azcheesehead

Jeffress is really good about signing. He is over in minor league camp. Lawrie is also really good. He still has this look on his face that he is shocked that people know who he is. It's kinda cool. Lo will sweet spot, he's a really good guy. Gallardo has been rough, at least for me this year. I got him on some cards and a ball last year and only want ONE card to sign, a combo card with Braun. He will NOT for the life of him sign that card no matter how hard I try. I got Hoffman earlier in the spring and he is a really nice guy. I don't see him being a hard catch if things go well in Mke.

I will be out there on Saturday and then to the home games next week for sure. I will be with a group of BFNetters in LF next week. Just holler out "Brewer Fan" and we'll respond!

IMO, Sheets is a Yankee. He gets healthy towards the end of the year and you know Little Steinbrenner will come calling for some end of the year help. Boston will get involved just to up the price and the Yanks will overpay for him.

My father in law is a sports editor in Wisconsin at one of the largest media outlets in the state. Whenever he writes a column, it gets TONS of comments. The comments range from "great article" to "you're an idiot" to "you should be fired". One of the joys of his job is to read the comments and get people riled up. He considers it a perk of the job. I have to admit, you need tough skin, but that is part of the job!!! There is a way to handle such criticism, such as personally emailing people back that email you. However, undressing someone in a blog the way TH has done on a couple of different occasions is NOT the way to do it. I think this alone warrants some talking to from his higher ups. It won't happen, but it should. TH should just stick to what he does best, reporting Brewers' news. He does a really good job and I enjoy the blogs a great deal, especially when he, and not the egomaniac Witrado, is writing them.

To go with the above post, just do what everyone down here does, drive up to the yellow sign where it says "Speed Cameras 300 Feet" and then slam on your breaks. You'll be just fine! Edit: The actual "limit" is 76. Go 77 and you're nailed.

If anyone is interested in some good college baseball and you're down this weekend, ASU is hosting the DeMarini Invitational at ASU. Oregon State, Missouri, and Northern Illinois are in town. There are quite a bit of players involved in the tournament with ties to WI, whether from there or playing in the Northwoods League. Watching ASU is a pretty good use of time in the evening.

I think they need to bring back those old school 1950s home run derbies. Really though, I enjoy Harold Reynolds being back on TV.

I am thinking you will have to get them inside the park during games. Up in the RF corner, where the players come out, players will sometimes sign after they come off the field when they are done playing. Otherwise, if you get there early, about 8 AM, you can hit some players up. Now that games have started, as of tomorrow it is a lot tougher to get signatures. The reason is twofold, one, practices are less frequent and a key place to get them, and two, TONS of people are going to be on the premesis now for games, so players sign less. It should be interesting to see how it works out this year. There have been some autograph sellers that have been a pain in the butt and some of the Brewers (Fielder and Braun) have taken exception to some of these idiots that ruin it for everyone else. On a positive note, it will be highs of 80s down here through the beginning of next week according to the news!

I bought one too many media guides and put the extra up on ebay. Here is the link.

I got mine in Maryvale today. The pic of Braun on the cover is pretty nice. I've already wasted some hours today paging through it.

It sounds like Gamel has some explaining to do. Hopefully this is water under the bridge, otherwise, I don't like where this could lead.

According to Butch, resident security extraordinaire at Maryvlae, Braun is heading out within the next couple of days. Once he reported, which I believe was last Saturday, he had to be with the Brewers for 10 days per MLB rules. Butch says that Braun's going to stay his mandatory 10 and then head to Florida. After that, chances are good that he will not be back til the end of March. As for Gallardo, personally, I don't see Melvin letting him go to play for Mexico. There is too much at stake for the Brewers.

I asked him that myself on Sunday and he told me that it has personal reasons. I asked him if it had to do with family and he said no, but it keeps him focused. My guess is it has to do with his draft round.

There weren't any there over the weekend that I saw. I know that a lot of the top prospects are in town though, so I assume if they aren't already there, they will be shortly.

I was there today. They workout from about 9:30 to 11:30 to 12 on the typical day. Everything is open and you can get pretty up close to the players. Today for example I watched Sedar, Sveum, and Nichols give bunting lessons to the pitchers. If you go out next weekend the practices will be scheduled different because, obviously, everyone will be there. All four fields will be in full swing. Today was a good time, everyone was in good spirits. I recommend it, solist!!!

For what it's worth for travel, I come back to WI every summer to escape the heat. My advice would be as follows for the quickest route. Get yourself to Des Moines however you can through IA. Take I35 to KC. Hop on 435 South around KC and get back on I35 and head to Wichita. In Wichita exit on US 54 and take it through KS, OK, TX, and through NM until you hit I40. Take it west across NM and then through into AZ. Hit up with I17 and take it south straight to Indian School Rd. in Phoenix. It takes me about 25 hours.

Some of the lawn seating slopes more than others. Maryvale has a pretty steep slope. Oakland does not have lawn seating (not sure if this is true for any other park). While games don't usually sell out, it's not necessarily true that you would be able to get tickets where ever you want. Games at the Cubs stadium (Ho Ho Kam) do sell out from time to time and if you want good seating it may be hard to get. I've never been to a SF game out there, but I heard that they fill their stadium as well. Diamondback games are popular too and I'm imagining that Dodger games will be well attended. Also, "cheap" is a relative term. Most lawn seating is around $8. However, if you want to sit in the stands you are generally going to pay anywhere between $10 to $30. I notice that tickets at the Dodger stadium in the stands start at $18 and go all the way up to $45. I have been shut out of only two stadiums among the tons of games I have been to. I was shut out of Scottsdale when they played the Giants, and I was also shut out of Tempe Diablo when they played the Angels. I am guessing Dodger games will be a tough ticket because the LA fans out here are crazy. My recommendation is that you spend one day in Maryvale on the day of an away game. They keep a lot of players back and you can get some great autographs. Last year I witnessed a "home run derby" among the pitchers on the stadium field at Maryvale. I cleaned house on Yo, getting tons of stuff signed. Suppan was very accessible, but it's going to depend on who is pitching that day.

Absolutely. From what we can tell, he had used them for a 3 year period. His body of work minust those 3 years are good enough to get him into the Hall. He will probably play about another 7-10 years if he stays in the AL, which will allow him to rack up some pretty impressive numbers.

There was nothing there but Fantasy Campers on Saturday. I will try again this weekend. Sorry guys.

I am going to the Prospect Camp tomorrow. I'll post some pics if anyone is interested.

Thanks, Maas. That is awesome. I went out on Monday and they were there. I couldn't get at anyone though. To answer the previous question about the minor leaguers, they are actually harder to watch than the MLB players. They mainly practice on Hank Aaron field, which is behind the fences of the MLB complex. The Brewers use the 4 field complex to maximize space, while the minor leaguers practice on one field and an infield only field. However, if you are looking for autos, the minor leaguers have to walk from their clubhouse all the way across the complex to the Aaron field, thus making them very accessible for autographs. The nice thing is that the dirtball autograph hounds only go after the MLB guys. They leave the top prospects alone for the most part. Hope that provides some insight. Feel free to PM with any other questions. I am usually out there everyday on the weekends during ST, so I am pretty familiar with the area and how things happen once training starts.

How do you get this book?

Trade Fielder to the Pads for Jake Peavey or the Jays for Halladay. We all know Boras isn't going to let Fielder play in a small market when he comes up for free agency. Then go and sign Adam Dunn as a stop gap until the Brewers realize that Mat Gamel is a first basemen or until he is major league ready. They have the space to make all of these moves. Unless Prince comes into camp at a decent weight (which would be nothing short of a miracle after last year) his numbers may decline and getting anything for him of a #1 pitcher caliber could be tough. You gotta make the move now.

Throw them in your suitcase.

I would go in, but shipping to AZ could be problematic, plus I just placed my order last night.....