Ulice Payne

I think there's a decent chance there'll be fans at the games at some point this season. I would think the private boxes could be used right now.

I don't see Stearns having a dedicated DH. The way he values the ability to play multiple positions, the Brewers will probably give everyone a turn at DH.

There's a basic exchange when a fan supports a team. You buy a ticket; you're owed a game. You tune them in on TV, and you agree to have the ads broadcast in your house in exchange for being able to view the program. The fans are owed the individual games they pay for, nothing more. Of course, it's in a team's best interest to make the game entertaining, to encourage the customer to engage in some repeat business. That could be in the form of wins, or in the display of amazing talent in a losing effort, or individual players exhibiting colorful behavior, or even dizzy bat races. They don't owe us a championship. They don't owe it to me to win when I buy a ticket. They just owe me a few hours of entertainment. People that enjoy the entertainment will become repeat customers, people that don't can spend their money on movies or a concert. Baseball franchises are not public trusts, like the Parks System or the Library. They are private, for-profit private businesses. They can't be expected to lose money for the public good. I like watching the Brewers. I'm a fan. I'll buy tickets and allow David Gruber commercials in my house. I would really like a the Brewers to win a championship, and if they did, I'd probably purchase more of their product. But I chose the Brewers as my team because they are located close to me. The games are easiest to get to, and the TV broadcasts are not difficult to get. There's even a civic pride aspect to it. I've found the uneven payroll to be interesting. I like rooting for a team that is facing foes with more resources. It's compelling to see a team assembled with creativity and smarts. I can't expect my local pro baseball franchise to operate at a loss any more than I could expect a concert or a movie to lose money. They are selling us entertainment. At a profit. I'm entertained, so I'll be a customer.

Jeter, Schilling, Bonds, Clemens. I believe that MLB knew exactly what was happening during the steroid era, and let it happen because it was good for the bottom line. The PED guys were playing within the de facto rules in place at the time. It's not fair to hold them to a different standard now.

When they're not side by side, the differences start to fade into the background. Comparing the both of them, the original starts to have a certain "fatness" that starts to not look right. By May, most fans probably wont notice the difference any more. It is ironic, though, that a team that played Mike Moustakis at second base is going to a primary logo that highlights defense, haha.

I like the corrected stitching and centering on the ball. I like the straightening of the lines between the fingers. I even like the narrowing; I always thought the (pinky?) finger on the far right hung out there a little too much. I find the linking of the m and the b at the top (between the thumb and index finger) to be distracting. Side by side the differences stand out, but once the new logo is by itself on the new uniforms, it'll be difficult to notice the changes. Overall, glad for the rebrand. Glad to bring back a timeless logo. Most fans will love that they did this. Not buying anything new right away; I'll wait till I can get this logo on some World Series Champions merchandise.

I would like to see Braun at first. Less demanding position could mean better offensive production and more time on the field.

Go Expos!

So I don't know anything specific about the players that you are targeting from Korea and Japan, but I really like that avenue of thinking. Reminds me of when every small market superstar would end up with the Yankees, Dodgers, et al, and the Milwaukees of the world seemed like AAAA teams for the large markets. A creative way to find talent that fits in the Brewers payroll, possibly with less competition to get those players. I would not spend the big money on Grandal. The Brewers could bring him back if he ends up amenable to another one year deal, but I sincerely doubt that will turn out to be the case. Brewers should be grateful for his fine 2019 performance, and let another team pay him in his declining post age 30 seasons.

OK. This one was tough.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/323847987512 I put the collection up on eBay at the above link. Don't let the high price put you off; I expect people to make offers.

I've got the following autographed baseballs available at the following links. All acquired by myself in person. On official balls; each in an acrylic ball cube. Kevin Seitzer https://www.ebay.com/itm/323863469718 Jim Gantner https://www.ebay.com/itm/323862729432 Gorman Thomas https://www.ebay.com/itm/323861563988 Fernando Vina https://www.ebay.com/itm/323859891218 Scott Podsednik https://www.ebay.com/itm/323859077013 Cal Ripken Jr. https://www.ebay.com/itm/323858629370

https://www.ebay.com/itm/323860695209 I have 7 of the Robin Yount 3000 Hit Coca-Cola Cans from 1992. $9.99 each including shipping; at the above link.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/323859077361 I'm selling a lot of 27 Autographed Brewers Cards on eBay. Includes; Rick Dempsey Franklin Stubbs Bill Krueger Jaime Navarro Jesse Levis Rickey Bones Scott Karl Sal Bando Jim Sundberg Ed Romero Kane Davis Bud Selig Joey Meyer Dante Bichette Pat Listach Phil Garner Tim McIntosh Bill Wegman Mark Loretta Ron Robinson Greg Brock Bill Spiers Tom Trebelhorn BJ Surhoff Mike Felder James Austin Rene Lachemann Selling a large portion of my collection; I'll have more stuff listed.

It might be what we need most this week, but I don't think Stearns works that way. He'll add to the team, but it'll be whatever the market is undervaluing. Most likely, he'll get us an undervalued reliever with an outstanding groundball ratio vs the teams Milwaukee will face the rest of the way; or a versatile infielder with good OBP against pitchers now on NL Central teams. He'll look at the players with the most value unique to the Brewers remaining games. Wish I could bring Stearns with me next time I need to buy a car.

https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/clt/d/okauchee-bob-uecker-signed-high-school/6885374770.html A good friend of mine is selling this 1951 Boys Technical High School Yearbook signed by Bob Uecker. Ueck would have been about 17 at the time, and signed as "Robert Uecker." A very unique piece. Take a look--even if you're not buying its the kind of thing you'll never see again. Also signed by Ron Drzewiecki - 1st round draft pick of the Chicago Bears. The listing belongs to my friend, best to direct any inquiries to him directly through Craigslist.

Bumping this back up for anyone who wants a head start on a comprehensive Brewers baseball card collection.

Howdy, folks. Don't post much anymore, but I've been around since the great migration from the ESPN message boards, back in 2001 or so. Really enjoy reading all your opinions, and it's nice to have such a great fan-sourced resource for Brewers news. I've been thinking of what major changes I would make to MLB. Here's my two cents. 1. Owners would negotiate with the Players Union as a whole, not with individual players. Owners could negotiate to pay the Union a set percentage of MLB revenue. Let's say the Players Union gets 60%. Then the Union can decide how all the players get paid. They could base it on service time, performance, popularity; whatever they want. Then a team could hire any player willing to play for them, and the player would get paid union scale. All teams could afford to try to win. All players paid what they're worth. 2 Expand cities; not teams. MLB could set up shop in one or two current non-baseball markets. Maybe they build a stadium in Las Vegas. Then each team plays a "home" series at the new site. Baseball expands to a new market, but doesn't dilute the product. MLB could even base the schedule based on attendance, so the team with the worst attendance would have more games moved to the new site; making that team's home tickets more scarce (hopefully producing a better supply/demand for marketing those tickets to the home fans) and benefiting the low attendance team with better revenue from the new site. 3. Change Playoff Format I think one of the reasons MLB Playoffs struggle for ratings is that no one really knows when the final game will occur. Casual fans would probably want to see the championship game, but if the series is sitting 3-1, are they going to skip what they had going on on a Thursday on the chance that it's the last game? MLB could set up a double or triple elimination tournament spanning 3 weeks in October. Teams wouldn't meet in a series, but would be constantly re-seeded and seeing new opponents as teams are eliminated. Eliminate a Wild Card Team after their first loss, but give a division winner three losses before they're out. A team might not see the same opponent in consecutive games. The best part of this, is that the final game could be scheduled well in advance, possibly at a predetermined site. MLB could claim whatever day they want, say the last Sunday in October, and make it the MLB Championship Game Day. They could make their own Super Bowl. Yes, these ideas area bit outlandish. Feel free to disagree. Also, what would you do to fix MLB?

Bumping this back up. These are still available. Bringing this collection current could be a nice off season project.

PM sent.

Yup, still available.

I've got a stack of What's Brewing? magazines for sale on eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/323408992631 16 of them, from 1990-1992. Relive the Phil Garner glory years!

Brewers have 41 games left to play, 21 of them being at home. They need to go 23-18 to finish with 90 wins. 32 of those 41 games are against the NL Central, the only exceptions being three games against the Nationals and 3 against the Tigers. Including today, they have 8 days off during that stretch. That's 7 more times they can reset the bullpen. They can go with a 4 1/2 man rotation the rest of the way. 90 wins should get them some kind of playoff spot. It'll be a fight, but I think they can do it.

Just mentioning that the cards are still available. I'd really just like to trade them for something of value. Doesn't need to be baseball related.

The game is on MLB Network tonight, in case anyone is out of town.