brewers4eric
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Everything posted by brewers4eric
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I heard the news on the drive to work this morning. Ironically, they included the audio call from the Brant Brown game. I have no memory of Santo as a player, but I enjoyed listening to horrific Cub losses on the radio just to hear him grunt, groan, and complain.
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When I was in college 20 years ago, Leslie was in Ames, Iowa to promote his latest movie. It was the initial installment of the Naked Gun series. Other than a few posters scattered around campus, the event wasn't really promoted at all. I wanted to go as I was a fan of the "Police Squad" series that didn't last long on ABC, but attended a class instead. I'm still kicking myself for not going 20 years later. Based on an article in the Iowa State Daily, the event included a sneak peak of the movie and a question and answer session with Leslie. He explained that the movie theatre was a better venue for that type of comedy, as the audience would be locked in for the full term of the film. Commercial breaks and a non-captive audience were one of the reasons that the Police Squad series failed. The success of the Naked Gun series attests to the logic. Anyone with a copy of Ben Hur should check out the bonus features and see his screen test for one of the main roles.
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I agree that Gallardo and Wolf are the only locks for the rotation in 2011. Most teams, however, will use a minimum of eight starting pitchers over the course of a season. I think you have to bring some combination of Narveson, Capuano, and Parra back to at least compete for spots 5 through 8 in spring training. In 2009, our lack of quality and depth in the rotation hurt us pretty bad. Braden Looper took the ball every five days and our top replacement was Mike Burns. We had more options for the rotation in 2010, but the team had to replace three out of five spots due to injuries or ineffectiveness. The team would have been a major disaster if Wolf didn't turn things around and Narveson and Capuano wouldn't have been in the bullpen or at Nashville. There is going to be some obvious changes in the starting five out of spring training, but we have to look beyond the first five names over the course of 162 games.
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I gave Hawaii Five-O a shot last night. I suppose I'm negatively biased because I have fond memories of watching the original as a kid. The new pilot might have benefitted from more commitment to character development, but the producers were probably trying to attract a core audience with unrealistic shootouts, stunts, Grace Park, and action scenes. I doubt that anyone that watched the original will tune in regularly for the new show.
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Congratulations: My son, Ben, turned three in June. My wife didn't realize that I had suggested the name from one of my favorite Brewers until my daughter pulled out a baseball card team set that included Ben Sheets, Ben Grieve, Ben Hendrickson, and Ben Diggins. She was kind of upset until I told her that my other preferences were Gorman and Sixto. Ben has just about mastered which hand he should put his glove on. We've started a throwing program and are currently working on blocking balls that take bad hops off of the living room carpet. The commissioner may force us to move to another venue as the wedding picture hanging above the mantle got dislodged by an errant throw. Catcher seems like his best position, as I don't think he will fit the Brewer philosophical prototype for pitchers. Have fun. Each day is a new adventure with the kids.
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Based on what I can remember from some of articles that I read, Riske blamed Mike Maddux for some of the injury problems that he developed. Castro took the fall for other pitching woes, which extended well beyond Riske's injury problems. When he was signed, it seemed like Riske threw nothing but fastballs and admitted it. Riske pitched in mostly high leverage situations right out of spring training that first year. Its kind of sad that he was throwing in nothing but lost games since he came back, taking Chris Smith's role from 2009. Following his injury problems, I had my doubts that he would appear in a Brewer uniform at all in 2010. Best of luck to him, but its obvious that he didn't fit into the team's plans for 2011. The names on the pitching staff are going to be quite a bit different next year. September should be interersting, as the team puts a few new pitchers on the mound to see how they all fit in. Riske might find a spot somewhere, similar to what the Brewers discovered with Coffey a couple of years ago.
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Gwynn's numbers in San Diego are about what I would have expected from him in a reserve role in Milwaukee. Gomez has more physical tools and potential, but my hair is gray already and I don't think I have the patience to watch him develop an improved approach at the plate on the major league roster. At this point, if I was a manager I would only use Gomez as a defensive replacement or as a Mel Stocker type designated base stealer. If he needs consistent playing time, he can find it at Nashville. I would probably opt for the open roster spot. In the next couple of months, we'll find out if Dickerson fits the profile of a reserve outfielder.
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We took the kids on a long weekend trip to Kenosha last year. Our daughter was 4 at the time, and our son was 2. Besides plenty of time at the hotel pool, the weekend included a tour of the Jelly Belly factory and a stop at the dinosaur museum in Kenosha. They also liked the trolley ride and the farmers market. There was also a stop at the lake and playground time, before we visited the Milwaukee zoo on our drive back to Iowa. The dinosaur museum is small, but it has plenty of kid centered activities available.
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Our local cable affiliate broadcast the T-Rats game last night. I was particularly interested in seeing Scooter Gennett play, but he probably had one of his worst nights at the plate. He hits out of a pronounced crouch and there is quite a bit of movement in his stance as he readies himself to hit. He looked particularly bad in the last inning as he reached for a few pitches trying to lift a fly ball that would have given the team an insurance run. D'Vontrey Richardson showed a mile of range in center field. I've questioned the Brewers selection of Dykstra, but last night he looked like the type of hitter that you want at the top of your lineup. At any rate, I was glad to see a few names that I've followed from the daily link report on the field. -
July 29, 1979. Jim Gantner got ejected after Lou Pinella took him out on a close play at third base. Don Money took his place at third. Since Money was the DH, our pitcher, Bill Travers, ended up making a plate appearance and executed a bunt. I can't remember ever seeing a situation like that where a team lost the use of the DH. Also, during a chorus of college boys chanting expletives at Pinella, a drunken fan hopped the fence in front of us, dropped his pants, and mooned all of the 52,000 fans in attendance. The crowd was just on fire during that game. The bullpen and bench had cleared when Gantner and Pinella were rolling around and security was lining the field at the end of the game. I can still remember Pinella and Micky Rivers standing in the outfield, staring into the stands. I also witnessed one of Chris Barnwell's hits in a Brewer uniform. Rickie Weeks followed it up with a line shot into the stands off of Joel Zumaya.
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Chris Smith: what more does a guy have to do?
brewers4eric replied to Crash2303's topic in Brewers Minor League Talk
The JS Online was always printing a statistic where the Brewers only won one game in which Chris Smith pitched. It was the big comeback win against Cleveland, the only other role that he had was in mopup duty. When the Brewers are ready to cut Suppan loose, I think that they will have a spot for Smith. Based on 2009, the Brewers probably know what they have in Smith and are looking at their other options at this time. Smith seemed to live and die with the fastball, low and outside. When he couldn't locate it or when he was squeezed by an umpire and had to throw something in the zone, he usually paid for it with a long ball. -
I'll take any win we can get right now, by any means necessary. My own thought is that Macha mistook Wolf for Geoff Jenkins when he sent him in to hit. I imagine that he said to Wolf, "allright Favre, get in there and win one for the Pilots".
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I have this quote from a Brewerfan post written on a note that is hanging on my desk. It was written by 'Bring Back the Stein': "To be a Brewers fan has always been to suffer gloriously in an attitude of defiance...More purely and honestly than the ersatz posturing of Cubs fans". It seems very appropriate after games like this one.
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Badger Basketball nostalgia: 2000 Final Four team revisited
brewers4eric replied to hawing's topic in Off-Topic Forum
I'm an outsider to Wisconsin college athletics, but that was an incredible run to the final four. As an Iowa State alumni, I still cringe whenever the 2000 tournament is brought up. I'm biased into thinking that Iowa State deserved a number 1 seed and that the national championship was determined when Michigan State beat the Cyclones. My opinion creates a hypothetical "what if" of whether or not Iowa State as a number 1 would have been just as vulnerable as Arizona to a Wisconsin upset. I would say yes, based on the Dick Bennett style of basketball. However, Marcus Fizer had an incredible tournament and was a difficult matchup for any team that Iowa State faced. -
I got sucked into the stats that the Denver Zephyrs produced when they were a Brewers affiliate. Jim Olander was one of my favorites. I always hoped that Steve Kiefer would pan out after the Moose Haas trade with the A's. On the pitching side, I can still recall Chris Saenz's one game performance with the Brewers. Injuries must have taken their toll.
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I can still remember cutting the check for the caterer for our wedding. What threw me the most, however, was the opportunity cost of all the time that we put into planning the wedding and reception. Especially considering that we honeymooned in Jamaica and there was a staff person at our resort that could plan a wedding and reception for you with a one hour interview. I wouldn't change much about our wedding and the memories that I hold from it. If we had to do it over, my wife and I have both figured that hopping on a plane and getting married at a resort would be the way to go for us. Some of you will probably remember the Brewers promoted Chris Saenz for a one game stint against the Cardinals in 2004. I can remember seeing the highlights on ESPN at the resort and wondering who he was.
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Anyone else pumped for the 33rd America's Cup?
brewers4eric replied to ttsather's topic in Off-Topic Forum
I was at the World's Fair in New Orleans in 1984. We toured the Australia exhibit and their presentation included a jab as Australia being the home of the America's Cup. My buddies and I started booing and the rest of the crowd joined in. -
My wife and I spent a few days in Louisville with our kids in 2008, who were 3 and 1 at the time. The Louisville Zoo was one of our stops, and the zoo has recently added a small water park type play area. It was very crowded, but the kids had a blast playing there after seeing the animals. We stopped at Churchill Downs before our drive home. My daughter enjoyed looking at the horses in the staging area before each race, while my son was pretty much wiped out and slept on my shoulder the entire time that we were there, despite the crowds. There are also plenty of kid sized rides at Six Flags. Depending on the time of year, there is a big fireworks display called "Thunder over Louisville" that my sister raves about.
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I like the depth that this move gives the rotation and bullpen. Given even average health, the typical MLB team will use at least 8 starters over the course of a season. We've got better options for the 8 spots than what we had at any time last year, plus some additional flexibility for the swingman spot in the bullpen. At the very least, it should make for some interesting competition in the spring.
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Capuano's velocity back up to 86-87 MPH
brewers4eric replied to yoshii8's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
Hopefully Capuano has enough velocity on his fastball to set up his off speed pitches. We could definitely use the depth at AAA, and anything that he would be able to contribute at the major league level would be a definite bonus. The mention of the number of lefties has given me flashbacks to the days when Scott Karl, Bill Pulsipher, Jim Abbott, and Brad Woodall filled out our rotation. -
Growing up, we had a collie name Curly with 2.5 legs that was pretty happy. He had been run over by the mower conditioner before I was born and had lost one leg. Another leg was broken when he was seeking shade underneath a moving hay wagon. We thought he was a goner when he fell off the roof of a sow building. My brother fixed him a comfortable place to rest in a pile of straw where we figured he would die. My dad found a blue healer puppy to replace him. Seeing the new puppy must have inspired a jealous streak in Curly that gave him the will to recover. After a stint on the 15 day disabled list he was up and around and competing for attention with the pup. Curly lived to be nearly 20 years old. A stretch of hot weather combined with old age finally finished him off. A few days prior, the pup had been hit and killed on the road after he accompanied my mom on a trip to the mail box. I always thought that Curly lost his energy when he realized that he had out lived his competition. Farm life left me callous in regards to pets and other animals. I saw too many of my pets hauled away on the livestock trailer when I was growing up. You are facing a tough decision, good luck.
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the kansas city royals, 2000 - 2009
brewers4eric replied to flosses like fossas's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
Thanks for posting the blog link, it was a good read. I especially liked the references to the Earl Weaver quote and the lesson that can be taken from it. I was reminded, sadly, of the Brewer struggles that eventually hit rock bottom during the 2002 season. -
Have the Brewers improved this offseason?
brewers4eric replied to paul253's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
It is tough to make any comparisons at this point, as I consider the offseason to end at the point where the Brewers break camp and head out for the first game of the season. I felt the real weakness of the 2009 team was the lack of viable replacements for the starting rotation at AAA. Chase Wright and Nick Green were expected to provide some depth and they never threw a pitch for the Brewers. Once Bush, Suppan, and Parra lost innings to injuries and ineffectiveness, the rotation folded, the bullpen wore out, and the losses piled up. On paper, the 2009 rotation looks an awful lot like what we had last year and may be prone to the same problems. I'm confident that the minor league system is close to producing some names to fill out the pitching staff, but I do think that we need to identify a Jim Slaton, Rick Helling or Dave Burba type pitcher to give us some depth at Nashville. -
My observation with Chris Smith is that he lives or dies with the fastball low and away. If an umpire won't give him that call and he falls behind in the count, he has to throw a fastball down the chute and it usually gets hit pretty hard. The Brewers never seemed to put Smith in a close game. There was a statistic that showed that the team only won a couple of games where he pitched and one of them was probably my favorite contest from last year, the big comeback against the Indians. I'm all for a second lefty option if it is someone like Narveson that can throw multiple innings. With the current makeup of our rotation, our bullpen will be throwing 3 plus innings each game.
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The average team will use about 15 different relievers over the course of a 162 game season. Injuries and ineffectiveness take their toll early on, and the roster after a couple of months won't look much like it did at the end of spring training, especially in the bullpen. Given his injury, I really doubt if we will ever see Riske pitch for the Brewers again. It will also be very difficult for a Rule 5 pick like Lofgren to make the team, especially if he has a tough time throwing strikes. Hoffman, Hawkins, Coffey, and Stetter fill out the late innings pretty well. Narveson, Vargas, and Villanueva provide some decent depth and can go multiple innings. I would look for the Brewers to add another veteran swingman in the offseason, as the rotation has some major question marks behind Gallardo and Wolf. Most teams will use at least 8 starters during the season, so we need to identify some additional options.
