DHonks

your edit is correct...San Fran is in Northern California. My only advice is to bring lots of layers of clothing! If you have a kayak, make sure you have a wet suit....frigid water. I went to college about 30 minutes from the water, but that's the reason nobody went to the beach. Supposed to be a lot of sharks, too. I would think the more fun trips are the Southern California ones, where you can tie the trip in with Disney, the San Diego Zoo, or Seaworld. I was sort of amazed in college how different the two areas were. There really should be three states in present day California. You have Northern California, the Central Valley (who says happy cows come from California????), and Southern California. Beyond that, they play separate state tournaments in high school sports--north and south. The best ballparks are in San Fran and San Diego, although Oakland's was always a pleasant place to watch a game. The minority populations are different (hispanic in south, asian in north). Weather is also very different. I think I remember shocking people that San Jose's latitude was similar to Cincinnati's. Most people in the midwest just assume all the weather is like San Diego. Remember how Packers fans in the 90s resented the Cowboys? That's how 49ers fans view the Packers. And don't go around saying you're from Wisconsin, since few in California could find it on a map. They pretty much ignore the existence of most of the US between Las Vegas and the eastern seaboard. I went to college in CA for 4 years and now live in a feuding border state--Arizona. Don't talk politics there. In the midwest, people have all sorts of beliefs but tend to share common values (they just have different perceptions). In California, they're very open, warm and loving, tolerant, and peaceful......unless they find out someone doesn't share their exact views. (mods, feel free to delete that part. Just wanted to warn the author since most midwesterners have views that can get dirty looks in CA).

I think it was Memorial Day '94 or '95. I caught a foul ball off the bat of Joe Oliver in a game in which--I believe--Scott Erickson broke Kevin Seitzer's jaw with a pitch. It may have been Kevin Tapani, but I think it was Erickson.

Congrats. We didn't understand the destination wedding thing, but then a buddy got married in Key West and it all made sense. You spend so much quality time together as a group! It's not the typical few hours and adios

For a pitching dominant league (at least historically), the FSL hasn't been pitcher friendly for the Brewers' arms this year

I wasn't happy about the Wolf signing at all. I couldn't believe they signed him after the lesson they should have learned with Suppan. So now Suppan will be off the books next year but we will have Wolf eating up salary. Mark my words, Wolf will be the third worst signing in Brewers history behind Suppan and Hammonds. Don't forget Billy Hall. At least Wolf has a chance to improve still. I won't evaluate the contract till after year 3

TheCrew, what's funny is that Melvin often quotes Ned, while I've never heard him reference Macha. Insteresting that the Royals are over .500 with Ned's enthusiasm, while the Brewers are well below .500 in that time. While we sometimes overstate the value of a manager, it makes me think of my job as HS girls golf coach. I was disappointed in the State qualifier last year that most of the girls got nervous still when I watched. An Athletic Director from a rival HS smiled and said, "Doug, you're a girls' golf coach. You already did half your job today--you got them to the course on time. If you get them home AND anybody is looking for advice/aid during the round, then you're up for coach of the year." Perhaps players in the majors need a manager who stands up for them, has some discipline, and supports them. I don't think Macha excels in any of those.

It would also help if we could put up runs in games while they're meaningful. I think we have a team that fully subscribes to the Geoff Jenkins approach--pad the numbers when nobody is watching to make you look better than you are.

I'd suggest getting Capuano up to pitch starting the next inning, hopefully finishing the game by going innings 6-9

Braun just hasn't been getting around on pitches for a while now. I've refrained from joining this thread, but I've also long agreed that he may be suffering from a nagging injury

Interesting that Taylor Mark went to the HS I coach at. I coach girls golf there, although I teach at a rival school in the district (Horizon HS). Horizon is more known for baseball, having produced Brandon Wood and a AAA pitcher--I think named Alderson. I don't really have many sources at Pinnacle to ask about this Taylor Mark kid. Well...maybe I do. I think the boys golf coach is his former coach. I'll look into it

I wish Angel the best, although I am afraid that his value just dropped a lot. If it were 3b, it might have been desirable, but now we're adding him to a crowded OF picture. I wish him the best, but I also hope that this move is just for the time being. He could become a stud at catcher and have a rare ability to impact a game from behind the dish.

Jumping in here, if the Brewers were to lock up Fielder or replace him with Gamel/Hart, we could buy time. Our prospects should hit AAA starting at the end of this year (meaning Gamel, Cain, Gindl, Green, Lawrie, Rogers, Periard, Rivas, et al will be a call away. Pushing some A and some A+ guys to AA next year would give us a very good immediate second wave of prospects, with our A and A+ rotations and outfields still being loaded with prospects.

YoungGeezy, I can't imagine that we'd move Dennis fulltime to OF--maybe part-time. Looking at our minor leagues right now, we currently have the following OF prospects: AA- Gindl, Haydel, Cain, and possibly Lawrie A+- Schafer, Komatsu, Davis, Kjeldgaard, and Krieger A- Davis, Dennis, Dykstra, Miller, Richardson, Romero (yes, I included Dennis and Dykstra) R+- Stang, Walla, R- McKelvie We should be able to find at least 4 big leaguers from that group, possibly 6 or 7.

I'm a bit surprised that over half their players have been pitchers given how strong their young pitching is in the minors. Next year we'll need a ton of hitters to make up for three pitching heavy drafts

So far a ton of pitching, but given that we lack good bats, we could see the system scoring 3 or fewer runs a lot over the next few years. RHP- 2 HS + 12 Coll/JC = 14 LHP- 2 HS + 3 Coll = 5 1B - 1 Coll MI - 1 HS + 2 Coll = 3 3B - 3 Coll OF - 1 HS + 1 Coll = 2 C - 1 HS + 1 Coll = 2

Nice.battlekow, when I worked in Dbacks minor league camp one spring, I asked if it's worth watching him throw a bullpen session. The equipment guys just laughed and said that if I want to watch, I'd better be behind him. Although looking back, the safest spot might have been directly behind the catcher http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/tongue.gif

TheCrew, why so negative about Narron? He had a good outing tonight and he's been good for us in the past. Plus, his Bugs Bunny changeup is awesome. I swear that it couldn't break a pane of glass. Also, Rolando Pascual is learning the strikezone! The big righty with some Neighborgall-esque K:BB totals in the past is not at 8:0 so far this year! I don't mind the hits allowed...because he's actually making hitters have to swing!

As in the past, I'd expect the Brewers to have 10-15 picks signed by Thursday, with another 15 or so by the end of next week

In recent years the Brewers have given rather large bonuses to select mid-to-late round picks. So I'm sure it'll remain the same

I like this surprise, but it's partly because I always prefer young pitchers. Also, I suggest clicking on the brewerfan.net roster for Helena and AZ and notice that there's at least 1 full rotation of prospects between those two teams. We have a lot of arms in the system right now

Here's hoping for a HS righty

Renaudo scares me with that over the top motion. Reminds me of Wade Townsend

Thank you MEts! You just saved us with Harvey

who could be the Matt LaPorta of this year?

I always wanted to see Romanski get a shot, especially given his willingness to help the organization as a DH. I'm curious if the organization showed him the same loyalty that he showed them