crewcrazy

A Red Sox player hitting for the cycle might just make ESPN's headquarters explode. "BREAKING NEWS --- Dustin Pedroia, Greatest Secondbaseman in History of Baseball, hits for cycle in Tampa -- tune into in-depth coverage on SportsCenter, followed by 2-hour special edition of Baseball Tonight!"

The City of Seattle is letting Sonics owner Clay Bennett pay $75 million to get out of his lease with Key Arena, allowing him to move the franchise to Oklahoma City. The "Sonics" name and the Green-and-Gold color scheme will be staying in Seattle -- the team will have a new name in OKC. Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3471503 Not only does this really suck for the city of Seattle, but it sets a dangerous precedent. I'm scared to think about what will happen with the Bucks once Herb Kohl sells the team -- anyone could conceivably buy the team, buy their way out of the lease with the Bradley Center, and move the team just as easily, couldn't they? Could we lose the Bucks to Seattle as payback for stealing their Pilots?

Jeff Cirillo is pretty much openly pleading with the Brewers to let him replace Bill Hall at third with these batting demos on Brewers Live, isn't he? It's been fun to watch, but there's a hint of "please let me play again" in his voice. He did admit to Jim Powell on the radio prior to the Twins series that he has been calling around the league to see if anyone has any interest...

Obligatory with every McClung start: http://tampaspartans.athleticsite.com/images/sethmcclung.jpg I thought Owings was supposed to pitch tonight for the Snakes -- did he get scratched from the start? Either way, I hope we get Fake Seth McClung tonight and not the Real Seth McClung that showed up in Minnesota (please no walks and keep the ball down). Edit: Sitting Braun for a day definitely makes sense, considering how bad he's been lately. Here's a breakdown of how the Brewers have been hitting the past week...lots of guys struggling: No. Player P GP GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG TB SLG 11 Mike Rivera C 2 2 7 1 3 2 0 0 3 .429 5 .714 7 J.J. Hardy SS 5 5 22 6 9 3 0 3 6 .409 21 .955 18 Jason Kendall C 5 5 17 1 6 0 0 0 1 .353 6 .353 1 Corey C. Hart RF 6 6 24 5 8 3 0 2 5 .333 17 .708 23 Rickie Weeks 2B 5 5 21 3 5 2 1 0 1 .238 9 .429 33 Gabe Kapler CF 3 1 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 .200 1 .200 25 Mike Cameron CF 6 5 16 2 3 1 0 0 0 .188 4 .250 8 Ryan J. Braun LF 6 6 28 1 5 2 0 0 1 .179 7 .250 14 Russell Branyan 3B 5 4 13 1 2 0 0 1 1 .154 5 .385 27 Joe Dillon 3B 2 2 8 2 1 0 0 1 2 .125 4 .500 28 Prince Fielder 1B 5 5 19 2 2 0 0 0 1 .105 2 .105 2 Bill Hall 3B 5 4 16 0 1 1 0 0 2 .063 2 .125 31 Dave Bush SP 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 37 Jeff Suppan SP 2 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 30 Craig Counsell 3B 3 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 6 6 206 24 46 14 1 7 24 .223 83 .403

Here's to hoping Vintage Pedro shows up for the Mets, and Vintage Pineiro does the same. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

I don't think the problem is not tacking on runs -- I think the problem is giving up so many runs that no lead is safe. No one complains about not tacking on runs if they win 7-1 last night instead of 8-6, in my opinion.

Oh God, I remember Julio Santana and Ricky Bottalico. Gotta love JDLR's 2.03 WHIP there, too. Tom H was just on ESPNEWS' "Pre-Game" show that goes around the Majors and previews each match-up. The host talked about how the Brewers have the 3rd best record in the NL, but unfortunately the two teams with better records are also in their division. Tom H says that the team isn't too down about that, because they have a ton of games against the Cards and Cubs left, so they think they're still in control of their own destiny. He added that the team feels that the key is that they're still in the hunt at this point. The host mentioned that the Brewers have the best record in baseball since May 20, and brought up the idea of possibly adding C.C. Sabathia. Tom H said that the Brewers won't mention any possible trade targets by name, but he believes they'll try to add a "pitcher of note" to replace the loss of Yovani Gallardo. The host asked who other targets could be if they don't go after Sabathia, and brought up the name of Greg Maddux. Tom H said that he believes Maddux would be a fit because of his brother being the pitching coach and Ned Yost being close to him from his days in Atlanta. He said the Brewers could also benefit from adding a guy who's been around the playoffs as much as Maddux has. Added that the price tag for acquiring Maddux would obviously be lower than that of Sabathia, but no one really knows what the Padres are asking for. It was a short little interview, but it was nice to see ESPN giving the Brewers credit for their recent hot streak. It seems like Buster Olney has repeated "THE BREWERS ARE CONTENDERS IN THE SABATHIA SWEEPSTAKES" enough times to get the higher-ups to finally pay attention.

http://i.timeinc.net/recipes/i/recipes/ck/04/07/sausage-soup-ck-682961-l.jpg vs. http://www.juneauempire.com/Images/042298/unit.jpg Please don't suck tonight, Suppan. Edit: After seeing that lineup, I'm surprised Ned didn't find a way to get Seth McClung in there. His arm would be pretty good in right field, and he had two hits against Johnson last time!

3 @ Arizona - 2-1 (2-1) 3 vs. Pittsburgh - 2-1 (4-2) 4 vs. Colorado - 3-1 (7-3) 3 vs. Cincinnati - 1-2 (8-5) [i always have a bad feeling when it comes to series against the Reds...probably an irrational fear that this series will turn out the worst before the break] ASG 3 @ San Francisco - 1-2 (9-7) 4 @ St. Louis - 2-2 (11-9) [Also afraid this series could turn into another nightmare] 3 vs. Houston - 2-1 (13-10) 4 vs. Chicago - 2-2 (15-12) 15-12, assuming the team stands as-is and there are no big additions before the trade deadline. If they get a certain Hefty Lefty by the St. Louis series, I could see them getting a couple more wins, maybe going 17-10 (not that making such a move would automatically guarantee two more wins, but I think a move like that could breathe some much-needed life by the end of the month when players are starting to wear down).

These threads are bound to happen when the Brewers don't play until 8:30 PM Central time. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif We can only vote for Braun so much with fake e-mail addresses until we get bored.

dont forget too, he HATES puppies. A friend told me that one of his friend's brothers works in the Brewers clubhouse and they said that Corey Hart sprinkles crushed puppies on his salad before every game. True story.

Only someone as arrogant as Corey Hart would wear his sunglasses at night, and it really shows that he has no interest in being a leader for his team. Why hasn't he gone on another 22-game hit streak like he did last year? It must be all his new tattoos -- that's the only thing that's changed from last year.

Pitchers and managers do more to lose games than they do to win them, in my opinion. It's a lot easier to get a loss than it is a win when you're a pitcher -- if you give up 8 earned in 5 innings, you're probably going to end up with a loss; on the other hand, if you give up 1 or 2 earned in 7 innings, you could also lose if your team isn't scoring any runs. W/L records are easy to look at, but to me, it's like crediting NFL quarterbacks with W/L records (I actually saw a network trying to do that when talking about Tom Brady) -- there are just too many other factors to take the records as complete truth. If you get enough of a sample size, though, I think it can be used as one of the tools to decide how well a pitcher pitched (Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux pitched well enough in their careers to get 350+ wins, they're obviously good pitchers, but there are other numbers you can use as well).

I'm going to spend the entirety of the Brewers' game tonight voting. I'd do it now, but it's too nice of a day outside to sit inside all afternoon voting. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

I agree with this -- it's hard to fault the Twins (or the A's for that matter) with always losing early in the playoffs when they're sure to draw the Red Sox or Yankees whenever they make the playoffs. It's not like the Twins haven't won any playoff series since they won the World Series in the early 90's, either -- they were in the ALCS in 2002, and the only time they were swept in those division series was two years ago against Oakland (and 2 of those 3 losses could've gone either way).

I really hate losing day games. I'm grumpy the rest of the day. Go White Sox and Royals, I guess. With the shutout today, the Brewers' run differential drops back below 0. They're at -2 now, the Twins are at +9. I'm really hoping for a repeat of that Arizona series at the beginning of the month...that was fun.

How are the Twins a team that the Brewers were "supposed" to beat? They're a 1.5 games out of first place in their division and came into the series with a 9 game winning streak. All things considered, I'd say the Brewers and Twins are two teams that are very similar -- hardly a team that the Brewers should just assume victory against. It's been a disappointing series for sure, but the Brewers are still in pretty good shape as far as this road trip goes. 3-3 heading into Arizona's a bit better than a lot of us were expecting for this trip. Maybe so that the Brewers trip has been 3-3 so far, and under most circumstances that's pretty good, but I don't look at it like that. I look at it from the perspective that 2 of those losses they failed to capitalize on Cubs losses, and possibly a 3rd, pending tonight's outcome. To me it's when you lose them. That's the frustrating part to me. Hard to catch the Cubs if you don't take advantage of your opportunities when they are presented. Is there a worse team in baseball at failing to capitalize in those types of situations then the Brewers?? The Cardinals have been failing to capitalize on Cubs losses for the past month or so -- they haven't been able to get closer than 3 games back for awhile now. The Diamondbacks have been trying to give away the NL West for the better part of a month, and the Dodgers still can't get over .500 to take over the division lead. I agree that it's frustrating, but there's stretches like this for every team. The Brewers sure were capitalizing on their last homestand by sweeping Toronto when the Cubs were being swept by the Rays. Even if the Brewers go 5-5 on the road trip, they get 10 games at home before the All-Star break against some pretty bad teams. If memory serves me correctly, the Cubs have 7 more road games after tonight, so the Brewers will have at least one series at home while the Cubs are still on the road. There'll be plenty of chances to trim that lead down, and really, I'm more concerned with catching the Cards for the 2nd best record in the NL right now. Any ground they gain on the Cubs is gravy.

Jeez...tough luck play for Corey. Nice effort, though. I think Bill Hall could take a lesson or two there.

How are the Twins a team that the Brewers were "supposed" to beat? They're a 1.5 games out of first place in their division and came into the series with a 9 game winning streak. All things considered, I'd say the Brewers and Twins are two teams that are very similar -- hardly a team that the Brewers should just assume victory against. It's been a disappointing series for sure, but the Brewers are still in pretty good shape as far as this road trip goes. 3-3 heading into Arizona's a bit better than a lot of us were expecting for this trip.

That's what happens when Ben starts getting too careful when he realizes he's not going to get any run support. I have no idea how Delmon Young hits the Brewers so well...that wasn't even a bad pitch to Young.

Slowey really has the Brewers' number, between this game and the 8 inning, 2 ER game he pitched a couple weeks ago at Miller. The guy just doesn't walk anyone...he had 46 K's and 9 walks coming into today's game. Crazy. While the Brewers don't really walk a lot, they do tend to go deep into counts -- they can't do that today, and everyone looks extremely uncomfortable because of that.

Way to half-ass that one, Hall. Hopefully Slowey starts making some mistakes soon, but the Brewers always seem to struggle against sinkerballers with good control...one of the reasons I'm not exactly looking forward to playing in Arizona.

Brewers win! 4.5 behind the Cubs...looks like the Cards are going to win tonight, though. Take the series with Sheets on the mound tomorrow and head out to Arizona. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

A 1-2-3 inning was exactly what Riske needed after a couple rough outings since coming back.

Parra was over 100 pitches to start the inning, has a history of injuries, and the Brewers are supposedly trying to keep his innings down. It worked out this time, though -- he was fortunate enough to get a quick inning. Nice sliding catch by Cameron....that's why he's worth every penny, IMO.