JohnBriggs12

It's up to 0 for 15 now in the series with RISP. Is it me or is Barksdales zone from the chin to the toenails?

Memo to Corey Hart: You can't hit the ball when you're looking into left field.

This is the deal the Brewers should have made. Kendall is a complete bust in my book.

0 for 14 with RISP this series. Pathetic.

Braun has nearly 10 more HR and 20 RBI more than either Holliday or Pujols. As long as he maintains that and his BA is reasonably close, I don't think voters will look at OBP. Berkman was the first half MVP but he's slugging just .315 in July and he's playing on a non contender. The top 6 in no particular order are Braun, H. Ramirez, D. Wright, Pujols, Utley, and Berkman. I wouldn't even count out Ryan Howard at this point since he's on pace for around 145 RBI. Chipper Jones? He can't stay in one piece. He might not get enough plate appearences to qualify for the batting title.

Well, if Weeks got the free pass due to the wrist injury for a year and a half, Suppan should be given some slack due to his recent DL stint. No he shouldn't. Both Weeks' wrist and Suppan's elbow are/were excuses. It's supposed to be time for accountability not excuses.

Weeks isn't the only guy not being held accountable. What about Suppan and his 9.09 ERA over his last 6 starts? Villanueva was banished to the pen for better numbers than that. Or Kendall, who continues to keep Mike Rivera and his .451 slugging pct. on the bench by "hitting" .179/.289/.244 over 78 July ABs with 4 measely RBI?

This is Ben Sheets' moment. With all the Sabathia hoopla, Sheets took a little bit of a second banana role. I think he'll look at tonight's game as a time to re-establish himelf in the Brewer pecking order. He's due for a dominant performance and except for D. Lee, he's got good splits against this group. I just wish Fielder, Hart and Cameron were swinging hotter bats.

My 17 year old son has Asperger's syndrome so I speak with much personal experience here. He has experienced a lifetime of indignities from ignorant and just plain mean people. Believe me when I tell anyone reading this that the "fun" they are having at his expense hurts them just as much as anyone if not more. My son is no dummy. He's like any other teen. He wants friends and to be treated like any other kid. He's a B honor roll student who excells in math and science and as a member of his high school chess team has competed at state chess meets in Illinois. The telltale sign of an Aspergers (or other Autism spectrum disorder) is that when excited, they flap their hands. If over stimulated, they can experience quite emotional episodes. Raising a child with it is hard on everyone in the family. Most people don't have a clue. My son's been to Miller Park many times, and we've never had a problem with other fans. But he really doesn't get into the games all that much and is usually well behaved. He's even been to Lambeau with no problems either. So I can understand the dad thinking it would be okay. Had I been that dad though, I would have got up early on and either called security or defended my son right from the get go. In recent years, my son taken to posting on video game forums which is what he's passionate about. As we all know, differences of opinion can get quite personal on these can have a real effect on him so we try to monitor it as much as we can. Asperger kids have a lot to offer society. Most are very smart. If you see someone acting a little odd, remember they have parents and family and feelings too. Leave em alone or better yet, just say hi to them. If you know a kid at your school with Aspergers, include him in your group. It might seem like a small thing, but you can't believe what good that does for them.

For all the well deserved bashing of Weeks, the guy who was equally responsible for this one was 3rd base umpire Doug Eddings, annually one of the worst umpires in baseball. It's not often the 3rd base umpire can cost you a game but last night he did. Hart was safe and would have scored on Hall's single. Cedeno was clearly tagged on the helmet by Hall before touching 3rd. That would have made the force out at second the last out of the inning costing the Brewers 2 more runs.

I don't buy the saving the bullpen for the Chicago series. The pen has had very limited action since the All Star break. Nobody has been overworked. The one advantage of carrying a 6th starter essentially is just that situation. If McClung is good enough to start 50% of the time, he's being wasted being used to mopup and that's what he was reduced to after Ned let Suppan get the game out of hand. I would not have let Suppan face Berkman in that inning with one out and 4 runs already in, much less go 3 more hitters and let him face Blum. If that's the kind of poor decision making we have to look forward to in the pressure packed final two months, we are in trouble.

The problem with Yost in the past is that the bigger the situation, the worse his decision making gets. I think with Simmons in his ear this year that Yost has had a better year this year than last, but if he starts making decisions like yesterday, the Brewers are in trouble.

While I totally understand the feelings many have toward Suppan, like kmcasper23 says, they did make a huge committment to this guy so I don't expect any changes. On a hopeful note, he was bad in June 07 (7.68 ERA) and July 07 (5.29) before he came on down the stretch last August (3.90) and September (3.86). I'm sure that Yost and company are counting on a similar finish for him. But Yost has to realize that some days he doesn't have it and when he doesn't he gets hit hard so it's pointless to sit there at let him fritter away a close game.

If Gamel can't outproduce Overbay, then he's certainly not the prospect the Brewers think he is. Overbay's been very unproductive the last 2 seasons. That being said, I still don't see Fielder going anywhere. They are not going to leave Gamel as the lone lefthanded bat in the lineup.

Lou has to get suspended. That belly bump was clearly intentional. DeRosa was clearly out and never argued.

The huge negative of losing Gallardo is that he's a much greater unknown going into 2009 than he would have been had he stayed healthy. Had he established himself and gone 15-9 with a 3.30 or so ERA, it would be much easier to let Sheets go. We assume he's a potential ace or at least a co number one with Parra, but it's all based on potential and the small sample of what we've seen of him. Conversely if both Sheets and Sabathia are gone as most expect, the Brewers will be back under the radar (ala the Twins), with still the potential to be very good in 2009 and still a lot of options for deals.

Is it just me or does Kendall seem lost at the plate. He's always been a guy who dives at pitches but it's so noticeable now it looks like he's falling over every time he swings. It's no wonder this guy has no power. If he took those mechanics to the golf course, he wouldn't hit a driver 200 yards. I think a lot of it is lack of rest and him wearing down badly.

Rapuano's been around a long time (since 1990). Last night he did the cardinal sin of umpiring. He made the call on the swing by Fielder and frankly when I saw it live I thought it was a swing too. But when Yost yelled something from the dugout, he starting back at Yost. "It's my call, I saw it blah, blah blah" in a tone that was awful. He shouldn't have said anything back to Yost other than maybe, "I saw it". Yost reacted to the tone Rapuano projected. Rapuano was clearly wrong and Joe West even knew it. West at first tried to keep Rapuano away from Yost.

I never got down on Hall. He made one or two ill advised statements (which he later conceded was a mistake), but I've said for years that despite all his ups and downs, Bill Hall has been the heart and soul of the Milwaukee Brewers for quite some time. He's one of may favorite Brewers of all time.

CC is a smart pitcher. He doesn't waste pitches. He also paces himself during games. He's completed games because he saves his best stuff for the 9th inning. You also don't see hitters fouling off multiple pitches. Not since Steve Carlton in his prime, have I seen a lefthander with the stuff and moxie of Sabathia and Carlton was as durable as they get.

I think initially, like Braun, Gamel will get a shot at 3B. I also expect Hall to move back to CF when that happens. After a year or two, Fielder is the most likely to depart, allowing Gamel to move to first. When that happens, probably in 2010 or 2011, Hardy moves to 3B, Escobar settles in at SS. There's quite of bit of possibilities. Trades anywhere could change things.

Even with playoffs, after mid September, there's no minor league for him to rehab in. This is the guy likely to be counted on as the ace next season. I would hope they would not be so foolish to entertain this idea.

You have to like Rhodes' recent form but he's not been pitching in the heat of a race though. Somebody's likely to be interested which might drive up the price. I could see the Cubs getting involved on Rhodes.

Bullpens are blowing games all over both leagues on a daily basis. There are no Sabathia reliever equivalents out there that are available at any cost. The Brewers right now have a veteran, healthy group. That's more than most teams can say. If a decent guy falls into your lap, fine. But it's not going to make that much difference in all likliehood.

Forget Fuentes. The Rockies have been asking for the moon for him. Besides, in that division, who can rule them out of it? I'm not sold that the many secondary relievers that could be had are any better than the guys the Brewers have. Stetter and perhaps even Choate will be up in September to add the lefties. Gagne might blow up every now and then, but 4 of his 5 appearences this month have been stellar. Riske and Villanueva have been solid. With 6 starters, the extra guy gives them cover in long role. No team is going to go from now until October without the bullpen occasionally letting a game go. I think the Brewer pen, especially considering the ability of several starters to go very deep, is enough to win. I think a lot of the "Brewers are a reliever short" stuff is national media stuff over Gagne signing and his early season struggles. While this is not a great bullpen, it's still pretty good and it's been through the wars enough not to let a bad game carry over or a particular situation overwhelm them.