Raw Biz

Umm what the hell just happened there Weeks? Almost a guy on third with a ball to the 2B.

He was safe. Ump blew the call. He tagged him after Weeks had already touched the plate.

Which means it will end next month. I read that WWE is shortening feuds because they think the attention span of the average fan now is a lot shorter. I think that's stupid. One of my favorite feuds was Sting v. the nWo where Sting went an entire YEAR without saying a word or wrestling in a match. I still think Cena/Punk should've lasted at least another month or two. But HHH/Punk could be solid if they keep Nash out of it.

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Yeah this has been discussed. Basically anything would be better than having to go to Philly to start the 1st round.

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Took a look at it... after last night, the Brewers are 22-31 against teams with a winning record. 63-30 against teams with a losing record. Not sure what's more alarming, their record against good teams or the sheer number of games they've played against bad ones.I always wonder when I hear stats like this...are these numbers referring to the opponent's record when the game was played or their record now?I think if you used the record when they played, it would be very misleading. For example, the Astros could win 2 out of their first 3 and be considered above .500 when they play their second series and conversely, the Phillies could lose 2 out of 3 and be considered under .500. So it's best to use the current record, as you get the biggest sample size possible.

The Brewers also played the Astros, Cubs, Pirates, Mets, and Dodgers. That huge stretch is very misleading. They didn't even play very good ball in a lot of those games. People are getting worried because we are now playing, and losing to, good teams.

How many more interleague series would be added for each team? If there's only a couple more throughout the season, I don't think it would be that big of a deal. The NL teams will be at a disadvantage in AL parks because they won't have a true DH but the AL will also be at a disadvantage in the NL because they won't be able to use their 3/4/5 hitter (where most DHs hit).

Drafted in 91 before Bando took over.

Why can't they just keep it the way it is with DH in AL parks and no DH in NL? I don't know what interleague play everyday has to do with it.

I think the reason people want him to play SS is not because he would be good (or even average) but that he would be better than our current SS, who is arguably the worst in all of baseball. Not to mention the upgrade he would bring offensively (at least in OBP, which this team needs).

Matt Morris in 92 and Kip Wells in 95 are the only ones that stick out to me.

I just wanted to re-post what I wrote before: As has been pointed out, the Brewers record is a little misleading. I don't have the exact numbers but I believe since the all-star break or whenever they started that run, they are only 5-7 or so against teams above .500. They are something like 27-5 against teams under .500. Obviously you have to beat the bad teams but you also have to beat some of the good teams. Managing mistakes probably don't matter as much against the lesser teams but against the good ones, you can't afford them. So I think you need to put your best team on the field against the good teams and make the best in-game decisions, regardless of whether it's something that has worked in the past (i.e. squeeze). I will admit that Roenicke has started to put a better team out there (starting Green) but there are still some improvements that could be made (Yuni and McGehee should be dropped in the order). Monty isn't saying this just because they lost to the Phillies Howard, Utley, and Rollins were all not playing. Yes it was Narveson pitching but the offense did nothing. But the offense has struggled for awhile now. During that big stretch, the pitching carried the team, not the offense. When you play the Astros, Cubs, etc., you can be carried by great pitching and not much offense. But when you play the good teams (like they will in the playoffs), the offense will need to step it up. And to do so, Green should be in the lineup and Yuni should be replaced with Hairston (once Weeks comes back). I'm also getting tired of all this surpassing projection stuff. They are on pace to surpass it by what, 2 or 3 games? To me that isn't big enough to say something like they're maximizing talent. If it was something like 10-15 games over their projection, then maybe I could see it. But these projections are exactly that: projections. There's some leeway, they aren't exact. Just because they've won a few more games than projected doesn't mean we should be attributing that to Roenicke or something.

http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l638/rawbecht/yunibunt.jpg This picture is from May 1st. Notice how Yuni's right hand is wrapped completely around the bat, rather than just using the fingertips. Notice too how far the barrel is below the handle of the bat. Proper bunting technique says to keep the barrel above the handle so as to not pop up the bunt. Even Schroeder points that out in broadcasts. Finally, notice how bad of a position his legs are in. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a sac or for a hit but either way, you want to bend your knees when you bunt, especially if the pitch is low. And if this was supposed to be a sac (I doubt Yuni would try to bunt for a hit), he should have squared up a little more. http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l638/rawbecht/yunibunt2.jpg?t=1315520398This is from a couple of days before the Cardinal's game. Notice again how the right hand is wrapped completely around the bat. The barrel is only slightly below the handle here but the technique is still all wrong. http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l638/rawbecht/yunibunt3.jpgFrom his days in Seattle. At least his knees are slightly bent here.

http://disciplesofuecker.com/the-wheel-play-sinks-milwaukee/ This article sums up my feelings on that play. It also seems like everyone but backupcatchers can tell Yuni is a terrible bunter. If you see a guy square around more than once in 1 AB with his entire hand wrapped around the bat, that's probably all you need to tell that his bunting mechanics are terrible. Plus, Roenicke even said Counsell was a better bunter but didn't want to use him because he didn't want Green to have to bat in a big situation (even though he used Counsell as a pinch runner anyway). And we haven't even mentioned in this whole thing that a slow runner was on 2nd (Prince), meaning the bunt had to be even more perfect.

Not sure if this is true at all but to me, it seems like all pitchers have been throwing McGehee away this year and he's just trying to pull everything. Last year he used to go to the opposite field a lot (and with power) but that doesn't really seem to be the case this year. Because of that, I think it's a mechanical/mental issue. But even if he does fix it, I still think his best days are behind him and he would be best used next year as a platoon-mate with Green/Gamel at 3B/1B (assuming he gets his stroke against lefties back).

I agree. I'm not sure what people want, the Brewers do have the 4th best record in baseball, so I guess I'll take an incompetent manager all the time. Roenicke didn't become a big league manager by some stroke of luck and by being an idiot as some would believe. People can say all they want about not putting the team in the best position to win but there isn't really any proof that he isn't putting them in the best position to win, is there? At this point in the season if you're going to make some changes on the field you better make sure that those changes result in an improvement of the bottom line..Wins. Even if statistically and talent wise they should improve the team, if the team doesn't play better as a whole because of those changes I think Roenicke would face some criticism from the team. I'm O.K. with taking some time integrating Green into the lineup. I'm also just fine with the way Roenicke uses bunting, base running, etc. Perhaps they've built something of an identity with Roenicke's style of play. As has been pointed out, the Brewers record is a little misleading. I don't have the exact numbers but I believe since the all-star break or whenever they started that run, they are only 5-7 or so against teams above .500. They are something like 27-5 against teams under .500. Obviously you have to beat the bad teams but you also have to beat some of the good teams. Managing mistakes probably don't matter as much against the lesser teams but against the good ones, you can't afford them. So I think you need to put your best team on the field against the good teams and make the best in-game decisions, regardless of whether it's something that has worked in the past (i.e. squeeze). I will admit that Roenicke has started to put a better team out there (starting Green) but there are still some improvements that could be made (Yuni and McGehee should be dropped in the order).

Obviously everything that happens in BP is an assumption because none of us are there. So you can quit with the "assumption" in every sentence. Explain to me though what reason Yuni would have to show good technique in bunts in BP (i.e. not wrapping your entire hand around the bat, keeping the barrel above the handle, etc.) and then use bad technique in a game (wrapping hand around the bat, bunting pitches above the starting level of the barrel, not keeping the bat at consistent incline, etc). I don't think there is a reason that he would do so, therefore I don't think it is a big assumption (there's that magic word) that Yuni would show the same technique in BP that he used in games. Like I said, I obviously don't know what Roenicke has seen. But I do know that most major league managers have seen their players take BP at some point during the season. And if (notice I said "if", just like I did in my post earlier) Roenicke has seen him bunt, chances are Yuni's in-game technique is no different than his BP technique, so Roenicke SHOULD know that in a situation where you need a perfect bunt (i.e. runners on 1st and 2nd, no outs, corner's crashing), Yuni is not the guy and should just swing away (since he usually makes contact, the chances increase that he would find a hole).

You are really overcomplicating things here. First, people still think it was bad to bunt in the first place, especially with Yuni. But, if you are going to bunt there, you have to call it off once you see the corners crashing in. Even if they don't crash in and Yuni swings away, they would be doing exactly what most here thought was the right call anyway. Second, pitchers do the slash play all the time. I'm sure the corners were crashing once they saw Yuni square. So have him square around and then pull back and swing away (if you want to go that route). Personally, I would've just had him swing away from the beginning. If they crash, it opens more holes, if they don't, no big deal. Finally, why is it a large assumption to think that the manager has watched one of his players take BP at least this season? Why would a player bunt one way (the correct way) in BP and then just decide to use some awful technique in an actual game? No I didn't start with presumption that Ron is stupid. I was thinking that Roenicke has seen Yuni bunt before and figured he could at least put the ball in play (which he did). Unfortunately, Yuni needed to do more than put it in play. He needed to put it in the perfect spot. So my presumption is that Roenicke doesn't switch strategies once he decides on what he wants to do (and regardless of the situation).

Even if you think bunting is a good move there, you have to adjust based on what your opponent is doing as well as what your player is good at. One thing Yuni is actually decent at is making contact with the ball, so just tell him to swing away on a slash play if the infield crashes in (again), and it's going to be a lot easier for any ball in play to find a hole.This is what I was trying to say. Even if you think bunting is the right call at the beginning of the AB, once you see them crashing in like that, you call the bunt off. As for the Yuni technique thing, I personally haven't seen him bunt before but Roenicke probably has in batting practice (assuming most players square around a couple of times before swinging away). So I was assuming that Roenicke has seen him before and that Yuni used the same technique during BP that he showed during that game. So yes, if Roenicke saw that technique out of Yuni in BP, he should know that he is going to be a terrible bunter, at least in that situation where the bunt needed to be perfect.

But then HHH steps down as COO, which again, would be getting rid of a good angle prematurely. Although now that HHH is wrestling (he said when he took over that he wouldn't get involved in matches), I guess it would be pointless to keep him in that capacity. Overall, Creative has definitely dropped the ball since MITB/SummerSlam. They probably think they are doing Punk a favor by using him against "legends" like Nash/HHH but now he's just playing third fiddle. I could eventually see a Nash/HHH feud which would just be awful.

I wouldn't put it past Carpenter to drill Prince here since the Brewers wouldn't get a shot at retaliation this season. Nevermind.

Now I can see why the Pirates and Nationals got rid of Morgan. Yeah he can be fun and exciting but that was completely unnecessary and stupid. edit: Morgan didn't need to be chirping at Carpenter but there was no reason for Pujols to come running across the diamond.

Why can't we be disappointed? Why did they only have to win 1? Winning one gets them closer to clinching but it didn't clinch for sure. St. Louis could still come back, however unlikely that might be. We can always be disappointed when we have defensive miscues and lose in a pitcher's duel.