Thurston Fluff

On second thought, I'm not sure Ned could be trusted to do that. Maybe it is better that he has an automatic time to use Cordero, which will self-regulate his use. I tend to think this is one reason managers like to have roles for relievers. It keeps them from abusing guys. It has to be very tempting to use your best reliever every time a tough situation come up. Just this once turns into one more time next thing you know your best pitcher is burned out in Spetember. On a good tema that is about the time you need him most. Straw has made some very good points. Injury is not the only thing that happens with overuse. If they wear down they can be less effective. I think this is even more probable with a power pitcher vs one who relies on off speed stuff. It's harder to blow a 90 MPH fatball by a guy than it is a 96 MPH. Since we can't use the best pitchers all the time there will always be a time when an inferior pitcher has to be asked to do their job. Has Coco been over used? No. Primarily because Ned doesn't use him every time the game is close late. This is even more important for a team that would like to have a top flight closer in top form in October.

I'd probably have waited a day but it's hard to say unless you see how bad they are favoring it. I tend to observe their attitude more than how well they are moving osmetimes a dog will over react to a small amount of soreness because they haven't figured out what caused it and aren't sure if it's over with yet so-to-speak . If a dog is really hurting they may get quiet/grumpy. If that doesn't go away something is wrong. It would also be wise to keep kids away from her if she is in pain since grumpy=nippy. I don't really like pain killers for a dog unless it's really bad since the pain also keeps them from overusing the trouble spot. Got a border collie that is impossible to keep inactive so I feel your pain.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif I'm not trying to play know it all so take these suggestions simply as that - suggestions. I do work a lot off leash and it sounds like you dog could be one of those real cool hyper dogs that can be real fun or a real pain. A lot will depend on how much work you put in with your dog. Something that might help keep shut your dog down when you don't want to play for a while is to say "done" pick up all toys then ignore her. After a while the dog will get that play time is over and go lay down or amuse herself another way. It works well for me or my dog would never stop. A leash on the dog while playing is not a good idea as you probably have already found out. I understand why you did it but it's dangerous. Working with a dog off leash is easier if you walk them first. It burns some of the initial excitement. Before unleashing work on some of the basic commands then take the leash off while she's interested in what you are doing. Only allow her to go so far from you at first and gradually allow her range to increase then call her back. In time she'll start to automatically come back. Never get frustrated and use the bad voice, it only makes it worse. When she does come back to your side make sure to treat /praise her. When working off leash it is very important to always be nice when she does come to your side. Even if it was not right awya and you are mad she didn't listen right away. I see that a lot when the dog finally comes back the owner scolds them for not listening right away. The only thing the dogs knows is they got yelled when they got back. These are only ideas nothing is fool proof. Have fun she sounds like she could be a blast to play with.

One has to wonder if this won't spur a rebuild project in St Louis. They've got some work to do on that roster outside of Carpenter. Some old guys and some pretty ordinary players with one super star. It wouldn't surpise me if LaRussa wasn't back. He doesn't need to go through rebuilds at this stage of his career if he doesn't want to and I don't think he'd want to.

I think they say it because it might make the division race more exciting. If the Cubs are surging but the Brewers aren't letting them gain an inch of ground it's not as exciting as them catching up. Thus make seem as though the Brewers are struggleing so people watch everyday to see if the Cubs caught them yet. I have to wonder how long before the Cub fans go from excited that the Cubs are catching the Brewers to frustration that they can't get closer than 3 1/2 games no matter how well they've played. They have to know the won't win at this pace forever.

yeah, nice link, that was great. the same guy also has a video of an anaconda regurgitating a hippo, which was disturbing yet compelling. I'd love to see that. Especially since hippo's live in Africa and I believe Anoconda's live in South America.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Was it one of those big guniea pig looking things or maybe a python?

I wonder if they aren't limiting Parra's appearances for a start or two in place of YoGa down the line if Sheets is out more on the 6 week side of the 4-6 week prediction. I'd make sense to keep Parra up for emergency purposes but try to use Parra and YoGa like Menkins a Parga if you will. It'd be a good way to limit both of thier innings and see what both of them can do as a starter. It would also keep Villy in his much needed role as bullpen workhorse.

Bonds also has an abnormal amount of talent even compared to other professional athletes. so it should follow that his age production be better than typical, too. Are you saying he has more talent now than when he was in the prime of his career? Sorry just don't buy that. He doesn't have any more talent than other hall of fame type players whose production didn't take such an unusual turn in their later years. Barry Bonds without streroids was a great player but he wasn't head and shoulders above other greats of the game. Talent wise he isn't better than some of the people playing today. Griffey Jr, Shef, A-Rod, Frank Thomas all have every bit as much talent as Bonds does. The whole idea that he is the most talented player ever is a steroid induced myth. If he didn't go on the roid rampage in the last few years of his career he would have been known for what he was. One of the best of his generation. It's a pity he gets viewed as better than guys like Griffy and Thomas simply because he cheated when the others didn't.

Found this on line. Call it a lion hunt gone wrong. For the lions anyway.

Are the Cubs playing fantasy baseball? I don't know what it does for team chemistry but it can't help a manager to have a new bunch of guys to learn their strengths and weaknesses on a continual basis. Then agian it was Izturis. Maybe they are looking for Lou's type of guys and are adding by subtracting.

the never talked about massive steroid abuse by pitchers. All that means is on the occasions when Bonds did face a pitcher on steroids the playing field was level. Where he really made the surge was on the majority of days when he wasn't facing juiced pitchers. For your arguement to work he would have to have faced nothing but juiced pitchers. I suspect if that was the case he would have hit his career norm of homeruns.

I am so pessimistic about the Brewers' offense right now because they can't hit their way out of a paper bag as a collective team that I am starting to lose faith. Cubs Brewers Avg. .270 .264 Runs 435 451 Hits 881 845 RBI 412 433 OBP .329 .330 SLG .413 .454 Right now the Brewers have scored more runs than the Cubs and hit with more power and get one base slightly more. I have more faith in the Brewers offense than I do the Cubs.

That chart looked to me like something was up. He was the only one who had a huge spike at the end of his career. The only other one that had the highest total at 38 was also the one that was the most consistant through his career. He is also the only one whose average homerun distance went up after age 35. It's been a few years since I saw that chart I'll try to find it. we know a ton more today about maintaining athletic longevity than even 20 years ago, so to see Bonds maintaining his production four or so years beyond what Aaron or Ruth did can't be unreasonable. If that's true then Bonds would have been hitting homeruns at his post 35 age at a younger age as well. I think where the questions lay is his sudden size change. Bonds like all athletes today conditioned and weight lifted his entire career. Then one year he changes his workout regime and got significantly bigger and his HR total jumped by a huge margin. You don't get significantly bigger in one year simply by changing your workout regime. A better regime would no doubt help but not to the degree he had. Add to it his workout regime change happens to have been done by someone convicted of dirstibuting steroids and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the connection.

That's something I'll have to see to believe. I can think of only one time when he's given someone else the save. If there's one thing that annoys me about Yost it's the insistence to go to Cordero just because it's a save situation, regardless of other issues (like how many days in a row he has pitched). He must have read your post. Every pitcher in that pen - even Spurling - can hold a two or three run lead for three outs once in a while when Cordero has gone three in a row or something. No one would crucify him if he tried that would they?http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

I can see why outsiders would think the Cubs would overtake us. They've been playing great and the Brewers just lost their ace. Most team that lose their top pitcher would struggle to fill the void. We know better because we know whose replacing Sheets in the lineup and how little YoGa's departure from the pen will effect it's overall depth.

The main concern though is how Rickie would react to being demoted... I call it more an interest than concern for myself. If he pulls a Capellan it would be nice to know his mental makeup now rather than later. I think being benched is enough to see how he might react to being demoted. I'd hope he'd see it for what it is. A way for him to get things fixed without hurting the team in the process. I still have high hopes for him to work things out and be a major contributor down the road. How far down the road is anyones guess. In the meantime Graffy is an adequate person to handle the duties.

I think it might not be a bad idea to go with an extra bullpen guy for the next month or so. It may limit the options off the bench but there are several factors that make me think it might be wise. 1- We are trying to limit YoGa and Parra's innings na extra arm in the pen would aid that. 2- Our starters are of the 6 inning variety not the complete game type. 3- Our bullpen has already been worked pretty hard. 4- We want our best bullpen guys to be capable of helping in September and the post season so they will need to somewhat limit their appearances before then. 5- We have a lot of good bullpen arms so why not use a strength? 6- Gwynn and now maybe Weeks would benefit from regular playing time in AAA vs bench time. It might be better for both the long term and later in the year if they worked out their shortcomings in AAA and be ready to contribute in September and October. Any thoughts?

I think the team's circumstances somewhat dictate how Ned handles things. In the past he was working with a team that was in a build for the future stage. He let players work through things, figure out how to handle certain situations, basically let them learn how to be big leaguers. Now the team is built and ready to contend. Thus he manages in a more results oriented fashion. I've always liked him and now it makes me even happier to have him as the manager. He has shown the ability to handle differant types of teams correctly. Something that isn't all that common in baseball.

almost forgot my newest trivial pursuit when bored www.cowunderground.com/cow.htm Still in test sample stage. No audio or video plugged in yet at all.

surf every inch of BF.net until my eyes bleed. Lots of quiet time today at the store nothing to do until deliveries tonight. I figure if I annoy everyone here enough with my pointless rambling you'll all chip in to pay me to do something else.

I heard someone talking aobut this on the radio a couple days ago can't remeber who but he said when Torre does call out some players in front of the team and other in private. Just not for the reason Shef thinks. He does it with one of the top players on the team because he feels he would lose credibility with his players if he called out the lesser players. He felt Torre may have not understood Shef would not take his intent the right way. If true how could Torre not have understood a guy who couldn't be happy anywhere for more than a year befoer he found issues with people there was going to be fine with getting called out?

We got a girl who works for us that came from Kansas and is going to Lawrence here in Apple ton. She was so unprepared for winter last year we took her shopping and bought her long underwear, polar flease and sweaters and taught her how to dress in layers. Gotta love the thin blooded who try to survive the cold.

I'm not a big fan of pictures for sigs but this one is great So violence against children trips your trigger?http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif I'll troll around and see if I have footage of my brother shooting himself in the foot with a pellet gun. I have to admit I laughed at both him shooting himself and the picture sig you posted. Guess that makes me pretty sadistic as well.

UW Oshkosh BS in philosophy. Worked as a CA (RA on most campuses) then started working as a gorilla at a local shop where I met my wife. She started the business when she was at UWO and I joined her shortly after. You gotta respect a 5', 100 pound 18 year old girl with enough nads to start her own business as a freshman in college. Shortly after I started working there we converted some of my comedy routines to deliveries and have been doing it ever since. What else would does one do with a degree in philosophy? My only options where to become a metaphysician or think a lot about unemployment.

I agree with you. If it was any other team they would have been very careful when addressing any racial accusation. Like when Shef alledged racism with the Brewers when it came to his treatment vs Spires. Somehow the YES network took over ESPN and no one told us. If there is one guy whose racism accusations have lost any sort of credibility it's Shef. I especially liked his comment on Jeter not being black enough. One of my favorite lines about being black enough came from one of my roomates in college about TIger Woods mixed race. If he stole your wallet he most certainly would have been called a black man. The same applies to this case.

ESPN really seems more excited to see the Cubs take the division lately. They even had a story on espn.com the other day titled "Something Brewin'" and it was about the Cubs. Seems like if the Yanks can't turn it around, they're going to jump on the Cubs boat. I don't have a problem with them jumping on the Cubs bandwagon at this time. They are one of the hottest teams in baseball and, as a daily show, they should be going with the best performers during that time. Like it or not the Cubs are hot right now and should be getting some attention. It will go away when the Cubs cool down and they will cool down.