Patrick425

When my son was that age, the Brewers were still at County Stadiums. This worked out pretty good for much of the time since there were usually a lot of empty seats at most of the games. So, my wife and I would sit 6 - 10 seats apart and let him roam between us.

I was going to start a whole new thread regarding next year and whether or not we need to take a "step back". The title of this thread is about possibly "overhauling the offense", but I can see that it has evolved into a full blown discussion about the team as a whole and what the course of action should be next year. I don't think the team needs to abandon playoff hopes next year in order to "retool" the team for the future and I will be very disappointed if that is the plan of action they choose. All we are in real danger of losing that everyone is fretting over is Sheets and Sabathia. The Brewers were roughly 8 games above .500 and very much in the thick of the Wild Card and division race prior to getting CC early in July. They got to that position basically on the shoulders of a pitching staff consisting of Sheets, Parra, Bush, Suppan, and McClung. Take Sheets out and insert Gallardo and basically that is where you start the 2009 season (although..I'm not sure of McClungs status...FA?). I have a feeling that the Brewers will attempt to add an arm to this rotation before the start of next season. So, I don't think the starting pitching situation is dire. How many years did we sit their and preach patience. Just wait everyone said. Wait until Fielder, Weeks, Hart, Hardy, Braun, Sheets, etc are ready. When they come up, then we can start thinking like a playoff contender. Well, their here. They have been hear together for the last 2 years and now what do we want to do? Dismantle them?? Four of those offensive players (that will be back next year) have been all-stars (and not "your team needs a represtative" all stars) in either 2007 or 2008. Would it be positive for the Brewers to inject a player into the lineup that show a little more disipline at the top of the lineup? Yes, but my point is that they did manage to get to the playoffs with this relatively young and unexperienced lineup. There has been talk of trading Fielder. I understand the thought behind this. He's arby eligible. After 3 more years he'll belong to another team. Let's get qaulity for him while we can. So, is this going to be the pattern? Anytime a player starts getting outside our pocketbook, we get rid of him 3 years before we really need to? I'm only for trading Fielder if we get someone in return that can provide immediate results in 2009 (with no innings limits or other "3 year breaking in periods"). I have no interest in trading for "prospects" or "building blocks" that may or may not benefit the team in 2010 or 2011. I guess my point is that all the prospects we have been waiting for are here (with some more on the way). These guys got us to the playoffs this year. These are our playoff window years. Let's not take a step back, or retool, or rebuild. Doing that just burns another year that the Brewers have these talented players in their possession. The Brewers played very poorly for basically the last month. They must have done some things right during the rest of the year to get them into the playoffs. I'm all for adding pieces or making some tweaks, but lets not regress, let's improve and keep moving forward.

I didn't think the crowd was as nearly as loud today as yesterday. I'm not just talking about after the Brewers fell into a 5 run hole. I sensed less noise and electricity than yesterday from the time we entered the park. Yesterday, we got to the park about 30 minutes before the stadium doors opened. Already at that time, the lots were filling up pretty good and the lines to get in the stadium were very long. By the time the teams were getting introduced a large majority of the seats were filled. Early and throughout the game, the crowd stood for any little thing. I have never seen Miller Park like that before. Today, we got to the park about 10 mintes before the stadium doors opened. We got just about front row parking in the section we parked in. The lines to get in were not nearly as long. Pleople seemed to trickle into the stadium more slowly. Whatever excitement was building was quited somewhat by the lead off HR by Rollins and then just about completely squelched by Burrell's 3 run HR.

more (apparently you can't post more than two videos at once):

Actually, I think he's about the same height as me 5'7"- 5'8" . So, you probably wouldn't like me either.

I know one of these videos was posted here last year. However, I was unaware their was a series of them. They are pretty funny (even for someone like me, who has never really hated the Cubs):

As much as people want to jump on weeks for his hitting and defense at times, I can say that I have never seen him dog it to first on an infield ground ball. Of course I'm sure that's no consolation to a forum full of people that mostly hate David Eckstein.

I was thinking the same thing regarding the attendance. Good points Casey, didn't think of those things. However, I'm pretty sure that Philly broke their attendance record at Citizens Bank ballpark during one of the first two playoff games. So, I'm not understanding that (you would think that they would have a bunch of complimentary tix as well)

All I know is that I would be beyond angry if I had a parking pass for Miller Park and they sent me to State Fair park. Is this really that difficult? By now they should know how many spots they have, how many they have pre-sold, and how many spots they can sell today.

I do agree to some extent (since I'm a season ticket holder), but in that case it should have been done in a more systematic and equitable way. It seems like it was luck of the draw whether or not you got in or got stuck in a virtual waiting room. My friend told me that last year, as a full season ticket holder, he just got a flat offer to buy 4 terrace reserve seats. That makes a little more sense to me.

What I think is more of a joke is the ego of some of today's ball players. I know that if I'm making 10, 20, 30 times the amount of money that my "boss" is making, it's going to be hard for me to accept that he might know more than I know about my profession. Regardless of what players may say in an interview, I think many of them are unwilling to change their ways based on the coaching of someone who had very little success as a player in the majors and in some cases (Skaalan - if I'm not mistaken) not even one AB in the majors.

Anyone remember last years possible NFL/MLB conflict in Denver that never happened? If the WS would have gone to game 5 it would have been in Denver at the same time as the Packers/Broncos game.

Oh..ok. This wasn't the same thing. There was an offer for Season ticket holders that was on Wednesday starting at 10am.

I don't think MLB is really concerned about the NFL schedule (with the exceptions of maybe parking/traffic conflicts within the same city), when deciding it's schedule. Nor should they be.

My understanding is that this was only offered to season ticket holders (by using there password). If you are a season ticket holder, then I'm curious as to why it's "TV again" for you tomorrow? For this reason, I was curious why they offered this to season ticket holders, since they were already given the chance to get tickets. I was particularily suprised that they offered it to 20 game season ticket holders. I'm wondering how it worked. I tried to get in right at 10am on Wednesday and was immediatly placed in the "Virtual waiting room". There I sat for 20 minutes before finally getting in. I tried for Saturday, but they were basically sold out. My friend, who is a full season ticket holder, got in right away and got some pretty good seats. He kept trying and got more seats. Then he said he was locked out for about 20 minutes, but got in again and got some more seats. He basically got as 4 or 5 sets of as many as 4 seats together (mostly 2) scattered around the park. Most of the sets were for Sunday, but he also got some for Saturday. He sold them for a pretty good secondary market price, but still made some good cash on it. It doesn't really make sense to me. Why would they just pull some more lottery participants entries and have a "second chance drawing" for them, instead of offering them to people, like me, that already have seats? I went on stubhub shortly after this offering was made on Wednesday, and noticed a lot of new listingss for tickets for Saturday's game. I'm sure this was from people that just purchased tickets and were now turning around and selling them for a profit. I don't fault these people for doing this (heck, that was my plan), but, as I said, I question why the Brewers would handle these "extra" tickets this way.

I agree. However, with the recent comments attributed to C. Hart and his questionable (to be kind) approach at the plate, I am sure that there will be "fans" just waiting boo him for doing something stupid at a crucial moment, forgetting how much he contributed to this team in the first half. Hopefully, he won't give them the opportunity.

I called as well and was told 2:30 for the parking lot and 3:30 for the stadium.

Does anyone have a link to this quote? I mentioned to someone I work with and we have searched JS Online for it, but can not find it.

I understand there is a bit of a hole at 3rd base right now. However, your prototypical 3b is not a high OBP, lead off type guy. IMHO, finding that high OBP type guy would be the first step that I would hope the Brewers would consider in the offseason in an effort to improve the offense.

I understand that. However, when talking about how to improve the offensive production, finances have to be taken into consideration. While the Brewers are better off financially than they were several years ago, they are still not in competition with the NY's, LA's, and Boston's of the world. I would rather have reasonably priced light hitting, good defensive catcher and spend the extra cash elsewhere than pay 2 or 3 times as much for a better hitting catcher that has trouble throwing out base runners. I'm also aware of Kendall's history of throwing out runners, but it's clear to me that he has made some footwork adjustments this year to improve in that area. The way he positioned himself yesterday to throw out Rollins was a clear example of that.

According to Brewers.com, Suppan would start game 4 if necessary.

I have heard other people make the comparisons between the two teams as well. However, the Rollins/Lidge factor is huge. Also, it's clear to me that at leat at this point, the Phillies have more depth in their starting rotation.

JB, As I said, I took a quick overview. I'll give you McCann, Soto, R. Martin, and Schoppage...based purely on their offense. But let's look at their CS%: McCann 2008 .225 2007 .213 Soto .266/ NA Martin .247/.333 Schoppage .213/ NA I would not take Pierzinski. .312 OBP this year with a .179 CS%..yuck! He had a .244 CS% last year. I wouldn't take Pudge either. He's showing his age. .325 CS% in 2008, .319 in 2007 with a .309 OBP this year. Also, what does Pudge make? Keep in mind that Kendall also threw out 43% of baserunners with pitchers like Sheets and Sabathia, who are not exactly know for holding runners on. In addition, would some of these younger catchers be able to handle the pitching staff as effectively as Kendall has? So, let's say there are 10 Catchers "ahead" of Kendall. Even if you want to include A.J. and Pudge...that's 12. People talk about Kendall like he's one of the worse 5 catchers in the league. Not even close when you factor in defense, the handling of the pitching staff, and his contract.

You mean the 82 Brewers....right?

I guess I agree for the most part with your grades jhpc, but I'd be more inclined to give the starting pitching a B or B-. Gallardo pitched great. He had a small bout of wildness, but he should have never been put in the position to issue the walks he did in the first place. When your defense completly collapses behind you, it's going to have tendancy to rattle even the best of pitchers. Sabathia was getting some of his pitches up and they were jumping on them, but I think if he would have been willing to throw more fast balls to Meyers, it could have been a different game. He basically shut down two of their more dangerous hitters in Utley and Howard.