rickh150

I wanted Hader to start games for the Brewers last year. Two things changed that.... seeing his solid results as a guy that coud go an inning or three in relief; but more than that the way he pitched. His mainly fastball arsenal with max effort wouldn't seem to translate well to starting pitching. Unless this guy is Randy Johnson, his best success will most likely be in his current role. Who throws like him with success as a starter? Most other MLB starting lefties have some finesse in their game that saves their arm and keeps pitch count lower by throwing more strikes. Even in relief I remember seeing his fastball speeds dropping a few ticks in inning two or three. I can't imagine the Brewers even trying to mess with him and stretch him out in ST. My guess is that he is their Plan C for the rotation behind filling rotation with FA/trades and other young starters in the system. They might say they haven't decided anything with him yet, but I'd be shocked if they started him a game in the regular season.

I agree with about everything here..... Would have been exciting to get a brand new ST home in Gilbert, but the experience of ST in Maryvale is still a good one, even with no hotels, restaurants, or attractions within walking distance. There is plenty to do and see just a little out of town. My one trip to ST was a blast (hiking, zoo, golf, swimming, two Brewers games, two Brewers practices), especially the intimate home practices before away games.

ZBTMP said it well..... agree with about all of it. I'd add that I would like to have the rotation figured out much better. We would have our guys, whether that means by trade or development.

Uh, the owner is still there. If Stearns is strong enough to make his own decisions and Melvin wasn't than it's safe to call them "Doug Melvin moves" Strong enough? If Attanasio differs with DS and wants Arrieta and will spend whatever to get him, would DS then be weak? Should DS quit then? I struggle with the logic here. Was any move by Melvin altered in any way because of Garza's contract? No.

Game 1 Caldwell Game 2 Yo Game 3 ? Game 4 ? Kinda difficult to find 4 pitchers based on postseason stats.

Didn't Yuni B hit really well in the playoffs? He hit a big HR in Game 1 of the NLCS, didn't he? I get the criticism, but this is just postseason stats. He would be honorable mention ahead of Hardy.

Maybe Santana..... something with a couple of reasonable Club options at the end of it.

How about the % of bunts that are bobbled, thrown away, or go as hits? Some bunts are not even outs. Now, that is the missing variable.

The odds in blackjack and the odds of baseball strategy are a little different, right? The odds of success of when to pull a pitcher, bunt, substitute have several more variables. Sure, you could take all those variables together and make generalizations that begin with, "Most of the time in this situation, the right move would be to _________." Yet, that still leaves a minority of times when a different move would be the right move to make. I take offense to those who use macro stats to make decisions in every situation. The one I hear the most is that you score more when you let the batter hit with a man on first with no outs than having him bunt. Sure, in most situations, letting the batter hit would be the best decision. I'm agreeing with this. But how about if your pitcher is up, if the .225 #8 hitter is up with a tendency to hit many ground ball DP, if the pitcher like Garza or Lester can't throw to 1B, if it rained and the grass is slick, if you need one run to win the game and not 3 or 4.... The variables in baseball are so numerous. Decisions are more complicated. That being said, I can't fault the Dodgers for pitching their lights out closer two innings. If you lose the lead with your rested, best pitcher in the pen, so be it.

Something like that..... Brewers blew it again, Brewers fans had a down year in energy and attendance, simple observation shows paid attendance was quite different from actual attendance (dare I say apparently) and no shows can't bridge the gap imo, and our best, most loyal fans are looking forward to getting their Cubs tickets for 2018! I'll be excited again in 2018, a lot to like about the turnaround from 2016 to 2017 plus, just bummed. So close to playoffs. Bought (refunded) tickets to Game 4 of NLDS. Yankees proving that wild card teams can do damage in the playoffs.... would have been fun to get in.

How about if sponsors bought tickets that were never distributed?

Yea, every team in every pro sport does this. Attendance is announced based on tickets sold, regardless of how many actually show up. Given the Brewers are the smallest market in baseball, their attendance numbers for almost a decade now are pretty amazing and a credit to the fan base in the Milwaukee area. Amazing in 2007 thru 2012ish...... not now. Ticket sold does not equal an actual person off the street buying it, a ticket for actual person. The mainstream perception is that there must be many no shows (individuals/families with tickets bought in hand who decide not to come) up thru ten thousands people to explain the difference. Seems obviously false, in my opinion, with no real explanation on why tickets sold and actual attendance is so different. I would guess at attendance each game I go to before the four choices of attendance are revealed in the 8th inning. I usually guessed that Miller Park was in the 20,000 to 25,000 range, and the choices would be in the 30,000 to 35,000 range. Huge differences. BP gas tickets also are free, but are they counting all the tickets BP gave out to customers or every last ticket BP got for the promotion, regardless of distribution? It probably is better business for the team (or sponsor) to buy a bunch of their own tickets at a $1 a pop, throw them to the curb, announce higher attendance numbers, give off a perception of a 30,000 plus avg game attendance, and take in the benefits of future sales/income. And of course the perception of higher attendance matters. People want to be where the action is, especially young adults with cash to burn. Sponsors will then pony up more $ for ads/ad space/signage when they believe a higher number of potential customer is there. Suites are sold better when the perception is that space is limited in the park. All I'm saying is that the support of the team was not at 2.5 million or even 2 million fans in the ballpark. No one in the this thread argued against this point. I'm also saying that the amount of paid attendance versus in the park attendance had less to do with no shows. The gap in paid attendance vs actual attendance was way too large to offer as the only reason. We had very solid support again this year, but 30,000 avg strong in paid attendance? No shows up in the five figures range in thrifty Wisconsin? All tickets sold at adverised pricing rates? Too many questions to not ask more questions. Inflated numbers can be expected everywhere. This year, especially, numbers seemed inflated to the point of questioning our intelligence.

Certain things irk me..... same reason you decided to respond to this thread. I'd rather not be fed crap about the great support this year when it was obviously well below the past ten year normal in attendance and passion.

this is what they already do. Says who, exactly?

Another thread? I'd rather have them announce the legit tickets sold number. No thanks for your backhanded thanks. Define attendance? To me, attendance is money paid. Now before going back to grad school to become teacher, I was a Business Admin and Sports Mgt grad so I care more about the business and financial side of it (actually interviewed with Crew coming out of college) If people don't show.... too bad, so sad.... we still got paid. That is money in the pockets of the franchise. It does hurt in a way because people don't show, they don't spend which is a big part of revenue. The business and corporate tickets are paid for and many times people don't make it. Season tickets are paid for but many times those fans may miss games because things pop up. All that is still attendance. Brewers don't refund if you don't make it. At game, I don't focus on the number at all. I do care where we finish season though in tickets sold because that factors in a big way on payroll. Brewers for a small market team draw incredibly well. Plenty to be positive about. Impossible not to love energy, personality, and grit of this team. They act like a family which is critical in success and love that. My guess is that the Brewers have a sponsor lined up in advance to buy 5 to 10 thousand seats on certain April, May, or Sept. weeknights that don't sell well, hand them out for free somehow, and figure those as paid attendance.

Another thread? I'd rather have them announce the legit tickets sold number. No thanks for your backhanded thanks.

I know that I'm supposed to have a positive, upbeat feeling about the year. We were waaaay better than planned. The team finished ten games above .500. We had many players take another step (Nelson, Anderson, Knebel, Shaw, Santana), go to another level in their development. Plus, these are players we have control of for a few more seasons. Late season add ons did well, from our ol favorite Jeffress to Swarzak, Walker, and Voight. The underdog team was fun to watch nightly, playing in close games while enjoying each other's presence with demonstrative cheering celebrations. Much fun. I went to ten games, and win or lose had fun with family and friends. Love Brewers baseball and all that. Yet, I have very little positive feeling for this season. The negatives way outweigh the positives. They probably shouldn't, but they do. I have no desire to watch the playoffs. I don't want to see the games, not even seeing the Cubs lose. It just stinks. We should have been in the playoffs. We were up 5 and a half games at the break. Did any other team give up that big of a lead this season? We gave away too many games, giving up more leads than anyone in baseball. We couldn't score late. We could barely make contact or foul balls off in innings 7 thru 9. How many 1,2, 3 innings did we have in innings 7 thru 9? For as great as the offense was in the first half of the year, it was that awful in the 2nd half. Everyone in baseball scored more than us after the All Star break. And that is with our best minor leaguers up and Neil Walker playing. We have our best player in Braun talking about how much he hates Spring Training, how it is too long, how the best at bat is a double play lineout. It makes me question and wonder about the patience and commitment of the team when tight games get long and a walk is as good as a hit, when we are trying to hit the ball out the park when a grounder to short gets the run home. Are they bored? Want the individual chest bump moment? Simply want to get home? I don't even want to get into the strikeouts, but back to back years setting the K total in the entire history of baseball? Spanning over 100 years? The math is too boggling for me. It doesn't take a great mathematician to see that we strike out too much and that big swing and miss teams have a tough time making contact against good pitching, especially late in season (and playoffs). And while I am venting, the team keeps trying to make itself look good with attendance. Now, I have been to games for many years, and usually get to around a dozen a year. No year has the attendance numbers been more inflated. None. I'm sitting at a game with maybe 20 to 21 thousand fans, and the reported attendance is 30,000. I can't believe it. Unless they are counting free tickets some how dropped by a plane on the city of Milwaukee, I have no idea how they can arrive at such a total. There isn't enough no shows to make it work, not with low amounts of season ticket holders. If you are thinking no shows for BP dates, that might account for an extra thousand or 2. No, there is some very questionable accounting at work here. No way 2.5 million fans came here this year. None. No way 2 million fans walked in the park this year. The numbers were that inflated nightly. Now, this attendance thing really wouldn't make me upset on its own. Put that with the selling out of our best fans and season ticket holders to get the almighty $ from division rival and main blockage of the Brewers to the playoffs, the hated Cubs fans, and the blood pressure rises. I kick myself as well for not making more games, especially against the Cubs this season. I laugh when I read the Brewers thank you letter..... "When we are playing well, you are there to share in the excitement. When we need support, you are there to pick us up. When our backs are against the wall and everything is on the line, you rally behind us and remind us that no matter what happens -- whether we achieve our ultimate goal or whether we suffer heartbreak -- we are in this thing together." This is a load of crap. We didn't come in droves like we did in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011, selling out week night games. We doubted the team's ability more than anything. Even our owner talked about not getting caught up in wins/losses this pre-season. When the season was on the line, at home, we filled it with Cubs fans. I believe we are a good fan base, but definitely not great. Not this season. A great fan base gets the team in the playoffs this season. A better baseball town gets them in this season. Better, more loyal fans gets them in this season, and I'm including myself in all this too. One stinkin game out of the playoffs. One more earlier move by Stearns at the break rather than in late August gets them in. A couple hundred less at bats from Villar gets them in. Stopping Garza from pitching the last month, especially his last two games started, gets them in. Braun being Braun gets them in. Bitter and upset. The season still stings.

Hilarious saying that Sogard is a bench bat based on the year he had...... highest OBP on the team, great avg., solid defender, smart ballplayer, walks about the same as striking out. He makes contact when that is all that is needed in situations. He may not "look" the part, but if he's healthy he can be what he is for the next two, three years before age starts taking over. I think he's back, and I'm calling for a two year deal worth 6 million. If he struggles for whatever reason, THEN he could be a bench bat and late inning defensive replacement. Walker is gone. He's going to cost us waaaay too much. I really like his skill set, but he'll want to get paid. Swarkzak is gone too. Someone, somewhere will give him big bucks for his A- type of season he just had.

Keep turnin' up the heat!

Wes Helms and Dan Uggla homered.

Colorado loses on double play line out in 9th with runner a n 1st...... 5-4

Cards losing big; Rockies down 4-1 in 6th.

The Loge level could use some netting/ better guard rails below row 1, not in line of view but in case someone falls over catching a ball.

No, I didn't go to any of the games this weekend. I called my group rep. and could have gotten Terrace seats for $25, but passed on it. I've been to 10 games this season, usually going to weeknight games, sometimes a Friday. I make between 10-12 games a year. Just thinking back, I attended a Cubs game last year and the year prior, probably 7 or 8 in the last decade. I sit in the Loge Inf. often, sometimes the Loge bleachers. Price is usually a deciding factor. I, however, don't see the connection between being somewhat thrifty and selling prime seats to the enemy for financial gain, especially when the teams are battling for the playoffs. I really have no problem with selling on StubHub, except when it is the Cubs. Don't people have other Brewers friends to sell tickets to? Man, let brewerfan.net know what you want for a couple seats and I'm sure I and others would be interested at some level. This is a problem for the organization. The cash cow is helping season ticket holders but is hurting the team's home field advantage.

Seriously, when does the selling end? Do you sell a game in the playoffs too offset cost? Does it matter THEN to whom you sell? Curious?