Funketown

I was wondering the same thing. It doesn't look like his bat will develop into anything more than .250/.300/.375, and that's being a bit optimistic. I haven't read anything about his defense. I'd be surprised if they couldn't find somebody better than Maldonado to pick up a few starts in place of Lucroy or Kottaras...

That's a very good read. With what little information I've scrounged up on the guy since the hiring, I'm pretty confident that he will at the very least be very well liked off the field, and respected by the players. If he's a solid tactician that would be great. Let's just not blow this whole Scott Boras thing out of proportion, eh?

It's hard not to like the guy's stuff, although I've admittedly never heard anything about him. These types of low end pickups have worked out well for the bullpen lately, so hopefully Douggy-boy has found another diamond in the rough.

Not much to say about this. Needless to say, I'll be mispronouncing this guy's name for at least 6 months.

Just had a great beer weekend in Boulder, Colorado. Hit Avery and Mountain Sun as well as sampling a few more offerings unavailable here in Ioway/Wisconsin. Avery Rumpkin: Had to try this one, despite the $10/10 oz. price tag at the tap room. Pretty spectacular, huge pumpkin with lots of pie spice, sipped like a liqueur. Avery Beast 09: Highly complex, lots of deep pit fruit. Avery Beast 10: Tastes quite a bit like a younger Beast 09. Cool to see them side by side and compare, I found the 10 to be harsher and simpler than the 09. Avery Jerry's Roggenbier: Not what I expected. Banana, cocoa aroma. A bit spicy, almost like a dunkelweizen. Not nearly as resiny as I had expected. My only true experience with Rye has come in RyePA's, so that's what I expected. Mountain Sun Smokescreen: Good, but compared to NG's smoked from a couple years back, a bit overpowering on the smoke. Mountain Sun Java Porter: Great coffee stout. A bit one dimensional, but fabulous nonetheless. Mountain Sun RyePA: Good resiny RyePA. I'm really becoming a fan of these RyePA's. Mountain Sun XXX: Very assertive APA, drinks like an IPA. Mountain Sun Colorado Kind: Again, an assertive APA. Very nice. Mountain Sun FYIPA: The last beer I had on Thursday, this was somewhat good, but I won't pretend that I was sober when I drank this. Lost Abbey Red Barn: Great saison. Lots of orange and ginger. Jenlain Ambree: French Biere de Garde. My first of the style. Very interesting, very enjoyable. Oskar Blues Old Chub: Scotch Ale. Very sweet, but not cloying. Lots of toffee, biscuity texture. Grabbed some Great Divide and Deschutes as well. I was tempted by a $14.49 bottle of Russian River Consecration, but I had to pass it up. Both the Mountain Sun and Avery are must hits in the Boulder Area.

In a game against the St. Louis Cardinals in maybe 2007, my brother was selected for a dance-off at Miller Park between innings. He made a fool of himself with some sexually suggestive moves and won our section some sub sandwiches. After that game, I never again saw the dance-off. Does anybody know why they stopped that?

Have you tried FFF Dreadnaught? If so, how does it compare? I had Dreadnaught a couple weeks ago and found it phenomenal. Huge hophead beer - lots of tropical fruit/citrus, apricot, a bit of pine, extremely well balanced though. I picked up a Boulevard 12-pack sampler the other day and have been working my way through that. It was only $11.98, so I figured it was worth a go. So far, I've had: Amber: Quite boring, a bit uninspired. Found the body way over carbonated, so it was hard to really enjoy. Wheat: I had low expectations for this, given the plethora of New Glarus wheats I've had in my day, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very simple, not quite tart enough for me, and also under carbonated, but nevertheless refreshing. All in all, a decent wheat. Bully Porter: I might be portered out. It was fine, but not memorable. Pale Ale: Hop character a bit weak, somewhat watery. Not bad though. Oktoberfest: Lots of bread, grassy hops, sweetness balanced by a nicely hopped finish. I'm not a big fan of Oktoberfests, but this one was pretty good. Singlewide IPA: Lots of citrus and a touch of pine, great hop character, nicely balanced. Definitely the gem of the sampler, all in all a very good IPA.

http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/128917390030313276.jpg Yup, Miller Park has finally made Failblog. I wonder why Mark A didn't mention this in his annual letter?

I'd love to hear their justification for naming Casey McGehee as the MVP. I mean, he had a decent year, but Weeks was so much better it's not even funny.

I don't see what's so embarrassing about not wanting to wake up at 7:00 AM and heading to the stadium to listen to ESPN's mediocre analysis. I've never really seen the novelty of college gameday.

For me it would come down to cities for the most part. Los Angeles Dodgers: I don't want to live in Southern California. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: I don't want to live in Southern California. San Diego Padres: I don't want to live in Southern California. Florida Marlins: I don't want to live in Miami. Atlanta Braves: I don't want to live in Atlanta.

So, how long until we get to read the next St. Louis 'news' column about how the Reds just didn't have the chemistry or the passion to win in the postseason? I'm going to guess it'll hit the internet within the next few hours...

No matter what the basis of these is (overall performance, performance relative to expectations, etc), most of these are pretty hard to justify. McGehee higher than Weeks? Hart higher than Weeks? What does Rickie have to do to get himself an A?

This is borderline failblog material. Does this guy get paid? I could have given them better analysis in 7th grade...

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif Zaun actually managed to put up more WAR than Kendall in 1/4 the PA's. Gotta love OBP < SLG! Well, I had 85-77 as a fan and 81-81 as an objective observer. So, I guess I predicted 83-79.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly City of God The Shawshank Redemption A Clockwork Orange

Wow, got back from the dog park just in time to see the 9th inning of the Phillies game. Talk about a historic performance, that's really the type of thing to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

I don't think calling him a tactically incompetent jerk is a nitpick.

I'll jump on the bandwagon that confronting him would without a doubt be a bit asinine. If this guy is dumb enough to use a stolen iPod in the same place he stole it, you can probably be assured that he'll be behind bars pretty soon if he doesn't turn his life around. You don't have any more of those great texts for us, do you?

Didn't Brenly have a couple of epicly unprofessional things to say about the Brewers during one of their series against the Cubs this season? I just can't see him getting the job. He's a clown.

Well, this was bound to happen sooner or later. I wonder who the next manager we can complain about will be...

I'd give him a contract and give him the opportunity to win the 5th spot in the rotation. Jeffress definitely needs at least another half season in the minors, probably more if he is going to start. I'm also not confident that Rogers should be given a spot in the rotation yet.

I'm going to go with Gallardo. Even with him the rotation was pretty painful to watch at times; without him it would have been completely in shambles. His .254/.329/.508/.837 line only added to his value this season. Weeks had an exceptional season, but I just gotta go with Yo. As for Axford, he had a great season, but I just can't justify naming a guy who threw only 57 innings (albeit 57 extremely important innings) as the most valuable player. For my top 5, I've got: 1) Gallardo 2) Weeks 3) Fielder 4) Braun 5) Axford

This thread must live on. Well, I finally headed down to John's Grocery in Iowa City last weekend. Their selection of Belgians is phenomenal. Not cheap, but better than any selection of Belgians I've ever seen. I took my first dip into the world of Gueuzes, and I must say I am very intrigued. I picked up a 375 cl bottle of Drie Fonteinen's Oude Geuze for $9.99. Wow is that complex stuff; I couldn't put my finger on a lot of the things in that beer, hold for a tart apple bite. Lots of delicious funk.

It's not only baseball. Look at the NHL: Eric Lindros, Marc Savard, Paul Kariya, Pat LaFontaine, and Adam Deadmarsh are a few players off the top of my head who could have been great (Lindros) or very good (Deadmarsh) if they hadn't been stricken with post concussion syndrome. Lindros is probably the classic example of post concussion syndrome derailing a career.