Bombers

http://brewers.mlblogs.com/2015/02/17/theme-nights-coming-to-miller-park-in-2015-brewers-to-host-star-wars-major-league-country-and-zubazpalooza-nights/ The Harry Doyle Night and Lightsaber Luc are only for 4,000 fans but those tickets are on sale now. So get em if it perks your interest. The theme's are: 5/29 - Country Night - Cowboy/Brewers hat in addition to Joe Nichols concert 5/30 - Star Wars Night with Lightsaber luc - only 4,000 tickets available - fans who purchase the Star Wars Night ticket package will receive a limited-edition Jonathan Lucroy “Jedi Luc” bobblehead 7/12 - Zubazpalooza - receive a pair of green and blue Zubaz pants with the Brewers 90’s with select ticket purchase 7/21 - Harry Doyle Night - Fans who purchase the special Major League Night ticket package will receive a limited-edition talking Harry Doyle bobblehead with famous quotes including: “This guy threw at his own kid in a father-son game,” “Personally, I think we got hosed on that call” and “Juuust a bit outside.” Quite frankly Harry Doyle night or Major League night is pretty sweet as that movie will just always be one of my favs.

Ya, that is awesome. That team could flat out rake. And it wasn't just a front loaded lineup. (Gorman had 39 HR's, Gantner hit .295, Money was 284/360/531, Oglivie 34 HR's, Simmons 23 HR's)

They asked this on 1250 yesterday. I guess for me, I would put Doug Melvin on more of a hot seat than RRR. If you were to can RRR, and allowed Melvin to stay, he would be on his 4th manager. I just don't think it's the manager at this point. Doug has been a GM for more than 20 years but yet he has only 1 post season series win. Yes, one could argue he keeps teams "relevant" but at the end of the day he doesn't win. So if this season goes south, I think Doug needs to go with it.

The 76 Reds was before my time but that lineup is bananas (HOF'ers Bench, Morgan, Perez and another should be HOF in Rose - then many other great pieces) [pre]Rk Pos Name AB R H HR RBI SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1 C Johnny Bench 465 62 109 16 74 13 0.234 0.348 0.394 0.741 2 1B Tony Perez 527 77 137 19 91 10 0.26 0.328 0.452 0.779 3 2B Joe Morgan* 472 113 151 27 111 60 0.32 0.444 0.576 1.02 4 SS Dave Concepcion 576 74 162 9 69 21 0.281 0.335 0.401 0.736 5 3B Pete Rose# 665 130 215 10 63 9 0.323 0.404 0.45 0.854 6 LF George Foster 562 86 172 29 121 17 0.306 0.364 0.53 0.894 7 CF Cesar Geronimo* 486 59 149 2 49 22 0.307 0.382 0.414 0.795 8 RF Ken Griffey* 562 111 189 6 74 34 0.336 0.401 0.45 0.851 9 UT Dan Driessen* 219 32 54 7 44 14 0.247 0.362 0.402 0.764 10 MI Doug Flynn 219 20 62 1 20 2 0.283 0.312 0.338 0.65 11 C Bill Plummer 153 16 38 4 19 0 0.248 0.311 0.379 0.69 12 LF Mike Lum* 136 15 31 3 20 0 0.228 0.331 0.346 0.677 13 LF Bob Bailey 124 17 37 6 23 0 0.298 0.376 0.508 0.884 14 OF Ed Armbrister 78 20 23 2 7 7 0.295 0.341 0.462 0.803 Team Totals 5702 857 1599 141 802 210 0.28 0.357 0.424 0.781 Rank in 12 NL teams 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1[/pre]

SRB that was an awesome team. You are right about guys at the bottom should have been moved up. And their manager blew it that year by leaving Pedro in during the 8th inning (Game 7.) I remember that game, Pedro shaking off the manager saying I'm good. Then gives up 3 runs. They should have advanced to the WS. But they came back the next year and had the miracle down 3 and went on to win it all.

In light of the article on Deadspin today about a game that featured Albert Belle, him having a 3 HR game, an AB where he didn't want to take first base on a HBP, and that HBP leads to a walk off win by Cal Ripken ... http://rabbithole.deadspin.com/no-hitter-has-ever-been-more-terrifying-than-albert-bel-1686132645/+marchman Besides the video getting me excited for some baseball, it got me thinking what is the best offense ever? To me I guess it's a toss up of the 1995 Indians (seemed like every hitter hit .300) and the 1997 Seattle Mariners (and their 264 HR's in 1 season) Key Players from both teams are below and the key link I guess is Alvaro Espinoza who had the privilege of playing on both these teams. So what say you BrewerFan? Excited for some baseball? What is the best offense you can remember. (Side note, sure you could take some teams from a long, long time ago - but I never saw them play.) I was in HS when these two teams were playing in the 90's ... 95 Indians [pre]Rk Pos Name HR RBI SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1 C Tony Pena 5 28 1 0.262 0.302 0.376 0.679 2 1B Paul Sorrento* 25 79 1 0.235 0.336 0.511 0.847 3 2B Carlos Baerga# 15 90 11 0.314 0.355 0.452 0.807 4 SS Omar Vizquel# 6 56 29 0.266 0.333 0.351 0.684 5 3B Jim Thome* 25 73 4 0.314 0.438 0.558 0.996 6 LF Albert Belle 50 126 5 0.317 0.401 0.69 1.091 7 CF Kenny Lofton* 7 53 54 0.31 0.362 0.453 0.815 8 RF Manny Ramirez 31 107 6 0.308 0.402 0.558 0.96 9 DH Eddie Murray# 21 82 5 0.323 0.375 0.516 0.891 10 C Sandy Alomar 10 35 3 0.3 0.332 0.478 0.81 12 1B Herbert Perry 3 23 1 0.315 0.376 0.463 0.839 13 IF Alvaro Espinoza 2 17 0 0.252 0.264 0.322 0.585 14 DH Dave Winfield 2 4 1 0.191 0.285 0.287 0.572 18 IF Billy Ripken 2 3 0 0.412 0.412 0.765 1.176 19 UT Brian Giles* 1 3 0 0.556 0.556 0.889 1.444 20 UT Jeromy Burnitz* 0 0 0 0.571 0.571 0.714 1.286 21 3B David Bell 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Team Totals 207 803 132 0.291 0.361 0.479 0.839 Rank in 14 AL teams 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rk Pos Name HR RBI SB BA OBP SLG OPS[/pre] 97 Mariners [pre]Rk Pos Name HR RBI SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1 C Dan Wilson 15 74 7 0.27 0.326 0.423 0.749 2 1B Paul Sorrento* 31 80 0 0.269 0.345 0.514 0.859 3 2B Joey Cora# 11 54 6 0.3 0.359 0.441 0.8 4 SS Alex Rodriguez 23 84 29 0.3 0.35 0.496 0.846 5 3B Russ Davis 20 63 6 0.271 0.317 0.488 0.805 6 LF Jose Cruz# 12 34 1 0.268 0.315 0.541 0.856 7 CF Ken Griffey* 56 147 15 0.304 0.382 0.646 1.028 8 RF Jay Buhner 40 109 0 0.243 0.383 0.506 0.889 9 DH Edgar Martinez 28 108 2 0.33 0.456 0.554 1.009 10 LF Rich Amaral 1 21 12 0.284 0.327 0.326 0.653 11 1B Mike Blowers 5 20 0 0.293 0.376 0.427 0.802 12 3B Brent Gates# 3 20 0 0.238 0.298 0.351 0.649 13 LF Rob Ducey* 5 10 3 0.287 0.311 0.524 0.836 15 LF Roberto Kelly 7 22 2 0.298 0.328 0.529 0.857 16 3B Andy Sheets 4 9 2 0.247 0.299 0.416 0.715 17 C John Marzano 1 10 0 0.287 0.34 0.356 0.697 18 MI Alvaro Espinoza 0 7 1 0.181 0.213 0.194 0.408 19 UT Raul Ibanez* 1 4 0 0.154 0.154 0.346 0.5 Team Totals 264 890 89 0.28 0.355 0.485 0.839 Rank in 14 AL teams 1 10 4 3 1 1[/pre]

@JimBowden_ESPN: According to a club source the #Mariners have agreed to terms with Rickie Weeks on 1yr Major League deal at approx $2m w/ $2m inc..LF/RF/2B Thanks for the time Rickie and good luck with the Mariners. Hope they can win a pennant

Wild Card Mariners over Blue Jays Brewers over Giants ALDS Mariners over Red Sox Angels over Tigers NLDS Brewers over Dodgers Nationals over Pirates ALCS Angels over Mariners NLCS Brewers over Nationals 2015 World Series Brewers over Angels Biggest flop: Padres. It's how it always works. Everyone pre-season darling. Look at what they all did! #Fail. It never works out that way. Or they will just win it all and throw pie in my face.

I like our rotation. I think Jimmy is ready for the challenge. I just don't see what you would get by sending him to AAA for this season when he will be turning 26. Now is the time to see what he has. And inserting him as the #5 is hardly asking for too much. If there is an injury, I agree with others. There will be options. Tyler Cravy is one who has been successful for 3 straight years in the minors. He will start the year at AAA and lets see what he has. Jungmann, Thornburg, maybe Hellweg. You never know. But all teams pull guys from the minor leagues for some spot starts or to fill a few weeks. It isn't that far fetched the Brewers might be successful in having to do the same thing.

I would alter this statement and say, all sports leagues have players who take less money to get endorsements or win a ring. Look at the Miami Heat's roster over the past few years. It was loaded. All those guys clinging on just trying to win a ring. Look at Julius Peppers, he isn't going to go play for the Jaguars either. Or Aramis Ramirez, he wasn't going to go play for the Astros. All leagues have older players who want to play for a team who has a shot. And I don't blame them one bit. That part is cyclical and changes year to year on what teams have a chance at winning it all. This is a good point. In the NFL, the Jaguars have a better chance at winning the Super Bowl than the Brewers do at winning the World Series. Because the Brewers window will forever be narrow. They need the perfect storm to get there and win it. The Jaguars have the same playing field as the Packers, Cowboys, etc. All they need is good management and good draft picks. Just like any team does. In MLB you don't need good draft picks. Spenders can just buy themselves a good team, draft picks be damned.

But hey, Nationwide is on your side!

That article is comparing apples to oranges. In football, if you have a top QB, chances are pretty good you get into the playoffs. And if you have a QB who is in the top 5, chances are you will be in the playoffs every single year (Patriots, Packers, Colts, Bronco's, etc) In Baseball, it isn't that simple. You can't just sign a good starter and have that catapult you into the playoffs. You need more than just a good "QB" in baseball. And I get it, the Pats, Hawks, Packers, etc have more than their QB, but lets be honest, the Packers would struggle to be 8-8 with Matt Flynn at the helm. Back to baseball, the one thing you can point to for success in baseball is spending. I have posted (probably ad naseum) but spending DOES make an impact. The impact isn't in "well there are different 'Champions' thus there must be more parity!" No, it goes well beyond that. If you look at the teams who make the playoffs and compare it to their spending, the numbers favor spending. and if you take it step further and you look at who is making the ALCS / NLCS, it gets even worse for the small market teams. See this post: viewtopic.php?p=869335#p869335 Here is what I analyzed from 2008-2013 (6 years, each year containing 4 teams in the championship series games) Teams ranked in top 10 = 75% of Championship Series teams (18 of 24 teams) Teams ranked from 11-20 = 17% of Championship Series teams (4 of 24) Teams ranked from 21-30 = 8% of Championship Series teams (2 of 24) That hardly speaks of "parity" and that "anyone" can win it all. Not even close. Reality says, you need to be in the top 15 in spending, otherwise, your chances are slim.

Will Smith will now be the LOOGY. Smith's numbers vs lefties are awesome - here are the opposing LH hitters stats vs smith .167 / .245 / .271 / .516 ... Cotts will face hitters from both sides of the plate but Will Smith won't have too. I do agree with JB though, $3 million does seem high for a guy who hasn't been all that affective throughout his career (outside of his great 2013 year) but who knows, maybe the Brewers saw something and think they can get him to replicate his 2013 year.

And I guess to me I am mystified why so many people think he is an average reliever. He has had an ERA over 3, only once in his career. He has been an extremely good reliever for quite some time. His WHIP is almost always 1.1 or less, His FIP is always better than krod. I also don't get the constant pointing that his velocity is decreasing. He is 34 not 24.

Except this guy's been around for more than a decade and he's had 2 good years. The rest have been pretty bad. $3 million seems like a lot. I'd have rather they hung on to Gorzelanny. True but he had TJ in 2010, didn't play in 2011 and went to AAA in 2012. This article talks about the good and the bad http://nolanwritin.com/2015/01/24/neal-cotts-will-not-be-a-texas-rangers/

Yep - I like it too. I like the 1 year deals

Really good in 2013 with a 1.11 ERA, .947 WHIP and a 2.17 FIP But then a 4.32 ERA, 3.58 FIP, and a 1.335 WHIP in 2014 Definitely fits Melvins thought process that relievers are good one year, down the next and then Hopefully back up the year after that

Nah, lets just go straight NFL style and have offensive and defensive players! Ohhhh and we can have "special team" players who will just be our base runners

Honestly, I think that is an alright idea. I am all for increased offense. I get it, most on here (including myself) have no problem sitting in a 1-0 ballgame and watching some masterful pitching. But reality says that isn't what the general public wants. Scoring is important in any league. I think this is a decent option to increase scoring. I do also agree with how others have said attendance is fine, so don't fix what isn't broke. While that is true, scoring is trending downward and at what point will this downward trend start impacting dollars. It is in baseball's best interest to always be prepared.

Brewcrew - you are right, and it appears it's his HR numbers that affect his image. The eyeball test to me, just seems that I do not feel confident when he enters the 9th with a 1 or 2 run lead. Maybe the majority of his HR's are solo shots that didn't affect the game, not sure ... It's just to me, when he enters I feel the 20 minutes of terror coming. I guess he isn't a bad option, just not a great one either.

That's a good point Robert. (They do have the benefit of being 1 step closer) ... I am just making the devils advocate argument. I get it and can see why the new commissioner may target it. The argument is there

That was my first thought. How could this be implemented? Draw boxes on the infield which defenders would have to play in, almost like a batters box? Would this also include what depth an infielder had to play? What about middle infielders trying to hold on a baserunner at 2nd base? Would that be an exception to leave their designated areas? Could corner infielders move around to either guard the line or play way off the line depending on various situations? There are so many different scenarios and situations which infielders move around even when not in a typical shift that i can fathom how a rule could be implemented which wasn't so convoluted and stupid that it wouldn't be universally mocked both by players/managers in baseball and among most fans. The only alignment that I think should be removed is when a lefty is batting and you place 3 infielders on the 2nd base side of the infield. Leaving only 1 fielder on the 3rd base side. There is no possible way you can do this against a RH batter. (Place 3 infielders on the 3rd base side) So I do agree with the argument and that alignment has caused a negative impact to the LH hitter. And I am just not on board with well "take it the opposite way" or "lay down a bunt" because anyone who has played the game, actually knows that isn't always so easy. I am also not saying you can't have defensive alignments. Align your fielders wherever you want, but require 2 infielders on each side of 2nd base.

I understand his WHIP was good last year (best of his career) but when he allows guys on, he allows them to score at a very high frequency. I highly doubt he is going to have another career year in WHIP. Chances are, that will not improve. His FIP has been increasing and getting worse every year, and last year was 4.5. I just am not on board with another year of K-rod. I guess I am just not a fan of his.

The only problem with this argument is that the major league average was 35.5% of base runners scoring last year. So he actually held runners better than average. Is that the number for relief pitchers?

If I'm reading you correctly, that's .61 WHIP. Is that not a great thing? Yeah, giving up a bunch of HRs in the 2nd half isn't but that's a different discussion. No, WHIP goes by innings. I'm not sure where Bombers got his stats but Krod had a .985 WHIP last year which is amazing considering giving up the 14 homeruns. I should have clarified. K-rod had 27 clean innings last year. So his 42 out of 69 is 61%. Yes, his WHIP was only .985 (which on the surface seems great) but when you look into it, wasn't all that spectacular. He allows a lot of guys to score once they are on as 33% of his base runners score. (23 runs out of 69 guys on base)