crewcrazy

Brenly's always wishing Piniella would hit and run *more* and the guy does it too much as it is. He's too much of an "old school" kind of guy, and was a major beneficiary of having both Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson in their primes. People forget how his terrible managing almost cost the Diamondbacks that World Series against the Yankees -- there's no way that series should've gone 7 games. Macha had a nice run of success in Oakland, but I always wondered why Beane let him go. That whole situation where his contract wasn't renewed after missing the playoffs in '05 only to get hired again a week later and then fired again after the '06 season was just weird. I'm not a big fan of Showalter, either. Everywhere he's gone he's had some initial success, but he's always seemed to wear out his welcome within 2 or 3 years and seems to have a bad reputation among players in the league. Doesn't strike me as the kind of guy you want heading up your team if you're trying to bring in free agents (or persuading guys to stay past their arby years, for that matter). I'd prefer not hiring a guy we'd just end up firing after 2 or 3 years again. Out of that list, I guess Macha would be the best choice. The problem with trying to find a "big name" on the open market that's had success in the past is that it means digging through the trash and recycling guys who've been chased out of town elsewhere. Every manager seems to have some pretty big warts.

For me, I'm rooting for Philly by process of elimination. I can't stand the Red Sox hype. It's time to move on. I couldn't stand the 20,000 extra Rays "fans" that finally decided to show up once the ALDS started being able to celebrate a World Series. I think my head would explode if Ned Colletti was hailed as some genius of a GM for putting together this current Dodger team that needed Manny Ramirez going on an epic hotstreak to finish with 85 wins. I'm not prepared for the plethora of Bill Plaschke columns that would come out of such a thing. Consider the Phils the lesser of 4 evils, I guess. I've always kind of liked Utley, Ryan Howard seems like a good guy, and Cole Hamels is one of my favorite pitchers to watch when he's not mowing down the Brewers. They've largely built from within and the city hasn't seem a championship in forever. Let them win it.

How about Braun's go-ahead HR in St. Louis to finish off a sweep of the Cards? I figure the homer that started a million-page thread about the Brewers' cockiness deserves a mention in this thread. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif http://milwaukee.brewers....=200807243190806&c_id=mil

Oh god, I hope not. It would cost way too much money for a guy who really isn't that great.I agree on K-Rod. Let the Mets make him the highest-paid reliever ever with Wagner out for next year with Tommy John surgery, then wonder why he doesn't come close to this year's save total ever again. On the topic of Sabathia, it'd be one of the happiest days of my life if they actually did re-sign him without somehow crippling the franchise's finances. It's likely not going to happen, though, especially when you get big spenders like the Yankees and Dodgers involved. I fully expect Hank Steinbrenner to go nuts in free agency this winter after the Yankees missed the playoffs. I think what the Dodgers do depend on if they feel like keeping Manny Ramirez or not, because that's going to tie up a ton of money, too.

Might be a little early for some of these, because it could be that they just had a bad season this year: Reds SP Aaron Harang: $11M in '09, $12.5M in '10, $12.75M in '11 ($2M buyout). 6-17, 4.78 ERA, 35 HR allowed in 2008 -- it looks as though overuse may be catching up to him, and he's due a ton of cash over the next few years SP Bronson Arroyo: $9.5M in '09, $11M in '10, $11M club option in '11 ($2M buyout). 15-11, 4.77 ERA, 29 HR allowed in 2008 -- not a horrible pitcher by any means, but that's a lot of money to give to a guy who's pretty average and was 31 this year. I guess like Suppan, at least you're guaranteed 200ish innings. 2B Brandon Phillips: $4.75M in '09, $6.75M in '10, $11M in '11, $12M club option in '12 ($1M buyout) -- slugging was up, OBP was down this year and his AVG dropped by about 20 points after signing a fat extension. Kind of hard to tell if it was just a down year for him, or if the Reds are going to be stuck paying $11M for a .310 OBP in a few years. Still not bad offensive production from 2B by any means, but he's still going to be guaranteed a lot of money those last couple years. Angels I think it's fair to add Torii Hunter right now. He may not have been bad this year, but his salary breakdown is kinda ugly, and he has a full NTC: '09: $17.5M, '10: $18M, '11: $18M, '12: $18M Cardinals SP Chris Carpenter: $14M in '09, $14.5M in '10, $15M in '11, $15M club option in '12 -- for a guy who's pitched 21 innings combined the last two years. He's great when he's on the mound, but the Cards have been getting nothing for their money, and he's still dealing with nerve issues that might keep him out for parts of next season too. SP Kyle Lohse -- he had a good year this year, but the extension he signed is bound to bite them in the butt, isn't it? $7.125M in '09, $8.875M in '10, $11.875M in '11 and '12. For Kyle Lohse. The guy who couldn't find work until the end of Spring Training. Seems a little crazy to me, but maybe he's finally figured it out.

I'm terrified of the crowd booing at the first sign of trouble, much like how the Cubs fans acted in the first two games of their series. Hopefully those lucky enough to go to the game tonight realize that no matter what happens tonight, it was an incredible year that deserves to be remembered in a positive light. They were the biggest story in baseball for about a month following the Sabathia trade, Ben Sheets was the starting pitcher in the All-Star Game, they had an incredible August, they won 90 games, and they made the playoffs. It stinks to be down 0-2, but the Phillies turned out to be a bad match-up. Hopefully Bush pitches well tonight and we can at least get to see both of our home games played in this series. Anyone in baseball can win three straight games -- why not start tonight? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Just wait until Fukudome starts in next year's All-Star Game, too, when he's hitting like .240. At least the Brewers lost their first two in relatively close games. The Cubs are just getting dismantled to start this series (of course, Mark DeRosa and Derrek Lee doing their best Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder impersonations in the field tonight doesn't help). The Brewers have largely been beat by two big innings -- the Cubs are coughing up runs left and right, although it looks like Lou just gave up on the night when the Dodgers made it 6-0.

Here's to hoping Sabathia's rubber arm keeps on going and we don't get a repeat of what happened to him in last year's playoffs. At the very least he should slow down Howard and Utley. I won't be able to watch most of the game tonight, but hopefully I'll be pleased when I check the score on my phone throughout the night. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

All I'm asking for is no more extra-inning games. The bullpen has been getting a ton of work lately, and if the Brewers are going to rip my heart out, I prefer they do it at a reasonable hour.

Just my guess at what Piniella throws out there tonight: C - Blanco 1B - Lee 2B - Fontenot SS - Theriot 3B - Ramirez LF - Soriano CF - Edmonds RF - Fukudome Hill caught last night, and I'd expect Lou to continue resting Soto, maybe giving him a PH chance or something to keep him sharp. Lee and Ramirez back in just to get them some AB's, but they could be replaced later on by Hauffpauir and McGehee. Fontenot in at 2nd because DeRosa and Cedeno are down, Soriano back in left with Edmonds starting against the righty and Fukudome pretty much just providing defense in right. Not the lineup you'd see if we were playing them in the middle of a nor'easter, but at least there's a few seemingly easy (or at least easier) outs in there, especially once the subs start coming in.

SportsCenter's been confusing Powell for Uecker for years now. It's nothing new. I suppose if you never heard either or seldom hear them, you have a hard time picking out which is which, but come on...Uecker's home run call is pretty distinctive.

So many good desktop background possibilities here: http://assets.espn.go.com/media/apphoto/d3d936fc-b1f2-4988-9f27-e1d5da7dc71a.jpg http://assets.espn.go.com/media/apphoto/e239f9e4-400d-46d8-87ea-111bcbf33942.jpg http://assets.espn.go.com/media/apphoto/efca74dc-9e52-44d5-a644-e1c8203d6b6b.jpg Awesome, awesome win.

Hill made the stupid decision to leave his feet and lunge for a tag, and Church took advantage. The Mets would've thrown a hissy fit if he was called out, and if Piniella didn't make a big stink out of it, I'm not prepared to.

BRAUN! WALKOFF GRANNY! HOLY FREAKING MOTHER OF GOD! This team is sooooooo going to the playoffs. I don't care what anyone says.

Patience, Ryan. This guy can't throw strikes.

STETTER! Good thing that was a strike when it wasn't two pitches ago. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

I seriously doubt Piniella is insulting the integrity of the game. It was a getaway game, the conditions were horrible (if you want to be mad about something, be mad about the fact they never stopped the game despite the fact it was pouring from about the 7th inning on), and he's not going to risk injury to his best players when he still has the playoffs to worry about. Fredi Gonzalez doesn't have to worry about that because his team is eliminated from playoff contention. Piniella's first responsibility is to give the Cubs the best chance to win the playoffs, not bail out a Brewers team that spent most of September digging themselves into this hole.

Oh well...the Cubs splitting the series while playing most of their back-ups is more than we could've asked for. They at least gave us a fighting chance heading into that final series.

I miss the old Ryan Braun. Here's to hoping for another Prince walkoff next inning.

Top of the order due up for the Mets. I don't think we're getting the wildcard lead tonight, which kinda stinks. It would've been nice to head into the Cubs series with a one game lead...that would've given the Brewers the cushion to go 1-2 in the Cubs series and still realistically force Game 163 if the Mets won 2 of 3 against Florida. I guess the good news is that Florida's regulars are better than the Cubs' AAA team, and the Cubs' AAA team managed to split this series (assuming the Mets end up winning this game).

Hopefully 8th Inning Guy can get through this inning with the score still tied.

Because it was Geovany Soto behind the plate, and not Koyie Hill, who's a career minor leaguer. It's frustrating to see the Cubs blow this lead, sure, but if the Brewers had taken care of business earlier in September we wouldn't even have to worry about it.

Marmol's thrown like a million innings this year, so it makes sense that they wanted to rest him this series. Piniella has already said that he's not going to rest his players quite as much against the Brewers because he wants to make sure they'll still sharp heading into the NLDS.

No wonder the word "Howry" is interchangeable with "poop" on NSBB.

Hall with a leadoff single. Part of me wonders if Dale Sveum would use Braun to bunt him into scoring position for Fielder.