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This is a summary -- Brent Pollock interviewed Doug Melvin for about 3 innings, and they talked about a variety of topics, though not much about specific players. Interleague play-- He likes it, especially how it has increased attendance at games, and particularly with rival teams. He thinks that keeping count of American League vs. National League wins will further increase interest in the games and the rivalries, and maybe this count could be used as a basis for determining home field advantage in the World Series. He cited the Yankees' series in Milwaukee as being a particularly exciting series, and pointed out that the Brewers won two of those three games, proving that the size of the payroll isn't everything. Washington series -- The Brewers also won 3 out of 4 from Washington, showing that the Brewers are competitive with teams that most people consider to be "better". He says our hitting is coming around, and that we have players with "good talent" who are "hard workers". Pitching -- The team feels that all of the starters have a chance to win every game, and they have confidence in all 5 of the starters. The deal to get Okha was a good deal. Quality pitching is absolutely necessary if a team wants to play "small ball" -- the White Sox are an example of a team who is doing a good job with this. Mike Maddux is doing a great job with the pitchers, both starters and relievers, working on mechanics, etc.. Defense -- The Brewers are putting a lot of emphasis on defense. They have been using an "exaggerated defense", meaning that they are positioning players on the field more aggressively (? I didn't entirely understand what he meant by this?). He cited stats saying that the Brewers have made 8% more plays, meaning that they get to the ball 8% more times, to attempt to make a play on it rather than the ball just going for a hit. This does mean that they are making more errors than other teams too, but he still is pleased with how the fielders are getting to the ball more often because of how they are positioned on the field. The Brewers have a team of interns who chart other teams' games off the tv every day, making note of how other teams' hitters are hitting off pitchers who are similar to Brewers' pitchers, and this information has also helped the Brewers' defense. Player Development-- Signing bonuses have been around for 30+ years, and they don't directly affect how the management treats the individual players. However, they do spend a lot of money on player development, so they do like to actually see several of their players be able to advance to the major league team. In the lower minors, the emphasis is placed on teaching, work habits, practice habits, media relations. In AA and AAA, the emphasis is more on how and when to make adjustments in hitting and pitching. Draft -- He feels that it is best to draft the best players available, whether they are in college or high school. He doesn't use the Moneyball approach, but says that it is just a different philosophy, which is not for everyone, anymore than other philosophies of the game are not for everyone -- the example he cited being the "sacrifice bunt" vs "never ever sacrifice an out" philosophies. Pitch counts -- Yes, pitch counts are getting more emphasis now than they used to, and this is good if it helps to prevent injuries. But it has to be individualized, depending particularly on a pitcher's mechanics. Those with better mechanics could be allowed to have higher pitch counts. Relief pitchers -- He doesn't like the trend towards using a lot of relief pitchers in games. He feels that using more pitchers will increase the chance that you will call in a pitcher who is having an off day that day. The piggy-back system that is used (by other teams too) in the low minors gives young pitchers the experience of pitching in the 8th or 9th innings espcially in tight games. Some young pitchers (he cited Dana Eveland as an example) have had very little experience pitching in those late innings, so if they get to the majors and are asked to come in as a reliever, they haven't had the experience of being in that kind of a tight situation. That being said, he did specifically say that he thought Eveland would remain a starter. He feels that designating one reliever as the "closer" is better than the "committee" approach, particularly as it shows that the team has confidence in that one designated pitcher. Parra -- he was having a good year, and they want to be cautious with his shoulder. *** That's what I heard him say. Anyone else? Did I miss anything? Or mis-hear anything? Please add or correct as necessary.

Anyone else listening to the Huntsville game, and hear the interview with Doug Melvin? I can summarize it, but it will take a few minutes.

Looking around in Los Tigres (Venezuelan League) website today, and found this message in their fan forum: www.tigresdearagua.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=114 ... which, as best as I can guess, says that Brandon Gemoll has returned to the US to have his injured rotator cuff diagnosed. (in case that link thing doesn't work, this is the site: ) http://www.tigresdearagua.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=114

Since my younger son is a big fan of Brandon Gemoll, we had to check out the web site for Los Tigres. Between the two of us, we have third-grade-level conversational Spanish, but we've been able to muddle through parts of it. We found the place to click on "juego online", and found an interesting version of mlb's "gameday". It's not yet clear how the two sides of the screen relate to one another, since they don't seem to exactly be in sync, and we're going to have to get some translations of some of the terms (one of the guys at work is Venezuelan), but so far my son is thrilled. Also playing in today's game is Alex Delgado and Todd Erdos has come in to pitch in the 6th or 7th inning. My son sends his thanks, MassBrew, for helping him track down his hero!

A disappointing end to the season... Glenn Woolard pitched 6 outstanding innings, assisted by three double plays when he did get into a bit of trouble. Jeff Housman came in to pitch the bottom of the 7th, and gave up three walks and three hits including a homer -- 6 runs. Steve Scarborough hit a home run in the top of the 9th to keep some hope going.... but then the RiverBats scored on two hits in the bottom of the ninth.... Call-ups announced at the end of the game: Ben Ford (yesterday) Travis Phelps Mark Johnson Trent Durrington ??no Erickson??

a bit of pitching, a little hitting, a little taking advantage of the other team's errors, some decent defense..... Indians 6, Norfolk Tides 0

disintegration again! Tides 6, Indians 3 Three errors by the Indians

After 6 innings, in Norfolk: Indians 3, Tides 2 Two of the Indians' runs scored when the Tides' pitcher walked two with the bases loaded...... We'll take 'em any way we can get 'em!

... and a homer by Leifer, for a final score of: Indians 5, Braves 3 It's about time!

Not that I'm getting my hopes up... but the Indians just scored three runs in the top of the 5th, on hits by Liefer and Figueroa Indians 4, Braves3

Thirteen straight losses.... embarrassing.... The second game isn't going so well either: Braves 3, Indians 1 after 4 innings