950opsLHcatcher

Yah, Obie really benefitted from that time in AAA. 4-0 Marlins after one inning. Hurrah.

As was mistakenly put in the July transactions, in addition to Richardson being promoted, LHP Jared Theodorakos was promoted to Beloit and put on the inactive list so he can play for Greece in the Olympics. C Tim Marks was released to make room for Richardson.

Another strange catcher's interference call for Counsell - six times in one season. Wow.

Jeff Bennett needs just 1 IP to graduate off the Power 50. And he's coming in. My heart is pounding.

Helms walked and Bennett drives in 2 runs in the same inning.That my friends is like a blizzard happening in Miami. Helms walking and Bennet driving in two runs in the same game would be like a blizzard in Miami. This is like a typhoon in North Dakota. We've all just witnessed history.

Bases loaded. Gary Bennett up. @#%*. Edit: I stand corrected. Bennett is awesome.

Ueck: "Don't worry folks, we got a long way to go. We haven't even batted yet!" Is that supposed to make us feel better? That's the most depressing thing I've heard today.

Yowza. We might need every last one of our pitchers today. And there's another HR.

If it's Prettyman, I'll laugh.

I thought the Brewers weren't signing anyone else because of their low draft budget? Well, maybe not! Kind of a late surprise signing here, but Bradys a guy I think a lot of us wanted to see inked. Good for the Crew.

Sweet Lord Jesus. That's my second SLJ today. Bullocks.

Does it really make a difference whether you draft guys like Brenden Murray and Jeff Garner in rounds 30-40, or wait to sign them until after the draft? Helena has been signing an unusually high number of non-drafted players, mostly pitchers, to fill out its roster. Pitchers Murray and Garner, and outfielder Jake Serfass. I don't know that I would define three players as an "unusually high number." I will grant you that most of the three players are pitchers. For comparison's sake, last year they had two non-drafted players, and the same was true in '02. While three is more than two, I wouldn't qualify it as being unusally more.

If this wasn't just about development, it would have been one h*** of a ball game. What does it matter what the score of the game was? Why do they even play games? Do we really need affiliates? Are players really necessary? Games are overrated.

Yeah, most teams bat their best hitter in the #5 hole Hey, the Cardinals have Edmonds in the 5 hole. They aren't that much better than the Brewers on offense. Are they?

Todd Erdos, with the best outing of his career? Only 5 baserunners in 1.1 IP. Not bad! Shouldn't Hernan Iribarren/Tony Festa be challenged a little?

I smell a return to Huntsville for Sarfate in 2005. Why did he skip HD? Why are Todd Erdos and Jeff Farnsworth still with the organization? Ronny Malave of the Baby Brewers became famous for a brief time, pitching in between Ben Diggins and Mark Rogers. Jeff Garner probably wasn't so lucky when half of the 8 people in attendence left after Rogers was done. Iribarren is the new Acosta.

If the club had any inkling that Sollmann or Lewis could play SS I'm sure they would already be there. Well, maybe, maybe not. I don't know much about what the organization thinks about Escobar, but it doesn't surprise me that they want Murray to start more or less always at shortstop, so that could be a reason why Lewis hasn't played there this year. I also wouldn't put it past the Brewers to not be paying attention as closely as they should be. The thing to me with Sollmann is that he was a pretty high draft pick for a run-of-the-mill college player, so he must have something that the Brewers like about physical ability, and he reportedly plays second base very well. He's also quick, so unless he gets really bad reads on balls off of the bat, it seems he should have the athleticism to play shortstop with some minimal level of competence. I guess I just want someone to tell me what it is about Sollmann that makes him totally unable to play shortstop.

There's a reason all of them are playing 2B. The thing is, guys like Sollmann and Lewis (unlike Belliard) project as utility players, so they had better learn something else other than second base, so I really don't see the harm in trying this for awhile in rookie ball. Worst case scenario, Sollmann gets switched back next year, or next month. It's not like it is a clancyesque move from left field to catcher. Iribarren clearly deserves to be playing in Helena, and Sollmann is outplaying Escobar pretty handily. I'd rather find out if he can play it now than in a few years down the road.

I don't know which is more amazing... Ballouli's performance or the fact that Cruz, Rasmusen, and Farnsworth all got a hit in the same game.

Lluveres, you're breaking my heart. I expect more from you! Seriously, promote Iribarren, yah? Flipflop him and Escobar, and move Sollmann to short.

Jenkins. Double play. Weird. That's #14 on the year. Edit: Ginter is second on the team, with 8 of 'em.

A couple notes on Brewers records that are in the process of being chased... Luis Vizcaino is still on pace for third-most appearances in a season. The record is 83 by Ken Sanders in '71 and Viz is on pace for 78. Viz currently has the third (76, '02), and sixth (75, '03) most appearances in a season also. Doug Davis is on pace for 37 starts, which would the second most behind Jim Slaton's 38 starts in '73. Ben Sheets is on pace to tie 5 other pitchers for sixth most, with 35 starts. Vic Santos, Davis, and Sheets are all on pace to move into the single-season victory record column. Three pitchers currently share ninth place with 16 victories apiece. The Brewers' record is 22, by Mike Caldwell in '78 Sheets' current ERA would be good enough for 3rd all-time (minimum 100 IP), behind Eldred (1.79) and Sanders (1.92) It would be the best ERA in Brewers history for a pitcher who threw over 200 IP. Davis also has an outside shot at the seasonal top ten. Sheets also has a chance of making the top 10 all-time Brewer ERA list (min 500 IP) - he's at 4.04, and in tenth place is Marty Pattin, at 3.82. Sheets is on pace to break Teddy Higuera's 1987 strikeout record of 240 - he's currently on pace for 245. The second best strikeout season for the Brewers was Higuera in 1986, when he had 207 K's. Sheets is only 28 K's away from a tie for ninth place with Pattin and Hideo Nomo, and he's within 50 K's of fourth place. Davis is also on pace to sneak into the top 10. Sheets' 554 career K's is seventh most in Brewer history, though he has no real shot at Eldred's 6th spot (686) until next season. Danny Kolb has the tenth most saves in a season for the Brewers, having just tied Mike DeJean for tenth, with 27. Kolb is on pace for 50 saves, which would easily break Bob Wickman's '99 record of 37. Kolb is also now 8th all-time in saves, with 48. He's one behind Doug Jones, and 13 behind Doug Henry and Ken Sanders. Lyle Overbay has played in every game so far - Richie Sexson ('04), Robin Yount ('88) , and Gormon Thomas ('82) are the three Brewers to have played in all 162 games. If Scott Podsednik and Geoff Jenkins both play in the rest of the games, they'll tie sixth others for eigth place (160 games played). Overbay's current batting average would be good enough for third in a single season. Jenkins' career .278 BA is ninth best in Brewers' history. Podsednik and Jenkins are both on pace to finish in the top 5 in season at-bats. In 1982, Paul Molitor set the Brewer record with 666. Podsednik is on pace for 663, and Jenkins is on pace for 657. Overbay is on pace for a 208 hits, which would be a top five finish for hits in a season. Jenkins now has the ninth most homers in Brewers' history (135). He passed Sexson and Don Money recently, and should pass Rob Deer (137) pretty soon. Overbay is only three doubles away from tenth most in a single season (Yount, 40, '92) and only thirteen two-baggers away from setting the Brewers record (Yount, 49, '80). He's on pace for 68, which would obliterate Yount's record. Jenkins is just off the pace for a top 10 season, though he has the ninth most in Brewers history (180). Finally, Podsednik has the tenth most stolen bases in a season already this year (35). He needs nine more to break his personal record of 43 (set last season), and twenty more to surpass Pat Listach's team record of 54, set in '92. He's on pace for 64 this season. He's also tied for ninth all-time with Jose Valentin (78) . In eigth place is BJ Surhoff, with 102 stolen bases.

the big club have some sort of relief shortage I don't know about? No, but they are out of room for crap starters like Obermueller. With Hendrickson coming up, the bar has been raised in Milwaukee, and it is no longer acceptable to carry someone like Obie in the rotation. That's a good thing. Plus, with Housman, DLR, Woolard and Ford coming up right behind him, Obie's future is pretty clearly in the pen. He's just not starting material, but he seems to be effective once through the lineup. Just turn him into a reliever already.

Peavy brings up a good point... Who's a good in-game manager? No one springs to my mind right away. All I can think of is guys who I don't like.

Maybe the Twins aren't looking as stupid for drafting Joe Mauer right now, not that he's been healthy this year, either. Who went third in that draft? If your team walks nine times, nine times out of ten, you'll score more than one run. It's frustrating, but I have a sneeking suspicion the offense will turn out to be better than they are right now.