jaybird2001wi

casey, mlb.com won't allow people to put "Hoffman 51" on a customized jersey because it involves an active player on "another" team. It will eventually allow us to order one once he is officially on the team.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z317/jaybird2422/prod.jpg How does this jersey look? I could not put No. 51 on due MLB rules, but you all can get an idea by looking at it.

The Blackhawks will be playing at Wrigley Field at an ice rink. I also just went to an Admirals game last night and wondered how they really make hockey ice. When people think of ice skating, they think of freezing cold but the Bradley Center had comfortable temps as do other ice arenas. How is ice created indoors and how does it stay frozen and at the same time creating comfortable temps indoors? Do they use a different chemical or something?

http://www.ruggedelegantliving.com/change/a/images/sammy.sosa.cork.jpg http://www.insomniacink.com/Shirt%20Pictures/bWisco.jpg http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/pics/brant_brown_autograph.jpg Futurama scene: http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/2903/milwaukee18ow.jpg

With the Packers possibly concluding with a 5-11 record and an underwhelming Brewer offseason, a lot of apathy for Wisconsin sports fans. So let's just take a moment to think happy thoughts. Let's post Happy Moment Pictures and Thoughts. I will begin with these pictures: http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/EUR/1155-3003~Golden-Retrievers-Puppies-Posters.jpg http://www.cubssuckclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/cardsvscubs.gif http://www.photovalley.com/images/webtumbs/gatos_cute%20kittens1.jpg http://cdn.afflictionclothing.com/pictures/RyanBraun.jpg HAVE FUN PAYING TOLLS CHICAGO http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2335/2373093416_afdecc8af4.jpg?v=0 http://emergingpictur.setupmyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/DSC00504.JPG http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/randallcards/Football%20PC/CadeMcNownDraftDayHat-112-120.jpg

Today I had bacon. I work at a group home and talked to my Mom about how during meal prep at breakfast, I put the bacon in the oven and my Mom had never heard of making bacon in the oven. I demonstrated bacon in an oven is just as good as frying it on the stove. Even a tall, skinny guy like me can eat a ton of bacon. As a matter of fact, I might throw some more bacon in tonight. None of the major "chain restaurants" like Dennys and Perkins makes good bacon though. Turns out all the local places make better bacon. Someone told me they like bacon bits in vanilla ice cream.

As the winter months pass, I have wondered if there are any decent places to watch a Brewer game next season that does not serve alcohol. I have an "issue" but am wondering if any places/dry clubs in Milwaukee county (Moreso Southern MIL county) has TVs set to sporting events.

I remember reading about his LSD no-hitter awhile back. Basically Dock and his girlfriend were hanging out somewhere in SoCal and his girlfriend asked if he was pitching that day while they were "using" and Ellis said he didn't think so, only to learn from that day's newspaper that he was listed as the Pirates' probable starter that day while he was under the influence. If I remember correctly, he was paraphrased as saying: "Sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn't and sometimes the ball looked as big as a beach ball." Sports Illustrated did a "Where are they now?" issue and Ellis was reformed and become a Drug Abuse counselor as a way of giving back after his years as a ballplayer and was sober for a decade or two. What I think was more remarkable was his admission of using LSD during the era of speculative amphetamine use and around the time cocaine became a drug some ballplayers used (see: 1986 Mets: Hernandez, Keith; Wilson, Mookie).

Prior to Sabathia signing with the Yankees, former Sabathia teammate Kenny Lofton warned CC Sabathia about the demands of being a Yankee. As some of you may remember, Lofton launched a diatribe towards the Yankees a year or two ago about how Joe Torre used him when he played for the Yankees. This all makes me wonder about the National perception of the Yankees and how players have perceived their experiences with the Brewers. I have often heard nothing but positive things from former Brewers when they surfaced on other teams except Sheffield obviously. Does anyone believe the "word of mouth" amongst players will help or hinder the Brewers chances? I recalled Sabathia say he was "excited" about the trade to Milwaukee and often stated the community embraced him and his family. Maybe there is more truth to what Lofton said about his experience in New York. I also seem to recall Ken Griffey Jr. voiding a deal to the Mets when he was a Mariner because of bad experiences he had as a child roaming the locker room of Yankee stadium when his father played there. Based upon Yankee history, there did seem to be less "legendary minority" players except for Reggie Jackson. I remember reading about how George Steinbrenner hired a Private Investigator to "dig up dirt" on Dave Winfield. Winfield may be another player who has sworn off allegiance with the Yankees.

Would the Dodgers take Rickie Weeks for a James Loney or Andre Ethier and Jonathan Broxton deal?

Just checked the list of Free Agents and realized this guy is available. The DBacks are not going to have him back for 2009 and with the struggling Weeks on our team, he will be an upgrade. If they signed Hudson, I'd trade Rickie Weeks for a few spare parts to round out our 40-man roster. Hudson may be 31, but Weeks is not that far away at 26. You think Hudson would demand 10 mil or more per year?

As great a pitcher as Ben Sheets is and how much he has done for the Brewers organization, is it really worth the trouble to invest in a pitcher who just started more than 30 games for the first time since 2004? I am not contesting Sheets' ability as a pitcher, as he has proven to be an ace pitcher when healthy, but the guy simply can not last an entire season. Time and time again, Sheets gets injured when we need him the most at the end of the season when the pennant is on the line or when we are in a playoff chase. Sheets was the ultimate choke artist and proved to be anti-clutch in his last two starts against the Cubs, the team we chased all year, by getting injured and not lasting more than 3 innings in those last two starts. Sheets will be missed a lot for his quality starts, but his injury history has made my blood boil. Where was Sheets in 2007 when we were clinging onto the wild card/division chase? He was on the disabled list. Where was Sheets when we needed a simple victory at the end of the season in 2008 to prevent us all from going into cardiac arrest on the FINAL DAY of the season? Injured. There is no question that he is an ace, and has proven to be one in mid-season, but how many times will he come down with ridiculous injuries? How many times has he failed at the end of the season due to injury when we count on him the most? He has only eclipsed 200 innings three times in his career (2002-04). Maybe I am just trying to convince myself in order to cushion the blow of inevitably losing him to free agency, but a part of me always waited when he came down with his injury during every start. A part of me always told me not to count on him at the end of the year.

It all seems like the eyes will be focused squarely on CC Sabathia as he decides where to go as a free agent. In my opinion, the only way trades will go down will be when Sabathia signs with somebody as he will be the one domino to create the rest of the winter deals. The reasons are simple: 1) Sabathia will be counted on by all of his fellow free agents to "create" the market for free agents this winter. Very little amount of free agents will sign until he makes his decision. 2) Staying in Milwaukee will be an obvious surprising decision and if he does, it could alienate the MLBPA because if he signs a deal for less, it will deflate the salaries of others. Sabathia may not have a choice of whether or not to sign with the Yankees because he will not only face intense pressure from his own agent, but other agents and his fellow players to make the decision to go to New York. 3) There are still a couple teams lurking in the bushes for Sabathia, mostly from the West Coast. The Sabathia camp is waiting on the Giants and Dodgers to make their offers. Sabathia will likely take as much time as he needs in order to wait for these offers. If this occurs, there will be a tremendous slowdown not only from the Brewers perspective, but other teams. 4) The Brewers are not likely to make any deals or sign any free agents ready to make a solid contribution until Sabathia makes his decision. They will not move Mike Cameron, Bill Hall, Rickie Weeks, etc. for starting pitching until they have 100 percent word Sabathia is out of the running. 5) If or when Sabathia signs with the Yankees, other teams will begin to look at Plans B, C, etc. Right now everyone's eyes are on Plan A (Sabathia). If the Angels plan to make a move or offer, this will delay their pursuit to retain Mark Teixeira. Teixeira is being coveted by other teams and his market has not been set as of yet. 6) What could hinder the Sabathia watch is if the Red Sox jump in and throw an offer on the table. They have already talked with Burnett and possibly regaining Derek Lowe. 7) With everyone's eyes on Sabathia, Manny Ramirez has been put on the back burner as far as a free agent pursuit. If a team wants to make a move on Ramirez, now may be the time since every body's attention is on the first guy. Then again, Ramirez is represented by Scott Boras, who can control negotiations and teams which covet him, as well as a highly skilled race car driver. Brewers observations/intriguing rumors on the Hot Stove 1) If and when Sabathia leaves, there will be a flurry of moves concerning position players. a) Tampa Bay Rays have an interest in regaining Delmon Young and is offering starting pitching to the Twins. The Twins, according to ESPN, don't "need" pitching and could use a third-team. Brewers anyone? Could the Twins be interested in any of our infielders since they took a flier/interest in Casey Blake? b) Mike Cameron. The Yankees want him, but would Melvin consider helping the team that took Sabathia away from him? What do the Yankees have to offer? Phillip Hughes? Ian Kennedy? i) A potential move of Cameron leaves the team with a gaping hole in CF, how will they plan on filling it? They are not interested in handing the job nor do they want to give the job to Gwynn Jr. 2) Infielders, it may be inevitable that one or two of infielders could be dealt paving the way for Alcides Escobar. But will Doug Melvin pull out a Rafael Furcal card and hold it close to his chest? He is a switch-hitter and it has been clear that the Brewers need a leadoff hitter. But Furcal declined an offer from the Athletics for nearly 8 million a year. If Sabathia walks, could we use some of this money to throw at Furcal? Could this mean a trade of Hardy or a switch to second base, yielding a Rickie Weeks trade? 3) Starting pitching/bullpen. Shouse declined arbitration leaving us in need for a lefty specialist. Not sure on the market for lefty pitchers, but what could make things interesting is if Melvin fields a call to Randy Johnson if the interest in him is remote.

Maybe a few of you can help me with this. I am interested in doing a project or a documentary of some type on the lifestyle of a Minor Leaguer. I am not sure if this project has ever been done before, but I have thought about contacting some Midwest League teams and inquire if I could "shadow" the team for a two-month period during the 2009 season. My idea or premise of this project would be to live the same way the low level minor leaguers do (host family living, bus trips, etc.). I may contact SABR and ask if I could piggyback with someone from the Field of Dreams Chapter in Iowa where the majority of the Midwest League teams are located. If anyone could be of help to the following outline I have in my mind, let me know: Topic: Midwest League 1) Lifestyle a. Living with a host family b. Meals on the road c. Cultural aspects of each Midwest League city 2) History a. Following of some diehard fans that have followed the team from its inception b. Stadium/Field History c. Legendary players passing through each team (ie, Molitor with Burlington, etc.) 3) Community a. Local businesses which cater to the players of each team b. Marketing aspects c. Mass transit What I plan on doing: I will basically leave my vehicle behind in my hometown and travel with a team willing to show its hospitality toward me. Live with a host family and basically sit in the dugout and take notes of the surrounding areas of each city. I will also leave behind most of my money and live life to the closest ideal of what a Minor Leaguer goes through during the course of a season.

Howdy Moderators, as a couple of you may know I joined SABR back in July and in the SABR links page, brewerfan.net is not mentioned or listed. I was wondering if it would okay to add the website link on behalf of brewerfan.net. I know Brian likes to limit the amount of people who convey the message of brewerfan.net. But this website is probably just as good, if not better, than the links added to the links page of the members database.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is running a five-part series on Wisconsin's drinking culture/experience and before I comment on this subject I feel this has to be said. Regardless of your age, gender, race, economic status and family upbringing; no one is immune to being an alcoholic. I am 26 and had to take four years off of school because I had problems with it and it nearly got me kicked out of college for poor grades. I finally came to terms with it at the beginning of this year and this article gives me a great opportunity to express my experience with anyone effected by alcohol abuse. I would like to start off by not blaming anyone, it was my fault and I needed to change. But that is besides the point of this article. It makes me wonder about the education of children are. Back when I attended elementary school, we had the "Just Say No" club and the "DARE" program. Both programs never really touched on the more legal drugs like tobacco and alcohol. The DARE program, from what I understand, was pretty much removed from most public school systems because of funding issues. In my experience, both programs never really hit home the idea of what alcohol abuse is. Maybe elementary school was too young to begin targeting home these ideas because of maturity levels, I seem to remember students laughing at the films depicting drunk people, but they never had the perception that it was the drug that caused this behavior. I don't really think these programs helped or made these problems worse on a student-by-student basis. I am not even entirely sure the media is to blame, but there does seem to be a glamourization of movies "showing the college culture of drinking, etc." But even that can be questionable, Animal House was made in 1977 or something around there and to this day, movies are made to show that type of culture. So there really is no simple answer to the issue The Journal-Sentinel is putting out there.

Not sure if this has been mentioned in this post and I don't really feel like paging through 300 plus posts already, but we need a Manager who is not afraid to light a fire if possible. It is time to move on from the "player's manager" to a "tough manager" who is not blindly loyal to players who deserve a benching or two for poor play. Time and time again, Yost stuck with a position player (Weeks anyone?) longer than he should have. Yost may or may not have cost us some wins for being too loyal to the wrong players for too long. This team is not "young" anymore and should be treated like players with high expectations and players who will be accountable for their poor play on defense and offense. Players like Weeks need to be held more accountable than what Yost treated them as. Let the players answer for their poor play instead of a Manager who continually played the "battler" card after every game. This team were in the playoff hunt in 2007 and made the post-season this year, so enough of the "on-the-job training," they are supposed to act and play like contenders now and actually take things seriously out there.

Prior to the Brewers' move to the National League, the Cubs were my National League team (I now hate the Cubs and made the wise choice of sticking with the Brewers) and I remember Kevin Foster. I will always remember him as the pitcher who would always toss the baseball during his off days in order to keep his fingers strong so he can keep his breaking balls sharp. What is a shame is that he was only 39 and died of cancer and was about to be married. Apparently his career ended shortly and he only had the alternative of being a truck driver after his playing career. I seem to remember Kevin Foster as a decent hitting pitcher. By the way fellow Brewer fans, don't be mad at me for being a "used-to-be" Cubs fan. It was pre-1997.

The "new" Oklahoma City franchise has selected "Thunder" as its logo officially as of today. I am just a bit underwhelmed to say the least. Not only does the Logo look like it was designed by a kindergartener having fun with photoshop, but the name doesn't end in an "s" like team names should. The NBA is the biggest culprit in naming teams after dumb animals or stuff that does not even exist within the team's geographic area. You would think they would actually attempt to pick a name that resembles the Oklahoma City culture but apparently they are going the way of choosing a name that is cartoonish and absolutely lame. The NBA has the lamest nicknames in all of sports... 1) Orlando Magic - I have often thought this name was absolutely dumb. First it doesn't end with an "s" and second it sounds like an 8-year-old kid thought of this nickname. 2) Miami Heat - See Magic. 3) Toronto Raptors - There are no Raptors in Toronto. Why not name them after something reflecting its Canadian heritage? 4) Washington Wizards - See above but does end in an "s" Ideally my opinions on the rest: 1) Atlanta Hawks - tolerable, but don't know if Hawks are popular in Atlanta. 2) Boston Celtics - Classic team name, no touching this one. 3) Charlotte Bobcats - Lame name but I just checked wikipedia out, and apparently the Hornets name did make sense in Charlotte. 4) Chicago Bulls - Too much history to touch this name. 5) Cleveland Cavs - Tolerable 6) Dallas Mavericks - Acceptable and does seem to follow the Texas-style culture 7) Denver Nuggets - Does follow the "Rocky Mountain" theme. 8) Detroit Pistons - They had a horse as the logo. Since its the Motor City, I would have thought it was named after the car part. 9) Golden State Warriors - I didn't know Native Americans were prevalent in Oakland. 10) Houston Rockets - Follows the NASA theme 11) Indiana Pacers - Seems to follow the "Indy Racing" type theme. 12) Los Angeles Clippers - Clippers sound more like an East Coast name because of boating and such. 13) Los Angeles Lakers - Originated in Minneapolis, the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," but it is kind of too late to change this one. 14) Memphis Grizzlies - Sounds kind of like a "cartoonish" nickname and did seem to make sense in Vancouver. Why don't they rename them the "Memphis Blues?" 15) Milwaukee Bucks - Makes sense to me, we are a hunting state. 16) Minnesota Timberwolves - Makes sense to me. 17) New Jersey Nets - Its a basketball team, so the name makes sense... but I think the owners named them the Nets because they couldn't figure out what else to name them. This is like the equivalent of a baseball team calling themselves the "Anytown USA Gloves." 18) New Orleans Hornets - the name Jazz sounds better and there once was a team called the New Orleans Jazz, they are now in Utah. See below for my comments on the Utah Jazz. 19) New York Knicks - Makes sense and the name does have the richest history of all the teams in the NBA. 20) Philadelphia 76ers - American Independence. 21) Phoenix Suns - Acceptable 22) Portland Trailblazers - When I was a little kid I never understood this name but I guess it can be acceptable since its in Oregon and does name itself after the "Oregon Trail" in a sense. 23) Sacramento Kings - Apparently they named themselves the Kings in Kansas City because Royals were already taken following their move from Cincinnati. 24) San Antonio Spurs - Makes sense 25) Utah Jazz - They NEED to drop this name. First off, Utah should not have the name of Jazz because no such thing exists. They need to give it back to New Orleans and New Orleans needs to give the Hornets back to Charlotte.

Well, the remnants of Gustav have made its way to the Midwest. We could be due for some heavy downpours tomorrow (Thursday) and the radar looks like most of it will hit us.

I am not sure if this has been posted anywhere and this does involve the minors so if needed you can transfer this to the Minors forum. Anyhow, courtesy of CNNSI HotClicks, former Red Sox pitcher Lenny DiNardo could have quite possibly pitched the worst game ever. For Oakland's AAA affiliate (Sacramento) against the Fresno (Giants), here was DiNardo's amazing line: Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA DiNardo (L, 6-5) 3.0 14 15 15 2 1 2 6.69 What is more frightening is he only gave up TWO home runs, one being a Grand Slam from Nate Schierholtz in the fourth inning and the other being a three-run job from Brett Harper. The question is, what made the Manager decided the fourth was the time to give him the hook? And on 15 ER, he allowed 14 hits and 2 walks. Is there anything more amazing than that line? Anything worse?

I am not sure if this has been posted anywhere and this does involve the minors so if needed you can transfer this to the Minors forum. Anyhow, courtesy of CNNSI HotClicks, former Red Sox pitcher Lenny DiNardo could have quite possibly pitched the worst game ever. For Oakland's AAA affiliate (Sacramento) against the Fresno (Giants), here was DiNardo's amazing line: Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA DiNardo (L, 6-5) 3.0 14 15 15 2 1 2 6.69 What is more frightening is he only gave up TWO home runs, one being a Grand Slam from Nate Schierholtz in the fourth inning and the other being a three-run job from Brett Harper. The question is, what made the Manager decided the fourth was the time to give him the hook? And on 15 ER, he allowed 14 hits and 2 walks. Is there anything more amazing than that line? Anything worse?

Former Brewer Matt Stairs was traded to Philadelphia for a minor league PTBNL today. Stairs will reportedly replace another former Brewer Geoff Jenkins, who was recently placed on the 15-Day Disabled List.

I have a weakness for Italian foods since I am part Italian so here is my list: Racine area Pizza - Wells Brothers (Ranked in the Top 10 Nationwide for best pizza) but is located in a really bad neighborhood DeRangos (On Six Mile Road) Best Chain Restaurant - The Chancery Best "Fast Food" Restaurant - Noodles and Company (depends on the location) Mexican Food - La Tapatia (located near Wells Brothers in one of the worst areas in Racine) Seafood - Yardarm Pub Worst List Chain Restaurant - George Webb (I almost threw up looking at my overeasy eggs and just looking at some of the people that work there, every one of the Webb restaurants seems like a stereotypical diner where you'd see the cook smoking a cigarette and having ashes fall onto your food) Any Sub Sandwich shop because they never make my sandwiches right and it grosses me out sometimes When I lived in Waukesha for a very short time - Mama Mia's in downtown Waukesha

On Saturday my parents are moving from the South side of Racine to the North Side near Caledonia and although I am 25 and should be living on my own by now, it will be emotional. I grew up in this house and moved into the house July of 1987 and my parents and I unearthed a lot of weird things in the process. Some of the stuff they wrapped up in newspapers were still in the original boxes and newspapers from when we moved in 21 years ago. There was even an article on Paul Molitor's 39-game hitting streak in an August edition of the Milwaukee Journal in 1987. It will be weird for me because I did move away for awhile, moved back in, moved away again and then moved back in and every single house in this neighborhood I remember who lived in each from as far back as 1990. It is also weird because only two neighbors remain from the time I moved in until now (an elderly couple down the block and an annoying neighbor two houses down) and everyone else has come and gone. I still talk to the "kids" I made friends with back in 1987 when I was just four years old. Now we all are in our mid to late 20's and are either married, have our final 9-5 jobs and some own our own homes. I was the youngest of the group of kids in the neighborhood so this neighborhood is the only neighborhood I ever truly remember. After Saturday I will make almost daily visits to the old neighborhood for "meetings" and it will be weird knowing I will be going north instead of staying around afterwards. On the bright side, the old neighborhood has gone downhill in a big way since then. Now every two or three months the Milwaukee news stations cover some "bad news" about my neighbors and the crime rate has jumped (drugs, some violent crime) and less favorable people have moved in. The new neighborhood is in a nicer subdivision. My parents have wanted to get out of this neighborhood for the longest time and they finally are. Anyone got related stories?