 2 that matches the intensity. At the same time...... man, Book of Robert Fett on Disney+ was nothing short of a let down. There were a few "hey here's some fan service!" moments scattered throughout, but the pacing, the disjointed storytelling, and the action sequences just all were flat and uninspiring. So many elements included into the show that were unnecessary to make it longer. It could have been compressed into about a 4 episode mini, and been much tighter and cleaner.

Gunpowder Milkshake. -- There's no real earth shattering story here, but Karen Gillan is awesome, Paul Giammati is great in everything he does, and the action scenes are creative, ultra-violent, and the set pieces are super fantastic. The bowling alley fight scene is outlandish and amazing. The little bit of a plot is just cohesive enough to be worth the brutal action scenes. The Dig -- taking it down a notch.... Didn't expect this one to keep me engrossed. Turned out to really be an interesting picture. There were just a few creative liberties taken to make the story interesting enough for a two hour movie, but putting that aside, they took a story about finding an ancient archeological site in the English country side discovered by an excavator just before WW2 and turned it into a great, compelling drama film. Definitely recommend if you're into that type of thing.

I wasn't going to bother with Peacemaker, but still being off work I decided to binge it yesterday. I'm really impressed that the show manages to balance tackling some serious and current social issues head-on, with having some almost slapstick and over the top hero/villain archetypes at the same time.

As far as murder mystery/drama/detective show/time travel/mind bender/ plot twist/horror shows go, I'm one season into Dark on Netflix, and it's pretty good. you definitely can't be doing other things while you're watching, or your'e going to miss plot points and character introductions and key exposition, but it's pretty good so far. Not sure if it got mentioned earlier in the thread, sorry if so. But it's good through one season.

I don't get the people who say "this is a boring movie with a twist ending". It's a great movie that builds to the climax for sure, but it's not boring unless once expected a cowboy shoot em' up because it's labelled a Western. The pieces were laid out really well, the relevant information was set up in all the right places so that when the reveal happened, it wasn't a "huh???" moment, but more of a "oh yeah" moment that with hindsight, was built up to with a lot of intelligent writing. I'll for sure say it's not the type of movie I usually watch, but I went into it understanding that it wasn't an action/Cowboy movie, and got rewarded for having an open mind.

I'm off the next few days. I've been meaning to watch this.