DougJones43

Win the game, jerks! Do it now!

Yeah, I noticed that too. Pretty pathetic. Of course, instead of pointing that out, the homer announcers just pretend he was safe, or that the LF made a "great play."

You can't be serious. He was clearly out. Don't listen to what Bill says, the tag got him before his hand touched the base.

Rickie Weeks is a moron. He does more stupid things than any player I've ever seen.

Couple of "at 'em" smashes, but I'll take it.

http://www.milwaukeebrewersticket.net/img/articles/Eric%20Gagne.bmp Game under.

Sweet! Move Parra to cleanup, and bench Prince!

Haha. He looked pretty safe to me. Lucky break for the Brewers. I'm sure they'll take advantage...

Boo. Yuck. Barf. Ugh. Stinky. Crap. Icky. Puke.

Yeah, that non-play was pretty much what kick started this big inning. He really sucks at picking low throws. It might be easier to overlook chunk-o-butt's defensive liability if he was mashing, but he's really not even hitting that well.

Have you looked at Gagne's numbers since last year's trade deadline? I didn't think so. He's been beyond atrocious during his last 60 innings. State it as fact as much as you want -- he's not fine. He's a worthless, stinky, hairy Frenchman.

"What's the matter, buddy? You thought that should have been an error? Me too... I know what'll make you feel better... RASBERRY!!!!!"

How many players are there that are truly as fat as Prince? While I don't think you can definitively attribute the weight (gain?) to production, I think just as much that you can't definitively write it off either. Like I said, I can't imagine it helps. Having man breasts and a huge belly simply cannot have a positive effect on a players timing and balance, and Fielder has looked pretty bad in both those areas at times this year.

Yeah, Prince's power output this season has been disappointing, and although it's difficult to quantify the effect, I'm sure that his enormous fatness isn't helping matters. He's destined to become the next Mo Vaughn, although I don't think he'll be nearly as good and I think he might decline even earlier than Vaughn. He's as good as gone in his first year of free agency anyway. Maybe we can get him to agree to jiggle back over to the Brewers dugout once every mid-season to shove somebody and get the team going.

The denial about the Branyan benching is eerily similar to the denial about Hart's last season. Both instances ended up with the player eventually being injured, but the timelines both proved that each respective players was not seeing much playing time, well prior to their injury. In the face of this clear evidence, many people still insist on using the injuries as the reason for the reduction in playing time. I really don't understand this. I'm not sure why people can't just admit that it's very possible that Ned wanted to play Gwynn and Mench over Hart last year, and wanted to play Counsell over Branyan this year. If you're not going to offer an explanation that logically meshes with the parameters of what happened, then it's probably best to just not say anything. This is particularly true if you were responsible for getting the last thread on this topic locked. Thanks.

My girlfriend and I are going to put a bed in our computer room. I stay up way later than she does, and she gets up earlier. Also, I sleep much better when I'm in a bed by myself. Under this plan, we technically still share the master bedroom together, but I will probably just sleep in the other room a lot of the time. That's the room I stay up late playing video games and posting here anyway. Now, if I want to get a good night sleep and not worry about being disturbed in the morning, I can just sleep in the computer room. However, we obviously still have the option of sleeping in the same room when we want to.

Okay, the last thread about this topic was locked - but this is still something that I think is a big deal and needs to be talked about. Therefore, I think it's time to start a new discussion. First issue. What is the deal with Russell Branyan? I haven't heard much about him lately. The whole thing has been a bit peculiar, to say the least. The guy rakes at Triple-A, rakes for the Brewers (not to mention his call-up coincided with the turn-a-round of the Brewers offensive, and overall, fortunes). With an OPS of .928, he suddenly stops playing. Nothing is said about it. No real inquiries from the media. Then he gets hurt, and most people just act as though his batting practice injury somehow retroactively explains his benching that came way before. What the heck is going on? What's his status now? Is he done for the year? Is he somehow in the doghouse with Brewer management? Maybe I just missed the updates, but I'm curious. Second, is the club really okay playing out the rest of the pennant race with Counsell as the primary 3B? There has to be other options. Hall has been terrible. Why wasn't a waiver type deal attempted? It seems like it shouldn't have been that difficult to get somebody on the team that can beat Counsell's .649 OPS. Hell, I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but David Bell circa 2006 might look pretty good right now... Counsell has been a regular in the lineup since late July, so it sure appears as though there was plenty of time to do something about it. I find the idea of Counsell getting this much playing time pretty unsettling with a slim wildcard lead.

I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of the Cubs pitchers are better defensively than Weeks as well.

I don't know that it's a matter of creativity, I think they don't have the guts. Playing it "by the book" is the safest way to protect your behind. Also, for whatever reason, people involved with baseball don't take kindly to new ways of thinking or doing things. Look at the some of the hatred Billy Beane or any other SABRmetric *nerd* receives for daring to defy what baseball people "know" to be true...

What are you talking about? Your statements are ridiculous. I know it's your new thing to attack people who aren't totally convinced of this team's greatness, but just stating something mathematically untrue -- as a fact -- doesn't necessarily make it so. But if you've convinced yourself already, then you should probably just stop watching and stop bothering people who still realize these games still have ramifications.

I'm glad I didn't change my avatar. Tonight's game stinks, and Counsell never stopped being an awful hitter. I'm not sure what I was thinking...

I don't expect too much out of game recaps. They are what they are. However, I don't think Tom's other articles (including the stuff he does during the off-season when he has plenty of time to prepare) ever offer too much either. As has been said, he grabs a few quotes, tosses out a few anecdotal observations -- and voila -- an article about how "Veterans help team handle pressure of playoff push." It just seems like there are many more real and interesting things that could be written about, regarding the aspects of what's actually happening on the field. Maybe get in depth about trying to discover a reason why Ben Sheets hasn't been as sharp since the all-star break - and I mean a real reason. Russ had noticed that Sheets had been ramping his fastball up to about 96 mph when earlier on he was usually at about 93-94 mph. Is there anything to that? How about looking back at his pitch selection before and after the break. Was he throwing more curveballs then? Has the increased velocity messed with his control? Is he leaving more pitches up in the zone? This is just one example off the top of my head, but it illustrates the kind of stuff I'd like to know. Go below the surface, beyond talk-radio friendly garbage like "veteran leadership" or "winning attitude." I know baseball is different than football, but baseball is certainly a complicated and interesting enough sport that there should be a lot more to write about than the drivel Haudricourt and Witrado put out there for the state's most prominent sports section. The availability of MLB stats and information is virtually boundless, especially to somebody who has the access Tom Haudricourt does. I see more interesting subject matter posted constantly here, on brewerfan.net, from people who have nothing more than Google to aid their research. There is no excuse for that.

That's pretty much how I feel. His condescension, stubbornness, defiance, and unwillingness to objectively examine the possibility of viewing baseball in ways other than what he "knows" are just icing on the cake to what is generally poor, bland, and cliche-riddled sports writing. I also agree that the JS Packer coverage is much more insightful, and what I prefer in sporting articles.

12-0 against the Cardinals tonight? That's seriously the best we could do? I was hoping for at least 17-0. edit: My real vent is that I think I'm gonna have to take down my Counsell avatar and replace it with something more positive. This team deserves no negativity right now, not even from me...

I guess Pete Rose was a dork then.Have you ever looked at his haircut? Come on... To answer the question: Rickie Weeks Julian Tavarez David Eckstein A-Rod (he's a real fancy boy) Kevin Mench Carlos Zambrano