brewblue1

What about Kevin Seitzer, hitting coach for the Braves?

The Dodgers have decided to move their AAA affiliate from Albuquerque to OK City. The stadium here in Albuquerque is a beautiful place to watch a ball game and the fans and city support the team very well! It's a newer stadium, with nice views of the mountains and traffic is easily handled. Would love to see the BrewersAAA come to Albuquerque!

If you like Laphroig or Talisker, you should try Lagavulin 16. IMO, the best of the Islay scotches and my desert island choice of scotch. Also, visit The Scotch Malt Whiskey Society and consider joining for access to cask-strength scotch of very high quality for very affordable prices. www.smwsa.com. My fav bourbon is Booker's, with Basil Hayden's and Knob Creek following closely. Haven't really explored many Irish whiskeys yet, but Midelton is apparently the bench mark. Crown Royal is the only Canadian you should even bother trying. Makes the best Manhattans! Has anyone tried the new CR Black? Hear its very good and easy on the wallet. Also, if you're a whiskey drinker, you should consider investing in some Glencairn glasses. The proper glassware can make all the difference in how whiskey tastes and the Glencairn class is the best. Turns a 12 yr old scotch into an 18 yr old! JM

To the fellows who were "annoyed" by the clearly funny April Fools joke.........lighten up, Francis! Geez, stop taking yourself so seriously! I'm down in Brazil right now for work, and I posted on my FB site that I "hope to never see the inside of a Brazilian jail cell again." I got a few folks with that one, including a contact of mine here in Brazil. He was all concerned for me and ready to come help me out. Then he realized he had been duped, and he laughed his behind off. The fine people of Brazil are warm, caring and good natured. And they love a good joke, even one that's not a part of their culture. Talk about crabby Americans! Get out and enjoy life a little and, by all means, learn to laugh at yourself a little!

This time of year is when I enjoy baseball the most. The pennant races, the individuals chasing records, the playoffs...........I love this game so much and am already beginning to despair the cold (er, mild in NM) winter nights with only a basketball or crappy college football game on tv. The Brewers, no matter how badly they play, cannot diminish my love for this game. I'm very envious of all the posters here on BF who get to attend Brewer games on a regular basis and would give much in return to be able to see a few games in Miller Park again, even if they were losses. Even attending AAA Isotopes games is a treat for me as nothing beats sitting in a baseline seat with a dog in one hand, a beer in another and a live ball game happening right in front of you. Despite the disappointing performance by both the team AND front office this year, I STILL make sure to check the Brewers box score every evening, hoping for something good. Yes, more good than bad this year, but at least not what it was earlier this century. So, yes, I am enjoying myself as a baseball fan. As a Brewer fan.......yes and no. I know I've probably been labeled as one of the pessimistic fans here on BF, but despite my disdain for the Brewers performance sometimes, I will continue to bleed Brewer blue and yellow and express my fandom with pride. I didn't stick with this team through the bad times to give up on 'em now.

The thing is, though, that Suppan hasn't been relied upon to be a back of the rotation starter. M&M have been pitching him as a front ender. He started on Opening Day for cripes sakes! Unless something changes quickly, Suppan will again be relied upon to be a #2 or #3 next year and he's is NOT an acceptable pitcher in those spots, IMHO. I'm gonna back off my calls to fire Melvin until after this coming offseason. I'm not sure there is much he can do to improve the pathetic pitching on this club given the lack of any future pitching prospects in the minors and the sudden lack of trade bait on the offense, but maybe he can work some magic this winter anyway. I still doubt, very seriously, DM's ability to build this team into a REAL contender given the corner he has backed himself into. Seriously, best of luck Doug.

Terry Goodkind - The Sword of Truth series.

FtJ, thank you for so eloquently stating (much more so than I) the exact reasons why I'm not convinced that DM is the right man for the job anymore. Meanwhile, as we argue about this, the Brewers have, once again, slipped to .500 and 4th in the NL Central and 7th in the WC. I hope this team can make a comeback here in the 2nd half, as,technically, they are still in "contention", but it doesn't look promising, especially the way they have played the last month.

Sigh. Ok, fine. I didn't take the time to look over the entire schedule to verify when leads were lost and they placed the making the playoffs in jeopardy. But my point is valid. The Crew has had a pattern of melting down, at some point, in the last 3 seasons and that is an indictment of the players and the GM who has collected them. But seriously folks, I really do want to hear some positive feedback. Help me change my mind. I don't want to be so skeptical.

I'm counting 07, 08 and 09. All years in which the Brewers started hot, then had meltdowns that made making the playoffs questionable (despite remaining "in contention"). And yes, I don't see them getting the lead back this year either. So what. Isn't it Melvin's job to be the knowledgeable baseball guy and maybe explain that that signing was a bad idea. Maybe he did try and MA pulled rank, if so, fine. His recent signings of Gagne, Mota, Kendall, Riske, Looper, Julio and Duffy (among others) have not been all that reassuring. I will say the DM's trade activity has been decent and has not hurt the team the way his FA signings have. Solid is not the word I would used to describe Suppan. He has been a poor starter for the Brewers every year of his contract. ERA's of 4.62, 4.96 and 4.71, WHIP's of 1.5, 1.54 and 1.65, and BAA of .298, .298 and .302 are NOT solid. Bottom line, Suppan has not given the Brewers many chances to win games over the last 2.5 seasons and $42 million is a lot to pay for poor pitching. What has he done to be underpaid? I think $10million is a bit much for a .251/.348/.472/.820(over his season and a half) player. Not bad numbers, but not worthy of that much money. Oh wait, I forgot, he's a great clubhouse guy. Is that what he's being paid for though? Fine. Explain it to me then. Apparently I'm missing something about the past moves and past performance of this team that warrant optimism. Seriously, someone explain to me why I should believe in DM. I'm open minded, I'd love to hear more positive opinions. I would love to see him and the Brewers succeed.

And 16-27 this year. My point being more to the fact that the Brewers have blown sizeable leads in the division all three years in June/July, leads they never got back and, with one overrated exception, kept them out of the playoffs. I just don't think this team is that good. If the Brewers were in any other division in baseball, aside from the AL Central, they would be between 6 and 11 games out at this point and looking to be out of the playoff race. The NL Central is NOT a strong division, especially with it's best team, the Cubs, playing well below expectations. I also believe that DM's foul up with Suppan is not just some small mistake for the Brewers. His contract has not only hamstrung this team to a point that he HAS to pitch to justify the amount of money he's receiving, but also has severely limited the flexibility with which the team has to make other free agent signings or trades. The Brewers can't just eat a mistake like that the way the Yanks or Sox can. Suppans contract (as well as some other overpaid mediocrity) has really, IMO, hurt this team. Looper was the only pitcher the Brewers could afford this past offseason because of the absurd amount of money going to Suppan, Hall, Cameron and others. Might (yes, only might) have been different if the payroll was more flexible without those contracts. I'm probably not gaining much a fan base here at BF.net with my seemingly anti-Brewer or anti-Doug stance. But other than Yo, Prince and Ryan, I don't see what there is to get excited about on the 2009 Brewers. And I don't see much of a future with DM in charge. I really, really, do hope I'm wrong. Honestly.

Why is no one mentioning the fact that Dougie-boy has built a team that, for the 3rd year in a row, has played terribly come June and July, taking themselves out of contention. Niether Dougie, nor CC Sa-bye-thia, got this team into the playoffs. The NY Mets ineptitude at the end of the season did. And why are we so happy that the Brewers made the playoffs, only to embarrass themselves and prove, emphatically, that they did not belong there. Dougie's wonder pitching staff performed oh so well in the playoff series, didn't they. Doug has built the exact kind of team in Milwaukee that eventually got him fired in Texas. It's a team with an ok offense (one could argue that TX offense was better in DMs tenure) and a terrible pitching staff. I, for one, am not happy with that, just because of an over-rated playoff appearance. I'm sorry so many of you disagree with me, but I just don't think DM is the man to build a team good enough to go to the playoffs AND WIN!

As long as Dougie Melvin is the GM, we can expect the same, or more likely, worse than 2009. He needs to be gone. As soon as possible.

Um, ok. Will follow the "rules" because I've been asked, but am a little stunned that the harmless name was what alarmed everyone here. I just think it's overly pc to not be allowed to joke about the team that I root for. So as to stay on topic, I do recall Braunie also calling out the offense in his latest comments, as well. The Cubs out played the Crew all weekend. He said that. But, clearly, the offense is not the major problem with this team. Another lefty bat would be nice, but the starting pitching has been very deficient. I think Braun has every right to try to fire up the team. If the clubhouse becomes split up by these comments, then this team doesn't deserve to go to the playoffs. Every team faces some kind of adversity over the course of a season. It's the ones that stay together, despite it, that are successful.

Right on Mickey D! It's getting pretty ridiculous how the Sewers are having to play from behind almost every game. Braun is an All-Star and is one BIG reason why the team has the record it does. He didn't say that people stink or use foul language, he just mentioned that maybe it's gut check time for the starting pitching squad. I think he also might be right about Melvin not having one darn clue! But, like my opinion on Glassboy Sheets, I'm gonna guess that I'm the only one here who thinks that.