dlk9s

I say they retire the changeup. His is so good, nobody should ever be allowed to throw one again.

Keep in mind that if you improve the defense, chances are you are going to hurt the hitting.

I believe people are correct in spelling Morgan with an "a" instead of an "e."

I do hope, for his sake, that Jeffress stays on the straight and narrow. So far, at least, he seems to be saying all the right things.

I don't know.

From Mark Attanasio:

You know, if we get swept in this road trip, that would really hurt the Cardinals.

I don't see anything wrong with the HR pace Lucroy is on. Projected over a full season (although obviously as a catcher, he won't play a "full" season), he would hit double digits. And he's barely sniffed the majors so far.

Lucroy is fine. He seems to be a good defensive catcher. I would be very happy if he could keep hitting in the .270's or so. I have a feeling his OBP will improve with experience, particularly because I doubt pitchers are trying to pitch around him at all. If they throw him strikes, he is going to swing. I do see that he swings at pitches outside the strike zone quite a bit more than the league average, but again, I think this will improve with time - he's only played in 52 games. He actually makes contact more frequently than the league average, regardless of whether or not the pitch is a strike. Bottom line, he seems to have a good head on his shoulders and to me, looks to be a player who will develop into a solid catcher. Remember, guys like Mauer and Piazza are not the norm.

I'd like to thank the Pirates for giving us that free out with the bunt with 2 on and nobody out.

This, plus it's good to get the backups some playing time once in a while.

4) MLB: 932/1,209 SB with 2 outs = 77% success rate; NL: 483/627 SB with 2 outs = 77% success rate; Brewers: 29/37 SB with 2 outs = 78% success rate.

1) Kottaras has thrown out 8 of 40 base stealers. 17%. 2) The Brewers have 27 sac bunts (26th in MLB, 15th in NL) and 33 sac flies (16th in MLB, 9th in NL). Looking up the others...

Way back when (don't remember the year exactly, but I know Greg Vaughn was the Brewers' hot minor leaguer), I went to the Brewers bowling event at Red Carpet Lanes. We were at Paul Molitor's lane, as was pretty much everyone else. My brother, two friends, and I got as close as we could, but there were a couple security guards blocking people off from him. When security wasn't looking, Paul turned to one of my friends and said, "Quick!" and took my friend's Paul Molitor rookie card, signed it, and stealthily gave it back. I wasn't the one who got the contact with Paul, but it was still awesome. I went to tons of baseball card shows as a kid, so I met lots of Brewers, but Larry Hisle was always the coolest. He would talk to everybody, which also made the line take forever. Pete Vuckovich was also great. Met him at a Dannon yogurt bar promo, along with Mickey Mantle (yup), Mike Hegan, and someone else (Ken Sanders, maybe?). Obviously, since Mantle was there, the crowd was insane, but all the players took time to talk a little with me. When we got to Pete, my mom told him I was a pitcher - I was probably around 12 at the time - and he got a big smile on his face, gave me a couple words of advice, put his arm around me, and squeezed really hard as my dad took a picture. It was just really cool. I used to go to a private pitching instructor at Mike Hegan's Grand Slam USA, and once Jerry Augustine subbed in. That encounter was of course more of a "professional" situation, but he was really nice and a really good teacher. My other top experiences were with Brewers who made appearances at places like Boston Store or a local bank, when barely any fans showed up. My parents, brother, and I, would talk to them for like 15-20 minutes. I remember Bill Schroeder and Bill Wegman fell into this category.

Just watched the ceremony. Fantastic. Really liked seeing Teddy Higuera there. Thought it was really cool that Trevor and Craig Counsell were there, too. And you know what? That is a pretty damn good statue.

I get where you're coming from. I was actually surprised that Cappy made it as close as he did.

Why?

To be fair, he almost drove in 2 or 3 on the previous pitch. That strike 3 looked like a ball to me, but I'd have to see the replay.

LeBlanc is a good name for a pitcher.

Wish granted.

Come on, no it's not. Axford wasn't on today.

I didn't even know he was still playing.

Apologies in advance, but what?

But that projects to a 95-win season!

Also, I obviously take back my sarcastic comments from last night when we thought the breakdown in negotiations was money-related. I still like my Lovitz pic, though.