AJAY

I still wish the Brewers had hired Bobby Valentine. He would have had the brains to figure out that Shaun Marcum had no business pitching in Game 6 of the NLCS. I still have not forgiven Ron Roenicke for that. Sorry to vent.

What a drop-off in experience compared to Tony LaRussa. That is going to be a really big change for that franchise. Obviously, I hope it doesn't work out well.

I can learn to accept the new jerseys and color scheme. But the "M" logo on the hat looks way too big. They need to shrink that to a smaller size if they want to use it on the hat.

I think if the Brewers had lost to any other team, I would appreciate what they did this season. But because they lost to St. Louis in such embarrasing fashion, I am extremely bitter and angry. This has been very difficult for me. This was supposed to be one of the greatest seasons in Brewers history, and instead they were eliminated by the hated Cardinals. It is the most horrible ending ever. I still feel like St. Louis had no business being in the postseason considering how far back they were heading into September. Since they barely got in, I always felt they are not as deserving of moving on. I feel very cheated. I understand that our starting pitchers did not do well, but neither did theirs. It almost feels like LaRussa did something sneaky and under-handed by overusing his bullpen and not paying a price for it. Yes, I know they followed the rules, but it was so unconventional that it did not even feel like real baseball. For all of my life, you needed quality starting pitching to get through October, but the one year the Brewers get in to the NLCS, the Cardinals somehow manage to change the rules. I don't get how they got away with it. I can't understand why Shaun Marcum turned into a disaster when it mattered the most. I can't understand how Zack Greinke did not even get one strikeout. I can't understand why we never pitched inside and backed off more of their hitters. I can't understand why Ron Roenicke did not figure out what LaRussa was doing and start showing more urgency himself in pulling struggling starters. He was asleep in the dugout. It always felt like we were behind in the first inning all the time and I don't know why this had to happen in October when it never happened all the other months of the season. Nothing about this series ever felt normal and it did not in anyway seem representative of real baseball and what we saw this season. It was just too bizarre and disturbing to accept. I can't understand how the Cardinals beat us in 1982. Their lineup was a joke. I can't understand how a franchise that won only 83 games in 2006 ended up with a ring. We had a better regular season than St. Louis this year with nothing to show for. I can't understand how the Braves blew such a big lead. I can't understand how their closer Kimbrel started blowing saves to let the Cardinals in at the last minute. I was very excited when Prince Fielder hit the big homerun in the All-Star Game. Now I will forever feel sick about that moment because our own player gave the hated Cardinals home field advantage. The whole memory of that moment is now ruined. I am mad that Nyjer Morgan started tweeting about the Cardinals. That brought us bad luck and now makes us look foolish. The wrong team now gets the last laugh, I hate Tony LaRussa with a passion and it makes me sick that he is going to the World Series again. I hate that Cardinals fans are so spoiled too. 18 pennants already. Why can't we ever get one too. Why do the sports gods hate us so much? I don't understand why there isn't more anger amongst the Brewers players. Their reactions and statements to the media were very disappointing. Nothing makes any sense to me right now. Nothing at all. Sorry if I have issues right now.

Not sure if this was mentioned anywhere, but there was a little blurb in a NY Times article about Mark Attanasio which suggested the Brewers next TV deal in 2013 will earn them three times the amount of revenue as compared to the current deal. Can anyone verify if this estimate is accurate? Does anyone have any inside information? http://www.nytimes.com/20...ml?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Friday and Saturday for me !!

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/images/photos/001/004/430/103220026_crop_650x440.jpg?1281377110

Not sure if this was posted already, but someone just started a twitter account that is specifically dedicated to tweeting about the Brewers Magic Number to win the NL Central. If you are on twitter, you might enjoy this. @BrewersMagicNum

Per John Heyman on Twitter EDIT: For two players to be named later.

I had a great time in Boston attending Friday and Saturday's game. I loved the atmosphere and ambience at Fenway Park. It was amazing to see so many Brewers fans at the game and around the city. Great job by the people of Wisconsin for making it out there in big numbers. Even the plane flights were fun with so many passengers wearing Brewers clothing. I thought the Red Sox fans were very nice too. (I guess it helps that we don't really have any rivalry with them anymore). One of my favorite moments was when a bunch of people in my section sang "Roll Out the Barrell" after the victory on Saturday. There were a lot of confused Red Sox fans staring at us http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

I will be at Fenway Park on Friday and Saturday. If you see an Indian guy in a Braun jersey, come and say hello to me http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Hoping the weather cooperates.

When I started this thread, I was hoping to hear people's creative ideas for how we could sign Prince Fielder (as opposed to arguing about whether he is worth the money or not). Not surprisingly, this discussion has gone in many directions. So I really want to hear your ideas . . . . Suppose the Brewers management hired you as a consultant and told you that they wanted to make signing Prince Fielder a priority and that your only job was to find a way to make it happen. What would you suggest? Let's see what people come up with.

This was a perfect night in every way. Nice to beat the Cardinals in a completely dominating way. Great to see Narveson pitch an awesome game. We all needed this. This feels really really good. I love it.

I can't help but wonder how Nyjer Morgan and Ken Macha would have gotten along had Macha still been the manager here. I am not sure how much of the theatrics Macha would have tolerated.

I keep going back and forth on whether Prince Fielder is worth the money to sign to a long term extension. . . but I do think signing him to an extension is possible if the Brewers can get a little creative. Here are a few ideas I was thinking about: 1. Raise ticket prices by $2 to $3 dollars per ticket. I am sure fans will understand and probably be willing to pay if this helps keep Fielder in Milwaukee. 2. Trade Corey Hart and his 10 million dollars per year contract. Don't get me wrong, I like Corey Hart, but he seems much more replaceable than someone like Prince Fielder (both in terms of on-field performance and marketability). I am sure some team like the Phillies would love to have Corey Hart next season. Let's face it, 25 years from now, Corey Hart will be somewhat forgotten just like we stopped thinking about Jeromy Burnitz, Richie Sexson, or Geoff Jenkins. But Prince Fielder has the chance of being a Hall-of-Famer and leaving a permanent legacy. He is the kind of guy who gets a statue outside the ballpark. Teams like Milwaukee really need guys like Fielder to build their reputation and establish their place in baseball history. You become a great franchise by having legendary players and Fielder could be one of them someday. The Brewers could sign a cheaper replacement to play in rightfield (i.e. Jermaine Dye type) or give a kid from the minor leagues a shot at right field. Now I know that winning is the most important priority and that pitching wins. Signing Marcum and Greinke are definitely more important. But I also think that when you have a Braun and Fielder combination in your lineup, you can not break that up either. Players that special rarely come along. All the other parts in the lineup are replaceable in my opinion, and I feel like the Brewers have some flexibility to trade away some salary and prioritize the Prince. Does anyone else have any other creative ideas? Please lets NOT make this a thread about whether Prince is worth it or not. Let's just brainstorm ways to make a contract happen (just for discussion's sake).

Two reasons for the struggles: 1) Casey is not standing close enough to the plate. Every pitcher is pitching him over the outside corner and he seems to be reaching out and not squaring up on the ball. If he moved 2 inches closer to the plate, he would be fine. 2) He lost too much weight this winter. He doesn't have the same body mass to generate the power that he used to have.

Lost my voice screaming. Still trying to catch my breath after jumping up and down so much. WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Jim Rome interview with Ryan Braun is available at this site. http://www.jimrome.com/videos

I just think the Brewers need two more Jeff Cirillo or Fernando Vina type of hitters in the lineup. I know the stats people love OPS, but I still think it is important to have at least a few high average hitters who make pitchers work and are tough outs. In my opinion, that adds a lot to the offense and makes it more efficient. I can't prove it statistically, but I just feel like the Brewers hitters don't complement each other well in terms of their hitting styles. Weeks, McGehee, and Hart all seem to be of the same mold, but we don't have anyone who reliably sets the table for Braun and Fielder. It has always been my personal belief that Doug Melvin can spot individual talent, but he doesn't have a good feel for how players compliment each other and fit together as a unit. Something always seems off with this team every year, and I am getting a little frustrated.

First time all season that we have our best possible lineup out there. No Kotsay, No Nieves, No Gomez, etc. Thank god.

That win felt REALLY good. Nice to finally see the Brew Crew beat the Reds. Happy for Axford and Hart too. Can't say enough about Marco Estrada either.

I pray that Counsell is just getting some practice in LF just to add depth to the outfield position. We can't afford to lose Braun to injury.

This is one of the most poorly played games I have ever seen. Our first baseman can't make a good throw to the plate. Our closer can't throw strikes. Nobody can get a big clutch hit. Our infield defense is a joke. Our left-fielder makes a stupid throw that goes to the backstop and allows the winning run to get into scoring position. Betancourt continues to look way off balance in every at-bat. This is disgusting. Roenicke must have a serious team meeting after this game regardless of whether they win or lose. This is driving me nuts.

Welcome back offense !! Welcome back Axford !!

Big thanks to Yovani Gallardo tonight. Brewer Nation badly needed that. Congrats to Ron Roenicke as well. First major league victory. Nyjer Morgan sure is fun to watch, right ????