jeffy

I think the firing was pretty clearly Attanasio's decision, based on Melvin saying things like "I'm not sure I have all the answers, and I'm not sure this is the right one, either..." How much closer can he come to saying that he agrees with you that this was a bone-headed move. I think I would have to agree with the column linked below that with less than two weeks left in the season you can't fire the manager. It conveys a feeling of panic and that's not the mindset players should take to the field when they are in the midst of a playoff race. http://www.htrnews.com/ap...0921/MAN02/809210464/1378 As he says there: There were plenty of reasons to fire Yost before the season started or midway through the year, but when the schedule reached September, the Brewers should have unfortunately stuck with the girl they brought to the dance. The first mistake was extending him last year in the midst of a collapse, I guess since that "vote of confidence" did not work Mark figured he'd try the opposite this year. Either that or Melvin convinced him to do it, so he did...and then spent this entire season looking for a reason to fire Yost. I think most veteran managers are going to see this the way Bobby Cox does: "I was flabbergasted," Cox said. "I couldn't believe what happened. I just think it's awful. I've never heard of anything like that." http://mlb.mlb.com/news/a...mlb&partnerId=rss_mlb I also wonder if Sveum has hurt his own future chances of getting hired as a coach. Is it possible that other manager's will think that he should have turned down the interim manager opportunity, given the timing?

The Mets don't seem to want to win this thing either. I was looking at the Cubs 1969 collapse for comparison. They had a 5 game lead at the start of Sept, quite similar to our wild card lead. They proceeded to go 5-14 and fell to 4 games behind the Mets. The brewers could go 5-14, yet still only be 1.5 games behind the Mets after tomorrow.

Ah, so it was there before the firing...I was thinking it had something to do with that http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif.

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif http://www.ajc.com/search...N_Brewers_Yost_Fired.html

Just noticed on the Brewer's schedule: http://milwaukee.brewers....hedule/index.jsp?c_id=mil they have a picture of Darth Vader on Sept 16, and when you point at it "THE FORCE UNLEASHED" appears. I wonder how long that embarassing claim and picture will remain there.

It can't be any more brutal than the last 3 weeks, can it?

I did say rarely in that second rule. He also went unused for a week, when no save situations came up, didn't he? If our announcers are to be believed, lack of work can lead to an ineffective Torres.

we are going to have to have guys starting on 2 days rest soon. Yeah, sorta, Seth McClung is listed as probable starter for tomorrow.

The real problem is that every major league manager is a near automaton when it comes to using "the closer". The rules which must not be broken include (but certainly are not limited to): When the closer has been put in the game, no matter how ineffective he is, he must remain in until the game is lost/tied or until the end of the inning. The closer shall rarely (preferably never) be used in a non-save situation. This rule shall be followed even if he is a pitcher who is more effective with regular use.

Go ahead wear the bag, be a spectacle, if they have been eliminated. Have some fun with the misery.

Hey, you should not be scolding me at all http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif. That is exactly why I wrote "there was last year for one". I remembered there was at least one other time they had been close before last year, but did not want to reseach it. That had been before I was following them very closely. What I had remembered was they had a shot at winning the division, yet attendance was still not very good in September...I am guessing that was 1992.

Uh, no...there was last year for one. The Brewers were tied for first on 9/18/07 and went 2-6 over the next 8 games to hand the division to the Cubs.

This is just what the team deserves to experience, I wonder if they will see that as worse than enduring a few boos.

Yes, but those of us who stick with it will recieve this reward should the unexpected happen. At this point it is a "no-lose" proposition as we are not expecting anything but failure to make the playoffs, so there will be no additional disappointment if they do not.

Is it not also on him that all the draft picks seem to be guys with a mentality of "swing hard at every pitch, you just might hit a home run" and "fielding http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/ohwell.gif...huh, what's that?..."? Can we get a GM who will hire a manager that does not believe that the only "rules" of modern baseball that must never be broken are those related to the use of the closer? Yeah, I didn't think so.

While I had thought that they normally start in April, April 7 seemed later than normal. In 2004 they did start on April 5 and ended Oct 3. They also started and ended the season on the road that year, both @ StL.

Perhaps he'll take care of that issue by signing with an AL team. Which would be nice in that the Brewers will not have to face him much, if at all.

And then never used...and that after being Ned's hit man and all last Sept.

I think it's fair to say Yost was a fine manager for the first 4 to 4-1/2 years. Absolutely. I think it takes a different manager style to rebuild and introduce young players to the majors, then it does to manage a playoff caliber team...Ned struggled with that pressure. I think Melvin should have made a business decision and told Yost this by the end of the 2007 season. Instead, they extended him and then seemingly spent the entire 2008 season looking for reasons to fire him (I'm guessing that the badgerblogger rumor had some truth to it).

Brewers start and end on the road, I thought that was never supposed to happen. Also the season is shifted about a week later than normal, I am guessing that is related to the World Baseball Classic??? Is 2009 last year for the dome in Minnesota? I know it is crappy for baseball, but I've never been there and thinking maybe making a trip for the memorial day weekend series there.

Agree...with two outs and the team not hitting, go for it. Braun was certainly expecting to go...too bad he looked up.

They are probably figuring he's on the Cubs and they are also to play Cleveland http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif.

True, but if your starter is sucking already might as well see if another unreliable pitcher is happening to have a good day.

I like the move, Parra may be worn out and has not seemed to be too effective. They have plenty of arms in the bullpen to back-up McClung...Villanueva, DeFelice. If Parra is going to the bullpen should they make the playoffs, this lets him get used to it a little. I assume that the overall plan is to then skip the McClung spot with the off day and go CC, Sheets, Bush for the final 3 games. Then (hopefully) CC pitches on Oct 1.

Nice summary, I had the same thoughts listening to him yesterday.