Jim Goulart

Link while active, text follows: Putting The Gridiron Behind Him Bob Brainerd, foxsportswisconsin.com You keep hearing the same buzz words whenever you bring up Wisconsin Timber Rattlers outfielder D'Vontrey Richardson. Raw talent. Sky's-the-limit potential. High ceiling. Stud. Richardson is all of the above, and a chiseled athlete more than anything else. Not only was Richardson, the Brewers 5th round draft selection in 2009, a shining star outfielder at Florida State, he was also a quarterback for the Seminoles. All that ability got their attention back in Milwaukee. "I know (Brewers Director of Amateur Scouting) Bruce Seid and the people in the draft decided we need to be more athletic," said Jeff Isom, who manages the Brewers Class A team. "Well, what a great guy to go get. The kind of the prototypical player if you're talking about athleticism. An unbelievable build, strong kid, he works hard in the weight room." "We've got some things to work on, no question, but there's a lot of upside to him." Richardson successfully juggled his collegiate career on the gridiron and the diamond. With the blessing of his football coach Bobby Bowden, D'Vontrey skipped football offseason workouts and spring practice to keep sharp at his other athletic gift. "My love for the game changes with the season, no matter which one I was playing, I just wanted to compete," Richardson told me."Baseball is fun, but as far as atmosphere, all the fans at a football game, that's something else." Richardson maximized his God-given talent to become a backup quarterback with the Seminoles. A Shotgun style signal caller, Richardson would sit back in the pocket, survey the field, then take off. There were plays drawn up as designed runs specifically for him; his speed too vital to waste. Shifting gears back to baseball was the easy part. But dialing it down, took some doing. "The hardest thing was it's football season and (then) you go to baseball -- football is all tense and everything, baseball is so relaxed. I had to try to learn how to relax," said Richardson. His whirlwind between the two sports never took a turn in one direction until his senior season. Richardson was drafted in the 35th round by Washington in 2006, but went to Florida State instead, where he could play both sports. He sat out his freshman season of football, but made an impact for baseball coach Mike Martin, who once called Richardson a legit five-tool guy. Academic issues sat the two-sport star down for baseball the following season, but he was able to play and excel on the football field. One calendar year later, Richardson came up listed second on the depth chart at quarterback, so he shifted over to defense, and returned baseball back to the fold. "It just kind of happened," Richardson said about his decision to re-focus on baseball. "My last season at Florida State, I was kind of leaning towards it. But I was hoping to get a shot at football. It didn't happen." What did happen next, made football a memory. Baseball in Appleton, Wisconsin is Richardson's first stop at the professional level. He signed late after being drafted, so didn't receive the immediate exposure necessary to begin his hopeful climb up the Brewers food chain. "He's very raw in talent and there are a lot of things that when we see something, we'll make an adjustment to it, and he takes to it right away," said Isom. "Things aren't really ingrained in his head on how to do certain things, so that's the fun part about him. We're kind of molding him the way he needs to be molded. Everything is fairly new to him." Example one. Never a leadoff hitter in college, Richardson has been placed at the top of the Timber Rattlers lineup card to utilize those speedy wheels. For the teacher and the pupil, kick starting the top of the order could be a fit for the future. "Base running, that's something that he's not comfortable with yet," said Isom. "He's been picked off a couple times. There are things that we'll see sliding back to first base that we'll be working on real hard. And there are a lot of things that we see on the offensive side. His pitch selection, number one, making sure he's getting strikes he's swinging at." "I'm learning," said Richardson. "When I get out swinging at the first pitch, my teammates tell me I've gotta take that first pitch and help the ballclub out. I'm learning my base running and how to deal with that, along with outfield work." "At the plate, I've got to learn to relax, because it's a relaxing game, and not get so tensed up like football." Isom doesn't like to pooh-pooh the mistakes, but he is also allowing some leeway because Richardson is somewhat of a construction zone. And the men at work have only just begun to make inroads. "Things come up in the game, just the little minor things throughout the game that he hasn't been exposed to a lot, and we say 'wow, we need to work on that' and he is making the necessary adjustments," said Isom. Already, Richardson has absorbed a piece of info that is tough to fathom -- it doesn't seem right to an all-out athlete with a high motor, no matter the sport. "I feel like I go 100% on everything when I really don't have to," Richardson said sheepishly. "I can slow down on certain things." That mindset got the attention of Baseball America, touting Richardson as the best athlete in the Brewers system. At any level. Flat out. Period. "It's fun when you have a guy like that, a Bo Jackson-type body," beamed Isom. "He's going to have the ability to hit for power, for a high average at some point. He's an amazing athlete, no question about that." Obviously, the Brewers, when they drafted him, saw that. The ceiling is very high for this kid. Brewers fans should index file the name, D'Vontrey D'Wayne Richardson. Even if you're a bit skittish on how to address this talented outfielder, just take the advice Richardson is receiving to begin his professional baseball odyssey. Relax and keep it simple. "A lot of people mess it up, don't know how to pronounce it," said Richardson. So I just keep it simple, and go with D'Vo."

Check for updated links shortly before game time for media notes -- PDF document: Nashville Media Notes *** Rattler Radio

MID Western (click column headers to sort) Club W L PCT GB Home Away L 10 Streak Peoria 19 11 .633 - 14-2 5-9 7-3 L1 Beloit 18 11 .621 0.5 9-6 9-5 7-3 W1 Quad Cities 18 12 .600 1.0 10-5 8-7 4-6 W1 Cedar Rapids 16 14 .533 3.0 9-4 7-10 8-2 W3 Kane County 15 15 .500 4.0 9-5 6-10 5-5 W1 Clinton 13 17 .433 6.0 7-8 6-9 3-7 L1 Burlington 11 19 .367 8.0 6-9 5-10 4-6 L1 Wisconsin 9 20 .310 9.5 6-10 3-10 2-8 L4

Follow Sunday's action as it happens: Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Tab or New Window". Choose "Recap". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often. Nashville (Gameday also available) Wisconsin

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 18 10 .643 - 5-5 13-5 L1 Omaha 14 14 .500 4.0 6-11 8-3 L1 Memphis 13 15 .464 5.0 7-5 6-10 L1 Iowa 12 17 .414 6.5 6-10 6-7 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tennessee 20 10 .667 - 8-7 12-3 W1 Huntsville 16 14 .533 4.0 6-9 10-5 L1 West Tenn 15 14 .517 4.5 4-10 11-4 W1 Chattanooga 13 16 .448 6.5 8-7 5-9 L2 Carolina 10 19 .345 9.5 5-9 5-10 W2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clearwater 20 9 .690 - 11-3 9-6 L1 Tampa 16 14 .533 4.5 8-7 8-7 W1 Dunedin 15 14 .517 5.0 6-9 9-5 L2 Lakeland 14 15 .483 6.0 7-7 7-8 W2 Brevard County 12 17 .414 8.0 6-10 6-7 L1 Daytona 11 19 .367 9.5 4-10 7-9 W1

MiLB.com video subscribers can watch the Nashville series in Albuquerque

Sunday's Daily Menu: Times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: RHP Marco Estrada at Albuquerque (Dodgers), 2:20 PM pre-game; 2:35 gametime Live Audio Link Huntsville: Idle Brevard County: Idle Wisconsin: RHP Eric Arnett at home vs. Cedar Rapids (Angels), 12:50 PM pre-game; 1:05 gametime Live Audio Link

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/store/dailylinkreport.jpg

Link while active, text follows: Rattlers player profile: Maverick Lasker Compiled by Post-Crescent staff writer Brett Christopherson Bio - Age: 20. - Position: Pitcher. - Bats/throws: Right/right. - Height, weight: 6-2, 190. - Residence: Phoenix. - Glove: Easton, Professional Series. - Notes: Selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the fifth round of the 2008 June draft. ... Combined to go 6-2 with 43 K's and a 3.54 ERA in 15 appearances last season at rookie level Arizona and Wisconsin. ... Made two starts for the Rattlers a year ago after a late-season call-up. ... Played in the Arizona 4A-I state championship game as a senior. ... Rated by Baseball America as the 30th best prospect in the Brewers' minor-league system. Favorites - MLB team growing up: Arizona Diamondbacks. - MLB player growing up: Alex Rodriguez. "I was an infielder; played third base when I was in high school." - MLB player now: Roy Halladay. "He's just a dominant pitcher. Every time he goes out, it's a quality start." - Brewers player: Yovani Gallardo. - Food: Chinese — orange chicken and rice. - Type of music: Hip hop and country. - Social media platform: Facebook. - Video game: "Call of Duty." - Thing about Appleton: "The fans out here are amazing. We're getting more now that it's getting warmer, but they're coming out all the time." - Pitch: Curveball. "It's my 'out' pitch." Q&A Q: Let's get this out of the way. Is Maverick your real name? And if so, any connection to the movie "Top Gun?" A: Yeah. My parents just liked the name from the movie, I guess. They're not really big "Top Gun" fans. They just saw the name, liked it and stuck with it. Q: Have your friends ever razzed you with quotes from the movie? A: (Smiling) Yeah, "Where's Goose at?" Stuff like that. I hear that a lot. Q: When did you first realize you were good enough to have a shot at pro ball? A: Probably once the scouts started showing up to my house and really talked to me. It was my senior year in high school. I always dreamed of it as a kid, but it really sunk in (then) that I could actually do it. Q: What do you remember about draft day? A: The night before, I actually spoke to Kevin Clouser, the Brewers' scout, and he talked about fourth or fifth round, and I was happy with that. The next morning, I woke up early for the draft, watched TV for the whole first round. And then after the first round, we were on the Internet, so we just watched the computer, waiting for my name to be called. Q: Who made the call saying the Brewers were going to pick you? And can you still remember what was said? A: Kevin Clouser called me, right before the fifth round. He goes, "Fifth round is coming up. You're going to be our next pick. You gonna sign or not?" I was like, "I'm signing. Count me in." Q: You had a scholarship offer to play college ball at San Diego State but instead opted to sign with the Brewers. Tough choice? A: It was pretty easy, actually. I loved going to school and I was a pretty smart kid — good student. But I just wanted to play baseball. Q: Hall-of-Famer Tony Gwynn is the head coach at San Diego State. Think you could have struck him out? A: (Laughing) I could — now. Q: You missed the 2008 season with a muscle strain in your back. What happened? A: After I signed, I just started getting a sore back. I didn't know what it was. And then I got an MRI and an X-ray, too, and it came back that I had a stress fracture in my vertebrae. So they gave me a cortisone shot, and all the inflammation and the swelling went down. I was getting nerve pain in my legs, and all of that went away after the cortisone shot. As long as I stay flexible and have a strong core, I'll be fine for the rest of my life. I don't know (how it happened). Maybe just from repetition, because I was swinging (the bat) a lot in high school. Q: How would you assess your professional career so far? A: I'd say pretty well. Last year, I had a really good season, made the (Arizona League) all-star team. This year, it hasn't really gotten off to the start I wanted to, but it's shaping up now. I'm working on some things. Q: Working on what? A: Mechanical things. Getting my timing, and stuff like that. Getting my hand in the right slot so I can start throwing more strikes. Q: The goal is to get to Miller Park. What's it going to take for you to make that tough climb? A: I would say the biggest difference between big leaguers and minor leaguers is the mental part of the game. You've got to stay mentally focused 162 games out of the year. Everyone's got the talent now, but if you can stay mentally focused, you'll be good. … It's crazy. This (first) month has already flown by. Playing every single day, your body gets tired. But you just try to come ready to play every single day. Q: What do you like most about this Rattlers team? A: All of us are cool with each other. We jell together really well. We haven't really been winning that much, but I think we've got it in us that we can win. Q: Have any guilty pleasures? A: I have to have my protein shake every day, before I go to bed. I can't sleep unless I have a full stomach, for some reason. I mix (the flavors) up. Chocolate. Cookies and cream sometimes. Q: Finally, you're a Phoenix kid. Is it really just a dry heat? A: Yeah. … (The hottest I can remember it being is) probably 121 (degrees). You don't even go outside. You can't — for over an hour, at least. The tool box Wisconsin Timber Rattlers pitching coach Chris Hook breaks down Maverick Lasker's skills: - Fastball velocity: Anywhere from 87 to 91 (mph), probably sits at 88, 89. Four-seam, two-seam. We're looking for some more sink — he's got some run, but he doesn't get a lot of sink. We grade them out where 87, 88 would be a mid-average fastball in the big leagues. I think he can be an average guy. We're working on some delivery issues to get his bottom half more involved. But he has a mid-average/average fastball based on a big-league grade. - Off-speed pitches: We have now established that he's throwing a curveball, not a slurve, and a changeup. His curveball is improving — showing some better depth and spin. It's come a long way. - Overall command: I think he has pretty decent command. He has a good idea of what he's doing with his fastball the majority of the time. His four-seam has got really decent command, and his two-seam, he's kind of in and out with that. (His changeup) is what he really wanted to go to (in his last outing) because he's good with it. - Movement: The movement on his fastball, I don't think it's fantastic, but it's OK. I think he can get better. But those are the things he's working on, to get those things a little sharper. - All-around: He's got "pitchability." … Throws all pitches for strikes. He's one of our better competitors. You get him on the mound, he usually gives you a pretty good game. He's one of those guys who wants to make the big pitch when the time comes. He came up last year, and we were really impressed with him. He went after people. He's an athlete, and I think he makes good baseball decisions when he's on the mound as far as fielding his position and all those types of things. He's probably our best all-around athlete and just does baseball things well.

Link while active, text follows: Rattlers let chances slip away again in loss to Cedar Rapids Kernels By Cory Jennerjohn, Post-Crescent staff writer GRAND CHUTE — To say the Timber Rattlers are frustrated would be a minor understatement. "It's really frustrating," said catcher Austin Stockfisch, after Cedar Rapids beat Wisconsin 5-4 at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium on Saturday. "We have to put a lot of it on ourselves just because we got ahead early. "We got three runs and then we kind of went to sleep with the bats and didn't continue to put pressure on a team like that." Of Wisconsin's last 10 losses, seven have been decided by just one run. That's enough to make you want to scream. But it gets worse. The Timber Rattlers have four consecutive losses by one run and in all those games, they've held at least a three-run lead. "We just got to go out and find a way to win," Timber Rattlers manager Jeff Isom said. "It's kind of depressing, but you get late in the games and we're trying not to lose the game instead of playing to win. There's a big difference there." That mentality showed up again on Saturday afternoon. The Timber Rattlers had a 3-0 lead after the second inning. They were on a mental high after ending Tyler Skaggs' scoreless streak at 19 innings. The Kernels' starting pitcher hadn't allowed a run since April 12 when No. 9 batter Carlos George snapped the streak with a two-run single to shallow center field. And then the game suddenly began to unravel. The Timber Rattlers managed just one hit over the final five innings and despite it being 46 degrees in early May, the Kernels got hot. "Our bats weren't there for a couple innings. It's cold," said Kernels center fielder Mike Trout, who went three-for-five and had the game-winning solo home run in the top of the 10th inning. "I mean, you get jammed, you can't feel your hands. The last couple innings, we fought through it and came up with the win." The Timber Rattlers are 1-8 in one-run games and 1-4 in two-run games. What's even more disconcerting is that Jake Odorizzi's effort was wasted. Wisconsin's starting pitcher went 5 2/3 innings, tied a season high with eight strikeouts, scattered four hits and had no walks. "It's easy when a guy can locate pitches," Stockfisch said. "He can beat guys with fast, curve, change, slider. It makes it fun to be able to sit back there and catch and punch guys out like that." For the second straight game, the Timber Rattlers left eight runners in scoring position. They were two-for-10 on Saturday and one-for-nine Friday at Miller Park. The top four batters in the lineup went a combined three-for-15 with no RBI and left a combined 10 runners stranded. "We need somebody to pick it up," Isom said. "All nine guys got to contribute. We got to make the plays. Do a better job on the baserunning side and we got to get our hits as well."

Nashville 1B Joe Koshansky at the May 8th audio link

I sure hope it was a planned day off for Huntsville's Taylor Green. When Green and Patrick Arlis, your backup catcher, are the only two bench players, and Arlis enters the game in the 2nd inning after Lee Haydel's departure, it makes you wonder. Huntsville with a needed idle day Sunday (although an in-state travel day) to lick their wounds.

B-kow and I duplicated efforts within a couple of minutes, I should know better. Anyway, if you'll pardon me, I'll publish my own take -- Wisconsin Box Score Nice effort from Jake Odorizzi after an uncharacteristic clunker last time out; as noted, both he and Efrain Nieves deserved better fates; Scooter Gennett legged out his first professional triple, walked three times, and continues to impress more and more each day; SS Carlos George made his first appearance since May 2nd, but committed his 11th error in his 14 games, a personal pattern not unfamiliar to rookie league followers in recent seasons -- this miscue did not cost the team a run; Pete Fatse suddenly just 2-for-his-last-23; Cutter Dykstra getting his AB's while as the DH, but it's going to be tough squeezing second base innings out of the indomitable Mr. Gennett right now; catcher Austin Stockfisch spells Cameron Garfield the day after Miller Park night game -- I just like typing Austin Stockfisch... Wisconsin Play-by-Play Nearly 3,000 on hand on a 46-degree cloudy day -- good job, Rattler fans... Heck of a first inning for Jake -- Cedar Rapids Top 1st Mike Trout singles on a ground ball to shortstop Carlos George. With Ivan Contreras batting, Mike Trout steals (17) 2nd base. Ivan Contreras strikes out swinging. With Jean Segura batting, passed ball by Austin Stockfisch, Mike Trout to 3rd. Jean Segura strikes out swinging. Eric Oliver strikes out swinging. Khris Davis with only a shallow fly to center after Scooter's 5th inning triple -- hate losing out on those less than two out, man-on-third scoring chances...

I hope folks take advantage of the photo links we provide (and of course the efforts of fans like Brad Krause), like in the link we just posted at the tail end of the May 7th Link Report. You'll see shots like this one here of the thus-far fantastic Scooter.

Brad was at Miller Park last night, and shares his thoughts and photos within his blog post.

Chad Anderson has newly released audio highlights from three recent Stars' games, including last night's big four-run 9th inning rally -- bold highlights are from victorious efforts... 05/3/10 - HSV @ BIR (Game 2): - Barons score first (0-1) - Barons increase lead (0-2) - Barons score again (0-3) - Wild Pitch (1-3) - Haydel RBI Double (2-3) - Leaving too early - Haydel ties game (3-3) - Lawrie RBI (4-3) - Final Out 05/6/10 - HSV v WTN: - Ackley RBI Double (0-1) - WTN increases lead (0-2) - WTN score again (0-3) - Ackley RBI Single (0-4) - Oliveros RBI Double (0-5) - Lawrie infield hit (1-5) - Haydel SAC fly (2-5) 05/7/10 - HSV v WTN: - Stars take early lead (1-0) - Huntsville strikes again (2-0) - Peguero solo HR (2-1) - WTN ties it (2-2) - Ackley gives WTN lead (2-3) - WTN solo HR (2-4) - WTN homers again (2-5) - Wheeler RBI Double (3-5) - Green RBI Double (4-5) - Errecart RBI Triple (5-5) - Maldonado wins it (6-5)

Unbelievable, the Rattlers invent new ways to torment their followers (and surely Chris) during each broadcast. CF D'Vontrey Richardson just lost his footing while camping under a deep fly ball in the 9th, allowing the ball to roll to the wall and the tying run to score. 3-3 and the fun continues... EDIT: No, it's 4-3 game now, Rattlers down. No win for Jake Odorizzi, potential loss for Efrain Nieves. We already used excrutiating this week. Off to the thesaurus we go unless there's a late rally for the good guys...

PDF document: Nashville Media Notes

Rattler Radio:May 8, 2010: Starting lineup May 8, 2010: Today's Starting Pitcher May 8, 2010: Game Notes

Please know that battlekow's emergence (tremendous waiver wire pickup by Brewerfan.net) and a wonderful "substitute teacher" in TheCrew07 has given me my sanity and a better sleep pattern, so please thank them as well. Our challenge to serve you increases greatly when we go from four organizational games a night to seven in mid-June, but we should be up for the battle. We're gritty.

More wide-eyed kids from the Cedar Rapids newspaper coverage -- a nice read, also includes this -- The rest of the three-game series will be at Appleton, though there’s a chance of weekend snow. Yikes. Cedar Rapids Pics / Brief BP Video (I like the Bill Haley music, I'm old enough to have watched the early episodes of "Happy Days" in primetime during the actual series' run...)

MID Western (click column headers to sort) Club W L PCT GB Home Away L 10 Streak Peoria 19 10 .655 - 14-2 5-8 8-2 W1 Beloit 17 11 .607 1.5 8-6 9-5 6-4 L2 Quad Cities 17 12 .586 2.0 9-5 8-7 3-7 L1 Cedar Rapids 15 14 .517 4.0 9-4 6-10 7-3 W2 Kane County 14 15 .483 5.0 8-5 6-10 5-5 L1 Clinton 13 16 .448 6.0 7-8 6-8 4-6 W2 Burlington 11 18 .379 8.0 6-9 5-9 5-5 W1 Wisconsin 9 19 .321 9.5 6-9 3-10 2-8 L3

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 18 9 .667 - 5-5 13-4 W2 Omaha 14 13 .519 4.0 6-10 8-3 W1 Memphis 13 14 .481 5.0 7-5 6-9 W1 Iowa 12 16 .429 6.5 6-9 6-7 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tennessee 19 10 .655 - 7-7 12-3 L1 Huntsville 16 13 .552 3.0 6-8 10-5 W1 West Tenn 14 14 .500 4.5 4-10 10-4 L1 Chattanooga 13 15 .464 5.5 8-7 5-8 L1 Carolina 9 19 .321 9.5 4-9 5-10 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clearwater 20 8 .714 - 11-3 9-5 W9 Dunedin 15 13 .536 5.0 6-8 9-5 L1 Tampa 15 14 .517 5.5 8-7 7-7 L2 Lakeland 13 15 .464 7.0 7-7 6-8 W1 Brevard County 12 16 .429 8.0 6-9 6-7 W2 Daytona 10 19 .345 10.5 3-10 7-9 L2

Follow Saturday's action as it happens: Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Tab or New Window". Choose "Recap". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often. Nashville (Gameday also available) Huntsville (Gameday also available) Brevard County Wisconsin

MiLB.com video subscribers can watch the Nashville series in Albuquerque