BillScottCanRake

Another week, and the NL Central leading Brewers sort of ho-hummed their way to a 5-1 record. Taking care of business against bad teams is important for teams with big aspirations. And while the 2022 Brewers aren't without blemishes, after a month it should be clear they have big aspirations. And the Brewer Fanatic forum knows it. Another week, and the NL Central leading Brewers sort of ho-hummed their way to a 5-1 record. Taking care of business against bad teams is important for teams with big aspirations. And while the 2022 Brewers aren't without blemishes, after a month it should be clear they have big aspirations. And the Brewer Fanatic forum knows it. We kick off this installment of Forum Friday with a thread about the Crew's logo for the City Connect Uniforms being leaked, with game-thread extraordinaire @Eye Black providing the link. The linked Uni-Watch article notes the MKE logo appears to pay homage to Milwaukee's 414 area code, and if you squint in just the right light you can sort of see it. While I am fan of the colors used, like @Dragonbait and @Patrick425 the logo is a bit meh. We'll see once the entire uniform is released. The other big news is Bally Sports' announcement of their direct-to-consumer app pricing. Reaction, while mostly positive, was predictably mixed. I am personally pleased, as my ability to watch the Crew has been limited to their appearances on national broadcasts for far too long. It sure helps selling their new app in Wisconsin with the Brewers and Bucks both doing so well. Of course, it wouldn't be Forum Friday without a look back at a couple of older, but relevant threads. When the Crew scores like they did last week, in particular the last couple of days, our old friend the 2022 Brewers Offense thread will get a few comments. Whether this uptick is real as @owbc asks, or a mirage, as @jerichoholicninja noted, will play out over the course of the season. But ending the week the number 2 run scoring offense in baseball after struggling for mediocrity for several weeks is fun. Jose Urias' return from the DL brought new action to the thread reflecting on the trade which brought him and Eric Lauer to Milwaukee. Not that Lauer's start to the 2022 season hasn't been enough reason to talk about it, but Urias is a bit of icing on the cake. Hopefully Urias' hot start off the DL hopefully bodes well as the Crew head into their weekend series with the Braves. And, after such a good week, how can we not close by taking a peak into the 2022 Brewers Optimism thread. In separate posts @Brewcrew82 noted Milwaukee now has baseball's highest probability to win their division per FiveThirtyEight (76%), with an 89% chance to make the playoffs, and the current ML leader in XSLG is Rowdy Tellez at .815, ahead of some guys named Trout and Judge. @Jopal78 reminds us Milwaukee has been averaging 5.8 runs per game over their last 13... and that was before Milwaukee scored 10 more to beat the Reds. Here's to hoping the offense continues to pull their weight. That will do it for this week. Until next Friday... Go Crew! View full article

Tim, as always, great work.

Tim, as always, great work.

I'm all in; this year is as good a year as any. Let's do this.

This is totally off topic, but every time I see Karlaftis' name in this thread, for just a split second I wonder why we are talking about Austin Kafentzis. If Green Bay ends up drafting Karlaftis I am not sure my brain will be able to take it.

One more rule. Every time the Cards beat Milwaukee, they lose 5 draft picks. If they score 10 or more runs against them in a single game, they lose them all for the year.

That is a good counter-argument to the pitch clock. With regard to pitch clocks or a clock in general, I am largely ok with the game being clockless. I prefer when pitchers pitch fast, but I am not usually too bothered when they don't. And typically I'm not bothered by throws to bases to keep runners close; that is a valid tactic for trying to prevent runs. Maybe by the 7th throw over, I will admit getting a bit antsy, but it is still better than standing around. What I would like to see eliminated is probably the outlier case where you have stretches of minutes+ between pitches, or a 5-pitch at bat that lasts 7 minutes. So I am not an advocate of a 10 second pitch clock or something which might be quite so extreme. I'd just like to have a better mechanism for avoiding those outlier cases that maybe don't come up every single game.

I have a few suggestions, most of which will likely cause some eye rolling or chuckling. Outside of the changes to how minor leaguers are treated and paid, and maybe the free food thingie, I think the others would be strictly "trying before buying", because they probably sound better to me on paper than they will actually work in the real world. Scheduling changes 144 game season At least 1 off day per week At least 1 week per month with 2 off days Limit Day Games after Night Games to once per month Comments: I would like to see fewer games played by generally healthier and more rested players. I would also like to see fewer load management days from the teams best players. I believe 144 games is enough for the season to be test of endurance, but I am hopeful better player can play more games with more built it off days. I know some people won't like that because it messes with counting stats, but if a shorter season improves the quality of the on field product, I am for it. Financial Changes NBA model of salary cap with allows players to get more money from their current team than other teams in free agency Revenue sharing to facilitate the above Standardized player performance bonuses paid from an MLB pool instead of per team Players on 40-man roster paid at least ML minimum salary, even those not on the ML roster Mandatory team-provided: Housing for all minor league players. Housing must meet some universal minimum standards (i.e. x number of square feet per player, 1 bathroom per x players, etc. No squeezing 5 guys into an 800 square feet apartment with one bathroom) Food stipends so players can have three healthy meals per day Comments: These changes all are designed to help ensure each teams front office is most responsible for building a team and having games decided on the field and remove market size from the equation to at least some degree. Having a "Bird Rule" will plus the other changes may allow teams to retain more of their stars at lower risk than they can now. I'd also like to see way more be done to help Minor League players be the best they can be. The rate at which players succeed or fail won't change, but I think giving the wages and working conditions which allow them to succeed and fail on merit instead of survival of the fittest is good for the game. On Field Changes Rescind the 3 batter rule for pitchers Unlimited shifting Pitch/Play Clock Comments: I would like to see teams have more freedom to play the game as they like. If teams want to play 5 infielders, or have 6 players to the right of second base, go for it. I would rather see players and teams adapt to trends within the rules than change the rules because teams and players are stubborn and not wanting to adapt. Roster Changes Cap number of pitchers on the MLB roster to 10 Any pitcher who has been added to the MLB roster must remain on the roster for at least 10 days Injured pitchers can be removed from the MLB roster at any time but can't return for 30 days Pitchers removed from the MLB roster after serving 10+ days cannot return to the MLB roster for 20 days No exceptions for replacing injured players Any player who averaged 3 PA per 9 innings pitched the previous season with a minimum of 50 innings pitched won't count against the 10-pitcher limit DH is available to every team in every game Comments: Even though I am in favor of teams having more flexibility in adopting their own style of play, I do believe the growth of pitching staffs and their corresponding specialization has lead to a less pleasing game. As such, I'd like to see the number of pitchers a team can carry reduced. Pitchers will have to adapt so they can pitcher deeper into games, and managers will have to manage their staffs differently. Fewer pitching changes hopefully will result in more action and fewer in-inning breaks. If a manager wants to use a lefty-specialist for one hitter only, that's perfectly acceptable, but they'll have to do so with a limited number of pitchers available to them. As a concession, if teams are willing to sacrifice some offense and have their pitchers hit sufficiently often, they can "gain" extra pitchers by having them hit instead of using a DH. This goes back to encouraging teams to find ways to play the game differently within the rules. In Game Experience 50% off all non-alcoholic concessions after the 7th inning; 75% off all non-alcoholic concessions in extra innings. Free food for all for any game that goes 15 innings. Comments: Yes, I am hungry. Side note: I tried to post this last night and had some technical issue. To my surprise the draft of my post was retained. I love that feature of the site!

It is hard to believe that is 35 years ago already. I like the how you tied the game into the Top 40 music. For me, talking about the music from the time did a great job brining me back to 1987, better than just saying "The game was 35 years ago". Nice work!

It is hard to believe that is 35 years ago already. I like the how you tied the game into the Top 40 music. For me, talking about the music from the time did a great job brining me back to 1987, better than just saying "The game was 35 years ago". Nice work!

It was super tense But the Crew bested the Birds From old Baltimore

Odd innings are best For the Crew from Milwaukee Hope this one goes nine

Two runs in the first More than the last game in all Will there be more

The Vampire!

When will the bats wake from their slumber? without runs wins are not a thing

Thank you @Julio Muchacho and @Seth Stohs. I had a lot of fun looking back as I wrote this, and it the extra "research" playing the game was a nice bonus!

The good ol' days I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them. -- Andy Bernard Like many of us, my love of baseball and the Brewers started at a young age. My first baseball memory was 8-year-old me watching the 1981 Divisional Playoffs with my dad on ABC. Even though it was my first memory, I must have known enough to feel like Milwaukee was an underdog going against the big, bad Yankees, because I remember distinctly that feeling, and being so disappointed after game 5. But I will always fondly remember Paul Molitor's game three homerun and how good those Brewer uniforms looked under the bright lights that night. After 1981, I was hooked and followed the Brewers a closely as I could. Back in 1982 I wore number 4 on my little league jersey. And even though there weren't many Brewer games on TV, the newspaper and 10pm news always had box scores and highlights. I was glued to the TV for game 162, and I watch the entire ALCS, except for the last 2 innings of game 5, which I listened to on the radio as we drove home from my grandparents' house. And I was utterly convinced the Brewers were destined to win the whole thing after winning game 5. When they didn't, I wasn't all that upset. They took the Yankees to the wire in 1981, and they were so close in 1982, it was natural for a 10-year-old to assume they'd be back in 1983. In all fairness, what 10-year-old could have foreseen the next 20+ years? Lost? They're [expletive deleted] -- Groundskeeper # 1 As the Brewers won less during the 1980s, my interest in baseball waned. I started playing football in 7th and 8th grades, and even when I stopped playing due to a knee injury football had become my primary love. As for baseball, I was still a fan, but one of convenience. Maybe it was because of the success Milwaukee had when I was younger, before I understood how sports work, but I found it hard to watch then the games didn't mean everything. And even as the team rebounded back into relevance in 1987 and 1988 and they did have games which meant everything, it wasn't the same as it was earlier. As a baseball fan, I was lost, and it wasn't until 1992, with the help of Earl Weaver, I was found again. Baseball rediscovered The number 3 man (in your lineup) should be a contact guy who can hit with power. Stan Musial and Ted Williams were two of the best that ever lived. Pick a player like that. -- Earl Weaver Several things happened in 1992 which saw me rediscover baseball. I was a high school graduate with a bit more freedom and time on my hands. I still was a huge Packer fan, but in the spring of 1992 they were coming off a 4-12 season with a rookie head coach and a ton of questions. I also had a bit more money, which lead to two purchases which changed how I view baseball. The first was a computer game called Earl Weaver Baseball 2 with the all-important Commissioners Disk. This was quickly followed by the 1992 edition of The Sports Encyclopedia Baseball. For those of you who never played it, Earl Weaver Baseball 2 was pretty incredible for its time. If you got version with the Commissioners Disk, not only did you get the game, but you also got full MLB rosters, plus all-time greats divided into AL, NL, and Negro League rosters by era. I had heard of guys like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, but who were Nap Lajoie or Ed Walsh or Cool Papa Bell? As I got into the game, I found you can use the player editor to add players, their statistics, and attributes. And best of all, you can create and draft your own teams based upon the pool of players you created. But wait, there is still more! You got to build your own management style and custom ballpark for each team. The more I played, and the more I learned about the past from the thickest book I'd ever seen, the more I was hooked. Armed with EWB2 and a book of baseball stats back to 1901, a friend of mine and I built a pool of historical and current players, 8 teams, and a 152-game schedule. We held our draft on a train from Madison to Albany, NY in May, and had our league season that summer. EWB2 has the ability to simulate games, which we did for most of them, but the in-game action was good enough that we got together as often as possible to play games ourselves. The game wasn't perfect by any means, but our results were still fascinating to us. In many ways, the game was very extreme. Players who had good years had really good ones, and those who didn't were often like the one Lou Gehrig suffered through in the printout above. But to watch a 152-game season with current stars like Ricky Henderson and Jose Canseco compete with and against all-time greats like Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson never got old. It was my first experience with platoons, managing a pitching staff, and injuries. Our EWB2 World Series was held on the last day of the actual baseball season, and according to my somewhat incomplete season documentation, the Brewhas defeated the Sharks in 6 games. Bob Gibson beat Ed Walsh 4-1 behind 4 hits from Honus Wagner in game 6. Fandom The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game -- it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again. -- Terrence Mann There was no 1993 Earl Weaver Baseball 2 season. My cohort and were busy with school and work, and neither of us had the time we needed to put into the game to make it interesting. But, thanks to the game and the Brewers run in 1992, my fandom was back. During the 1992 season I watch more Brewer games than I ever had. I attended exactly one game in 1992, but at that game I watched from Lower Grandstand Section 16, Row 9, Seat 19 (seat 19!) as Robin Yount stroked hit number 3000 to right center off Jose Mesa. I was saddened by the team's playoff push falling a bit short, but I had a different perspective than I had when I was younger. I wasn't crushed like I was in '81, nor was I sure they'd be back in '93 like I was after the World Series. For the first time, I was able to enjoy the ride, and appreciate the season and the memories for what it was. I can't say I followed every season thereafter with the same vigor I followed the 1992 team. I went from a student to a career in software, so I didn't have the same amount of time to put into baseball as I used to. But it was always there, even in the late 1990s and early 2000s when the Brewers fielded some pretty awful teams. In 2001 I got married and had two kids who needed to be converted from Cardinal fandom to Milwaukee, and a little startup website called Brewerfan.com helped me find the right community to do so. Earl Weaver Baseball, 2022 As I wrote this article, I had to know if Earl Weaver Baseball 2 would run today. After a big of digging for the copyright protection wheel that game with my game, I fired up the game on DOSBOX. I lost four hours on Sunday to the game, and I don't mind one bit. It's not Out of Park Baseball, but it was everything I remember from 30 years ago. I still wanted to swing at everything, my teams defense still sucked, and runners on third still would run home on a 3-2 pitch with 2 outs and with the bases not loaded... and be tagged out at home when the batter walked. I love that game, but I still hate that bug. Now, if we can only find the 2022 Brewers that ideal number 3 hitter Earl Weaver says you should pick...

I'm a bit late to the party, but I'm only one game in so hopefully I can join the fun without having too much of an advantage. @ CHC 4 > 2-2 @ BAL 3 > 2-1 STL 4 > 3-1 PIT 3 > 3-0 @ PHI 3 > 0-3 SF 1 > 0-1 @ PIT 3 > 3-0 CHC 2 > 1-1 If I can do some math, that is 14-9 in an up-and-down first month.

Welcome to the 2022 season opening edition of Brewer Fanatic’s Forum Friday! This is our first Opening Day as Brewer Fanatic, and we are excited to be the new home of the best Brewer news and discussion anywhere. Every week, we’ll take a look at some of the popular topics generated by our community and give a quick rundown of the week’s action. Image courtesy of Introductory blurb to display on front page. Welcome to the 2022 season opening edition of Brewer Fanatic’s Forum Friday! This is our first Opening Day as Brewer Fanatic, and we are excited to be the new home of the best Brewer news and discussion anywhere. Every week, we’ll take a look at some of the popular topics generated by our community and give a quick rundown of the week’s action. April 7 is the best day of the year thus far, with the Brewers opening their season in Chicago against the Cubs. This also means the first of at least 162 Game Threads in our forums. While you don't have to watch a Brewers game while also keeping tabs on the game thread, you'll be missing out if you don't. And without spoiling thins too much, we’ve got 161 more games to go. Prior to the opener, the Brewers made almost as many moves at the catcher position in a two days as they did all of last year, which considering we now have the "Jacob Nottingham Rule" is quite an accomplishment. The first big of news was the suspension of Pedro Severino for 80 games and the post season on Tuesday, April 5. Among the first names brought up as a replacement for Severino was the aforementioned Nottingham by @Ron Robinsons Beard. Severino's suspension spurred the Brewers front office to action, as they added two catchers in rapid succession. Victor Caratini was acquired from the Padres for minor leaguers OF Korry Howell and C Brett Sullivan, and a few hours later the Crew added some additional depth from Miami by flipping IF Hayden Cantrelle and RHP Alexis Ramierez for Alex Jackson. Having back-to-back trades completed to closely together made @ClosetBrewerFan quip David Sterns may have "just forgot to call (the Jackson) trade off." Or, as @Ulice Payne said, “Jake Nottingham can breathe easier.” One topic which didn't get as much attention as I thought it should was Pitch sign stealing woah solvdd? Not only does @young guns get some kudos for a creative title, but I'll be very curious to see how offenses perform against teams using this new technology as compared to how they perform against teams using traditional signs. I also wonder if teams will be looking to expand their IT staffs... This week was a busy one for the Crew’s minor league affiliate, so there was plenty to talk about in our Minor League Forum. Rosters have been released for each of the full season teams and our first 2022 Community Top 25 Prospects poll voting has closed. We’ll have the results from this poll in a future Forum Friday. And, of course, the minor league season opened April 5 and along with it the return of the Daily Link Report. For those of you who are new to Brewer Fanatic, the Daily Link Report is a complete roundup of each day's minor league action, including links to box scores, stories, and video from each game. We may be biased, but we believe Brewer Fanatic has the best Brewer minor league coverage you will find anywhere. And being biased doesn’t mean we are wrong! That’s all for now, but be sure to check back next week. Hopefully we can chat more Brewer wins and less about catchers. View full article

Is 161-1 still considered optimistic? We don't really have a "realistic" thread I can post in.

While clearly not the start we were looking for, I am excited enough by the return of baseball that I'll be extra patient with the Crew this year. I'm going to give them all the way until Monday before I panic.

Outside of his speed, I don't recall much about Felder beyond his nickame and a humorous exchange between Bob Uecker and Pat Hughes when Kenny Felder was drafted by the Brewers. During one game in '92 Uecker expressed surprise when he learned the Brewers drafted Kenny Felder because he the Brewers already had him once and he currently played for the Giants Pat Hughes, playing the good straight man, reminded Ueck the former Brewers OFer was Mike Felder. Uecker had a sarcastic reply which I can't remember now but had me laughing hard at the time. I wish I could remember more about the exchange, because it was pretty funny when I heard it 30 years ago... not so much as I type this out.

Outside of his speed, I don't recall much about Felder beyond his nickame and a humorous exchange between Bob Uecker and Pat Hughes when Kenny Felder was drafted by the Brewers. During one game in '92 Uecker expressed surprise when he learned the Brewers drafted Kenny Felder because he the Brewers already had him once and he currently played for the Giants Pat Hughes, playing the good straight man, reminded Ueck the former Brewers OFer was Mike Felder. Uecker had a sarcastic reply which I can't remember now but had me laughing hard at the time. I wish I could remember more about the exchange, because it was pretty funny when I heard it 30 years ago... not so much as I type this out.

Outside of his speed, I don't recall much about Felder beyond his nickame and a humorous exchange between Bob Uecker and Pat Hughes when Kenny Felder was drafted by the Brewers. During one game in '92 Uecker expressed surprise when he learned the Brewers drafted Kenny Felder because he the Brewers already had him once and he currently played for the Giants Pat Hughes, playing the good straight man, reminded Ueck the former Brewers OFer was Mike Felder. Uecker had a sarcastic reply which I can't remember now but had me laughing hard at the time. I wish I could remember more about the exchange, because it was pretty funny when I heard it 30 years ago... not so much as I type this out.