DHonks

If I were the Brewers, I'd try to shape this without giving up Gamel. Escobar is unlikely, but possible. I'm a huge supporter of Manny Parra, but I'd give up Parra in a deal for Peavy. Parra, Jeffress, and Escobar?

wow, welcome back to AA Mike Jones! Interesting to read about the new delivery. Hopefully he has decent stuff still and can continue working on throwing strikes

interesting to hear that Gwynn is reporting to SD, not the minors. I'm a bit shocked by that.

not sure about the numbers, but I know the names are not put on by Majestic, but rather by local contracted individuals or shops. I assume the numbers are put on by those people as well.

MJliverock, I think Gerut tore his ACL and was out for a long period of time

why does it matter who is scheduled tonight for Brevard? It'll just be cancelled anyways

watching on tv and in person, Braun is the best LF we've had in some time. Jenkins was iffy at best. He had a cannon, but hated going back on balls so he compensated by playing ridiculously deep. Soft liners to left were turned into singles all too routinely with Jenkins and Lee in LF. Braun has range and a solid arm. His range will ultimately lead to more outs, even if he makes some mistakes. His misplays also don't tend to cost us very much--if at all

I generally try to avoid controversy in life, but I do generally agree with the sentiments of TheCrew07. In generally, HY's opinions are in the extreme minority. He states his version of the story. While his might be correct, it still does not paint his actions in a positive light. I personally cannot ask any players for an autograph unless I have a personal connection to them, because I worked in the AFL and saw the autograph hounds bothering guys like Huston Street, Ryan Howard, and Stephen Drew on a daily basis. I remember occasionally walking with them to their car because if they were speaking with me, the hounds were less aggressive. It made me realize that I will forever treasure the autographs I have from these guys, but also that they are for me and me alone.

Has anyone emailed FSW or Directv to see if this game will be carried? I know it's on TV on FSW, but Directv might not be aware of this

Salome up into the .240s now. Might be .270s by June 1st. As for Jeffress, if they're in a rain delay, he may have been dealing with weather all game.

Wasn't Sid Roberson ejected for the Brewers against his first big league batter (also in Texas, I think)? I think the awkward part was he hit the guy in the toe

aintbize...I'm not saying to temper your enthusiasm. I absolutely love seeing them do well. I just view this year as having different goals for them than the other minor leaguers--health! If Braddock keeps it up, he could be a Sept callup. I'm not worried about that though. And marty22, yes, it's a small percent that reach the majors. But the stat I was referencing (it might be less than 10%...I last worked the AFL 3 years ago) was saying that of those pitchers with arm surgery (many of whom were top prospects), a very small percent actually make it to MLB. If we were to assume that the stuff of the pitchers we mentioned would have gotten them to MLB if they weren't hurt, the stats then are 10% of them do. JM Gold had great stuff. Mike Jones used to have greats stats in the minors (not sure how his stuff is now). These two would have made the majors, but instead are in the ~90%. Therefore, I advocate taking as much time as possible with them. I used to have a theory that a minor league trainer said simply wasn't true (I still wonder, though). The theory was that with Tommy John surgery, guys can be on the mound in 8-9 months. But the elbow has limited directions it turns. But with shoulder surgeries, many never recover the same (Ramon Martinez, Alex Fernandez, and Teddy Higuera come to mind as stars that were never the same). I wondered if--because there are so many muscles, tissues, ligaments, etc in the shoulder--pitchers would be better off taking time off to strengthen the shoulder and resume daily life before even thinking of throwing a baseball. For instance, with Rotator cuff surgery, why not have the surgery and rehab, then send the player home for 6 months to live daily life--carrying boxes, reading books, holding his kids, etc. That would give the various working parts of the shoulder a chance to sort of re-calibrate. Then start throwing and pitching. I'm a history\econ person teacher that enjoys trying to understand math and science. I tend to be a big believer in nature and all things trying to find equilibrium. Why not let the shoulder have time to find it's balance? That's why I'm optimistic with Jones, as he's now roughly 24 months removed from Tommy John surgery and--at least--36 months from his latest shoulder surgery. While focusing on rehabbing the elbow, he was strengthening the shoulder and letting it find some sense of balance.

Peterson was under the knife as a big leaguer, but that might only be because he was rushed to the big leagues.

aintblaze, I for one don't care about him being challenged. I was told by a Fall League trainer that the research shows fewer than 10% of pitchers that go under the knife while in the minors ever make the big leagues. I care about Braddock, Jones, Rogers, Rivas, etc simply logging their innings while working on things. If the Brewers want to push them up a level, that is great. But these guys are still fresh enough off major surgeries that I want the focus to be on building arm strength and muscle memory over performance. If I were the Brewers, I would try to get Braddock to the point where 5-6 innings are possible. At that point I would promote him and Rogers to AA and have them piggyback for the remainder of the season. I want to remain careful with these arms, because Parra is the only one to reach the big leagues with a minor league arm surgery that I can remember. That includes JM Gold, Jose Mieses, Ryan Poe, and many others (wasn't there a Ramirez, and you could possibly count Neugebauer and Saenz). If you go far enough back, D'Amico did have minor league surgery.

I brought it up before and I think I've only seen one or two mention it. HY can't take the higher road in the discussion when he openly talks about stealing baseballs at games. His glove trick--which involves being stealthy when security is around and then running as soon as the ball is gotten--is actually taking baseballs from the stadium. It would be like if I brought a long pole (like a golfball retriever) and used it to grab any baseball I saw. If it's in the stands, that's legitimately for the fans. If it's thrown to them, same thing. But to openly steal a baseball is breaking the law. I've heard that Brewers officials don't like dealing with him, and if that's the case, then they should pursue banning him from Miller Park for theft of team property. I still contend--from my earlier post--that his 14 ball game deprived 13 others of having baseballs. I've gotten two foul balls (both on the fly), and I still have the first. The second is on a kid's shelf because I knew it would make his day, month, and year. Yes, it was terribly selfish of my to find personal satisfaction in a generous act that increased the utility of another.

wow, after reading that AP piece, HY looks even worse. Seriously, get rid of the chip on your shoulder. You claim he's dissing law enforcement? You claim he's dissing people making $50k a year? Wow, I made a choice to go into teaching and I only touched $40k because I taught 4 weeks of summer school, coached a sport for 12 weeks (3-5 hours per night), and supervised an after-school math program for Title I students IN ADDITION to my salary. I will never complain about my salary except when I hear others throw out blatantly foolish statements (although I will complain about our 6.2% paycuts for next year, in addition to 300 district teachers losing jobs. What I make is fair...what isn't fair is bad governmental policies). I teach and I'm proud of it. I read that comment from him, and I'm pretty sure that all of the fine ladies and gentlemen of law enforcement would be ashamed by his antics and statements because it does not fit in with the ethics and values typically associated with the profession.

We've all seen footage before of HY running over people while pursuing balls. To me it's sort of like when the sleezy PI is playing in the beach football game in There's Something About Mary. Sure he was tracking the balls the whole way, but little kids might have been tracking them, too. I laughed when I saw on his blog tonight that he was the one that made that catch in spring training. Announcers claimed he saved the sunbathing girl, but at the time I remember thinking that the poor girl was lucky that she didn't get flattened by the guy stumbling to catch the ball. I'm pretty positive he had no idea she was there. I had no idea it was him until seeing it on his blog tonight. Maybe I'm weird, but I don't believe in grown men competing with kids for baseballs. I have caught two foul balls and they make great stories. The last one I caught is currently on the shelf of some random kid. I had long had my own rule that if I catch a ball, I can keep it. If I get it on a bounce, it belongs to the nearest deserving kid. I violated my rule that day, but I saw the joy that it brought to that kid, his dad, and grandpa. Now maybe HY gets some weird satisfaction out of getting baseballs. However, he reminds me of the kid that takes on the whole team in soccer to score his 5th goal and beat the other team by 10. He reminds me of the coach that keeps pressing the opposing basketball team when up 40 in the 4th quarter. In my classroom, he reminds me of the kid that has to always have his hand up, to the point where all of his classmates can't wait for the "game" to be over because it's no longer fun. I see his 14-ball game and I shake my head in disgust. That's 13 balls that should have gone to others, leaving him with 1 and a whole lot of satisfaction. Perhaps in the HY's universe, quantity is important, not quality. How many people have been deprived of a baseball because of his superficiality? I'd rather catch one ball and have a great story than deprive thousands of others of having their very own personal stories.

Some speculate that Scott Boras, the Yankees, or Bud Selig represent all that is bad with baseball. I have no problem with them. However, the Happy Youngster represents what is wrong in America (not just baseball). The Brewers should find a way to consider him a legally hostile fan and ban him from all future sporting events. He is the sports fan equivalent of an ambulance chasing lawyer--that is that he makes the rest of those around him ashamed of his actions. At this point he sounds like a drug addict that NEEDS his fix for free crap. Of course, all of this free stuff comes at the expense of the ballplayers that earned momentos and kids that he shoves to the concrete. The next time he gets a ball, I hope fans boo him more mercilessly than Wes Helms and Gary Sheffield combined!

wootoff!

PrinceEatMeat, I've had him pegged as our 1b once Fielder is gone. He'd likely hit .260 with 25 homers, providing a decent stopgap until someone else came along. He's the only 1b prospect in the system, unless you count Wilson, and he's in A+

I am thinking that it could be McGehee that is sent down. With Counsell and Hall thriving, we're covered at 2b, 3b, and SS. Adding Gamel to the mix could allow Nelson to remain

I expect the Brewers to get Braddock throwing 5-6 innings before they move him to Huntsville. Like with Jones and Rogers, they need these guys throwing efficiently and worrying about simply pitching (and staying healthy) rather than worrying about promotions.

Do they play Hell's Bells in Brevard County? Although, I'm disappointed that Wooten didn't strike out the side. And the one earned run off Jones came on a triple and a groundout. Great outing.

another great outing for Mike Jones. Here's hoping someone can find a current scouting report on the kid. He isn't walking as many this year, and he's become the staff innings-eater.

hey folks, I enjoy the netbook I got in February. This summer (I'm a teacher) I'll be doing some traveling and would love to have some old games on it. I'm thinking of SimCity 4. Can I somehow copy the disk to the computer? The game runs off of the CD-ROM, and I was wondering if there was a way to have it run off of the hard drive.