Fatter than Joey

I'm assuming if the Brewers want him, they won't lose him. Nope -- Looper can option out, which is looking like a likely course of action.

But in the end, even though Yost wasn't allowed to finish season as manager, his was somewhat vindicated by the post season birth. Yost got fired in an unprecedented manner last year. I would say that a lot more people than the fans panicked and overreacted if a manager gets fired 150 games into the season. At least stand up and yell something back -- get in his face a little bit just to stand your ground. Parra just sat down on the bench, and when they showed a closeup of him, it looked like he was about to cry. I seem to recall getting into a fight with Prince Fielder, my strategy was to wait until he opened his mouth, and then I punched him in the mouth -- then he would raise both of his hands to cover his mouth, and his pants would fall down, and then I would punch him in the belly while he was reaching down to pull up his pants, and then his pants would fall again, and I would punch him again in the stomach, and after about 6 or 7 times punching him in the stomach when his pants fell down, he would go down for the count -- I don't see why Manny Parra couldn't have employed this strategy.

By the way -- I would like to nominate "The One Man Italian Brew Crew" -- I think he is awesome.

I have a hard time getting behind a person for the Fan HoF that is paid to be at the game, or profits by being there. I disagree -- I think we all know a Brewers employee (usher, trainer, front office guy, vendor, etc. ) that performs his/her duties way beyond what they are getting paid. While I can understand they may not be "fans" -- I wouldn't disqualify a person that gives to the Brewers and the gameday experience just because they get paid for it. Maybe a staff/stadium HOF or wing? I'm just sort of hesitant to launch the feature with just two fans. I suppose The Maniac might be worth inclusion, though. You use terms like "hesitant", "suppose" and "though" -- which does not smack of HOF caliber inductees -- I get the impression you aren't real sold on the candidates -- which is fine. If you "suppose" you could let someone in, your HOF is meaningless. I would also challenge the idea of having many entries -- in fact I think the right thing to do, is make one guy the initial inductee and let that one guy enjoy 1 year (or whatever the election period is) as the sole enshrinee of the HOF. It should be obvious that the guy is Baseball Bob. If he missed one game in 1990 for divorce proceedings (which was probably a better experience than anything at the stadium in 2002) I think that is an absolutely astounding accomplishment. A lot of our fans know it's a lot harder to be a Brewer fan, especially given the ups (all two of them) and downs of our franchise -- but this guy has weathered a lot of storms. The Happy Youngster has always come off like a knob to me, and I can't believe you would consider him in the same class as Baseball Bob. I love The Doorman, but frankly I wouldn't recognize him if it weren't for his HOF collection of jerseys -- which is nothing short of amazing. I think WAY too much emphasis is being put on people who have been in the right spot at the right time, or have unique seats, that have given them a presence on TV, when in reality they are just another guy at the park, and not people who have stuck with the team through thick and thin for long periods of time. I think you need to dig a little deeper as well -- Maybe you could have the radio or newspaper encourage people to get in touch with you regarding people that they may know that are epic fans but are too old to get on the interwebs, or not profoundly placed on TV. I bet that there are some really great stories out there waiting to be told.

Thanks for the help!

Hey dudes -- I am looking to buy a GPS device so I quit getting lost --using the force doesn't work as I would have hoped.... I see they range from about $100-$300... Any features I "need" to have -- anything I don't "need"? Brands, model suggestions? Thanks in advance....

I am glad that Nelson has finally the chance to get some non-Sept. ABs. He may end up ultimately sucking -- but I guess I'd like to see what he could do in some spot starts and PHing for Kendall and some pitchers.

To be fair to Kendall 2 of those 8 were bad calls, he should be at 3 caught and 7 SB. Fair enough -- although, I suspect some bad calls are part of every catcher's data. I don't think it was just some fluke. He was throwing perfect strikes almost every time last year. Yeah, he sure did a good job last year, I just think he had a lot more easier chances than a lot of catchers generally get. He had a very bad 2007, and I think teams made him prove he could throw runners out, once he did, they quit running on him.... I think he will be around 20% or so.

Kendall's defense at C is clearly valuable I don't believe that it really is that valuable... Last year he had an insane CS%, which was awesome, but I think that was due to coaches sending more fat guys to run on him, because he was easy to steal on in 2007. This year he has only thrown out only 1 out of 8 guys, which I think is a % closer to his skill level than the the 42% he had last year. I don't think he is a horrible defensive catcher at all -- but I am not sure that he is even average defensively compared to the guys who start 130 games. but is it more valuable than the upgrade Rivera could provide with the bat? I seriously think Parra and Yo should bat higher than Kendall in the lineup. I was looking at Kendall's hit chart, and it basically is a big red blotch between 3b and SS. Counsell has a much nicer looking hit chart. I don't think this is a ultimately going to be a question of whether Rivera should get more time -- if things don't turn around, I think Kendall is going to have a tough time justifying his roster spot. I have a hard time being optimistic about Kendall with the bat as well. I am not sure how much you can count on luck to bail you out when all you can do is ground the ball to the 3b/ss almost every time you have a PA.... One other interesting note -- Kendall has BBd 4 times this year -- which has kept his OPS over .400 - however 2 of those BBs were IBBs, presumably to get to the pitcher (I think that Yo HR was one such case), so I really don't feel Kendall has an ability to get on base (like Weeks does) other than batting 8th.

The Dukes stuff in the article sounds pretty one-sided. That was my interpretation as well... Not many people can stroll into work late, and then expect to get off the hook because they were doing "charity work". I was impressed that Dukes is seeming to try to get his personal life on track.

I don't think you can tell if a pitcher has it after 1 PA and I don't think that's a viable way to manage a pen, anyway. I don't think Macha said "DiFelice doesn't have it today" -- My guess is he made some sort of decree in the locker room, that if you come into a game and give up a walk on 4 straight pitches -- out you come. Given the problems the Brewers have had with BBs, I have to think that walking a guy on 4 straight pitches to load the bases is the current cardinal sin for the Brewers right about now. If you look at the matchups, I can certainly understand Macha not wanting Stetter to face Wright. I am not so clear why Coffey facing Delgado is better than DiFelice facing him, or Swindle for that matter. That said, he's never been anything special in the majors, so I think some people might be setting themselves up for disappointment. I agree with your concerns Russ. I feel like he could be more effective than McClung and Julio, and he might have a good season this year, but I am not to the point where I want to see him long-term.

I think for many, Macha will get credit for lots of questionable moves by the sheer fact of not being Yost. I don't think this is fair -- I think the board considers leaving Suppan in the game to bat as a bad move that worked out well. Frankly, I think everyone was just happy we won this game, we aren't going to get too critical. Yost was a bad manager that should have been fired long before he did.

If he makes 30 starts and pitches close to what he is now 6.5 million would be a bargain. Agreed -- now, he can option out as well. If he makes 30 solid starts, he can opt out and tell the Brewers to pound sand. -- If I understand things correctly.

My question is, if he was only going to let DeFelice pitch to one batter I don't think that was the plan -- he threw 4 straight balls and got the hook -- that is my guess

So if he starts 30 games this year we'd be paying him $13.5 million?! No. As I understand it -- once he starts game #19, he gets a check for $750K Once he starts game 30, his $6M option for 2010 becomes $6.5M So the most he makes in 2009 is $4.75 + .75 = $5.5M

I love the outcome but leaving Coffey in there didn't really seem like some brilliant strategic move. I think I would have pinch hit for him, even if it was just to attempt a sacrifice. Agreed -- I don't think there was a whole lot of brilliance in it -- I think the only available arms were Villy, Julio, McClung and Swindle... I am guessing Swindle is viewed as a LOOGY, Villy pitched 2IP yesterday, and Julio is Julio, McClung is McClung. I do think Yost would have let DiFelice and Stetter pitch a lot longer, and I seriously doubt he would have let Coffey pitch the 9th regardless if he came up to bat or not. Yost seemed to be a lot more hard-wired by inning breaks than Macha may be. Julio hasn't pitched in awhile -- my guess is Macha has 0 faith in him, and he is going to jettisoned once Hoffman comes back. McClung could have pitched today as well -- my guess is that both those guys (who have BB'd someone in each of their appearances) are running out of leash. Did you know Julio's middle name is "Dandys"? Weird.

Regardless of the reasoning, it's something that never would have happened under the previous regime. Good stuff, and a nice victory today. Agreed, Yost sucks. I'm just saying it seems like Macha doesn't have a lot of faith in his pen -- not that he should. That being said, the overwhelming majority of credit needs to go to Todd Coffey. That and some lucky DP's

Yaay.... that's a good way to head into Philly.

I just like that the sacrifice bunt resulted in a run, while leaving our best relief pitcher in the game. Oh, I agree -- I just think the move was made out of fear of the BP, rather than genius.

Macha looks like a genius right now for leaving Coffey in there. I don't know about that -- I think Macha is sending a message to the BP

I can admit to doing that... and hadn't realized I did it enough to carry it as a label. Much too frequently you go to the OMG well young jedi, Mmmmm /yoda sample size be damned. I would like to use the mighty roller coaster as an illustration. http://www.funonthenet.in/images/stories/forwards/Roller-Coaster/roller-coaster-2.jpg Now, any segment of track of a roller coaster can be considered a small sample of the overall experience -- yet you clearly see different reactions to said sample. Perhaps the young lady in the front is overreacting, or perhaps she has a better grip on the principles of roller coaster construction than the morons in the back, and realizes that due to shoddy assembly they are all about to go hurtling to their deaths through the stock pavilion. At the end of the day, or roller coaster crash, all these people are riding the same wagon, and paid the same ticket price. I took moofnelson's thread as simply a frustrated cry for some kind of positive juju, so I posted what I did... note that 'OMG' is nowhere to be found, and furthermore I think I took him very seriously. I think you did well in this thread -- I think others were referring to past transgressions... I think your point was valid, we still have Prince and Braun and Yo, and those guys should be able to get us on track hopefully. If the tradeoff for pointing out the absurdity of negative overreactions is to get called the OMG guy, I guess that's that. Dude, you are too well-rounded of a poster, and top-shelf quality of a guy, to anchor yourself with being the board OMG guy. A board probably only needs one OMG guy, and frankly Ennder does a much better job of being the condescending OMG guy than you. Please rethink this. Once you start down the OMG path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will. -- Yoda

I was one of those who said "don't worry" last year, and now this year I think there's at least a 50% chance that they won't reach .500 until 0-0 in 2010. Just a quick math note, 0-0 is not .500 http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Otherwise, a great, great post. We aren't likely to get the same boost we got last year from CC -- that's a great point.

I can't really blame the loss on McClung. There was that pointless intentional walk, and Hardy was not having an on night with his fielding. Obviously the walk didn't hurt or help McClung -- except for avoiding Church -- and the Brewers got what they needed -- 2 weak groundballs, which were just perfectly located, especially Castillo's "opposite field" dribbler. That said, McClung has walked at least one batter in each of his appearances this year. I thought Coffey looked very good, he seems to be one of the few Brewers that isn't insistent on walking a lot of players.

You forgot Jeff Suppan and Jason Kendall...

Not only does my 13-year-old have Seth McClung's heater So, that's where it went.... She should give jeff Suppan his back as well, as he seems to need it.