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Best use of Ryan that I can remember in a long time, even if the overall episode wasn't all that great. I remember Catherine Tate from her season on Doctor Who, but even there she wasn't very likeable early-on. Making matters worse, she wasn't given much to work with, based on what we saw. Spader, by contrast, had a much more memorable role, and one that allowed him to channel a little bit of the Alan Shore character that helped him win a few Emmys. If they are committed to an outside hire, you were given much more of a sense of what that show would be with Spader in the boss's chair, vs. anyone else in the episode.

That's an interesting one, because it's something fairly easy to find #s for:http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/6136/type/pitching3/kameron-loe The 3-year splits only effectively cover 2 years (since Loe didn't pitch in the majors in 2009), but this is the only data available after Texas used him as a starter for a few years. If anyone can dig up the relief splits from 2005, feel free to post them. 2008 + 2010 0 days rest (59 PA against) - .281 Avg. / .300 OBP / .404 Slg. // .704 OPS 1 day rest (115 PA) - .241 / .287 / .398 // .685 2 days rest (45 PA) - .293 / .356 / .439 // .795 3-5 days rest (101 PA) - .275 / .340 / .319 // .658 6+ days rest (35 PA) - .212 / .257 / .455 // .712 Lest I get raked over hot coals, I will point out that none of these samples is large enough to make statistical predictions going forward. Likewise, the 2011 data is severely skewed (only 4 PAs on 1 day of rest) to be useful for our purposes. At least in the past, Loe has been slightly more effective with one day in between appearances, but the difference between 0-1 day between appearances is fairly minor. If anything, the most notable difference between the previous splits and the current year is just how different his usage is compared with the prior seasons; 69 of his 81 PAs against have come with either 0 or 2 days of rest, with almost none coming in the situations where he has been most effective in the past.

That's because he's so nice. Plus, he's in a band.(For some reason, those are the only two qualities that come to mind...)

So...he's like Kotsay then? (My apologies to anyone not reading the Kotsay in CF / RR thread. I just couldn't resist.)

...which would also be why I listed their career #s right alongside. If you want 3-year averages, Kotsay is .320 / .391 to Hart's .324 / .471. I'm not arguing that - under normal conditions - Kotsay should be starting more than once a week (if that often). Hart has been back with the team for just over 2 weeks, after missing nearly all of spring training. His strikeout rate is up, walk rate is down (and neither of those have been real strengths over his career), and his contact numbers are way off his norms. Is it so wrong to conclude that his timing may not be in regular season form? Or to suggest that it may be unrealistic to expect Hart to be the .800 OPS player we expect him to be while he works himself into form? Acknowledging that RRs options in RF are all not particularly good right now does not mean they won't be better in the future. I'd still expect Hart to end the year in the .750 - .810 OPS range. If the team were to keep playing him every day before he gets re-acclimated to major league pitching, he's going to end up on the low end of that range. Until he shows that he's up-to-speed, I don't see the harm in someone else starting 2-3 times a week.

Braun started in all 11 games during that same stretch.Gomez started in 8 of the 11 (and took half the ABs in a 9th game, which was part of the doubleheader). Morgan started in 2 of the 3 games he was available for (1 in CF, one in RF) between trips to the DL. Right now, the options for RF include: -Kotsay (.350 OBP / .265 Slg. in 2011; .335 / .410 career) -Hart (.238 / .268; .328 / .479) -Boggs (.154 / .154; .312 / .375) Hart has started 7 of the 11 games we're talking about. Small samples abound in the stats (not unlike our 11 game interval), but Hart hasn't exactly lit things up to demand an everyday spot in the lineup. Granted, Corey's getting a slow start due to all the time he missed in spring training, but until Corey gets his power stroke back and starts heating up....I think there's a valid argument that Kotsay should be starting more than he is right now in RF. (Even assuming Kotsay's OBP regresses to his career numbers, where he was before his 3 BB game last night....his OBP is at least in the ballpark in relation to Hart. Power is Corey's major advantage...and that's hasn't come around yet: 2 XBH in 42 PA!) I'd like for Kotsay not to have the best numbers of the RF candidates, too, but that's not really up to RR. While I don't like the thought of Kotsay starting in CF, the #2 spot in the lineup is not as bad as it could be, given his 'old man' OBP; he's not doing a ton at the plate, but he's not giving away outs at a higher rate than any of the other alternatives between Weeks and Braun. Personally, I'd rather call up Katin, Gindl, or Gamel than continue giving Kotsay these ABs while waiting for Hart to come around. That said, none of those options are on the 25 man roster, so RR can't do much beyond begging DM to give him a better option.

Avast Antivirus Spybot Search & Destroy & Malware Bytes when Avast doesn't do its job. Total Cost: $0.00.

The game-tying rally starts with a Kotsay walk from the 2-hole, and now Yuni B hits a HR to put the Brewers in the lead. BF.net (collectively) hates the decisions, likes the outcome?

Flashing light images and a progress bar tells me there's another Woot Off going on. (Why do I reload the page so often, considering I've never actually bought something from the site?)

Community could turn into nothing but a 22-minute loop of Alison Brie in a low-cut top running in slow motion....and it would be the best show on television. That they continue to dress the show up in clever-and-elaborate plots that riff off other TV/film genres makes it my favorite show on TV. I got a few episodes behind in watching The Office, but caught up over the weekend. I'm more than a bit concerned that the show still hasn't figured out how to cope with Carrell leaving; the Will Ferrell arc (which has to be about done after that....right?) did not add anything to the ensemble....and feels like it's just stretching out the question of who will take over as the full-time boss. Knowing some of the stunt casting that is in place for the end of the season does not help this concern, either.

If there was any doubt as to who the face of the franchise is (Braun v. Prince), it's no longer a question. For the first time in years, I do feel comfortable buying a player jersey. There is some definite risk given the length of the contract. For anyone who remembers Moneyball, I can think of at least one player discussed in comparison to the all-time greats who slipped off significantly from that pace. While there are certainly teams out there who could absorb the damage if Braun stumbles in his 30s, the Brewers aren't one of them. That being said, a perennial all-star wants to stay in Milwaukee, and signed a contract that - without being exorbitant - means he will likely spend his entire career in Brewer blue. Hard not to be excited by that.

I didn't have a lot of fun the first time she held a position like that. The fun comes from not being a fan of the Dodgers. I'll admit, the Expos-Marlins exchange came to mind after thinking about this thread, but the inherent assumption is that the local ownership group is still capable of re-forming, not to mention having sufficient funds to buy the club at a value that's substantially greater than when they were competing with Mark A. when the Seligs sold the franchise.

I'm just hoping he appoints WS-P as the league representative overseeing Dodgers operations....because, honestly, how much fun would that be to watch?

I've been wondering about the effects of the shifts on the statistics / defense as well. According to Fangraphs, Betancourt is credited with 11 "Out of Zone" plays in 10 games. For comparison, he has typically made between 30-50 OOZ plays over the course of a season; to have 20 - 30% of that total after 6% of the season would otherwise suggest that he's showing good range. My guess is that the zone calculations are based on the assumption of where the player would line up, such that some / most of the OOZ plays are closer to where his alignment; can anyone confirm that?

Have you seen the documentary the FF just put out? "Foo Fighters: Back and Forth" stars with Dave in Nirvana, and traces the band from lineup-to-lineup, album-to-album, all the way up to Wasting Light. It was on VH1 a few nights ago, and while it could have come off as blatantly promotional....I really enjoyed it. I always enjoyed watching their videos, but at some point in the past 3-5 years, I started looking at the number of good songs they've come out with, and slowly realized that I'm a fan. Bought the new album almost immediately after watching the documentary, but I haven't listened to it yet.

Times like this, I really love looking at the 'Plate Discipline' data on Fangraphs. http://www.fangraphs.com/...rid=4613&position=1B Prince is swinging at more pitches outside of the strike zone than he has for any year in his career (39.7%; his next highest in a full season was 28.3% in 2010, but he's been in the 25 - 28% range generally). While he's swinging at more pitches, he's actually making contact at those outside pitches better than at any point in his career (63.0 O-Contact%, 3% higher than last year....which is actually consistent with the upward trend over the prior 3-4 seasons). Given that he's also making contact with pitches in the zone at a ridiculous rate (97.5%, compared to 85-87% over his entire career), I'd be hard pressed but to say that it's anything other than a small sample. Prince seems to be seeing the ball quite well right now.

For anyone interested in watching, Morgan's Plushdamental catch to end the top of the 6th is available on Gameday.

@Tony_Plush Which Brewerfan'er wants to take credit for the account?

Braun has 4 HRs in 13 AB against Hanson. I'm also guessing that, if Hanson had seen the fist pump, he'd have dotted Prince with the next pitch (like he did the last time Ryan took him deep).

Here's to hoping that we can get through today's game without Braun or Fielder getting plunked.

Yo = Stopper! (...and just made fantasy owners very happy.)

Thursday - day game Saturday - Bucks game Sunday - FSN broadcast Monday - day game Tuesday - Bucks game As an out-state fan, thank God for Uecker! I'm also declaring this the first "Must Win" game of the season (unless we lose, of course).

If he can still manage to draw a walk, he can show bunt as often as he wants.

3.6.16 and I'm not having much of any problems with gameday. (I not using much in the way of widgets or custom settings, though.)

Huh? You wouldn't have rather, you know, stepped on the freaking third base bag to get the lead out?! http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/118919449.html Couldn't bring myself to watch the replay, so someone else will have to fill me in on the details. If CM was far enough away from the bag when he fielded the ball, with the runner going past him, he may have felt that he couldn't get to the bag in time to make the out. If it happened right at the bag -- then I don't know why he didn't step on it and make the quick throw. (Which happens to have been the thought going through my head as the play happened.)