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From what I heard, the bugs were cooked, not live. They apparently didn't taste that bad at all. I've been to 4 Mallards games this year and I've always had a good time. The first time I ever went it was kind of a culture shock after only going to MLB games my while life. However, I quickly learned to appreciate that despite this being a collegiate league, the Mallards draw 6,000/game because they do virtually everything right. They had tons of promotions. They have ample entertainment between innings. They have an entertaining PA announcer. They have reasonable food and merchandise prices. And, of course, they usually win (2008 1st half south division champions).

First, Corey Hart is NOT a leadoff hitter, never has been, never will be. He's always been a middle of the order hitter--and an effective one at that. I don't care what his OBP is, why would you move your best RISP hitter out of a run producing slot? Secondly, there are a ton of reasons why Rickie Weeks is better than Ray Durham. The defense is bad either way. On offense, Rickie Weeks has tremendous upside, while Durham's numbers are likely to decline. Weeks still has a .258 BABIP. Weeks has pressure to perform now, Durham doesn't. Durham doesn't want to be a starter, he wants to be a role player and role model. Weeks has been playing better lately. Weeks sees lots of pitches, patience at the plate is important for a leadoff hitter. Weeks' projections suggest he will improve. Weeks is faster. I'm a Yost supporter, so maybe I'm somehow skewed, but I think Yost, Weeks, and Durham have all handled the situation great. As usual, the Brewers continue to have great clubhouse chemistry, which is a direct result of their manager.

The scary thing is that one bad pitch from Torres could wipe out the entire night of success.

Lets go Ray Ray!!!!

If we win this game 3-2, I will not complain about the bullpen for a full week.

Perhaps... But how many "rules" have been suggested here? -No Gagne or Mota in close games -No Shouse against righties -Riske/Stetter's effectiveness have been questioned at times You can't expect Yost to follow all those rules all the time.

Honestly, I'd rather just stick with Mota for another inning rather than seeing if Gagne decides to pitch well tonight.

I don't think it's about proving anybody wrong or right. It's just that he's going to have a role for all 25 members of his team. If Melvin gives him the players, he's going to use them. He sincerely believes that Mota is capable of pitching in close games, assuming he fixes his mechanical flaw.

Yost has shown that if the player is on his roster, he's going to use him. He's not going to limit himself to a 24 or 23 man roster. Maddux is probably telling Yost that his problems can be corrected. I highly doubt he would still be on the team if he had a track record like Turnbow's.

Stetter is throwing already--so I guess Mota won't be around for long if he gives up another baserunner.

This is why I love Ned Yost. I can't believe he has the guts to put Mota in here. He's a smart man and is well aware that everyone hates him for this, but he's doing it anyway to prove to us that Mota can still pitch.

We should have made Rickie play for his job sooner.

If this game is over, then what was the point of me being a Brewers fan for the last 13 years?

I've always had a hard time dealing with clutch. I agree that there is no convincing statistical evidence for clutch hitting, and there probably never will be. I'm not sure if I necessarily agree with the definition of at-bats that raise/lower a team's % chance of winning the game the most. If you're down by 2 in the bottom 9th with 2 outs and nobody on, you don't have a chance to win/lose the game, but the AB is extremely important for the win expectancy, but a HR isn't going to change the outcome of the game. The next batter comes up and hits another solo HR to tie the game. The third batter wins the game with a 3rd solo HR The first batter raises the win expectancy by 3%. The second batter raises it by 51%. The third batter raises it by 45%. I'm not a math expert, but I don't see how you could write a formula that weighs each of these HR in terms of "clutch" without creating a large amount of disagreement. Personally, I like looking at numbers with 2 outs and runners in scoring position. It's a simple stat that is readily available and the majority of the time, it is an important AB during the game.

I'm always nervous about the teams below us. Last year, that was everyone, but this year, I find myself very concerned with the Mets and Phillies. As the managers always say, you can only worry about yourself, but as a fan, it's difficult not to be concerned with what other teams are doing.

I've been able to get 8 tickets with one ID. No questions asked.

I'm disappointed that Dillon got sent down--do we even need a backup catcher?

We could have used a bullpen arm. However, despite Weeks' supposed high ceiling, Durham is an upgrade at 2B. I think he should start at least 1 game per series to start out and be quickly moved to the starting job if he performs.

Despite all of the side stories, this game comes down to whether or not Lincecum has his A stuff. If he does, we aren't winning.

If Durham starts for the Brewers tomorrow, does that count as his "homecoming" game?

Wasn't it about this time last year when we were saying the same thing about the Brewers???

If Gallardo doesn't get injured, we're probably 2-3 GB the Cubs instead of 4-5. Even with Sabathia, the bottom of our rotation is questionable, so I think he still shows intrerest. However, the Phillies offer might have beaten us had Melvin been a little more reluctant to pull the trigger due to having Sheets/Gallardo as his 1-2. I really think that our choice isn't Sheets or Sabathia, it is Sheets or neither.

Sheets isn't really injury prone. He's only missed 16% of his career due to injuries, assuming 34 starts per year He's never had any arm or shoulder problems He weighs less than Sabathia and is less likely to have leg/knee issues in the future His injuries are much less likely to reoccur than common pitching injuries

I really worry about the upside/downside of a 6 year/$120 million CC Sabathia contract and I don't think we can afford it. CC would be making 20-25% of the total payroll, even though he only pitches every 5 days. Unless we make the World Series, get an expensive new TV contract, or significantly raise ticket prices, we can't sustain a payroll higher than $90 million. If CC goes down, the Brewers may still compete, but in the long run, they will lose key players that they should have been able to afford. Furthermore, although we are losing $40 million off of our payroll next year, I can come up with a number of increases without factoring in FA signings. -Prince Fielder's arbitration: $8-10 million increase -Corey Hart's new contract/arbitration: ~$5 million increase -Jeff Suppan: $4.5 million increase -Seth McClung/JJ Hardy/Dave Bush's arbitration will also be high if they continue to play well Thus, between our increases and a new CC or Sheets contract, we're back up to our 2008 payroll, and that's without any other new additions. There are only 8 teams that can afford a CC contract. They are the Boston, NY Mets, NY Yankees, Chi Cubs, Chi Sox, LA Dodgers, LA Angels, Atlanta, and Detroit. For a discounted CC or a 4-5 year Sheets contract, you can add another 10 or so teams, including the Brewers. Thus, I advocate letting CC go and trying to sign Sheets to a 5 year deal. They both have essentially the same career ERA, so why not go with Sheets, who will cost significantly less and deliver the same production. Ben has never had a horrible stretch like CC had in April and he certainly can't do any worse than CC did in the playoffs. Plus, he has been living in Milwaukee for years and has a number of ties here, so I think he is much more likely to sign.

There used to be a Chick-fil-A at Southridge, I always liked eating there. I'll also throw in a plug for Tim Horton's, which I have seen in Ohio and Ontario. Their Raspberry filled Timbits (donut holes) are awesome.