Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Congrats to Mike Cameron

For having SportsCenter's top play of June.

The list included a double eagle in golf, the great comeback by Texas in the CWS, LSU's Mikey Mahtook's diving catch in the CWS, Lucas Glover's birdie on 18 to win the US Open and the diving, last second save by Marc-Andre Fleury in the final game of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Monday, June 29, 2009

More reasons to love Casey McGehee

As though his legitimate candidacy for ROY, his crazy good BA, and the grand slam weren't enough, check out one of Tom H's twitters from tonight:

Haudricourt Watching McGehee scream into his helmet after grand slam was priceless. He was still upset about his error. Said he'll apologize to helmet.

Awesome. Love it.

I've always worn #14 and I loved that 3TO was #14, but Casey McGehee is quickly becoming my favorite #14 and favorite Brewer.

Sweet Mother of God this bad!

I'm in the middle of writing the post-game thread for Brew Crew Ball, so I'm not going to take the time to embed this, but you MUST click here and hear a song about Ryan Braun called "Going, Going, Braun."

If you've been to Miller Park lately, you've heard this song, which was apparently made just for Prince



And while I've thought that's a little hokey, the Braun song is absolutely atrocious.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Boring baseball game...

Means I've spent more time emailing with the Ladies... And following the Confederations Cup live blog than watch the Brewers .


-- Post From My iPhone

Us soccer

Keeping track of the game - can't believe I'm not watching this one live either. Can't wait to go home and see the DVR.


-- Post From My iPhone

Crap

Brewers ruin a perfectly beautiful tailgate with a crappy 2nd inning. They've totally ruined my buzz!


-- Post From My iPhone
Love that we decided to rock some MJ and everyone around us is jamming along!
Perfect day for a tailgate

Saturday, June 27, 2009

In all the excitement, we didnt notice that Macha PR for cc with the world speed renown speed of Jason "hes fast for a catcher" Kendall
And after all of that, Hoffman FTW!
cc on deck to PH for bill hall? its a miracle?!
Of course it worked.
Holy respect for McGehee - IBB in the bottom of the 8th.
Todd Coffey - not so good with the bunt so far
Second time this week Brewers pull the illegal no one in the on deck circle move.
Holy crap - a hr robbing catch by Cam!
Walks to Hart and Braun and back to back hr by Fielder and McGehee (with 2 outs) and weve got a tie ballgame.
Casey McGehee, stop hitting the ball to deep center - youd have two hr this series if youd pull the ball.
Closing the roof just before the 5th.
From my view, cant understand how Rivera got a double and the play wasnt scored as an error.
White Sox walk off the Cubs, 8-7!
My boyfriend is showing off with his new ipod touch while I type on my sad little non qwerty phone
And Braun, having gone with MJ yerterday and the Brewers winning, stuck with Smooth Crimimal.
After 2 + years of bringing Sally up and down, Hardy just batted to Chicken Fried bx Zac Brown Band.

Marquette players don't fare well in NBA draft

None of Marquette's big three were drafted, but all will be playing in the NBA Summer League, hoping to get noticed and make a squad:

James finds a team

Jun. 26, 2009

Dominic James just texted me and confirmed he will be playing for the Milwaukee Bucks' entry in the NBA Las Vegas Summer League next month.

Should be interesting to see him on the same team with Milwaukee's first-round draft choice Brandon Jennings.

UPDATE: Playing time might be tough to come by for James; I just read in our Bucks coverage that Salim Stoudamire will also be on the team -- a somewhat unusual move for a veteran. It's likely at the Bucks' behest, so they can get a closer look at him after he missed all of last season due to injury.

Here's a link to the complete schedule of games in Las Vegas.

Biggest game of interest for MU fans: Milwaukee vs. Sacramento, final game of the session on July 13.

James' former teammates Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews are expected to play for the Kings in Las Vegas.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Congratulations LSU Baseball, National Champions!


LSU kicked some major Texas ass tonight winning the third game of the series 11-4 and

Congrats, too, to Jared Mitchell, tournament MVP,
.348 (5-23) 2 HR 7 RBI, who also happens to now own a National Championship in football and baseball.

GEAUX TIGERS!

Dave Bush out at least 2-3 weeks

Placed on the 15-day DL retroactive to Sunday, an MRI revealed that Bush has a micro-tear in his right triceps. The tear is a result of getting struck by a Hanley Ramirez line drive at the beginning of June.

This is Bush’s first trip to the DL and the first time he’ll miss a start, which is a crazy streak and must kind of suck for him, though he did say that he’s relieved to know that something REALLY is wrong and it wasn’t all in his head that he wasn’t feeling ok.

Mike Burns is being recalled up from AAA Nashville and will make his first MLB start against the Twins with Thursday’s day game against the Twins. Burns pitched out of the Brewers bullpen in Florida, but was sent back to Nashville after the series.

Burns is 7-2 with a 2.56 ERA in 12 starts for Nashville. Thursday is actually his regular day to pitch, so he should be as comfortable as possible when starting that game. He last pitched for the Sounds on Saturday and though he gave up 10 hits, he ended up with just 1 earned run in 7 2/3 innings.

The Brewers will also have to find a pitcher for Saturday’s Giants game, as it has been declared the Manny Parra will not be recalled from the Sounds after just one start. The most obvious option seems to be Seth McClung, but Ken Macha and Doug Melvin have both been mum about who the new starter. The article I read on my phone had McClung saying he was told in Spring Training that he was “the sixth starter” and he seemed a little confused that there was even a discussion about whether or not to start him.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Twins score 7 runs and Mauer was 0-5. We're so screwed the rest of the series.
Pulling Hall for Counsell in the 9th? Too late, Macha, too late!
Really annoyed by the guy near us trash talking Suppan. He has sucked in the past, but tonight is not on him.
Bill Hall took 7 whole pitches to strikeout.
Boyfriend, after pitch 5, said "Good at bat!" sad
Dont wbnt to jinx it but CANNOT believe weve held Morneau and Mauer to one hit and an IBB. Morneau officially below 400
Tonights game sucks. Four runs so far that shouldnt have scored. Lone smile of the night? Cubs lost in the bottom of the ninth!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Rumor Mill: Favre's already signed with Vikings

Report: Rumor of Favre Signing with Vikings
By Nick Iannelli
WTMJ-TV and JSOnline.com
updated 1 hour, 11 minutes ago

Brett Favre has already signed with the Vikings and the team is waiting for the right time to release the information.

That's according to a report from profootballtalk.com that attributes the information to unnamed sources, including a member of the military serving in Afghanistan.

The report states the officer contacted the site to say that Minnesota already has signed Favre, and has also green-lighted the production of Reebok Vikings jerseys that bear the number 4.

Website officials say after getting this news, they contacted a reliable source who told them they couldn't confirm it, but also couldn't deny the reports.

The report is the latest rumor after Favre's appearance on the new HBO show "Joe Buck Live," in which he admitted working out with Vikings trainers and said "we" when referring to his dealings with the team.

According to the Pioneer Press, Favre's agent, Bus Cook, denied the report in an email.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Ridiculously pretty save for Stetter! his 11th straight out via K and first career save!
Stetter looking Hoffman-esque hiding under his brim all scruffy-like
From the who'd have thunk files - Hardy and Hall homer. If Kendall homers, Indians pitching should quit!
If Kid Craig gets that upset about a play, you know it must be a bad call!
Craig Counsell - newfound triples threat?
McGehee's hurt and Macha's hard up, ergo - Kendall's leading off!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

God damn, last night's game was fun!

I wrote all about the game for my Ladies…post yesterday, so I’ll direct you there for thoughts on Interleague and the incredible comeback that was last night’s win.

Can you imagine if you turned the game off when the Brewers were down 8-3? Or even if you survived that and the mini-comeback but then gave up hope when they went down five runs again at 12-7 and turned the TV off in disgust?

The bf’s birthday is tomorrow and we talked about going to Cleveland for this series for his birthday, but obviously ended up not making the trip. How mad am I right now? The plan was to go to Cleveland for two games and rent a car and head to Pittsburgh for a game because I really want to see a game in that stadium.

Oh well – we went to St. Louis instead, which was great. But it would have been awesome to see last night’s game in person!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Thank Goodness!

We no longer have to hear BA tell folks during FSN broadcasts that Prince has never hit a Grand Slam.

Also, Braun as 5 RBI and Prince said "Anything you can do, I can do better" and has 6 RBI, once again giving him the MLB lead with 62 RBI is 64 games played - unREAL!

Craig Counsell and Casey McGehee, in the one and two spots of the batting order, have been on base seven times and scored six times.

To give the Indians some credit, between the two teams' 3 and 4 hitters there were 17 RBI. That's nuts.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Please God let this help...

Parra struggles, ticketed for Triple-A

Starter lasts just 1 2/3 innings after six-run second

MILWAUKEE -- Manny Parra's fourth straight losing decision wasn't even official before the Brewers sent the struggling left-hander to the Minor Leagues.

General manager Doug Melvin entered the clubhouse at Miller Park in the fifth inning of Saturday's 7-1 loss to the White Sox and told the 26-year-old Parra that it was time for a break. Parra, who surrendered six hits without escaping the second inning, was optioned to Triple-A Nashville in favor of left-hander Chris Narveson, who will be in the bullpen for Sunday's Interleague series finale against the White Sox.


Moving the slumping Parra -- 3-8 this season and 0-4 with a 13.50 ERA in his last five starts -- made sense for the Brewers now because a pair of upcoming off-days eliminates the need for a fifth starter until June 28.

"It's just disappointing, more than anything," Parra said. "I know what kind of pitcher I am, and I haven't been pitching well at all. ... The numbers don't lie. I haven't pitched the way I'm capable of pitching."

On Saturday, Parra needed to be perfect against Chicago right-hander Jose Contreras (2-5), who worked eight scoreless innings for the second straight start since returning from his own Minor League stint. The Brewers managed just two hits off Contreras, neither of which left the infield.

With 44,100 fans in the stands at sold-out Miller Park and a national television audience watching, Parra faced the minimum three batters in a scoreless first inning, but couldn't get out of the second. He faced 10 batters in the inning, walking three of them and surrendering five hits, including two by first baseman Paul Konerko. After Konerko's two-run single made it 6-0, manager Ken Macha tapped the bullpen for reliever Chris Smith.

"I've been uncomfortable for the whole year," Parra said. "I haven't found something that's working for me. The consistency hasn't been there."

That was putting it mildly. Parra lost all four of his April starts with a 6.52 ERA, then went 3-0 over his next four starts with a 3.00 ERA. Since capping that streak with a win in St. Louis on May 17, Parra is 0-4 with a 13.50 ERA (32 earned runs in 21 1/3 innings), driving his ERA for the season to 7.52.

As Macha began to empty the bullpen over the game's final seven innings -- even Trevor Hoffman pitched for the first time in a week with the Brewers in a 7-0 hole -- it was clear to Melvin that the Brewers needed a fresh arm. He figured it was best to have his talk with Parra before reporters came calling after the game.

"[Parra] was not surprised [by the demotion]," Melvin said. "He expected it. His confidence level is pretty low. He said he doesn't feel confident throwing strikes with any one of his pitches."

Informing a player of a roster move in the middle of a game is not exactly standard operating procedure. In this case, with the team scheduled to leave town on Sunday night for a weeklong road trip and Macha and Parra both sure to get questions about the future, Melvin felt it was the right thing to do.

"I wanted to talk to Manny before he left the ballpark," Melvin said. "I didn't want him to deal with packing a suitcase tonight and then learning at 10 a.m. that he was going to Nashville. I told Manny he needed to go down and get his confidence back, that he won 10 games last year and there's still a long season left."

Asked what he would work on in Nashville, Parra responded with one word: "Command." He will be paired with Triple-A pitching coach Chris Bosio, a former Brewers right-hander who was formerly Lou Piniella's pitching coach in Tampa Bay.

"I think it's good just to be able to focus on the adjustments I have to make," Parra said. "It's tough to go out there and totally commit to an adjustment you're trying to make when you're trying to win a ballgame. You've got a whole team here that's working their butts off to try to win ballgames.

"I've dealt with adversity," Parra added. "I had [shoulder] surgery, so I've been through stuff before. It's not a big deal. I'll go down and work my butt off. That's one thing -- I have no regrets about the way I've worked between starts."

Melvin didn't have to look far for a comparison to lift Parra's spirits. He noted that the White Sox sent Contreras, at his request, to the Minors after a May 8 loss to the Rangers left the veteran right-hander with an 0-5 mark and an 8.19 ERA. The move apparently worked, because Contreras has worked 16 scoreless innings since his return while allowing only three hits.

"[Contreras] was bad for a whole month and a half before they sent him down," Melvin said.

The Brewers' hits off Contreras belonged to Corey Hart, who legged out a single to third base leading off the third inning, and Jason Kendall, who singled off the shortstop's glove in the eighth. Contreras walked two hitters in that inning to load the bases, but retired Craig Counsell on a popout to temporarily preserve the shutout.

The Brewers finally scored in the ninth inning against former Brewer Scott Linebrink, when Casey McGehee hit a pinch-hit single to center field.

"[There's] not a whole lot to talk about in that game, because they had a big lead," Macha said. "We had an opportunity in the eighth with the bases loaded, and we had some good at-bats in the ninth. Guys played hard for 27 outs."

The Brewers, who have lost five of their last six games, still hold first place in the National League Central. To clear a 40-man roster spot for Narveson, the team moved injured second baseman Rickie Weeks to the 60-day disabled list.

Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

If Corey reaches and Kendall bats, Im going to scream!
AND ITS NOT A SHUT OUT! WOO HOO!
Loudest the Brewers fans have been - and its singing to Bon Jovi. This game sucks!
Brewers load bases in 8th with 2 outs, lil cc pops out to 1st.
Promotions FAIL as the car drives the warning track assuming Ozzie was pulling the pitcher.
With the exception of Parra's 2nd, the Crew's pitching has been great - 2 hits, 9 K's, 1 run.
Sox pitcher Contreras had approx an ERA of 7 and he's got a complete game, 1 hit shutout into the 8th.
Saddest Trevor Time ever. Hoffman warming...
10 batters and 6 runs is too late to make the call to the bullpen, Ken

Friday, June 12, 2009

Saw this linked up on the Badger hockey Twitter last night and now I’ve seen if a few other places, but I think it’s pretty interesting that the Badgers have remained competitive year-in and year-out despite losing so much scoring every season.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

More on our draft picks

From Brewers.com

The Milwaukee Brewers selected Indiana University right-hander Eric Arnett with the 26th overall selection in the first-round of the First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday. Arnett, who just completed his junior season, was named the Big Ten co-Pitcher of the Year and a First Team All-Big Ten selection. He tied the school record for wins (12) and strikeouts (109), going 12-2 with a 2.50 ERA including six complete games and a .212 batting average against.


With two supplemental first-round picks, the Brewers selected outfielder Kentrail Davis from the University of Tennessee with the 39th overall selection and right-hander Kyle Heckathorn from Kennesaw State University with the 47th pick.

COMPENSATION SELECTION (39)
Name: Kentrail Davis
Position: Outfielder
School: U Tennessee
Ht./Wt.: 5'09"/195 lbs.
Bats/Throws: L/R

COMPENSATION SELECTION (47)
Name: Kyle Heckathorn
Position: Starting Pitcher
School: Kennesaw State
Ht./Wt.: 6'6"/240 lbs.
Bats/Throws: R/R

The Brewers had back-to-back selections in the second round and took outfielder Maxwell Walla from Albuquerque Academy in New Mexico with the 73rd pick, followed by catcher Cameron Garfield of Murrieta Valley (Calif.) High School. In the third round (105th overall), Milwaukee selected SS Joshua Prince from Tulane University.

ROUND TWO (73)
Name: Max Walla
Position: Outfield
School: Albuquerque Academy
Ht./Wt.: 5'11"/195 lbs.
Bats/Throws: L/L

ROUND TWO (74)
Name: Cameron Garfield
Position: Catcher
School: Murrieta Valley HS
Ht./Wt.: 6'1"/195 lbs.
Bats/Throws: R/R

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Former Badger Owen Daniels thinks the Texans are screwing him, Facebooks about it?

Deadspin has a screen grab of Owen Daniels Facebook status talking about how he's holding out from organized team activities since he's unhappy with the contract he's been offered.

According to the Houston Chronicle: Daniels, 26, who had participated in the first three weeks of OTAs, did not show up to the team’s voluntary workout Tuesday ... Daniels, a fourth-round pick in 2006, is a restricted free agent. He has yet to sign the one-year, $2.7 million tender he was offered.

SI says Brewers have had the best draft history over the past 10 years

This is a very cool breakdown on SI.com of each MLB team's draft history over the past 10 years. It's even cooler that the Brewers are ranked number one and are given props for being the prime example of how to build a club through the draft (thank you Jack Z!). I've posted the criteria they used and the first three teams:

We examined each pick for every team over the past 10 years, amounting to nearly 15,000 selections, in an effort to identify the teams that are the most successful at uncovering talent in the annual amateur entry draft. We then categorized them by how far those players have advanced in their careers, and used those relative degrees of success to determine each team's rank. Some of the most interesting findings are shown in the table below.

In addition to the current players selected over that time span, we also identify a number of other notable tidbits:

- The total number of picks each team made (including sandwich picks earned and lost in free agency).
- The total number of those picks that have reached the majors (whether with the team that drafted them or not).
- The best pick from players taken outside of the top two rounds.
- The player taken highest in the first round who never reached their potential.
- The best player who was drafted but never signed and then went on to stardom elsewhere.
- And finally, the player who was drafted and signed, but was then either traded, released or otherwise lost.
Milwaukee Brewers1Milwaukee Brewers
PicksMLBStealBustUnsignedTraded/Cut
489 29 Manny Parra
(42nd round, 2001)
Mike Jones Hunter Pence Dana Eveland

Current Key Players: Prince Fielder, Corey Hart, J.J. Hardy, Manny Parra, Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo (pictured)

Lowdown: The prime example of a good team built through the draft. Seven of Milwaukee's current top 10 in RBIs are homegrown, as is the ace of the rotation.

Boston Red Sox2Boston Red Sox
PicksMLBStealBustUnsignedTraded/Cut
502 37 Kevin Youkilis
(8th round, 2001)
Rick Asadoorian Pedro Alvarez Freddy Sanchez

Current Key Players: Youkilis, Jonathan Papelbon (pictured), Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, Manny Delcarmen

Lowdown: Boston's system is dripping with young stars (Youkilis, Pedroia, Papelbon) and a seemingly never-ending supply of live arms.

Philadelphia Phillies3Philadelphia Phillies
PicksMLBStealBustUnsignedTraded/Cut
479 29 Ryan Howard
(5th round, 2001)
Greg Golson Joe Saunders Michael Bourn

Current Key Players: Howard, Chase Utley (pictured), Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, J.A. Happ

Lowdown: Few teams can match the talent the Phils have cobbled together on draft day over the last 10 years, including MVPs of the NL (Howard) and World Series (Hamels).

Now pitching: IRISH COFFEY!
Hardy's been robbed twice by Hawpe.
MP scoreboard operator WAY behind tonight. Still has last inning's PH up instead of new P.
Colorado has 8 hits, 5 are doubles!
Coffey sprint time: 14.17
Happy with the short leash on Looper. 7K 0BB 1ER (so far) 6 IP
Brewers draft RHP Eric Arnett from Indiana University with our first pick, 26th overall.

On visiting Beloit and Appleton

Because of the double-header, it was late when we got home from our day in Appleton, so I didn’t really elaborate, but I want to say some things about the minor league games.

We went to the Border Battle the Timber Rattlers played at Miller Park and was pretty impressed with the level of play. I wasn’t sure what to expect of low-A ball and while you could see that the players didn’t have the range we were used to, the pitching was still solid and there were enough hits to keep it interesting. Rattler Brock Kjelgaard hit a home run at MP, which was pretty impressive at the time, but became more so when we were in Beloit and no one did better than a single. Of course, there were like 22 of them in that game.

In so many ways the experience at Appleton was better than in Beloit.

First things first, it was so much easier to access Appleton and the whole process was just more simple. When we decided to go to Beloit, it turned out I had to be in the city on Saturday morning, so I called on Friday to see if I could buy tickets that morning for the game on Memorial Day and they said yes. Of course, when I got there, I followed the signs to the parking lot and it turns out that’s nowhere near where I needed to be. I had to go out and around, through a neighborhood and finally found the front office, which was locked.

We did tailgate in Beloit, but we were the only ones, which we thought was weird on Memorial Day. The parking lot is off to the first base side-ish and you have to walk a little ways through a park to get over to the stadium.

The story goes that the Brewers left Beloit when they pushed for a new stadium and the city wouldn’t help with funding. That was five years ago and it’s not hard to see why the Crew wanted new facilities. It’s not as though it’s crumbling to pieces or anything, but it’s old and outdated.

The biggest thing for the players, I’d think, is that the dugouts are just concrete shells set on the field. If the stands and field are the inner circle, then the concourse is a middle circle and there’s a smaller building the curves behind home plate that’s the outer circle. This outer circle is where the offices and locker rooms are, so the teams have to walk through the fans and stands to get to and from the field.

The first few rows of seats behind home plate could best be described as fast food booster seats. They’re hard, molded plastic and kind of weird to sit in. The day we were there, it rained and those seats aren’t covered, so we shifted back to some bleachers underneath an overhang and were fine.

There is a small closet of a gift shop with an ATM that had a small selection of shirts and sweatshirts, but a pretty big full wall of hats, though I didn’t see anything Twins related. There appeared to be three concession stands, though we never went looking for the other two, which were presumably down the base lines. There was one stand directly behind home plate serving Miller products and your standard fare. The best part was that it was Monday, so small beers were $1.

Considering it was a holiday and the Brewers had a day home game, there were still more than a handful of people there, which was cool. There was a guy keeping tracking of strikeouts, hanging K’s on a railing and he had made his own shirt. There were plenty of autograph seekers.

The thing was, the game was kind of crap. There were errors galore and that was with the extreme generosity of the official scorer. There was single after single and just poor, poor fielding and decisions.

In Appleton, however, despite the wind blowing in, we saw about a half dozen doubles in the two games. We saw a successful suicide squeeze. The overall standard of play was just better, so I’m sure that helps in the overall impression of the experience, but the truth is that Appleton’s stadium is just so far above Beloit’s. I haven’t been to many minor league stadiums, so I’m not sure which team’s facilities are closer to what most teams play in, but I can see why teams lust after Fox Cities Stadium. It was as nice as the few AAA stadiums I’ve seen and I think that really says something.

Many families were tailgating as we pulled up a little more than an hour before the game. There was a giveaway to the first 1,000 folks, so we wanted to get in early and didn’t linger outside, but despite that and the drizzles and 50 degree weather, there were plenty of people grilling.

The weirdest quick we saw was the large amount of foul territory which was compounded by the bullpens right down the baselines. There were at least five outs recorded against the TimberRattlers with foul balls popped up into the bullpen area that would have been in the stands in other parks.

The selection of beers was awesome. Tons of sizes available as well as Miller Products, Leinie’s and I think one or two other micro brews. There were also some girly malted beverages and Jack Daniels mixers.

There was a huge selection of food, from your regular fare to Cousin’s subs to pizza to veggie trays from the local grocery store. There was also tons of extras like cheese fries in a Rattlers mini helmet, bags of potato chips, tons of candy choices and ice cream.

The souvenir shop was bigger than the one behind home plate on the Terrace level at Miller Park and offered Brewers and Rattlers gear galore, some throwback Appleton gear as well as hats from some of the other teams in the league. They also had the equipment for adding names and numbers or personalization to pretty much anything they sold, which was inexpensive and I’m sure a hit with children.

The worst thing fan-wise was that Associated Bank hands out a little voucher when you walk in promising you a free gift and the table is set up directly behind home plate and right as you walk into the stadium. Everyone stands in line for this and blocks pretty much the entire entrance as well as the only concourse, so if you’re walking from first base to third, you’re meeting a mob in the area behind home plate.

Either way, both games were good times and you can’t beat the prices. I think we spent $7 a ticket to sit in the front row behind home plate in Beloit. The boyfriend bought me a package for Appleton for Christmas where we got four vouchers and a hat, so I’m not sure what he paid, but walking up we were still able to sit one row behind their dugout and I think the prices were about $8 a ticket.

Additionally, Sundays are Brewers-themed days where they wear Brewers themed jerseys and after the game they all come out and sign autographs, so it couldn’t have been easier to get top Brewers’ prospect Brett Lawrie’s autograph on the days’ Lawrie baseball giveaway.

Monday, June 08, 2009

Random Facts about Rockies....

Likely starting right fielder Seth Smith was Eli Manning's back up at Ole Miss, which is a little odd to begin with, but Todd Helton was Peyton’s backup at Tennessee.

Keep voting for Brewers All-Stars!

Raul Ibanez overtook Ryan Braun in All-Star voting in this week’s polls. Ibanez has 1,415,493 votes and Braun has 1,269,033.

Most people out there have more than one email address, so make sure you use each of your 25 votes per address to vote for the Brewers.

If you’re going to a game between now and June 14, take some time and punch afew paper ballots and turn them in right there at the stadium.

J.J. Hardy is holding still in third place for shortstops with 662, 474 votes. Jimmy Rollins leads with 936,377 votes and Hanley Ramirez has 871,917.

Keep voting!

Sunday, June 07, 2009

TimberRattlers and Snappers pictures


Never uploaded my pictures from the game in Beloit on Memorial Day, so here's those, but pictures from today's doubleheader in Appleton between the same two teams.



Beloit in Camo jerseys on Memorial Day. Plus for using the green numbers and hats and digitized camo, but they're still pretty ugly.














Brett Lawrie at bat.














Time Warner Field at Fox Cities Stadium is much prettier than Beloit's field.













Former Brewer Ken Sanders threw out the first pitch.





















The game that was rained out last night was supposed to be Star Wars themed, so we got those jerseys in today's first game. Here's Fang with his own cape and lightsaber.









The opposing team's batters were depicted as Storm Troopers.


















Lawrie again.















Second game's starting pitcher Ephrain Nieves warming up.



















Lawrie warming up. Dig the Brewers themed jerseys.












One more shot of Lawrie batting.

I almost missed it again

With the MoBlogging, I decided to let it go a few extra as those one sentence posts hardly count, but last week, this blog hit 1500 posts! Thanks for sticking with me, folks!
Got our Brett Lawrie SGA baseballs signed. Good end to a good cold day!
TRats lose 4-1.
P Ephrain Nieves getting shelled. 7 hits 3 runs no outs in the 3rd.
Weve now seen the TRats' Corey Kemp play DH, 1B and catcher.
Two doubles riding the 3rd base line and the TRats take a 1-0 lead in the first.
Was lamenting the loss of double headers so today is great - too bad its 40 degrees.
No excuse for Kendall not bunting with a man on first no out down by one in the ninth.
TRats win first game 2-1.
Surprise! Today's game is actually a double-header!
TRats in odd turqoise Star Wars themed jerseys today.
Rumor has it that Braun's brother was signed by the TRats and will be here today.
It's June 7 and were in Appleton for a TRats game and I have on a winter coat, gloves and a blanket! Awesome!

Friday, June 05, 2009

What to do with Manny

According to this Brewers.com article, Ken Macha has said that he hasn't even thought about sending Manny Parra down to triple-A Nashville to try and right the ship.

And while I can appreciate Macha supporting Parra, isn't part of his job to have at least thought about that option? I mean, I understand considering it and dismissing it, but this.... I don't know, isn't it kind of the manager's jon to think of these things?

Parra's further down the Derrick Turnbow Path to Becoming a Certified Headcase than any of us would have anticipated or wanted and something has to be done to keep him from worrying so much about the baserunners.

You'll remember earlier in the season when I yelled at Seth McClung for putzing around with guys on second base and he seems to have figured that out, so let's see if Parra can figure it.
In the same article it says that there seems to be some disagreement about Parra's delivery - "Macha believes that Parra's problems begin with runners on base. The manager would like to see Parra employ a slide-step to help limit the running game and conceded there is a difference of opinion on that point. Parra prefers to lift his front leg in his delivery to the plate."

I'm torn on this - these guys are such creatures of habit and I'm pretty loathe to advocate major changes in the middle of a season. That being said, I feel like if your manager is telling you to do something different and you're struggling as hard as Manny is, you don't really have a choice.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Miller Park Etiquette

Warning, mini-rant ahead:

I’ll admit to being crotchety at times at Miller Park. I’m not “you kids get off my lawn,” but I do expect to be able to see the game I paid to see. I don’t think this is too much to ask. I admit to being grumpy on occasion and there are times when my patience is a little thin, but for the most part, I think I’m pretty accepting.

But I also think that your enjoyment of the game shouldn’t infringe on mine.

I think if you’re bringing children to the game, you also have to be willing to entertain them or bring along things that will keep them occupied. When you’re sitting in the second to last row of Terrace Reserved, your 6-year-old daughter is not going to sit still for three hours. But just because you didn’t bring her a coloring book doesn’t mean that I should have to be unable to see the entire home plate area as she stands/dances/plays on her chair while you’re blissfully ignorant 10 seats away, drinking a beer and watching the game.

At the end of last season at the Ryan Braun grand-slam game, a young girl was behind me with her dad and he was continually yelling at her to sit down and be still and I felt so bad for her. He clearly wanted to be at the game and couldn’t find anyone else to watch her. He didn’t bring her anything to occupy her and he got impatient with her any time she tried to talk to him. That poor girl. A parent would never think of leaving their child unoccupied for three hours at home, so I’m not sure why they’d do it at the stadium – especially when they’re so far from the field. You child can’t even see the game, much less understand what’s going on. Next time, spring for better seats or spend the kids ticket money on a babysitter for three hours.

I also think that just because you think you’re entertaining means that I should have you screaming literally in my ear for three hours. I’m talking to you, guy in 422 row 18 on Sunday.

Yes, you are quite clever with your Corey Hart sunglasses comments, but I doubt he can hear you from the upper deck.

Puns with Micah Owings’ last name are indeed witty, but lose their luster after the third or fourth try.

When people don’t laugh the first time around, don’t take that as encouragement to make the same joke a few more times.

Telling your mentally disabled brother to put his glove out every time a foul ball was hit, though they were both 20 sections away and two sections lower than us, is both cruel and infinitely annoying.

The headache I had by the second inning was reason enough to move seats, but the three off-color racial remarks were kind of the last straw for me. We moved to lower in the section about the fourth inning and enjoyed the rest of the game peacefully. But that shouldn’t have been necessary.

I’m not sure what it is about the turnstiles at Miller Park that transform regular people into inconsiderate jags, but sometimes it really irks me. How can people be so oblivious to the fact that that they aren’t the only people there? You’re literally with 42,000 people – you even play a game on the Jumbotron to guess how many people are sitting there with you – and you don’t realize that standing up to wave to your friend for an inning and a half is blocking the view of everyone behind you?

The obliviousness shocks me sometimes and it scares me that these are the people that will be in cars near me on my ride home. If you can stand in the exit of the section while 1,000 or so people push past you, jostle you and generally have to work to get around you while you, blissfully ignorant, carry on a conversation about JJ Hardy’s hotness, what happens when you’re insulated in your car, on your cell phone?

Thankfully, the Brewers announced a new text program where you can text your seat location and ushers will come and make sure everyone is behaving. Trust me, I’ll be having this number on speed dial.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Hallelujiah!

Julio released; Burns summoned

By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel Jun. 2, 2009 10:30 a.m.

Miami - Jorge Julio pitched his way off the Brewers' roster by failing to retire a batter Monday night.

The Brewers have released Julio and called up journeyman reliever Mike Burns from Class AAA Nashville. Burns, 30, was pitching well for the Sounds, going 6-2 with a 2.98 ERA in 10 starts, including a shutout.

Julio failed to retire any of the six batters he faced Monday night against Florida, paving the way for a five-run rally in the sixth inning that gave the Marlins a 7-4 victory. Julio walked a batter, hit two batters, allowed two hits and the other reached on an error.

Julio, who was signed to a one-year, $950,000 deal, had trouble throwing strikes throughout the season. In 15 appearances, he had a 7.79 ERA, with 15 hits, 15 walks and four hit batters in 17 1/3 innings.

Burns has pitched in the majors for Houston, Cincinnati and Boston. In 45 relief appearances, he has a 5.88 ERA with 69 hits and 12 walks allowed in 52 innings, with 36 strikeouts.

I'm guessing the Brewers like the fact that Burns throws strikes, something Julio had trouble doing. Burns was starting for Nashville but he'll move into a middle-relief role with the Brewers.

The Brewers found themselves in a relief crisis of sorts Monday night because of an overworked bullpen that had to cover five innings Saturday, 3 2/3 innings Sunday and four innings Monday. Mark DiFelice is unavailable with an ailing elbow and manager Ken Macha needed Julio to get through the sixth inning with a 4-2 lead but couldn't retire a batter.

The Brewers must not have thought DiFelice's elbow injury was serious or they would have placed him on the DL. Macha gave some foreshadowing of Julio's release after the game when he said a team is made up of 25 players and each one has to contribute.

Julio had four scoreless outings entering Monday but other than that had contributed little this season. Still, based on his comments after the game, I doubt he saw his release coming. The Brewers were his eighth team, however, so this isn't the first time he was told to pack his bags.

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Ok, this is great, but it also said that Burns gave up 69 hits in 45 relief appearences.