rickh150

Loge Infield -sections 227 and 210 has good deals throughout the year on StubHub for most games, often less than half of gate price ($21 or less). You might have to wait until the week for of the game to get them, but still... Old time Ballplayers Association (for $10 membership) gets you half price tickets to a game each month in any seat section of the park. April and May Mon.- Thurs games are half price on day of game. Almost every weekday game is half priced for seniors and kids. Five Friday night games are half-priced for 5-county residents. If you want to sit 5 rows behind Brewers dugout for Saturday night games, you are going to pay thru the nose, granted. Yet, it is my experience that you could custom build a 10 seat to ticket package for a mixture of games, promotions, one or two a month, for far less than the supposed "deal" the Brewers offer season ticket holders.

Best site for ST info......good detailed info on visiting the ballpark on game day and practice.... http://www.springtrainingconnection.com/maryvale.html

On one hand, I have a lot of respect for season ticket holders. They loyally pay the price, stick with the team, and are counted on to be there. On the other hand, I think it would take just a small amount of extra work to sit in roughly the same place to most games for half the cost. I also take unbridge of those fans who buy season tickets so they can sell some of them to Cubs fans. Sorry, I know, I know..... yet your many good reasons to do so do not offset letting the evil empire into the choice seats at Miller Park.

Waaaaaay more expensive, in my humble opinion. Looking at the schedule, you could pick out five Friday games at half price (one in April, one in May, two in June, one on Labor Day weekend) with 5 county seats. Buy $10 Loge Infield or OF Field level group seats on July 4. Buy BP gas and get free seats in the upper level or as a credit to 9 other games. Unless you are hooked on going to Cubs games, Saturday games, getting that bobblehead, or having THE EXACT seat for every game, just buy individual and group seats early and pick up gas cards (among several other ways to save). If they make the playoffs, use the savings to get better playoff tickets on Stubhub. The Brewers should be doing more for the loyal season ticket holder, no doubt. I'd like to be one some day, but it doesn't make cents (or more like several hundred dollars) now.

The season-long promotions are out..... good deals everywhere you look. http://mlb.mlb.com/mil/schedule/season-long-promotions/ For me, this begs the question of why people get season tickets? With season tickets, each ticket per season is discounted roughly 15 to 25 percent. Yet, many promotions offer half-priced seating (or less if taking a group) to a variety of games. Isn't it wise to simply pay these lower prices for individual games, pick your games, and forgo season tickets? Are the perks for a season ticket holder that great to offset the cost?

Couldn't you make the argument though that Braun's bat in the middle of that lineup could have made the difference in that series? Maybe the Dodgers are WS champs right now if they had pulled the trigger on the Brewers demands for a Braun trade back in August? We'll never know of course. They'll continue to be the bridesmaid. Never the bride. According to many here, the more you get in the playoffs the more likely you are to win it all (not sure if I believe that). The Dodger$ make the playoffs often. In addition, in many spheres of life- including MLB, I wouldn't bet against the guy with the most money.

Corey Ray is a lottery ticket then too. I'll error on the side of pitching.

How poor is this man? Kershaw has had a K-BB% over 27% the last 3 seasons. Gray's is 12.7% for his career. I guess they are both major league pitchers in the state of California, but I see noting else that is even remotely comparable between the 2. Gray's ERA from 2013 to 2015......... sub 3

MLBtraderumors is showing that the Astros have an interest in Gray. How about the Brewers? Why not the Brewers? Well, we always want good pitching, although Gray was far from that last season (ERA 5 +). In the prior three seasons, he was a poor man's Keyshaw. Seems to me Stearns likes high ceiling, buy low players. It's hard to find a better candidate for that kind of a trade considering how good he can be, how bad he was last season, and how desperate Oakland is to get top, young, cheap talent throughout the system with its revenue sharing $ coming to an end. Toss in the fact that we are loaded with an excess of nice prospects in the OF and at SS to deal. The formula, I would think, shows that we are a fairly good match. Overall, This could be a very good time to get three years of a top of the rotation guy. Risky? Yes. Worth it? Probably. Dubon,Ray, and Ponce? We go no where without better pitching, and this still young guy could be a keeper for the short or long run. Also, it is interesting that Stearns' old boss has interest. Gotta think the Brewers do too.

Agree with both points...

I think you're forgetting that he won in two major markets, and won quickly, after failure for those franchise for literally forever. It's not like he was there for 20 years and won in his final year... In Chicago, he spent over $500 million in free agency over the last two years to get in the playoffs and WS. That might be more than the total amount the Brewers have spent on FA in their existence! Begrudgingly, Cubs fans think of themselves as such the underdog darlings even though they dwarf other franchises in net worth and yearly payroll. It's them versus the world....... rubbish. $500 in free agency over the last 2 years?!!! They also blame their "Badness" on a curse instead of admitting they themselves are/were an incredibly bad large market franchise over the last 100 years..... "Woe is me because of some outside force!" instead of "Man, we were just plain bad." Arrogant, truth twisting, entitled wind bags....sigh. Your positive comments on Epstein are fair, and he deserves to be applauded. Any GM/manager who wins it all with two different organizations is in the Hall of Fame. No argument there. Yet, the $ was such a HUGE advantage. Go win in Tampa, Oakland, or even Atlanta.... then I'd be impressed.

no one can guarantee a championship. false. Theo Epstein can. Three in big markets is not as impressive as one in a small market.... Dayton Moore trumps it.

And then there are the Packer/Cubs fans that cheer on a Duke/Ohio State/Alabama.... In a way, I really don't careabout my neighbors' allegiances, however middle school it gets- pure front runners, in this case. Cheer for whomever, right? Local Bandwagon hoppers I can even respect, those that are swept up by an area team's play and follow more games, buy the jersey, etc. However, in a totally different way, I very much care when a friend/family member starts bragging about how well their front runner team is doing PLUS how bad my team IS. That is when the fit hits the shan.

IIRC, the Yanks would have played the AL East team with the second best overall record. (Same scenario with any of the other three divisions). Thanks.... always wondered about that.

That ten million for a #5 starter needs to go for more than just the staff. Put more in the amateur scouting - get better results from the 2nd-10th rounds. A lower miss rate in those rounds would be huge, as well as getting a couple of those late-round steals. The best part is that is becomes a cycle that reinforces itself. If you can regularly develop Suters, Woodruffs, and Perrins - you don't have to go the free agent route, and that is more money to keep the good players in or to land that free agent to fill the gap. Plus, more prospects means more trade chips - that makes the Greinke/Sabathia-type rentals more affordable. You don't clean out your entire farm system to make a real run for the title. Problem is, almost everybody has more money for whatever (including scouts),everybody wants a great minor league system, and most have an advantage at getting overseas talent (Ironically, the ONLY reason we have a top minor league system is that we emptied the major league team for it).We would have to make up this disadvantage by hitting big with multiple drafts and lopsided trades to be in such a luxurious position to be good in the majors AND have a quality farm system.

Front runners...

Please no on the split seasons. It was a joke. 1981 was a miserable season. Brewers had the best team and June, July and half of August there was no baseball and even with a better overall record than the Yankees, they had to play them in a playoff series.. I couldn't get excited about what were fake made up on the fly playoffs. Teams that "won" the first half didn't go through any pressure of a race, then had playoffs assured and didn't need to do anything in the 2nd half. Reds had the best overall record in the NL West but didn't qualify for playoffs. Same with Cardinals in the NL East. Yankees had the 4th best overall record in the AL East. No way they deserved to be in the postseason. Same goes for Royals who were no better than 4th in the AL West. What would have happened if Yanks won 2nd half too?

Such a fun ending.... I never saw this footage before (just Fingers' last pitch). Did you rush the field?

It seems most here are very knowledgeable fans, and most here believe the Brewers are on a good track. I feel the same. It will be interesting to see what we the organization does when it becomes a 90 win team. Will it stay the course, constantly acquiring young talent, not interested in the top free agents, not trading the top 100 prospect for a late reliever? Will Stearns make the really big trade or big move or will he value prospects/picks like a let's say Ted Thompson.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0q4JN2nuqFA

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9r4B9w9sHCU Howard Cosell on the call.....sounding like a complete Yankee homer.

Wanted to pass this goodie on...... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr4NfSifvFw Love Fingers and Simmons.... reaction is priceless. Nice interview on field after the game with Bryant Gumbel.

Another thing I forgot to mention.... Door B beats the Cubs to get to the WS.

Door B. You take the WS win. With 30 teams in the league, you're gold if you can win one in a decade. I think most people would take the guaranteed WS, including Mark A. But that's not how the game works, because no one can guarantee a championship. And the best way to win a championship is getting into the dance as often as possible with the best team you can afford. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The heart of this.... you can structure your team to be like either door. One way, you maybe never go overboard with a FA signing, never trade away that top prospect, never trade the future for present because the goal is to be the year in, year out darlings, making the playoffs every year. The other way, you know that you are a little fish in the gigantic ocean. You are the littlest kid playing king of the hill. Your shot at standing on top of that snow hill by yourself does not come often, and when it looks clear, take the moment, push that fat kid off, throw your hands up, and enjoy it before you are piled on top of and thrown back to the bottom quickly. Sign the big name FA the year after winning the wild card with a young/cheap nucleus, trade away some top pick for the present ( seriously, don't you now think Melvin should have traded MORE of the future in 2011 now knowing we didn't make the playoffs the last 5 years? Could we have won it with another piece or two... Furcal? A legit #5 hitter?). I believe the Brewers best way of winning a championship in the unfair MLB is to get a talented, young, cheap core group packaged together with big name FA and aggressive trades for a two, three year shot at winning it all before FA erodes the core.

A few more responses from a "bored" fan in the offseason (dead on, by the way)... How much $ are the Cardinals/ city of St. Louis putting into renovations for their ballpark village, and how much money do they get yearly from their local tv deal? Find that and compare it to Milwaukee's stadium upgrades and local tv $. You can bore me be further with how each county in WI compares population wise to Missouri, or you can talk about the numbers that really matter. Also, why isn't the ultimate goal of winning a championship in the team's mission statement? If that is presumably the ultimate goal, why isn't it there for all to see? All it says is that "the Brewers are committed to fielding a competitive team." How low of a bar is that? Even 100 loss teams are arguably competitive. It should say, "the Brewers are committed to building a championship team for the city of Milwaukee, state of WI, and Brewers fans everywhere!" Yet, I am glad that MA has recently written about winning it all and not being "good" for long stretches, again a historically unattainable goal for any small market team since the early 90's when salaries/FA went haywire. Many big markets have been arguably good for long periods of time without rebuilding (just reloading), not so with small markets. Speaking in generalities with the outlier abstaining, small markets need to put most of their eggs in one basket/create windows/go all in, etc. to have short periods when winning it all is possible; then the tear down begins ala the KC Royals.