GenBuckTurgidson

I'll make this as short as possible. Used to live in Ann Arbor and one night a buddy and I were out on a bender at a local sports bar. We start talkin to the waitress and are getting bolder and bolder after numerous shots of JD. Finally, I ask her about a husband or boyfriend or anything like that and she tells us that she's recently divorced and (knowing from an earlier conversation that both of us were from Sconny) that her ex was a former Brewer named Mike Ignasiak. Well, my buddy (not being nearly as dedicated of a fan as I) has absolutely no idea who this guy is. I, on the other hand, launch into this diatribe about his brief stint with the Crew in the early '90's and that he played at UM and what not. So we get to talking with his ex and she says something like, "Shoot, I have his number right here...he manages a Dairy Queen in Saline right down the road." Well, that did it. We just had to call him...and I mean right at that moment. So around 1:00 am on a Thursday night, after having drank the bar dry of Jack and washed it down with several cold adult beverages, we decided now would be the best time to congratulate Mike on his bit of unexpected fame. I talked to him...woke him up...I think. He was very cordial, told a story or two (I don't remember many details) although I do recall he questioned several times what our intentions were for calling him at such a late hour. As soon as I told him that we got his number from his ex...he hung up. The best part of the story...he told us if we stopped by the DQ in the morning he'd hook us up. We went the next day, apologized for the late wake-up call and he gave us each a free dilly bar. Oh yeah, second best part...there were 3 or 4 of his baseball cards taped to the inside of the drive-up window. Man, it's always fun reliving that memory.

The Bucks have a promotion going right now for nominations to the "Top 20 Milwaukee Bucks" list. Not sure if this has been done here recently...but that got me thinking about a similar list for the Brewers. Here my top 10...and a list of others. Have fun picking it apart! 1 Yount (HOFer & Brewer lifer) 2 Molitor (HOFer) 3 Slaton (Franchise wins leader) 4 Cooper (2nd best "hitter" from the glory years) 5 Gantner (3rd all time in games played) 6 Caldwell (2nd in wins) 7 Fingers (All though old by the time he got here... most dominating closer in franchise history) 8 Oglivie (Prolific hitter in the glory years and top 5 in AB's I believe) 9 Plesac (All time saves leader) 10 Higuera (Franchise SO Leader) Others: Surhoff, Gorman, Cirillo, Moose Haas, Sheets, Jenkins, Bosio What about the pups? Fielder, Hardy, etc.

While reading that SI article, was anyone else besides me thinking that Johnny should just shut his mouth and play better ball himself!?!? I don't know...maybe take a walk once in awhile...maybe throw a runner out once in awhile...maybe hustle a little more...you know, the things that LEADERS do. He's complaining about the fan and media negativity in a market like Milwaukee for pete's sake! Then, he compares this market to Atlanta...last time I checked Atlanta could care less about the Braves no matter what their record is (just look at the attendance). He should go play in NY or Boston if he wants to see what media scrutiny is. I agree with him that this team needs leaders because he's clearly NOT one of them.

Ooops, my bad. A little background on this am radio sports jock...he used to partner with Chuck Freemund (now of 1570 in ******on) and Hoffy's his show is pretty low-rent, but he's got a ton of WI sports connections. He has a lot of guests on and routinely pimps brewerfan.net. Other Brewers-related guests that I've heard on the show include Jack Z, Larry Hisle, among others. Easily my favorite Nichols comment was that he thought Darren Ford is the fastest player that he's EVER seen. I mean how many players (HS, college and pro) has Reid scouted???? That's some pretty high praise.

Bob Hoffmaster (sp?) had Reid on yesterday afternoon. Talked about several minor league players. LaPorta to WV when he's done in AZ. Mentioned the sudden influx of catching into the organization. Specifically, he raved about LuCroy. Said (I'm paraphrasing) that the C position went from desolate to pretty well stocked with LuCroy, Salome, Palmisano, Estrada, etc. He raved about Darren Ford. Called him the fastest baseball player he has EVER SEEN. Compared his 1st to 3rd speed to Willie Wilson. He really talked up the fact that this 2nd wave of players (3rd really) that includes Ford, Cain, Salome, Palmisano, etc really has a chance to be special. Overall, a very good interview. Hoffy does a good job of getting guests on his show. Talks a lot of Brewers.