WarhawkJoe

Who was he staring down there after the fist pump?

Did anyone mention that the cards catcher is calling pitches using signs as if there is a runner on second all the time? I thought only the Pirates suspected us of stealing signs at home?

joepepsi's thoery makes sense to me as well. It seems to me that he is mixing up his pitches more earlier in the game than last year, and more so than other starters with a more dominant fastball. It seems to me (based strictly on observation) like Yovani throws a lot of fastballs in the first few innings, and I think Sheets was similar in not working in a third pitch until the 2nd or 3rd time through the order. I think that's the main issue with using all your stuff the 1st time through - you don't have the extra wrinkle up your sleeve to bring out the 2nd or 3rd time through, thus limiting your effectiveness in the 6th inning and beyond. I see nothing wrong with Narveson coming at the opponent with the full arsenal right away given his lack of a dominant fastball, this just might mean he only goes a couple times through the order effectively and the bullpen will need to be relied on for 3ish innings.

True, no runs were scored on the Kotsay "trap", but it was extra pitches for Yo that may have resulted in one less inning for him. It definitely affected the game. On a positive note, Saito and Loe (other than the solo shot) looked great. I wish managers weren't so set on having roles in the bullpen. Loe never should have come out of the game - he struck out the side.

Yes, Axford was very hittable today (and most of the spring), and I don't have much confidence in him right now. However, combine the ball called a trap that Kotsay caught earlier and the out of the baseline non-call in the 9th, it's tough to win when you have to get 29 outs against only getting 27. Should have won, but at least I'm not totally flabbergasted. Yet.

Not so much about where to stay (I rented a condo on the north side of the city limits), but has anyone had success (i.e. good price and service) from renting a car away from the airport in the Phoenix area? Car rental prices appear to be very high again this year, and I heard a tip that off-airport locations might be a better value (after factoring in cab rides to/from the airport). However I can't find much information on the internet regarding such locations - even finding them. Any help would be appreciated.

I don't know about leaving the pen short. If I remember correctly, the other guys like Coffey, Stetter, and Vargas are guys that can throw back to back days (unlike guys like Riske and to some extent Hoffman). I'm not sure about Hawkins, but for his price, you'd hope so. Plus you still have Narveson to thrown in long situations or emergencies.

Maybe this has been discussed already, but what do you guys think about keeping a scenario of Suppan combined with Parra/Narveson to split one game in the 5-man rotation? It seems to me based on my observation that these guys (and Bush for that matter) can do a decent job getting through the order twice, but that third time is the one that usually bites them. Having each "scheduled" to pitch 3-4 innings, you eliminate that third time through (unless they are coasting, which is just a bonus). With essentially two long relievers in the pen, you can afford to plan on using one and keeping the other for the next few days if one of the other starters blows up and exits early.

I can't believe how expensive the rental cars are this year! I think last year I paid around $20-$25/day for an economy. This year the cheapest I can find on orbitz or priceline is almost $50 for the smaller cards, and I need a van or SUV this year. Does anyone have any info on finding cheaper rentals? The prices have been pretty steady since I originally looked a few months ago. I'm leaving next week, so I better figure this out...

I don't understand the anger here, specifically over his contract negotiations. First of all, negotiation is still in process. Second, how does the negotiation between his agent and the Brewers affect his ability to prepare for the season, midway through the offseason. I'm sure he's working out, running, and the rest of it. Third, I think most people would behave the exact same way in this situation and try to maximize their earnings based on the system in place. I can understand frustration with his performance over the last year or two, but using this a rather meaningless one-year contract negotiation against his doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Let's hope he turns it around and goes back to the Corey we know and love. Hope springs attorney!

Since group tickets are no longer being offered to the bars that have previously organized the large tailgate parties (i.e. Leff's), does anyone know if there will still be similar parties held in the parking lot this year on Opening Day? I've done the Leff's party for the past 5 years, and it sure is nice to have the large tent, band, port-o-potty's, and all you can eat & drink format. It sounds like Leff's will just hold off until game 2 for their party. I'm not sure how the Brewers feel about groups organizing parties assuming that they cannot offer a game ticket in the package.

I remember when Matt V. called a mammoth Burnitz homer and starting singing "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam.

Loge infield for sure. Sat in 215 for two years and loved it. I'm moving to 116 this year to try the field level. Hopefully it's worth the extra dough. Otherwise I'll be back in 215 loge diamond box.

Loge infield for sure. Sat in 215 for two years and loved it. I'm moving to 116 this year to try the field level. Hopefully it's worth the extra dough. Otherwise I'll be back in 215 loge diamond box.

The week of March 15 looks fairly solid with the following games (from the ST schedule released so far): Sunday 3/15 - MIL at CLE (Goodyear; weird to see Cleveland on the schedule since it's their first year back to AZ) Monday 3/16 - CHC at MIL (Maryvale) Thursday 3/19 - CLE at MIL (Maryvale) Friday 3/20 - MIL at SEA (Peoria) Saturday 3/21 - MIL at LAA (Tempe) Sunday 3/22 - SF at MIL (Maryvale) Looks the the World Baseball Classic is scheduled for round 2 March 14 - 19. Now on to looking at airline prices... Tuesdays - Will I see you down there again this year?

Plate discipline was the key to the win last night, IMO. So apparently they CAN do it, now WILL they do it again today? I hope so.

I was thinking the same thing watching tonight's game. Unfortunately I think the trend will continue until a few guys other than Hart start going the other way and quit trying to pull everything.

How can you say that since the 24-10 start (which I'm sick of hearing about by the way, it's only 20% of the season!) we haven't had another stretch of good play? In June, they went 17-9 with a 5-game, 4-game, and 3-game win streak in there. In July (bad month overall at 11-16), they started 3-7 but then won 4 in a row and finished the month 8-9. Yes, August has been bad thus far (4-10), but 10 of the final 13 games in the month are against sub-500 teams giving us some hope, right? I'm holding judgment on the season until it's over. Let's (try to) enjoy the ride. Go Crew!

Chaben - I happened to be in Rochester MN this week as well, and was able to check out the game at McMurphy's on FSN WI. Maybe next time you can check it out there.

I had a similar experience last night in the right field corner, 2nd level. I didn't know that you needed SRO or a bleacher ticket to get in that area, and after the 8th inning we were trying to meet up with a friend at the concessions behind the bleachers. I walked in that area fine but my friend got stopped by the usher who asked for his ticket. While asking the usher if we could simply walk behind the bleachers to find our friend, a cop approached him from behind to tell him to leave. I asked the cop why we couldn't walk behind the bleachers, and his immediate reaction was to threaten to throw us out of the stadium. He repeated this threat 3-4 more times, and added another threat to have me banned from the stadium in the future after I asked again why we couldn't simply walk behind the bleachers. Finally, after Bonds was taken out of the game, we returned to the corner and one usher I recognized calmly explained the situation and how we could get such access in the future. I told him (with the cop standing next to me) that I was extremely disappointed in the cop's attitude towards a paid ticket holder (season ticket holder no less), and I was also disappointed in the Brewers decision to allow access to SRO when many other fans paid more for their tickets than those and the stadium is usually open to walk around. I plan on calling my ticket agent and possibly customer service about this event after the Giants series is over. I understand the safety concerns of fans trampling someone trying to catch a homerun ball, but that cop last night and the other stories posted here make me nervous about how things would be come playoff time. Hopefully other fans voice their concerns as well. Go Brewers!

I really think it's about pitch selection with Rickie. When he swung at good pitches last night, he hit the ball hard - his line drive to center and a hard ground ball to the hole at short. If he learns to lay off the breaking stuff middle-out (see Mr. Fielder for example), he'll be fine. I think it's really hard for someone with Rickie's high energy to be hitting in the eight hole, and really setting him up for failure. As some have suggested, if they want him to get back on track, and I akin that to mean see better pitches, they need to slide him up out from in front of the pitcher, or the best we can expect is a lot of walks once he gets "right".