Bruce Ciskie

I don't post much, but I wanted to say this is a really, really good signing.

I guess I really don't have a problem with Kottaras serving as Wolf's personal catcher. As much as Wolf frustrates me at times, he was pretty solid last year, and if he has better chemistry with Kottaras, let it be. Sucks when the Brewers face a lefty on the days Wolf pitches, but I'm willing to sacrifice some offense in order to get Wolf out there with a battery mate he's comfortable with.

I'd be floored, too, and not because of anything ESPN has said. I've barely given SportsCenter or OTL the time of day since the day after this story came out. Haudricourt has, IMO, done an award-worthy job of reporting on this story and making sure his stories weren't clouded by stupid BS. I don't watch much MLB Network during the offseason, so I honestly can't tell you how they've done with this, assuming they've done anything at all. But anyone who still takes ESPN seriously after the way they handled this story is only asking to be fooled or misled down the line.

Dan Patrick is reporting on his radio show that there is -- according to what he has heard -- a "strong chance" Braun will be exonerated.

Kyle Lohse is pitching. They have a good reason.

It's much more fun to overthink this stuff. Never mind that it's a good way for your team to get in trouble. Overthinking in October is tradition. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif (And, no, this isn't a shot at anyone in this thread. It's a shot at the people who do the overthinking, and I don't mean the fans.)

We just started our fourth-best center fielder in a game where the other three were perfectly healthy. I'm not about to guess what the lineup will look like tonight.

I don't have his Game 3 start against Arizona recorded, but Marcum looked to be shaking off Lucroy a lot on Monday. I don't know if this was something common throughout the season, because it's not typically something I watch for. Wasn't watching for it Monday, but instead just happened to notice it as the game played out. Marcum only threw 15 2/3 innings this season to catchers not named "Lucroy," so I can't imagine they're not on the same page, but it really looked like they had different ideas on how to handle the Cardinals hitters. It's easy to blame Marcum because of how the start ended up playing out, but I won't do that until I know if there's been a history of Marcum frequently shaking off his catcher.

After all the heat MLB took over Verlander's shortened start in Game 1 of the ALDS and then what happened Saturday, I imagine they'll be ultra-careful letting this game start.

If this happens, you throw Gallardo in Game 3, Greinke in Game 4 (regular rest), and Wolf in Game 5 (who cares about his rest ... extra might help him). Come back with Marcum on a short leash in Game 6 (Narveson in pen if necessary), then Gallardo on short rest in Game 7 (with Greinke available in bullpen if need be).

Well, after all those years of throwing batting practice to opposing hitters, Soup should at least be used to the velocity people expect on a ceremonial first pitch.

All good. MLB will do what they want, but they're smarter if they take local/regional events into consideration. I know I'll be watching regardless of the game time, but there are a lot of potential eyeballs who will flat-out pick the Badgers or Packers over the Brewers, even in a playoff game. They just don't like baseball that much. That kind of thing doesn't matter to us, but for most of us, the game could be played at 3am and we'd make time to watch. But we're not the ones who make the ratings for these games good.

The only reason I brought up the Packers is that Sunday is a Gold Package game, so there will be a lot of people making their way up from Milwaukee.

The problem here is that there are no West Coast games, and when this schedule was put together, it was done almost with the assumption that there would be one team west of the Central time zone hosting a game Saturday. I have to figure MLB and TBS are working with the teams to set game times. There are considerations like the Wisconsin football game Saturday night and the Packers game Sunday, for example. MLB doesn't want the Brewers playing at the same time. No way they're not taking that into consideration here.

I'm with those who say we need to at least try. I'm not sure how far he'd get in waivers, but if he ends up in Philly, I'm going to throw things.