Jim French Stepstool

Struggles in the post-season aside (and that isn't supposed to count for this award anyway), I wonder if Ortiz would've been in the running at 3B had he been the primary 3B all year. In an alternate universe where Pratt was up all season and Rengifo had signed wherever the Rengifos of the world otherwise sign?

I'm still somewhat intrigued by Adams (as a 1B, not at 3B). He's flashed power, and the K-BB ratio and OBP is something you notice, even without the ridiculous propensity to get plunked. I just wish he'd have been able to stay on the field more in '26. I imagine only 67 AAA games in his career makes him a longshot in '27 so it'll be interesting to see how the organization juggles him, Burke & Fischer.

So after 3 exhibitions the season starts for real on Monday with a game vs the University of Denver. Thoughts so far: I think Rapp should settle into his spot in the starting five eventually, maybe by Monday. Victory Onuetu appears to have the inside track on Will Garlock for bench minutes but I think that's still somewhat up in the air. Garlock is nursing an injury that isn't considered serious. Onuetu looks athletic enough & should help out on the boards, but his hands aren't the best from what I've seen & he so far has had an issue of defending w/o fouling. Jack Janicki has been starting in the exhibitions. That surprises me, but it really comes down to minutes played & I think that number will be similar to what he receives if he were coming off the bench. It might be simply a case of going with a dependable, known quantity while the others sort themselves out. Braeden Carrington has been productive & shall we say very unbashful about shooting. I think Trey Autry, Hayden Jones, Jackson Ball & Zack Kinziger are all sort of in a race to see who can do what Greg Gard wants on both ends, and show the most consistency doing it. Right now It might be Kinziger, who is earmarked as the backup PG but can easily play off the ball. He's done so at times in the exhibitions, playing along with Owen Foxwell. I still feel someone among the wings is going to be very disappointed with his minutes once things shake out. As for Foxwell, He appears to have a good handle on the offense & feel for distribution. His shot looked OK to me. He has shown a real ability to get into the lane, and I think he'll be able to do that vs B10 opponents as well. My only concern is finishing around the rim once the competition heats up. Denver is moving to the WCC, which is a step up for them even with Gonzaga leaving that league. They have quite a bit of size that's mostly unproven. In games like this, it's nice to have an opposing player who can put the ball in the hoop to test the man-to-man defense & Denver has that in Carson Johnson, a guard who was around 20PPG last season.

A more accurate statement has never been made, that backs up the adage that a team takes on the personality of their coach.

I think compared to last year, it could be argued they're in a better spot right now. I don't know if last years' team competes as well on the road at UCLA, or wins at Penn State (regardless of how much the Lions have fallen). And as meaningless as this may be, I don't think last years' teams dominate the non-con opponents after Notre Dame like this years' team did. But I don't disagree with you, either. Physical teams have eaten their lunch in the last few years. That's why I want to see things get righted before Minnesota, another team that prides itself on that. If I can make an analogy, I think this program has gotten better the last year or two in the same way that Steve Yoder's BB teams improved in his last handful of years. Which means not enough, at least at this point. Winning the next three is probably critical for Fickell, and a better showing in the finale might be. As I said above, barring a loss or two to people not named Minnesota I think he'll be back. That's based more on reading tea leaves than any desire I have, one way or the other. We'll see.

First off, they gave up 30 points. This wasn't the type of opponent, venue or circumstance (Iowa suffering a frustrating loss last week) where you can give up anywhere near that many & be able to compete. Against a lot of teams, a QB like Joseph can allow you to compete IF you can get the opposing front seven to take your run game seriously, get Joseph out on the edge (or in the middle on a QB draw IF you're running effectively enough off-tackle or on the jet sweep to stretch the defense a little) and maybe most importantly keep the down & distance manageable. UW did none of those things today. They were never going to score a lot of points today, but you needed just enough 1st downs & 8, 10, 11 play drives where you could keep your defense fresh, and punt from a more advantageous spot on the field when you DID have to kick. This had to be a field position, strong special-teams game where whoever made the fewest mistakes won 17-13 or something like that. The goal now in the next three games is to get back to what they've been able do in the last several games before today (yes, including the UCLA loss) & see if the next real 'physical' test (Minnesota) can be handled better than this one was.

I think he's back in 2027, based on what I've been able to glean. Since before the season started people have talked about the possibility of 8-4, albeit vs a meh schedule. IMO anyone who wants him gone better hope for something below that, and I don't know if that'll happen.

It's not surprising to see Iowa come out & play really well after their loss last week---and they DID have an excellent first half. What's disappointing is UW responding to it so poorly. First possession of the game, 3rd & seven and Jung commits the doubler-----he gets beaten badly AND slips. Brown had a terrific half for them--it helps when you can both hand the ball off AND throw--and for the first time in a long while the UW defense was never comfortable. Disappointing to see the O-Line take a step back with the mistakes, albeit vs a very good front seven. Phil Parker has been their defensive coordinator for about 900 years & does a really good job. Missing out on the 4th & goal play--the play call screamed "You're better than us up front, and we know it." Problem is, they ARE. Even then, you have them pinned, it's still only 10-0 & you can get the ball back with more than enough time. But a few plays later they're out beyond midfield. Down & distance was comfortable for Iowa most of the half, making things easy for Brown. OTOH, we have a return to the constant 2nd & 13; 3rd & 11. Just a poor half, probably rivaling the 2nd half vs ND.

I'm not real big on the team gear that commemorates a championship; I prefer the more standard stuff. But watching the parade, I thought the cream-colored hoodies the players sported were very cool & ordered one along with the tee of the same design. They're on the Fanatics site.

I feel good about some of the others you mentioned-----Letson, Knoth, Hardin-----but yeah, Wagner could be an eye-opener right away.

.....And followed that up by allowing another single HR in a 5-game WS, while scoring ten runs without one in game 3. HRs are nice. But I can recall Brewer teams in the past who you could argue had a fatal flaw of being too reliant on them.

Like a couple others in this thread, I thought the real opportunity to break through was next season or the season after. Yet they did it now, in a year in which none of their SP were over the age of 27 unless you want to factor in Woodruff & his nine starts. The top three innings eaters & and leaders in victories in 2025 were Quintana, Priester & Peralta. All had to be replaced. I don't see how anyone can dispute that this is the best-run organization in baseball. Every year is a lifetime unto itself & anything can happen. But when you look at the 'bites of the apple' philosophy---which has been very unfairly disparaged by many---It looks to me like they've put themselves in a position where it's now a top-tier apple. A championship apple, not just a playoff-contending one.

One of my favorite parts (watching from home)------in 1957 at the downtown celebration when the Braves won, there was a fan walking around with a sign saying "Bushville Wins" in response to a Yankee player or two describing Milwaukee that way. Old pics from the celebration show the guy holding the sign. Today I noticed someone carrying a sign that simply said "Bushville Wins Again". As someone who gets a kick out of sports history I thought that was very cool. Vogelbach obviously being uncomfortable in front of a crowd, it's not surprising the team forced him front & center. It's what families do lol. Hilarious!!!!

Agree 100%. And for quite some time I felt like Anderson is becoming more & more of a 'national' guy despite his having a home in the area & maybe it was time to move on from him as a TV voice. I was very, very wrong.

I've never done this because it would force me to watch an entire game, but I've been tempted to watch an NFL game & keep track of the # of plays from scrimmage, the # of individual commercials and compare the two numbers to see how close they get to 50-50. Of course I now doubt the college game is all that different.

The double-digit ABs from Bauers were nothing short of spectacular. And then there were the massive moments that to some might not seem so massive. Yelich gets the big secondary lead off 1st base & beats the throw to 2nd from Caminero. An otherwise scoreless inning becomes an 8-runner. Sanchez comes off the bench & draws a walk from Mason Miller. If he doesn't reach, Chourio never gets to the plate & the game 3 loss in SD leaves the team down 2-1 & facing elimination on the road.

Exactly. There are 26 roster spots. I would imagine every playoff team has 1 or 2 guys who contributed little to nothing. I would've strongly considered going 14 position players/12 pitchers for the series with SD, but neither Lockridge nor Naylor were necessary on a roster that doesn't need to PR or PH much. Murphy locked into Yelich all post-season, and Frelick once the WS started. Both decisions turned out to be correct.

Both he & DL Hall made the injury to Zerpa pretty much a non-factor, at least in the last few months.

This day keeps getting better & better. Winning a world championship & pissing off ESPN all in one shot. In fairness to them, they have to find something to detract from a championship being won by a city not sitting on an ocean.

I've heard him a couple of times. The guy put some time & effort into it; props to him. The old Blatz beer jingle. That might not register with some.

That's one five-star post there. Thank you. I think the concerns about Contreras re the position he plays, the wear & tear, etc are legitimate. My best guess is he's the catcher in 2027 & then walks. That will be his age 30 season & he'll definitely get paid by someone.

I vote for Brewer Fever w/Turnin' up the Heat as #2. I'm probably partial to those two because they evoke memories of when the team first started to cook after Dalton & Bamberger came on the scene. On a related note, I'd like to see the team pick up Grant Wolfram this off-season. Seeing him enter a game from the BP while the PA blasts out "Clap for the Wolfman" is just too easy to pass up😁. EDIT: Just watched the rap. I like it. Even though it's a rap it has a smooth late 60s-early 70s feel to it.

A big thank you to the Tigers' organization for turning that down, if true. Oooooh, giving up Pena & Adamczewski would've ticked me off. Then again, if we had Skubal maybe we cruise through the post-season more smoothly. I mean, you can never get back those 2 losses...........

From someone who has a lot of life left but is older than most of you, please, please, PLEASE savor this. Have a great night, everyone.🎉🎉🎉🎉. YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

They removed him in the middle of the 12th inning so it was a defensive move. Nothing to do with his ABs at that point. At either rate all seems good as he's in the lineup tonite.