SoCal Brew Crew Fan

RR is gone

This stretch could really hurt the franchise...ticket sales have to be rough with the casual fan over the off season. I know I'm disgusted, and I'm a diehard...the casual fan will just tune out.

According to fangraphs, only 2 players have a higher WAR than Weeks in the first round of the 2003 MLB draft. Nick Markakis and Adam Jones (who went 37th as a supplemental pick), both just marginally and probably because they were healthier. Markakis also plays a superior defense. I'll never understand the Rickie hate among Brewers fans. The guy played his butt off and for most of his time here was a very good player. He showed he could play at an all star level, he just couldn't stay healthy enough to do it consistently. The injuries have sapped his speed and he's not the same player. I'll be pulling for him hard as long as he's not a Cardinal next year.

In 2007, it still felt like the team was on an upswing and their best days were in front of them. In 1983, it really seemed like the end of an era for a rapidly aging team. This team feels a little more like the latter, but not overwhelmingly so. The team probably heads into next year with a similar outlook as they had this year...a .500 or slightly above team that if they caught a few breaks and stayed healthy could make a run. What's so sad about this team is they caught a ton of breaks and played well early, getting 19 games over .500 at one point. If they just played to their expected win total the remainder of the year or even slightly below, they're still in first. Instead they've embarked on an epic crap fest of a collapse that has me posting in this depressing thread. Ugh.

OK Brewers...I'll be watching tonight...and not that certain other sporting event happening concerning a Wisconsin sports team. Time to draw a line in the sand. Let's win this damn thing! C'mon Wily.

This is just horrible. 53 is far too young. Thoughts and prayers to his family and the Brewers.

Walked on six pitches with Wily taking all the way...nice

Big Wily says enough of this...try hitting my 98 mph heater

Our starters have been so good lately we haven't had much of a chance to recall that the bullpen is struggling.

Lucroy has 42 total doubles with 35 as a catcher, 6 as a first baseman and one as a DH. The NL record for doubles by a catcher is 42 and the MLB record (Pudge) is 45. Pudge had a total of 47 with 2 as a DH. He should break the 47 as a total, but the 45 as a catcher will be tight.

Since Garza will get back after the minors are shut down he's probably throwing 3-5 innings his first couple times out. They may want to piggyback one of these guys with Garza or they'll have extra arms from the minors to Johnny Wholestaff it. I go back and forth on this one. I could see a six man rotation during the big 17 game stretch with Garza just coming back to keep them fresh for the playoffs. They want to avoid a Suppan/Marcum situation where they are trotting out a worn out arm into the playoffs...although with 6 solid starters for 4 spots that shouldn't be an issue, unless they don't want to hurt a veteran's feelings if it's one of them that is broken. At some point 6 becomes 4 in the playoffs and the bullpen could use a decent RHP. Maybe Nelson can fill that role. I get nervous about them overusing him like a Thornburg, but he could be pretty valuable as an 8th inning fireballer down the stretch. Tough decisions, but it's good they have options for once.

Wow...that college drop off must sneak up on you quick. Congrats to your daughter. Can't swing it next week. Too much going on with the day job. They are starting school a couple weeks earlier out here too so the kids aren't up for it. Have a great time down there!

What a weekend at Blue Heaven. It was boiling outside and Sundays are more of a family atmosphere which makes for a docile crowd. Seemed to be more Brewers fans there today versus last night. Had a feeling Luc would bounce back. We had great seats last night and could see him talking to himself before, during and after every at bat. Kershaw was completely inside his head. Today he was on a mission. This one was over early. You could feel it was over as soon as Luc's HR left his bat (it was a no doubter). When he hit the double...there was your dagger. They caught the Dodgers at a good time. With Ramirez out of the lineup, just keep Gordon off base and be careful with the next 3 and they won't hurt anyone. This team is something else. They are completely capable of beating anyone...and losing to anyone. There isn't anything that would surprise me about these guys...good and bad. It's going to be a fun one. That's 4-0 for SoCal this season. They won my lone trip to Miller Park this year when they beat Lincecum and now a sweep in LA. OK folks back home...it's on you now! Flags fly forever...let's go get one!

Almost forgot to mention...last night I had my eldest daughter at the game. She's been a long time Braun fan, although that may have waned a little given his issues and that she's approaching her teen years and things Dad likes aren't quite as cool as they used to be. Regardless, Braun has a knack for doing something special every time I bring her to the game. We can only recall one time he didn't homer when I've had her out there...and he still had a huge double in that game. It's really uncanny how good he is when she's there. Little daughter gets the start today. She was a big Prince fan so we've been searching for a new fave. She's been gravitating a little towards Segura so we'll see how that goes today. Also, I couldn't do the brat again last night. Went with the helmet nachos...that's a lot of food.

Fun game again last night. The place was buzzing for a start by Kershaw. He was getting some huge cheers before the game. Expectations are so high for him, people around us are already talking perfect game after 2-3 innings. Dude is the best, but the Brewers hit lefties well so I thought we would have a shot. Not as many Brewers fans last night. Maybe the prices on stub hub were a little high with Kershaw going. The Badger alums will have a huge group out there today so I'm expecting a big Brewers fan showing today. The boos for Braun were as loud as I've heard. LA sports fans have a knack for booing other teams more than cheering their own. Lot's of boos and you suck kind of things. Typical. At about 2-0 on Braun, there was a fairly loud "cheater, cheater" chant going. Then Braun hits that homer and after another round of boos it was dead quiet until Kemp hit the homer. I was surprised the ball made it out...it just kept drifting back and then it was gone. Not many guys go oppo in that cavernous park. Hats off to Gomez too. For all the frustrating things Gomez does, last night his aggressiveness was the offensive difference. He jumped on the first pitches. He did the same thing to Kershaw that Dee Gordon was doing to Nelson the night before. He threw him off and then Kershaw missed his spot. Nelson was the same to Puig. One guy that looked off was Lucroy. He was already talking to himself walking up for the first AB. He is completely psyched out by Kershaw. The Dodgers ran on him quite a bit too. Might be a good spot to get Maldy behind the plate today...but I'd still start Luc at 1B. He'll light up Haren. Gallardo looked great. He's really starting to evolve from a strike out pitcher as his velocity has come down. He's now had several starts where he's going deeper with lower pitch counts. KRod was solid too. He didn't seem phased at all by Kemp's homer. He knew no one else in that lineup could do that with a pitch out of the zone.

Plenty of Brewers fans at last nights game. Crowds at Dodger Stadium have gotten steadily better as the team has post-McCourt. Fun night overall. We did have a guy behind us who didn't like that two guys in front of him were wearing Brewers attire. I had my Rickie Weeks jersey on (Go Rickie!). He kept yelling "Let's Go Dodgers" at the top of his lungs while almost leaning down in between the two of us. We had 4 Dodgers fans come up and apologize to us...they were sick of him too. The only time I got a look at him was from behind as he was walking up the stairs after Overbay's hit and my buddy and I were high fiving in the aisle. Despite that we had plenty of fun with the Dodgers fans around us. Overall a great crowd and civil. Of course the police presence outside the stadium is still heavy after the Stow incident. Perhaps the highlight outside of Overbay's big hit, was the presence of the "Milwaukee Bratwurst" at a concession stand behind section 8 of the field level. With all the opposing team fans they get at Dodgers games I always thought they should have some of the other team's food at the game. I even served on a charity board with a guy from Aramark and kept telling him that, so it was cool to see they've finally come through. Someone said they've been doing it for other teams as well, including a Philly Cheesesteak. The brat was long and thin like a Dodger dog, but had the basic flavoring. They even put kraut and a little brown mustard on it. The biggest issue is they kept the whole thing under a heat lamp to speed up the service, so the bun was all dried out. Nonetheless, I greatly appreciated the effort. Nice job Dodgers. Both teams are fun to watch. There is an anti-Cardinals looseness to both teams that make them fun. They are fairly similar in the team chemistry camp. They also make plenty of frustrating mistakes. Puig and Gomez are similar in that respect. They both are great and make incredible plays...then do something that makes you scratch your head. Both are fun to watch. TLB...you'd have liked this game...it was Star Wars night! They had characters all over and we saw a number of ladies with their hair up Princess Leah style...it was funny. I really felt they had a shot after getting Greinke out after 5. We kept noticing his pitch count up. I was surprised he didn't come out in the 6th after batting though. The Brewers showed good plate discipline, although I thought Gomez blew it swinging at ball 4 and grounding into a DP in the 7th. They needed to get at least one game this weekend and now they have it going into Kershaw tonight. If Gallardo can hang with him, it could come down to a bullpen battle again tonight. I like our chances there. Should be a fun one tonight...I'll be there!

I've heard him on the DBacks broadcast...he'd be a good one for the Cardinals. He's really into the whole unwritten rules thing. Such a jerk.

SoCal Brew Crew Fan will be at all 3 games this weekend. I will be the guy in the Rickie Weeks jersey (at least Friday night)...take that haters! Haha. The Badger alums will be out there on Sunday and are at the ShortStop beforehand. They always get a good crowd down by the Brewers bullpen. I'm hoping they can win at least one this weekend! If you see me...make sure to say Hi!

He seemed to be better coming out of the AS break, but then fell off. If he responds well to rest maybe we need to see more Parra in RF. I'd rather have a 90% Braun 5 games a week than a 70% Braun 7 days a week.

I didn't agree with the strategy either. The argument for it could be with the bottom of the lineup coming up, they could probably get out of the inning anyway even with the runner at first so why not try it. I can see that side. Walking a guy risks an even bigger inning so I probably don't do that either. At the end of the day they got shut out and the runner at first didn't score so it really didn't hurt them, but that really isn't the point. What troubled me was RR's answer to Adam McCalvy's question after the game. RR mentioned he felt it was a good play and the odds were in his favor. McCalvy asked him if he got that from his stat guys (great question). He said no it's based on what he sees. That is a horrible answer. If he can't back that play up with some tangible evidence that what he is doing is putting the odds in his favor, it's just dumb. While I didn't like the call, it was RR's answer and his way of determining that call that is the root of the problem.

Fiers looks like the 2012 version. His deception is great against teams that haven't seen him before. That could make him valuable over a month or two stretch. I'm still a little skeptical over the longer term. I do wonder if after Garza comes back that he could remain in the rotation as the fifth starter. Nelson could move to the pen. Nelson could be very valuable filling the RH relief role they need. If they make the playoffs, Nelson's in the pen anyways. Could also cut down on his innings as we get deeper in the season.

Brewers have to hit the window here the next couple years...Cubs could own the division for a long time after that. Just think of all those brand new annoying fans they are going to attract. I hope Mark A jacks up the prices huge on those Cubs games.

I'm not sure why everyone is so up in arms over what he wrote. Braun has had a great year, but he's had to adjust to his injuries. He hasn't been (until recently) been pulling the ball with authority. One could argue he's done an even better job of hitting by adjusting to his injuries and taking the ball the other way. The same posters who are griping about Buster Olney were in the IGTs complaining Braun needed some rest time since his swing looked so bad. Not every article written about Braun is a vendetta from the east coast media about what an awful human being he is. He's played hurt, he's adjusted, his stats are still strong, he has been suspended in the past...these are all facts. If he really got healthier over the break he could be even better in the next 60 games.

Can you imagine if anyone on the modern day holier than thou Cardinals, egged on by teammates, would stand out in the outfield with a tuba to shag balls...at Game one of the World Series?

This bullpen really needs a reliable RHP before KRod. Neither Kintzler or Wooten have been that consistent. Having one of them step up (or Jeffress) with a healthy Henderson would be big.