wisportswriter

I've neither the time or energy to read all the statistic posts in-between, but Automator, I couldn't agree more with your original post on this thread.

"Ned is not the man for the job. I am on record to say that now. I may be wrong. I hope I am wrong. But I have watched him accept failure. And promote failure. And manager for failure." That statement is either: A) ridiculously idiotic B) emotionally charged and a billion light years over-stated I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and hope it was B.

Bunting debate aside, the larger issue, in my mind, is that once again the Brewers players lay an egg and the only one who fans beat up is the manager. Folks, the Crew had five hits, three of which were by the same player. Give the Yost-bashing a break. There's more appropriate targets for your venom.

rluzinski, c'mon now, that's weak. Do you like those chances better than being ahead 2-1? Still being down 1-0 wasn't the only possible outcome.

So you pinch hit for Sheets, tie the game, then the bullpen blows the tie and the Brewers lose. I like that strategy, too. And be honest: Who really likes the Crew's bullpen vs. the Cards with a lead, much less in a tie game? It could have gone either way. The decision was far from stupid. Sheet bunts the runner to second, someone gets a clutch hit to give the Brewers the lead, and Sheets shuts down the Cards and the Brewers win. Why is that so far-fetched? Once more on this site, Yost makes a decision and, instead of holding the players accountable for not getting the RBI hit, Yost is raked over the coals. I've never seen so many fans abuse a manager and at the same time let players get away with murder.

Labeling this loss anything harsher than 'disappointing' is going overboard, methinks, and even that may be. The Redbirds are one of the top 3 in the biz, easily, I don't care who they threw. There's no shame in losing to them. Pain, yes. Shame, no. And you can talk to me all you want about how improved the Brewers are and how expectations may be raised, but they're still a Russell Branyan home run from the Cardinals' caliber. Also, please don't pelt me with the 'accepting a losing culture' posts. I'm not. But I'm also realistic, and the Brewers aren't good enough to win many series against the Cardinals. All I'm saying is a loss to them isn't necessarily 'gross' or 'depressing'.

Then I reiterate my apology. ... and then ask ... 47 pages? Ouch. Nobody hung themselves by their stirrups, did they? This team. I've said it before, I'll say it again - maddening, absolutely maddening.

rluzinski: Did Jenkins not hit the go-ahead (and what would have been the game-winning) HR in the top of the ninth, or was I watching a different game? If you were being sarcastic, I apologize.

I believe it was a week or two ago when folks 'round here were hollering that Yost didn't use Wise and/or Santana enough. Now it's too much. I've said it before: I don't know how the Brewers have managed to win 50 games with this utter moron at the helm. They must be a lot better than I give them credit for.

Hoffy, "a simple 12-game winning streak?" C'mon, now. That's the same (minor) issue I had with the "Struggle to. 500" thread. All the talk was about how the Brewers were in the Wild Card chase, but that operates under the assumption this team is capable of playing well enough to make up 4-6 games on the other teams ahead of them. I haven't seen anything in this team that says they're good or consistent enough to make that run. Frustrating squad, though, these Brewers, consistent only in their inconsistency. And I know a lot of folks want to see this team show more emotion, but what MLB team does on a night-to-night basis? Emotion comes in small doses during a 162-game regular season: A no-hitter, a walk-off home run, a game-ending strikeout with the tying run at third ... stuff like that. I don't think it's fair to assume these Brewers don't care or accept losing because of what fans can see on the TV (or even in a movie theater hours after the game).

(sorry for length) I was afraid I'd get the dog-backed-into-a-corner response. Hoffy, again, it wasn't my intention to attack. But while I've only been here as a regular for about a week, it has only taken me that long to see you blame about a million different things on Yost. I'm not saying you're wrong or right, just that I haven't seen an end to it. I mean in this game you blamed him for causing panic with the lead, or something to that effect. If the guy was as bad a manager as you continually suggest, a monkey would know enough to fire him. He's not that bad, and going off about each and every small decision he makes is not a healthy practice. If that's what you want to do, more power to you, and I will further refrain from injecting my two cents' worth. It just baffles me that someone would have the emotional stamina to watch baseball that way. As for the lineups topic, the fact you believe the Brewers have talent and mental shortcomings, etc. I have no idea. I wasn't addressing that. I'm only talking about your Yost-bashing. As for accepting losses as a fact of Brewers life, that's not my route, either. Again, all I'm saying is every single thing that goes wrong with the team is not Yost's fault. There's players out there screwing up, too, whether they've got talent or not. And I'm not unaccepting of your opinions, just expressing mine. Hey, I might be wrong. Maybe every time you've complained about Yost you've been right. But you'll have to forgive me if I play the odds and figure he's not the utter screw-up you make him out to be. And the psychotherapy line was tongue-in-cheek. Though I do think you obsess over Yost's decisions just a bit too much. Here's the bottom line: I can see you're a huge Brewers fan. So why do you torture yourself through every game? Do you even enjoy watching games? (Maybe you do. I'm seriously asking, not facetiously.) I mean, after a victory tonight you're still complaining about the manager. That is why I say relax and enjoy the game. We're fans. We're supposed to be having fun.

"Ned left us with a bad taste." Us? Speak for yourself. Hoffy, I have been posting here for little more than a week, and I have come to the conclusion that you are a cartoon. God bless your fandom and passion, but they get seriously misplaced far too often. I recommend breathing exercises and maybe some psychotherapy to help with your obsession with Ned Yost. Maybe take a vacation from watching a few games and just read the newspaper or catch the highlights ... anything to ease your over-reacting to every single decision Yost makes. I don't mean for this to come off as an attack. Just relax and enjoy the game, my man. Life's too short.

"Why waste that much talent?" The way I get it, the reasons are: -- He's not pitching because he can't throw a strike. -- He's not being cut/traded because of his potential. -- And he's not being demoted to the minors because he's out of options and would never clear waivers. Anyone please correct me if I'm wrong. If I'm right, the Brewers are caught between a rock and a hard place and have, thus far, decided to keep him on, collecting dust in the pen, as the alternatives are no better.

I'd love, just once, to hear someone say a team didn't look like they cared after a win. Nobody looks fired up when they're losing, unless you count emotional meltdowns. And I have seen no good come from those. It's timeless: A team loses, their fans cry, "They're not into it! They're not fired up! They don't care!" I hate that only slightly less than the winning team saying, "We wanted it more." B.S. to it all.

Well said, Ja. Hoffy, let me get this straight: You are forgiving three errors and 28 straight unproductive at-bats because, to paraphrase, "they happen in the moment," and instead choose to pin the loss on Yost because of one decision he made on which reliever to bring in because he had more time to make that decision? Sorry, I'm not getting on that boat. Anyways, when all is said and done, it was one game. Hopefully. As long as the events of Wednesday night do not become a trend, there's no sense getting too up-in-arms about any of it.

I feel so foolish as I read this thread. I thought it was pretty obvious that horrible defense and horrific offense were to blame for this ugly loss. I'm glad I've been educated here that a manager's decision on which relief pitcher to bring in was the true cause for loss. Folks, are you kidding me? Three errors, 22 strikeouts, 28-up-and-28-down, four hits in 12 innings, and we're discussing which reliever was called upon?

How anyone can blame a loss on the manager ("Yost botched it") after a team boots the ball three times and goes 0-for-28 is beyond my capacity.