valpocrewsader

I don't usually get what I ask for! Thank you Rickie. We'll take one more....

Apparently Wynegar flipped all their switches to "Clutch" before the start of today's game. 'Atta boy Billy. Let's get greedy and get one more.

I should say, I'm listening on the radio and they made no mention of JJ being forced to swing at ball 3. So maybe not so very nice...

JJ moving the runner over on the hit & run with a productive infield out! Very nice. Second productive out of the night for the Crew.... Let's turn it into a run.

Whew! Dodged a bullet! Before I could post, "Just plunk Biggio and pitch to Taveras", Cappy gets him out on a hot liner! Let's get some insurance, boys...

Dang, stranding two in scoring position. Such is the story of the NL.....

Do you PH for Cappy here??? EDIT: BTW, way to go Damian! EDIT EDIT: I guess no PH.... C'mon Cappy, help your cause.

Let's put the hit & run on here....

I love Texans. God bless that state....

Man, Preston is not this bad of a hitter. I hate to say it, but he is really due to jack one. Hopefully, he waits until Friday to break out of the slump.....

Poor Cappy. How come it seems like we're never watching a game where our starter is out there with a 3-1 or 4-1 lead for a couple of innings? Seems as if every time we're holding them to a run or two, we're playing to their level offensively.... I just want to see the starters rewarded!

Well, I'll be off doing a little varnishing for an hour or so. Good luck to the Crew while I'm gone. Let's go Cappy!

Uke said it looked like Weeks' hand was on Berkman's foot and not the bag.

Ah, the wonder of productive outs! Nice to see them plate Lee from third. Tough break for Cirillo ... I'm only listening on the radio, but it sounded like he hit a rocket line drive that was snagged out of the air. Hate those kinds of double-plays.

You're not kidding. Only 3 starts, but still.... 0-2, 6.57 ERA, 25 H+BB in 12.1 innings, .314 opp BA

I can see that, but then can you see how others feel like they're seeing "it's still early" for the millionth time? Honsetly, I think I've seen comments of the "it's still early" variety *more* than I've see the "same old Brewers" comments. To someone on one side of the fence, the "Brewers still can't get it done!" posts are nauseating. The thing is, those posts are CORRECT. Correct based on what we've seen so far this year, at least ... and that's all we can go on in evaluating this year's team. Barely squeaking out wins over bad teams at home, winning just 2 of 8 on the road with one of those being an 11-innings squeaker ... can't fault someone for saying "same old Brewers" right now. To people on the other side of the fence, the "it's only April" posts are equally nauseating. Of course, those posts are 100% correct, too.

Yeah, I definitely see it from your point of view. In a sense, it's like someone's intentionally trying to rain on your parade. Just shows how people are different. From my point of view, I *want* people to be negative and cautious to keep me from getting all jacked up and foolishly happy about a comeback that never happened. I like being grounded by the realists....

That's such a good point and a fine example of how stats will never paint the whole picture. To me, this makes the losses harder to swallow! The games we get man-handled, fine. But Sunday's game? There's no way we should have lost. Tonight's game? The scary thing is that if we don't find a way to win one or two extra games a month, we're right back where we were last year. Lotta games left, but a loss is a loss. And many losses are many losses. Regardless of the month....

I never saw any posts where BadgerFan said the team was horrible. If I missed it, sorry. I did see posts where he said things to the effect of, "now that the score is close, will the team respond well?" (implying that they won't) and he also implied the game was over ("moral victory") before it was oficially over. That's just pessimism, and the way the whole season has gone, it's warranted. "Same old Brewers" ... what's wrong with that? The board's been littered with threads that have pointed out weakness in this year's team that have existed since 2004 (RISP hitting, strikeouts, baserunning blunders). Just 'cos the team looks better on paper this year, and lots of posters here are convinced that the team will get better, there's nothing wrong with a handful of other posters offering the counter opinion of, "man, this is just the same ol' not-getting-it-done Brewers as '05 and '04". No matter what the subject, some people are going to have inherrently positive/optimistic attitudes while others have inherently negative/pessimistic attitudes. I'm really sensing a vibe in these IGTs that condemns people sharing their negative opinions about what they're OBSERVING in these early games and what they're FEARING about the team as the season goes forward. It's reasonable for folks to comment on these things, in my opinion. I just don't think you're a better fan for being constantly optimistic. In fact, I think there's more thought behind the negative posts than there is behind the positive ones.

So now we're choosing sides? Okay, I side with BadgerFan then. I'll take reasonable pessimism over blind optimism any day.

How big is that PRINCE FIELDER ERROR now?

I would just like to point out that I never turned off of the radio tonight. Let's go Crew. Please not another "close but no cigar" loss....

You said I what I was trying to say. But better. And with a lot less words.

Awesome posts in this thread, RyDogg. I'm with you 100%. And apart from points like yours, here's one additional. The way I look at it, strikeouts are simply a complete failure. In baseball, it is just the ultimate offensive breakdown. When the object of the game is to safely put the ball in play, you have to be happier with someone who does half the job -- puts the ball in play for an out -- than someone who can't even put the ball in play to begin with. Even if the outcome is worse (2 outs instead of 1), how can you not want to see contact made with the ball ending up in fair territory? How can you only care about the "outcome" rather than what our players are actually doing on the field? A double-play is a disappointment -- and possibly just a bad break if the ball is hit hard -- but a strikeout is a total failure from the batter's perspective. I guess I just don't want to see players on the Brewers go up and whiff. Yes, there has to be some strikeouts, but this many? I want them to take the stick in their hand and use it to knock the ball in play. To look like they know what they're doing. As hitters for my favorite team, it's what I want to see. I really don't even care what the sitation is ... bases loaded, bases empty, 0 outs, 2 outs. I don't like witnessing Brewer players go up to the plate and come away from the at bat contributing nothing. Obviously, if someone strikes out with a runner on first and less than two outs, I'm likely turn to someone and say, "At least it wasn't a DP". But I'm sortof fooling myself. I want to see the hitter go up there and HIT. Go up there and show the signs of talent and ability to smack the ball WHEN WE NEED IT. The mountain of K's in crucial situations today was painful and pathetic to watch. Not because it's an isolated incident, but because we seem to keep seeing it over and over again.

Fever said it all. I had a blast today and it was great meeting everyone. Jamie, thanks again.