JoeHova

It was 80 years ago, but wasn't Hack Wilson like 5'4"? People in general were shorter then though, so I don't know how far below average that was at the time. Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about size until Gindl proves he can't do something. If he keeps hitting, there's no problem. Salome is listed 2" shorter and he's kept hitting so far. I don't see why lack of height would really be an inherent detriment (except at 1st base, maybe). If anything, maybe they can be like Rickey Henderson (5"10", 297 homers) and really take advantage of their smaller strike zones.

That's an interesting story, and when I was at a Blind Boys of Alabama show, they also spoke glowingly of what a great guy Harper is, but still... I think my dislike stems from when he had some hit song like a decade ago (something about 'kisses', iirc, don't remember the title) and my friend was trying to holla at some girl who liked Harper. Somehow, I was coerced into attending a Harper show and the whole atmosphere was extremely unpleasant. The only worse time I've had at a concert was once when I was at a Lauryn Hill show and I was somehow the only one who felt the need to boo her vociferously.

I've always felt like Ben Harper is a bit of a douche. Is that wrong?

man, that sucks. Hard drive failure is a big worry of mine, I can really empathize with you. Hopefully bullox (or somebody) can recover your data.

So, are we to judge from Branyan's C that they expected all along that Branyan would be called up from AAA, carry the team for a month, and be a major factor in saving the team's season? Ridiculous.

I'm with sbrylski, why would anyone give this idiot 10 G's to replace one sports logo tattoo with a different one? Who cares even remotely about what this chump has tatted on his ankle?

I still hope to see JJ moved to 2nd. It is a position of similar defensive value to shortstop, unlike 3rd base. I know people say he has too good of an arm to play there, but that argument doesn't make a lot of sense to me. You can't really have too good of an arm for a position, a better arm helps at every position, even 1st base. So, I'm hoping for Escobar at short next year, with JJ at 2nd. With Salome and Gamel, I hope they get better looks next September and then are starters at their current positions in 2010. If I'm honest with myself, I want Salome to win the job next year, but I think it would probably be better for him to work on his defense in AAA for (most of) a year. If Gamel can't stick at 3rd, I could see him playing a corner outfield spot in 2011 or being traded to the AL. For Jeffress, I might be overly optimistic, but I'm hoping for a mid-season callup to the bullpen next season, being a swingman in 2010, and a full-time starter in 2011. I'm hoping for Cain and Green to be ready in 2011 at CF and 3rd, respectively. 2nd would be better for Green, but they probably moved him for a reason. 2011 also for Lucroy. As for Gillespie, I don't see much for him. The bat doesn't really stand out when you consider his age and position. He'll probably get a few shots at a roster spot, but I don't think a team will count on him as part of their core until he does something more spectacular at some point. Maybe he'll do that next year. His plate discipline looks great, but he seems like a Lyle Overbay type at best and Lyle's career minor league average was 55 points higher.

In the article in the JS about this, the author said that 80% of Milwaukee area households get TBS, which probably accounts for some of the difference (unless you assume people without cable aren't baseball fans in the same proportion as people with cable, I don't know enough about the demographics of those groups to say whether that would be the case or not). However, I agree with the idea that football is more popular partially because it's much easier to be a fan than it is to be a fan of baseball, basketball, or hockey. You're talking less than 50 hours per season of watching your football team, compared with 200+ for basketball and hockey and 480+ for baseball. Being a fan of non-football team sports requires a serious time commitment. I'm not saying football fans aren't devoted or knowledgeable, I'm just saying that it is easier to follow 16 games than it is 82 or 162.

I was quite optimistic (which is usually not my style) on the hitters, and it didn't work out. I was trying to do some positive thinking, I guess.

I wonder if there is any chance Mark Rogers gets protected. IIRC, they've protected injury prone guys in the past, but I guess it will all come down to how much room they have and whether they think anyone else would take a chance on him.

I don't know that I like Molitor as hitting coach. As I recall, he had some problems in that role in Seattle. As bench coach or 3rd or 1st base coach, fine, but wouldn't the new manager like to bring in his own guys?

I've mentioned this before, but I don't think Nelson will hit enough to be anything other than one of the couple worst 1st basemen in MLB. I hope they don't plan on using him as a 1B. If he takes Kapler's role, I guess that would be ok, but he can't play CF, so I don't know if he's a fit for the Brewers.

I never heard of this either. Bizarre that people are upset. Do guys come out at the end of every game? I always leave after the last pitch.

They probably could go 200 innings, but I don't think they should. More like 180 (maybe even less for Yo) hopefully. Next year might have to be a retooling year anyway, so running them into the ground would be especially shortsighted. The way I look at it is that if the Brewers don't get another good pitcher (whether it's Sheets, Sabathia, Lowe or whoever), they're likely to fall back a bit next season. If they do get one, it won't be as imperative that Parra and Yo go 200 innings. So, either way, I don't think going 200 is necessarily the smart move.

The Phrase "Big Game Pitcher" Should be Outlawed Forever at BF.net I would say it should be retired voluntarily rather than banned, but I agree. Many baseball cliches need to go and that is among the first on the list.

I was on the opposite side of the stadium thing, but otherwise I concur. It was nice to have a pretty good season for once.

I don't like Suppan pitching either. I'd take him out after the first baserunner if I was Dale and I'm not even kidding about that. This should be a bullpen game. Suppan for an inning or two, Gallardo for a couple, McClung for a couple, Villy for a couple (if he can go tonight), Parra if necessary.

I assume Al meant the kind of waivers where the claiming team is responsible for his salary, the kind that Manny Ramirez was put on a couple years ago when no one claimed him. I don't think Suppan would get claimed but I suppose it is possible he would, as Al posits.

I hope you're right.

I disagree. I don't believe any team would take Suppan's salary off of the Brewers' hands, much less give anything in return for him. That makes him overpaid and also cripples the team's ability to try to keep Sheets or Sabathia. If I'm wrong, I'll be very happy, but I think Suppan has significant negative value at this point. Sure he'll give you 180 innings but he's entering Livan Hernandez territory in terms of baserunners allowed and lack of K's. He's a collapsing house of cards, imo.

Yeah no doubt, I think he did it too. It's just that if the jurors felt they couldn't trust the evidence 100%, what could they do? I always like to quote William Blackstone in situations like that: "better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer." If the cops are busy framing someone up (or being totally incompetent, in the case of the lab technician), how can a juror be absolutely certain that the accused person did it? You won't know which evidence to trust and which to disregard. Because the burden of proof is on the prosecution, it was up to them to make sure the evidence wasn't tampered with and the jurors felt they failed to do that.

I figured you'd be pretty pleased about this, knowing how you are filled with hate towards OJ. Not saying that that isn't justified. The only thing is, the jurors didn't ignore DNA evidence, they thought OJ was framed by the LAPD (specifically Mark Fuhrman). That was enough to give them reasonable doubt, even if they thought he most likely did the deed. Considering Fuhrman later pleaded no contest to perjury in connection with the case and is a felon as a result of that plea, that was a reasonable position to take.

The problem with Weeks and Hall is that they aren't good enough defensively to be worth playing if they aren't hitting above average for their position. Hall's total collapse is inexplicable (or were 2005 & 2006 flukes? I don't think they were, he got 1150 PAs over those years and had an OPS+ that would play at any position, even 1st base), but I think it's time to move on from him. Branyan I would keep (assuming they don't bring in a building block 3rd baseman) but I would get him a platoon partner who is a defensive specialist (Pedro Feliz-type). Then I would use Bill in the Counsell role if they can't unload him. His salary is high for that role and his defense has tanked along with his offense, but at least they'd get something for the money then. As for Weeks, I'd see if some team was interested in trading a nice arm or two for him and then try to sign Orlando Hudson or Mark Ellis. 2nd basemen don't tend to age well, but both of those guys would be 20+ run improvements on Weeks with the glove and both also have better career hitting numbers (obviously they have the advantage of being in their primes, so the career number comparison isn't totally fair to Weeks). The problem would be if nobody wants Rickie. He's too good to DFA, but not good enough to really help a team at this point, imo. He'd be a better risk for a team that isn't hoping to contend in 2009 than he is for the Brewers. Some people may still hope he can recover his form from his time in AAA 4 years ago or his last month of 2007. He could still pull a Jason Varitek and be a late blooming 1st rounder who becomes a big star but I think a team has to stop holding their roster hostage at some point.

I remember the Braves announcers used to claim Furcal could throw 95-99, but I was always skeptical of that. Because if it's true that shortstops can throw it 95+ from their position to first, what could they throw if they were throwing off a mound that is only 60 feet away and with a wind-up? 110? 120?

I don't mean to offend anyone, but those hats are hideous. Are people wanting them as collector's items or to actually wear in public?