Hang with 'em Brewers!

Getting Some Closure: It hurt a lot because I cared a lot

2011-11-24T14:28:00.002-06:00

I was cleaning the house today and felt saddened when I came across the chair in our office where I had tossed my stuff after returning from Milwaukee and the NLDS. After the final loss to the Cardinals, I cried. Tears streamed down my face when it became obvious there would be no comeback. I cried on the drive to work the next morning and then later in my office. I blamed my appearance on allergies. For those who knew better, I just said that it hurt a lot because I cared a lot. There was no way that I could put my feelings into words at that time. So I didn't.

Playoff relics. And quite possibly the last time I'll see Prince as a Brewer.

So what's changed? I decided that I needed some closure. It became obvious to me that I could not fully engage in the college basketball season until I said goodbye to the 2011 Milwaukee Brewers. So, goodbye, Central Division champs. Goodbye, beast moders. Goodbye, Prince Fielder, K-Rod and Craig Counsell. (Sadly I cannot say goodbye to Yuni yet.) 2012 Milwaukee Brewers, you're just a few months away. I can only hope you make me as happy as the 2011 Brewers did.

This is what I wanted to do after the Cardinals World Series victory.

The National League Division Series

2011-10-09T22:48:00.000-05:00

I know that this is late--really, really late--but I can explain. I was in Milwaukee for Games 1 and 2 and didn't get back to my house until 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning. I was back at work at 8 a.m. and then had to decide whether I was going to take a promotion that may require me to move to San Diego. And then I worked many, many hours to get a big deal closed. Before I knew it, it was Friday and time for Game 5. Most of the time, I work my life around baseball. This week, I had to work baseball around my life.

My view for Game 1.

Great view of home plate, right?

Not so good view of center field and right field, though.

My sister, Alice, won the ticket lottery and gave the rights to me. I went for the best available seats for Game 1. And these were it. Bernie's Terrace. Admittedly, we could not see right field or center field but we had a great view of Braun's strike to the plate to help get Gallardo out of a first inning mess. I was able to see around Bernie's slide enough to see Fielder's ball fly out of the park.

My view for Game 2.

The sun was blinding for an inning or two.

And the smoke from the fireworks did not help.

While tailgating before Game 1, we decided that we needed to go to Game 2. I had to promise my sister, Megan, that she could sleep the entire way home and that I would drive. We purchased some tickets from Stub Hub in Section 122. We were just to the foul side of the left field foul pole and in the row in front of Friday's. I cannot understate just how difficult it was to see with the bright sun and the smoke from the fireworks.

My view for parts of Game 5.

After the Diamondbacks got runners on in the top of the eighth inning and then again the top of the ninth inning, I could not watch. I paced around the kitchen, but mostly, I stood in the bathroom with my hands over my face. I'm not sure why I put my hands over my face since I could not see the game from the bathroom. Any time that I heard the crowd get even louder, I'd yell at Seth to tell me what happened. After Arizona tied the game up in the ninth inning, I returned to the couch, where I stayed until the tenth inning. Once Carlos Gomez reached second base, I felt pretty positive that either Nyjer Morgan or Braun would drive him in. I knew it wouldn't take much to score Gomez. In fact, all that I could think of was that he would score on a overthrow or something crazy like that. Instead, Morgan "tickled" one up the middle, Gomez scored the winning run, and the Brewers advanced to the National League Championship Series.

I started to run around the house like a crazy lady. I threw up the T. I jumped up and down until my pants nearly fell off.

Man, what a series!

This blog post was supposed to be called 'Fielder's Choice' but instead I'm calling it 'I love Prince Fielder'

2011-09-27T23:53:00.000-05:00

(h/t Chris Gliedman for Fielder's Choice)

There is a part of me that knows he will be gone after this year. Knows it. There is no scenario that keeps Prince in Milwaukee and makes sense.

Yet there is a part of me that thinks there's a chance that he'll stay. The Yankees don't need him. The Red Sox don't need him. Albert Pujols will be a free agent. HE LOVES US. HE LOVES PLAYING IN MILWAUKEE. There had to be a moment in that clinching celebration when he was bear hugging the crowd that he thought, This is it. This is home. Right?

Even the Pirates pitching staff showered Prince with love on Tuesday night at Miller Park. And it was a good thing, too, because the Brewers needed all three of his home runs to take down the Pirates. Home run number one came in the bottom of the third inning with Milwaukee trailing 0-1. Prince blasted a letter high fastball out to right field. Rickie Weeks followed with a mammoth shot that gave the Crew its first lead of the night, 2-1. After the Pirates had taken back the lead in the top of the fifth inning, Prince snatched it right back with a two-run blast to center field.

The Pirates tied the game at four in the sixth inning but Fielder untied it for good in the seventh with another two-run shot after Ryan Braun had walked to start the inning. After that, the Brewers cruised to their 95th win of the season.

After the game, there was a lot of talk of Fielder "willing the team to win." If by willing you mean went out and won the game, I'd agree. I love Prince Fielder.

Brewers 6, Pirates 4
Game played 9-27-11

El MVsuPer

2011-09-27T07:55:00.000-05:00

I'm going to lobby hard for this one: Ryan Braun for NL MVP.

.334/.398/.601
33 HR, 31 SB
And that really killer home run on Friday night.

At the beginning of September, Bill Simmons wrote a story about MVPs, explaining the history of the award and the fact that it is named the most VALUABLE player vs. most OUTSTANDING player award. Give it to Braun and be done with it. No one has been more valuable.

Now I have to run off and try to get my playoff tickets via the lottery. I'll report back.

Clinching is a hell of a lot better than clenching

2011-09-24T16:21:00.000-05:00

The Brewers clinched the NL Central division title last night. Whooooooooo!!! Let me say that again. The Brewers are the 2011 NL Central Division Champs.

I've been struggling all day to put my thoughts and feelings into words. Obviously, I'm happy and excited. One of the reasons that I am just now getting to writing this all down (3 pm on Saturday) is that I've spent hours reading the accounts of last night's game--watching video of the game, looking at photos, reading other's posts about the game. It's awesome. Every last word, photo and video that I've watched has been beyond wonderful. I think I've watched Ryan Braun's home run about 25 times today. I cannot put into words what this season has meant to me. So flipping awesome!!

But there's a part of me that just feels relieved. Exhausted and relieved. I have lived and breathed Brewers baseball for 157 games. Heck, I even went to spring training. It's a long season and I've watched nearly every game in its entirety. (Thank you, Tivo.) The ones that I haven't watched, I've listened to on the radio or followed on Gameday. I expected the Brewers to be good from the minute that they traded for Zack Greinke. I expected them to win the division. And, as you all know, there's a different feeling that comes from rooting for an underdog vs. rooting for a team that is expected to win. So, today feels good. Like I can finally exhale. Like I can finally put that Brewers decal on my car window without jinxing the team. Like I can stop worrying that comparing the Pittsburgh Pirates to a giant cream puff (as I did in a previous blog post) would somehow lead to the Pirates knocking the Brewers out of the playoffs in the last three games of the season.

Mixed in with my happiness and relief are feelings of nostalgia. All those clips of Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper, Gorman Thomas and Rollie Fingers really get to me. I was nine years old in 1982 and my earliest baseball memories are of the Brewers in that post-season. I remember watching the World Series with my Mom. When the Brewers won the Wild Card in 2008 on the last day of the season, I was watching the deciding game with my Mom. I was home for my Grandmother's birthday party. My Grandmother would pass away not so long after this but I will always remember celebrating my Grandmother and celebrating Ryan Braun's home run on that day.

Last night, as I was watching the game with Seth, my brother, Nick, and his wife, Karen, we spent a great deal of time laughing about the confusion between clenching and clinching. So Karen shared a story with us. Karen was speaking to her mother, while her mother was driving. At one point, her mom got upset with another driver. "Someone just swerved in front of me," she told Karen. "I just hate it when people drive erotically around me."

You might say that I'm all over the place with my feelings about the Brewers. You might even say that my feelings are eroitc. At least I know the difference between clinching and clenching. Clinching is what the Brewers did last night. Whoooo!

Brewers 4, Marlins 1
Game played 9-23-11

El Super

2011-09-19T22:24:00.000-05:00

Coming into this past weekend's series at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, the Brewers offense was struggling. After winning the opener against St. Louis, 4-1, Milwaukee scored a total of nine runs in the next five games and dropped all of them. Things got only slightly better for the Brewers' bats in a 3-2 win against the Phillies and a 2-1 victory against the Rockies (mostly because the pitching was better, not that the offense exploded). In the finale against the Rockies, the Brewers lost 2-6. That's a total of 20 runs in nine games against St. Louis, Philadelphia and Colorado.

Against this backdrop, the Brewers went into Cincinnati and clobbered the Reds pitching. And for being so generous, the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff earns this week's El Super. In sweeping the Reds, Milwaukee put up 6, 10 and 8 runs, respectively. In Friday night's victory, Milwaukee got just seven hits but five of those hits were home runs. Thank you, Bronson Arroyo. The Brewers pounded out 10 runs on 11 hits with two home runs (6 for 15 RISP) on Saturday. Thank you, Edinson Volquez. On Sunday, against last minute starter Matt Maloney, Milwaukee collected 12 hits (3 home runs, 3 for 7 RISP). Thanks for the back spasms, Dontrelle Willis.

And after watching Milwaukee struggle again on Monday--against the likes of Casey Coleman--the Reds pitching is looking mighty El Super.

A Battle to the End

2011-09-13T23:57:00.000-05:00

If I were a regular sports writer, writing a regular game summary, I'd probably start out with something along the lines of: It's not how you start the game, it's how you finish it. OR, Ryan Braun may have gotten only one hit on Tuesday night, but he made that one hit count. OR, simply, Fuck yes.

OK. Maybe not that last one, although it seems like the most original. Braun had a tough night at the plate until he led off in the eleventh inning of a 1-1 ball game. Braun got ahead 3-0 in the count, took one strike and then fouled off five pitches. He took the tenth pitch from Matt Lindstrom over the left-center field wall for the walk-off win.

Telly: Ryan, you always said that you live for those types of moments. How did you know exactly when you had it?

Braun: You know, I knew I hit it pretty good off the bat so ahhh first ten innings for me were terrible--probably my worst baseball game of the year so it's nice to be able to help the team out. Big win for us. And you know, we just continue to battle, continue to fight. We didn't play a very good game overall today but we found a way to win.

Telly: You mentioned your first previous at-bats and you weren't able to get a hit but when you're in that situation do you even think about hitting a home run or ending the game?

Braun: No, I mean Linstrom has too good of stuff to worry about hitting a home run, you know. I just hoped to get the bat on the barrel or the ball on the barrel and just compete every at bat. The first two at-bats weren't good but you try to move on. You continue to compete and I think good teams, good players respond to adversity and tonight, definitely playing with adversity.

Telly: It has to feel good to get the win after such a grinder. Both teams, one run, 1-1 the entire game and you were able to deliver the clutch hit.

Braun: Ya, it's a crazy game sometimes. We didn't play very good baseball today yet somehow we found a way to win and that's what good teams do so come out tomorrow and try to do the same thing.

A superstar like Braun is usually pretty adept at staying on point in the post game interview and tonight was no different. There are a whole bunch of cliches in that interview. Then again, sometimes teams do play poorly and yet they find a way to win. Sometimes they grind or scuffle or whatever but they hang in there and battle. And sometimes that leads to victory.

Brewers 2, Rockies 1
Game played 9-13-11

El Super

2011-09-12T22:53:00.000-05:00

It seems incredible but there are only three more Mondays left in the regular season. Only three more El Supers .... and maybe some post season El Super Supers. With a Cardinals loss on Monday night, the Brewers magic number now stands at nine.

This week's El Super winner is Yovani Gallardo. Gallardo started two games and posted a 1-1 record. The win came Sunday against the Phillies and helped to end a five game team losing streak. In the two games, Yo posted a 3.46 ERA, giving up five runs over 13 innings, while striking out 17. Even though four of the seven hits Gallardo gave up were home runs, he did face two of the better offenses in the league (Cardinals and Phillies). At the plate he went 2-for-5 with a double.

I got your back, T. Plush

2011-09-07T23:47:00.000-05:00

F--- you, pussy.

You could read his lips. That's exactly what Nyjer Morgan said to Chris Carpenter after he struck out in the ninth inning of Wednesday's game. According to Morgan, Carpenter said something to him first. And after Morgan continued the conversation as he walked up the third base line and toward the dugout, Albert Pujols started jogging (or maybe that's his sprinting speed?) toward Morgan. And then things escalated.

Although I wish that Morgan would have just let it go, he did succinctly sum up my feelings about the Cardinals. Middle finger to you, inferior beer town.

I don't like playing the Cardinals. It isn't fun. Sure, some of it is that the Cardinals are good and it's never super fun to lose. But that isn't really what makes playing the Cardinals like getting a root canal. No, what makes a game against the Cardinals a joyless experience for me is that they have the unique ability to make me (as a fan of the Brewers) feel like crap even when the Brewers win.

According to the St. Louis Cardinals, they've never lost a game because the other team was better. It's only outside factors, like umpires, shadows, sign stealing, ribbon banners, scoreboards, wind, untucked shirts, pitching inside to Pujols, etc... that have led to their losses against Milwaukee. And even on the rare occasions where the Cardinals grudgingly concede a victory, then Milwaukee doesn't win with class. Do not even get me started on Tony LaRussa.

St. Louis, if your goal was to get into the Brewers heads, you've failed. The Crew still leads the division (and you!) by 8.5 games.

But you got into mine. And that pisses me off. You sucked all of the fun out of baseball so I'm glad to be done with you for the season. So while T. Plush may have thrown a few swears (and chew) your way, I can't really blame him for calling you names. Fun suckers.

El Super Call-Up

2011-09-06T07:42:00.000-05:00

"I guess you can't give this award to Ryan Braun every week." --Seth

This week's El Super goes to recent call-up, Taylor Green. After being added to the big league roster, Green patiently waited his turn to see some action. He rewarded the Brewers by collecting a hit in each of his first three at-bats. In a pinch-hit role on Friday night, he helped to turn a 0-2 deficit against the Astros into a 3-2 lead when his two-out single sparked a rally. Ron Roenicke rewarded him with a start on Saturday and another on Monday against the Cardinals. Since being called up from Triple A Nashville, Green has had 12 at-bats and collected hits in half of them. His slash line is pretty at .500/.550/.750.

El Super 1A goes to the Grecian Sensation, George Kottaras, who used one of his rare non-Randy Wolf starts on Saturday night to hit for the cycle. He was the first player in MLB to do so this year. For this statistical anomaly, George earns an El Super.

You can lead a horse to water and you can make him drink but you can't shove a straw up his ass to make him swallow

2011-08-30T23:52:00.000-05:00

Following Tuesday night's game against the St. Louis Cardinals, I found myself flipping between channels trying to think about anything other than baseball. There is nothing wrong with losing (once in a great while) but losses like tonight's tend to haunt me for a bit so I try to watch something that has no chance of reminding me of what just happened on the diamond.

Tonight, I stopped on Spike TV to investigate a show called Repo Games. Holy crap. Where do I even begin? The segment of the show that I happened upon had the "host" of the show trying to get the owner of a truck to come to the door so that he can ask him some trivia questions in hopes of having said host pay off the truck and not repo it. (Apparently this is what happens in each segment.) In this particular episode, the owner didn't want to come forward because he thought that the host (and the camera crew) was the police.

In response to the truck owner not coming forward to answer trivia questions, the host (whose name is Josh Lewis) said the following: You can lead a horse to water and you can make him drink but you can't shove a straw up his ass to make him swallow.

Sage advice.

Then the audience was switched to co-host, Tom DeTone, who informed us that he is about to repossess a 2005 Ford Taurus. The car owner's daughter then pulls up and blocks the tow truck's exit. After a brief negotiation, the mother and daughter team agreed to answer trivia questions in order to save the Taurus. After getting two right and two wrong, it all came down to one final trivia question.

What trees found in the Sequoia National Park are the biggest in the World? Suspense builds. Will she keep her car? Or will it be towed away? The Taurus owner comes up with a Sequoia and maintains possession of her Taurus. Whewwwww. How does this show happen?

In tonight's game, the Brewers were getting all the trivia right until the top of the fifth inning. In that fateful inning, Prince Fielder booted a ground ball hit by Skip Schumaker to lead off the inning. This was immediately followed by Rafael Furcal hitting one to Jerry Hairston that he booted. Runners on first and second, no outs. Yadier Molina followed with a single. Bases loaded with no outs. Shaun Marcum then gave up a two-strike hit to the pitcher to score a run. The fact that Milwaukee got out of that mess only giving up one more run was a minor miracle. Still, two errors to start the inning ... haunting.

Yet, the Brewers had plenty of chances to get their Taurus off the tow truck and couldn't do it. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Corey Hart hit a lead off double that narrowly missed clearing the fence. Then Nyjer Morgan followed suit. Braun got Morgan to third on a ground out but Prince stuck out and Casey lined out. In the ninth inning, Prince and Casey walked to start the inning. But Betancourt had a straw up his ass and didn't drink ... or something ... because he bunted one off of his hand that led to a force out a third base. And Mark Kotsay was nothing like a Sequoia as he grounded into a double play to end the game.

Repo Games is bad. Tonight's game was bad.

Cardinals 2, Brewers 1
Game played 8-30-11

El Studly

2011-08-30T07:49:00.000-05:00

Ryan Braun had a helluva week and being such a stud has earned him this week's El Super. In five games, Braun collected nine hits in 16 AB and five walks. Of those nine hits, six were doubles. His slash line goes something like this: .563/.667/.938. Yep, his OPS is 1.604. He also stole four bases. I suppose it was a little disappointing that he did not hit a home run but I can live with that.

Our runner up is Corey Hart who got hot and put up a .500/.565/.950 line with one double, one triple and two home runs. My hope is that Corey goes off like this in the playoffs--if and when the Brewers make the playoffs. Please, please, please make the playoffs.

No rompe su clavicula otra vez!

2011-08-29T23:09:00.003-05:00

Surprising but true fact: It's more difficult to write about a good team than a bad one. Don't get me wrong; this season has been awesome but sometimes it's difficult to know what to write. Sadly, it is easier to criticise than celebrate. So, as the Brewers collect Ws and rack up a huge lead in the NL Central, the blog grows silent. Is this what it's like to be a Yankees fan? What do you mean we're only winning the wild card this year? Sigh.

In an effort to combat this, I traveled to Appleton over the weekend to scout Carlos Gomez's rehab starts. There are no limits to the lengths that I will go for my readers. Or maybe I was already going to be in Appleton for a Timber Rattlers game and it just so happened that Carlos showed up to bat leadoff and play center field.

The thing that always strikes me about Gomez is that he is way bigger in real life than the picture I have of him in my head. So, every time I see him at the start of the season or when I haven't seen him in a while, I am always surprised that he's a solid dude.

I wanted Carlos to feel at home so I wanted to yell something to him in Spanish--something positive and encouraging. My sister Megan came up with the following: No rompe su clavicula otra vez! Translation: Don't break your collar bone again!

In his first at-bat, Gomez watched six pitches. He walked without lifting the bat off his shoulder. In his second at-bat, he broke his bat on an infield groundout. The sound of the wood cracking made me worry that the plate in his surgically repaired shoulder was rattling, too. Ouch. No rompe su clavicula otra vez!

Since we last spoke, your Milwaukee Brewers went 5-2 and took a 10.5 game lead in the Central. OMG, how the hell did the Crew lose two games? See, criticism in this situation doesn't really work.

Rachel doesn't do housework, but she likes brooms

2011-08-21T23:36:00.001-05:00

It is a darn good thing that the Brewers swept the Mets this weekend because then there was at least one of us that used a broom this weekend. Who cares if there's housework that I'm neglecting? We have a division to win!

For the first time in franchise history, Milwaukee swept the Mets in New York, taking the third game of the series 6-2 on Sunday. The game was scoreless until the fourth inning, when Casey McGehee put the Brewers on top with a solo home run. The lead would grow to 2-0 in the sixth inning when Ryan Braun singled, stole second and scored on Prince Fielder's single.

The Mets finally got to to starter Yovani Gallardo and tied the score in the seventh inning on a Lucas Duda blast that also scored David Wright. But as they did in Saturday's game, the Brewers answered back and took a lead in the next inning. Shoddy defense by the Mets (botched double play) led to two eighth inning runs. Two more crossed the plate in the ninth on a safety squeeze by Morgan and a Braun double.

Rachel doesn't do housework, she sits on her ass and watches baseball--8.5 games up in the Central baseball, that is.

Brewers 6, Mets 2
Game played 8-21-11

Chili Cheese Dog Day... Sort of like being in the Big Apple only with more cheese

2011-08-21T23:12:00.000-05:00

In honor of the Brewers-Mets game being the FOX Saturday Baseball Game of the Week (and it actually being broadcast in Minnesota this week), Seth and I celebrated with chili cheese dogs. Over the years, Seth and I have developed a ritual. Any time there is a big game on TV, we watch it while eating food we would eat if we were actually at the game. I find that this ritual makes me feel a lot less guilty than if I just ate a chili cheese dog (or four) on a day that the Brewers had a regular night game (or less guilty than eating an entire pot of cheese fondue on a night that the Packers are not on Monday Night Football). I feel like even Weight Watchers would give extra points for a big game day, if Weight Watchers had a heart, which it doesn't, but that's another blog post.

The Brewers responded to Chili Cheese Dog Day with their second victory in a row over the Mets in New York. But there was definitely a point in the game where my Hebrew Nationals were sitting in my stomach like a couple of rocks.

Through six innings, the Brewers had just three hits against Chris Capuano, yet led 7-1, thanks to a two-run homer by Ryan Braun (following a walk to Jerry Hairston, Jr.), a three-run homer by Prince Fielder (following walks to Hairston and Braun) and a two-run homer by Yuniesky Betancourt (after Braun reached on an error). Josh Wilson broke up the homer streak with a solid single later in the sixth innng after Betancourt's homer.

And then the lead vanished. The Mets came back with five runs in the seventh inning and then took the lead, 9-7, in the eighth inning when K-Rod gave up a walk, double and home run after retiring the first two batters. I felt like puking.

Jason Isringhausen to the rescue. He walked the first two batters that he faced, Jon Lucroy and Nyjer Morgan, and then gave up a single to Corey Hart and another walk to Mark Kotsay to cut the lead to one. After Braun popped out, Prince took a ball destined for the dirt from new pitcher, Manny Acosta, and hit it through the infield to tie the score. Casey McGehee kept it going with a single that scored two. John Axford was able to prevent another Mets rally in the ninth and the Brewers won 11-9.

After the game, I sort of wanted another chili dog.

Brewers 11, Mets 9
Game played 8-20-11

Cantankerous in New York

2011-08-21T14:40:00.002-05:00

When Seth and I were shopping at Target last week, an elderly gentleman started to push his cart into the checkout lane next to us, but then looked at the silver haired checkout clerk in that lane and yelled, "Ahhhhh, wrong lane." I suggested to Seth that perhaps they'd had a spat at the retirement complex.

A few minutes later, the elderly gentleman returned. This time, he pushed his cart into line behind Seth and me. But after a few seconds in line, he yelled, "Ahhhhh, wrong lane!" again and pulled his cart out of line and resumed his search for a lane that would be the right fit for him.

After a 2 hour and 46 minute rain delay on Friday night in New York, the Brewers were a little cranky, too. After taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning (Braun reached on an error, stole second and scored on a Fielder single), there was little offense against either Mike Pelfrey or Shaun Marcum. In the third inning, Braun was called out on strikes and found the punch-out call questionable. He had a few words with home plate umpire Angel Campos and refused to move from the batter's box. Compos tossed him.

The bats came to life for Milwaukee in the fifth inning as they tallied three runs on four hits and two walks. Hart singled and Kotsay walked, Prince and McGehee singled and Betancourt doubled to plate the three runs. The Brewers added two more runs in the sixth inning.

In the eighth inning, Fielder batted with two outs and a six-run lead. Frustrated with himself for hitting a soft grounder against relief pitcher Tim Byrdak and making the third out, Prince yelled at himself. Byrdak thought that the comment was directed at him and said something to Prince. After crossing first base, Prince turned around and started running toward Byrdak who was walking to the dugout. After the game, Prince said he had a question that he wanted answered. The benches cleared but nothing happened. The game resumed without incident.

And while Marcum didn't appear to be cranky, he was stingy as all get out. He went seven innings, giving up just one run on six hits and one walk, while striking out six. Kam Loe and Frankie De La Cruz pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth to close out the Mets.

Whatever lane the Brewers are in right now is the right one. Please don't go looking for a different one.

Brewers 6, Mets 1
Game played 8-19-11

Speaking of being old, Friday was Ron Roenicke's birthday (DOB: 8-19-57). Coincidentally, it was also Ned Yost's birthday (DOB: 8-19-54).

I was starting to think that we'd win them all

2011-08-20T17:45:00.000-05:00

Coming off a sweep of the Pirates over the weekend, the Brewers finished up their latest homestand with a four-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers. I have to admit, after so much good fortune lately, I've sort of been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Not drop off a cliff drop but drop a few games drop. But it didn't happen in this series.

On Monday, the seldom seen "awesome defense" version of the 2011 Brewers appeared on the field to lead Milwaukee to a 3-0 victory. Apparently, that's how you win when you're being held in check by the opposing pitcher? I'm not sure. The awesome defense model makes infrequent appearances at Miller Park. Ted Lilly gave up only two hits and two walks over seven innings for the Dodgers, while Randy Wolf struggled a bit, giving up six hits and five walks. But the Brewers didn't let not getting on base stop them. That was for the Dodgers to do. Milwaukee turned four double plays and one triple play, getting two of those outs at home plate to preserve the shutout. Offensively, Ryan Braun, Jonathan Lucroy and Corey Hart hit solo shots.

On Tuesday, the much more prevalent "one-run victory in our last at-bat" version of the 2011 Brewers appeared. Both the Dodgers and Brewers scored one run in the second inning and then the starters went into shut down mode. Yovani Gallardo went eight innings, giving up only the one run on four hits and one walk. Chad Billingsley went seven innings giving up the one run on four hits and two walks. The game was won in the bottom of the ninth when Prince Fielder walked, Casey McGehee singled, Yuniesky Betancourt walked (walked!) and Mark Kotsay singled in Fielder. The Brewers fifth straight victory was a walk-off.

All season, Brewers fans have asked for the "2009 version of Zack Greinke." 2009 being, of course, Greinke's Cy Young award winning year. Zack's been in a little bit of a 2009 groove lately and on Wednesday night, he was 2009 good. Greinke gave up just one run on five hits and three walks. He struck out eight. The one run came on a home run off the bat of Tony Gwynn, Jr. Milwaukee scored two runs on a two-out single by Jerry Hairston, Jr. in the sixth inning and its final run when Lucroy singled and then moved all the way around the diamond on two wild pitches.

The Brewers came up just short of winning the rest of their games when they finally dropped a game on Thursday afternoon. On paper, it didn't look good. Clayton Kershaw leads the national league in wins (15) and strikeouts (199) and boasts a 2.60 ERA, 1.013 WHIP. Opposing him was Marco Estrada, who has filled in well for Chris Narveson, but is not a Cy Young candidate by any means. Kershaw lived up to his billing and was oh-so-tough to hit. The only Milwaukee run scored in the ninth inning when Braun tripled and Prince drove him home. Estrada, for his part, was nearly as tough, giving up only a home run to Rod Barajas (5 IP, 3H, 2 BB). Kam Loe and Tim Dillard had some problems in relief, however, each giving up two runs and the winning streak was halted at six.

No shoe dropping in this series. Maybe this version of the Brewers is pretty good.

Brewers 3, Dodgers 0
Game played 8-15-11

Brewers 2, Dodgers 1
Gamed played 8-16-11

Brewers 3, Dodgers 1
Game played 8-17-11

Dodgers 5, Brewers 1
Game played 8-18-11

El Super

2011-08-16T07:46:00.000-05:00

During the Dodgers game last night, Seth wanted to debate the merits of the El Super. His point was that it was really difficult for a starting pitcher to win an El Super because the pitcher would basically need to have a week where he got two starts "unless he pitched a no-hitter or something." So I let Seth pick this week's winner.

Seth's pick for this week's El Super is Francisco Rodriguez. K-Rod appeared in four games and pitched 3.1 innings, allowing four hits, no runs while striking out four. He also collected his first big league hit on Friday night against the Pirates. It was K-Rods second plate appearance in his 10 seasons in the big leagues and he made the most of it, legging out an infield hit. His fellow relievers in the bullpen went nuts. The fact that he had to leave the game in the next inning with leg cramps seems like a small price to pay for a big league hit--and an El Super.

Brewers 3, Dodgers 0
Game played 8-15-11

That's a lot of cream puff. Oh, and the Pittsburgh Pirates were in town

2011-08-14T23:09:00.001-05:00

125-pound cream puff.

Having put together a very respectable 5-1 road trip, the Brewers returned home on Friday and welcomed Pittsburgh to Miller Park for a three-game series. The Brewers have been very good at home this year and they have been very good against Pittsburgh for quite some time.

After the dust had settled from the weekend, neither of these things changed--at all. After the three-game sweep, the Brewers improved their home record to an MLB best 44-15. (The Phillies and the Yankees have the next best records at 42-19 and 40-24.) Milwaukee has an 8-0 record against Pittsburgh in 2011 and a 36-11 (13-5, 9-5, 14-1) record dating back to the 2008 season.

The series against Pittsburgh went much like the triathlon that I completed on Sunday: about as well as I could have hoped for. Sure, there were times when I felt like I might drown on the swim and I almost bit it on the bike when a squirrel ran out in front of me but I finished, and that's what was important.

Likewise, after a dominating performance on Friday night both by Zack Greinke (7.2 IP, 6H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 9SO) and the offense (7 runs on 12 hits), the Brewers offense hit some rough spots on Saturday and Sunday. They made the most of the offense that they could muster, however, winning Saturday's game 1-0 on a home run by Yuniesky Betancourt and winning Sunday's game 2-1 in 10 innings on a sacrifice fly by Nyjer Morgan.

Triathlons make me hungry. Yummm, cream puff.

Brewers 7, Pirate2
Game played 8-12-11

Brewers 1, Pirates 0
Game played 8-13-11

Brewers 2, Pirates 1 (10 innings)
Game played 8-14-11

Sometimes odd stuff happens

2011-08-10T23:22:00.000-05:00

My husband once missed a few days of work when he pulled a muscle in his neck when he towel dried his hair too vigorously. Sometimes odd stuff happens.

Brewers pitcher Chris Narveson was placed on the disabled list today after he sliced open his left thumb while trying to fix his glove with a pair of scissors. Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday missed Wednesday's contest when he hurt his back lifting weights before the game. This came a day after relief pitcher Lance Lynn injured his left oblique while pitching in the ninth inning on Tuesday night.

Lots of odd injuries in this series. And lots of unusual (but awesome!) road victories.

After sweeping the Astros over the weekend, Milwaukee had a off-day before heading to St. Louis for a three-game series. On Tuesday night, the Brewers let a 3-1 lead slip away before winning 5-3 in 10 innings. Casey McGehee drove in two runs on an opposite field double to earn the victory.

On Wednesday night, after giving up a first inning run, Randy Wolf shut down the Cardinals en route to a 5-1 win. In Wolf's last start he gave up five runs on nine hits over six innings to the Cardinals but tonight he gave up just the one run and five hits over eight innings.

Brewers 5, Cardinals 3
Game played 8-9-11

Brewers 5, Cardinals 1
Gamed played 8-10-11

RIP, Mr. Landgraf

2011-08-10T22:19:00.000-05:00

In the mid-80s, I was just another mouthy junior high school student with unfortunate hair. I was also completely obsessed with sports--watching, playing, reading about, writing about--you name it, I could not get enough baseball, basketball or football. As you can imagine, nothing was more disappointing to me at that time than having to take gym class with the other girls in my class, who wanted to do jazzercise and braid each other's hair. (This was back when gym class was the major source of sports for a kid in rural Wisconsin.) So I complained that it wasn't fair that I didn't get to play flag football; I whined that I didn't get to play basketball or floor hockey or soccer.

And for once someone listened to me.

That someone was the boys' gym teacher, Mr. Landgraf. He said that I could take phy ed with the boys but I had to understand that he was not going to take it easy on me and that he would not change his grading system to accomodate me. And he didn't, even when I had a heck of time long snapping a football with my little hands. And he made me get up and keep playing when Nathan Hilger missed the soccer ball and kicked me in the shin during a game.

David Landgraf was a stud. He was one of the best athletes you'll ever see. And no one outworked him. He was one of the founders of the Birkebeiner and had finished every Birkebeiner race since it started in 1973. He was the track and field coach at Bloomer High School for many years and he inspired an untold number of runners to push themselves to new levels. He was so fit, his runners used to call him Bruce after Bruce Jenner (this was long before the whole Kardashian clan nonsense).

Mr. Landgraf was killed this past weekend when he was hit by a car while biking south of Hayward. He was 61 years old.

I cannot count all of the lives that Mr. Landgraf touched in his many years as a teacher and coach, nor can I say with any certainty why he let me be a part of his phy ed class. I guess he just recognized that I loved competing as much as he did. Rest in peace, Mr. Landgraf.

What a week! What an El Super!

2011-08-09T07:46:00.000-05:00

This past week was a good one for our Milwaukee Brewers. They posted a 5-1 record and now hold a three-game lead over the second place St. Louis Cardinals. There were a lot of memorable performances: Prince Fielder posted a .500/.560/.950 line, while Yovani Gallardo and Zack Greinke both gave up just one run over eight innings and seven innings, respectively.

This week's winners of the El Super, however, are Casey McGehee and Yuniesky Betancourt. It wasn't so long ago that the blogosphere (me included) was wondering if we could send Doug Melvin to Mexico to find Luis Cruz. But McGehee and Betancourt have been playing better of late, and that makes the Brewers a whole lot more dangerous heading into the stretch run.

McGehee takes the El Super for posting a .368/.400/.842 line over four games and for his three-homer game against the Cardinals. Yuni gets some El Super love by posting a .458/.458/.667 line (always the same BA and OBP for Yuni). He had 11 hits, 8 RBI and even one stolen base.

I hope it's just as hard to pick a winner next week. Go Brewers!

There oughta be a rule

2011-08-04T21:28:00.001-05:00

In honor of that noted rules follower, Tony LaRussa, here are the Miller Park Ground Rules as printed in the 2011 Media Guide. Enjoy.

The decision as to whether a game begins with the roof open or closed rests solely with the Milwaukee Brewers.

If the game begins with the roof open:
- It shall be closed only in the event of impending rain or other adverse weather conditions. The decision to close the roof shall be made by the home club after consultation with the Umpire Crew Chief.
- The Umpire Crew Chief shall notify the visiting club, which may challenge the closing of the roof if it feels that a competitive imbalance will arise. In such an event, the Umpire Crew Chief shall make a final decision based on the merits of the challenge.
-The roof may be re-opened by following the procedures for opening the roof as detailed below.

If the game begins with the roof closed:
- It may be opened when, in the opinion of the home club, the climatic environment has reached a level where fan comfort and enjoyment will be best served by opening the roof to the natural atmospheric conditions.
- Notwithstanding the foregoing, the following guidelines should be applied when opening the roof during a game:

* The roof may be opened only once during the game.
* The Umpire Crew Chief will be notified at the commencement of the inning that the roof will be opened at the inning's conclusion
* The Umpire Crew Chief shall notify the visiting club, which may challenge the opening of the roof if it feels that a competitive imbalance will arise. In such an event, the Umpire Crew Chief shall make a final decision based on the merits of the challenge.
* The opening of the roof shall only commence between innings.

Got it?

Brewers 6, Cardinals 2
Game played 8-1-11

Cardinals 7, Brewers 6
Game played 8-2-11, 11 innings

Brewers 10, Cardinals 5
Game played 8-3-11

The Axe Super

2011-08-01T23:24:00.000-05:00

This is probably overdue but because he's been so gosh darn consistent, it's possible that I've taken him for granted. No more. This week's El Super goes to closer John Axford. Over the past week, Axford appeared in four games and recorded four saves, giving up just one hit and no runs, while striking out five. On Sunday, Axford converted his franchise-record 28th consecutive save with a perfect ninth inning against the Astros. Overall he has saved 31 games in 33 chances this season.

Married to the Crew

2011-08-01T18:35:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, the Astros traded Hunter Pence to the Phillies for three minor leaguers and a PTBNL. It was an odd exit for Pence. He played four innings but was removed from Friday night’s game after taking the field in the bottom of the fifth inning before a pitch was made.

This was probably a huge relief to my now sister-in-law, Karen. Over the years, I’ve developed a unique relationship with Pence. I documented this last year but, in a nutshell, I tend to yell F@#k Hunter Pence! a lot. It caught on and is now sort of a family catch phrase. Somewhere along the way, I started following him on Twitter and Facebook, etc… and now I feel like we’re practically friends.

The Astros trip to Milwaukee coincided with the wedding of Karen to my brother, Nick. Nick secretly arranged to have the TVs turned to the game, but muted, during their wedding reception on Saturday night. Karen only found out when she read the contract with the reception hall. The last time that Nick and Karen visited me, Karen mentioned that there would be an open mic and that it would probably be best if I didn’t get too close to it if I was watching the game and Hunter Pence was batting. As it was, Hunter exited the game during the rehearsal dinner so Karen didn’t have to worry about me ruining the reception with a few f-bombs.

Muted but not forgotten.

Baseball, unlike marriage, is not one of those ‘till death do us part kind of relationships. (The weekend was a frenzy of activity as the trade deadline was Sunday afternoon.) That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t feel like a marriage sometimes. Last night I dreamt that I pulled Prince Fielder into an empty movie theatre and had a heart-to-heart with him about staying in Milwaukee. I was pleading with him. He couldn’t go. Didn’t he know what he meant to me and the State of Wisconsin? In the end, he tugged on his beard and told me that he’d think about it. (Kind of like when I ask Seth to do stuff only Seth doesn’t have a beard.)

The Astros may have traded Pence (and Michael Bourn) but the Brewers are holding onto Prince for now. After struggling following the All-Star break, Prince led the Brewers to a three-game sweep of the Astros over the weekend. On Friday night, Prince went 1 for 4 and scored the first run of the game after hitting a double. On Saturday night, while the wedding party was being introduced for the grand march, Prince clubbed a 475-foot home run. It was one of three hits for Fielder on the night in a 6-2 victory. Fielder went 3 for 4 on Sunday, as well; delivering the go-ahead run on a single in the bottom of the eighth inning after Ryan Braun led off the inning with a double.

The win was the sixth in a row for Milwaukee, who took a 2.5 game lead in the Central with the back-to-back sweeps.

Brewers 4, Astros 0

Game played 7-29-11

Brewers 6, Astros 2

Game played 7-30-11

Brewers 5, Astros 4

Game played 7-31-11

The Happy Couple.

Me and my nephew, Braxton.

Setting up the sweep

2011-07-29T10:32:00.000-05:00

After Kam Loe pitched out of a bases loaded, no-outs jam in the sixth inning and LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless seventh inning, Francisco Rodriguez entered Tuesday night's game against the Cubs to pitch the eighth inning. Our favorite Fox Sports Wisconsin broadcasters described the occasion as follows:

Brian Anderson: This has to be a huge adjustment for Francisco Rodriguez. He's used to coming into games in the ninth inning with the crowd on its feet, with the music blasting in anticipation of a save. And he enters this game in a set-up role with the cap shuffle on the scoreboard and the Benny Hill music. So it's a little bit different setting for K-Rod.

Bill Schroeder: So far he's OK with it. ...All is good in the mind of K-Rod.

Brian Anderson: You can almost see Francisco Rodriguez, he was yelling at himself on the mound. I don't know if he does that all of the time but whatever it takes.

Bill Schroeder: Are you sure that the Benny Hill music isn't what he likes to come into the game to?

Brian Anderson: Maybe it is. [Laughter.]

Tuesday night was the first of three consecutive nights where Milwaukee used K-Rod in the eighth inning and John Axford in the ninth inning. In each game, K-Rod got the hold and Axford the save. It was an important three-game sweep against the Cubs at Miller Park. The wins put Milwaukee back into first place in the division.

Since being acquired from the Mets at the All-Star break, Rodriguez has appeared in seven games and has collected five holds and one win. He has allowed two runs, both coming in a win against the Diamondbacks on July 20. After a shaky start to the season, Axford has been a solid closer. He has now successfully converted his last 27 consecutive save opportunities and has 30 total saves.

As the NL Central heads toward what is shaping up to be a down-to-the-wire finish, it will be interesting to see if Ron Roenicke deviates from the set-up and closer roles. For example, I wonder if Roenicke considered bringing in K-Rod in the sixth inning when the Cubs had loaded the bases and the Brewers had a one run lead. As it turned out, Loe did an amazing job getting out of the jam and preserving the one-run lead but it would seem that that was a golden opportunity to bring in K-Rod for a strikeout.

For now, I guess I'll just be happy that the Brewers have the bullpen to have those type of options.

Brewers 4, Cubs 2
Game played 7-28-11

'This does not look good'

2011-07-28T10:28:00.000-05:00

I feel like puking. And it's not from liquor consumption.

Prince Fielder led off the second inning of Wednesday night's game against the Chicago Cubs with an opposite field home run. It was Prince's first homer since July 5 and his 23rd of the year. Rickie Weeks followed with a grounder to Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro. Castro couldn't get the ball out of his glove and with each tiny millisecond that he tried to get his fingers around the baseball, Rickie Weeks motored closer to first base. Sensing a hit, Weeks put everything he had into one gigantic lunge toward first base. His left foot hit the bag and rolled grotesquely. Weeks took one more step with his right foot, hit the ground, rolled over and didn't get up.

BA: "This does not look good. Rickie Weeks is down in a heap. Hit the bag hard trying for that last stretch to beat out an infield hit."

Rock: "That's the last thing the Brewers need is to have Rickie Weeks down."

You could have heard a pin drop in Miller Park as Ron Roenicke and one of the trainers carried Weeks off the field. After the game Roenicke said that Weeks would be out for awhile. On Thursday, the Brewers put Weeks on the disabled list and called up Eric Farris.

Farris is a 2007 fourth round draft pick, who enjoys playing video games and making music. Farris has a .256/.308/.358 line in AAA Nashville this year. A cursory glance at his minor league stats would seem to indicate that he doesn't strikeout very much and he is fast. He's a threat to steal bases (he had 70 in 76 attempts in 2009 in the Florida State League) and he's a good bunter. He missed a good chunk of the 2010 season with a torn ligament in his right knee. Farris is considered a good defender but he has never appeared in a major league game.

The Brewers would go on to win the game 2-0 behind a brilliant performance by Zack Greinke, who went 6.2 innings and gave up no runs on three hits and three walks, while striking out nine. Takashi Saito got the third out in the seventh inning, Frankie Rodriguez pitched a scoreless eighth inning and John Axford got the save. Axford's save was his 26th in a row.

Despite the win, the injury put a dark cloud over the game. At this point, we only know that the ankle is not broken but ankle sprains can take a long time to heal. Replays showed just how much the ankle rolled. Watching it makes me sick to my stomach.

Weeks' injury comes just one week after centerfielder Carlos Gomez broke his collarbone on a diving catch against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Gomez had surgery to expedite his recovery and is expected to miss about six weeks. It was unfortunate timing as it seemed that Roenicke had just started to use Gomez in a role in which he could excel--against lefties, as a defensive replacement and as a pinch runner. For his part, Gomez played hard and seemed to have a great attitude despite his diminished role.

No doubt, this is a bummer. But the Brewers are now in sole possesion of first place at 56-49, with a .5 game lead over St. Louis and a 1.5 game lead over Pittsburgh. With one more game against the Cubs and then a weekend series with the Astros, the Brewers need to find a way to score runs and beat the bottom of the Central. As Seth always says to me, "Get over it and move on!" because Milwaukee also has six games against the Cardinals. It is no time to feel sorry for yourself.

Brewers 2, Cubs 0
Game played 7-27-11

Brewers 3, Cubs 2
Game played 7-26-11

El Super Monday

2011-07-25T22:19:00.000-05:00

Not only did this week's El Super winner have two solid starts, he also made the most out of his five plate appearances. Yovani Gallardo went 2 for 4 with a double, walk and one run scored. (That's a .500/.600/.750 line, which, if sustained over more than two games would be pretty awesome.) In his two starts, Yo went 1-1, giving up just 3 earned runs (5 total) in 13 IP with 11 strikeouts and only two walks.

Yuniesky Betancourt and the Red Mercedes

2011-07-23T17:44:00.001-05:00

Parking in downtown St. Paul is a pain in the ass but sometimes we get lucky and find a place to park in a free lot. We were meeting some friends at Patrick McGovern's and we began our search for parking in the small lot behind the bar. We drove through once and didn't find a spot but there was a woman who looked to be in her 70s standing at the passenger's side of a red Mercedes talking on a cell phone. We did a lap through the parking lot and then spotted a gentleman who seemed to be walking to the driver's side of the same red Mercedes. This looked promising. We pulled up near the car and put our blinker on to indicate that we planned to take the spot. Only nothing happened. The guy got in the car but the woman continued to use the cell phone. She would talk into the phone and then stare at the phone and push a few buttons and then talk into the phone again. This went on for several minutes. After about five minutes, she got in the car. This looked more promising. But again, nothing happened. After a few more minutes I got out of the car to see what the holdup was. The couple was just sitting there.

I started laughing. Seth said that he was going to continue to wait because, by this time, he was invested in this parking spot. After another minute some other people walked to their car so Seth backed up so that he could take the spot being vacated by the people who had just walked to the lot from the bar. Of course, at the exact moment that the new people staring backing out, the couple in the red Mercedes did the same. Now when something takes longer than it should, Seth and I say that we've been red Mercedes'ed.

Yuniesky Betancourt is a lot like the couple in the red Mercedes. I feel like I've been waiting around a long time for him [to produce]. On the one hand, he's historically been a pretty below average big leaguer, so maybe all he can do is stand by the side of the car and try to use a cell phone. On the other hand, if the Brewers are to win the NL Central, we really need him to get in the red Mercedes, back out of that parking spot and put his foot on the gas.

I think we're seeing Yuni attempting to put his foot on the gas. In Game 2 against Arizona, the Brewers brought out the bats. Corey Hart led off the game with a home run and one batter later, Ryan Braun connected for a long ball. Three batters later, Yuni got into the act with a home run. At the end of the first, Milwaukee led 5-0. Betancourt would go on to hit another homer in the ninth inning. He went 3 for 5 with four RBI in the 11-3 victory. (Game played July 19, 2011)

Jumping ahead to Friday night's game against the Giants at AT&T, Betancourt went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs in the 4-2 victory. In the second half of the season, Yuni has appeared in eight games, and produced a .423/.444/.731 line. Compare that with .237/.255/.342 line in the first half. Wow, that first half is bad but maybe Yuni can keep his foot on the gas and turn things around.

Maybe. Or maybe we'll watch Doug Melvin pull another rabbit out of his hat and we'll have a new SS before the trade deadline.

The El Slacker

2011-07-19T17:55:00.000-05:00

It started like a tiny pin prick. I would just take one series off. I was sick as a dog. I lost my voice. My cold moved into my eyes—yes, my EYES—which caused them to crust shut over night. I could open them in the morning only after I splashed hot water on them. I just kept getting sicker. I finally went to the doctor on July 5. I had a cold that turned into bronchitis, a sinus infection and pink eye. Instead of taking time off from work, I convinced the doctor that I’d wash my hands a lot and not infect the rest of my office.

July 4 – After Shaun Marcum’s grand slam, the Brewers led 6-1. Yet, somehow, they managed to squander the lead and lose 8-6 to Arizona. It was the second day in a row that the Brewers gave away a five-run lead.

July 5 – Randy Wolf gave up four first-inning runs and Milwaukee failed to mount much of a comeback in a 7-3 loss to the D'backs.

July 6 – Yovani Gallardo gave up a leadoff home run to Kelly Johnson but then put the clamps on the D’backs offense. Despite Gallardo’s pitching, the Brewers trailed going into the seventh inning. A benched Casey McGehee to the rescue. After back-to-back singles by Kotsay and Lucroy, McGehee hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer to salvage the finale, 3-1.

And then the flood gates started to open. My company was in the midst of a huge project that necessitated me working nights and weekends. I was sick and working a ton. I would take one more day off. Or maybe I’d just take the entire Cincinnati series off. I’d come back strong after the All-Star break, like Ryan Braun. Maybe I’d even write something about the first half of the season or the All-Star game.

July 7 – Milwaukee used a four-run fifth inning that included a three-run homer by Rickie Weeks, to erase a 2-1 deficit, and take the opener against Cincinnati 5-4.

July 8 – This game was all about Mark Kotsay. He went from hero, to goat, to hero again in the course of four innings. Kotsay hit a homer in the sixth inning to give Milwaukee the lead but then let one through his legs in left field that led to three Cincinnati runs. But the Brewers rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth to take the game 8-7. Kotsay produced the game winning single that scored the tying and winning runs. “Continue to run, Carlos Gomez.”

July 9 – The Reds broke open a 3-3 ball game with five runs in the top of the tenth inning to win 8-4.

July 10—Craig Counsell hit a sac fly to left field that scored George Kottaras from third base and earned the Brewers a walk-off victory in the final game before the All-Star break. Trailing 3-2 entering the ninth inning, Nyjer Morgan hit a one-out single and stole second base. Kottaras followed with a walk. Morgan scored on a single from Kotsay and the game-winner came on Counsell’s pinch hit fly ball, 4-3. Three out of four against the Reds feels pretty good.

July 12 – Prince Fielder hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning to lead the NL All-Stars to a 5-1 victory over the AL. Fielder was named the All-Star game MVP. His kids are really cute.

The All-Star break was over and I was committed to blogging again. Sort of. The problem was I had a family vacation looming (at a very lovely Wisconsin lake). I caught the Thursday night Rockies game but then had to listen to Friday and Saturday’s games on the radio. I had no internet access and little time to sit down and write so I didn’t blog. I watched Sunday’s game when I got home on Tivo. I was tired. I had nothing to say. Does anyone even read my blog anymore?

July 14 – Yikes, this one got ugly. Ryan Spilborghs went 4 for 6 and the Rockies exploded for a 12-3 win.

July 15 – This was not a bad Chris Narveson outing. It was a bad offensive outing. Milwaukee was shut out 4-0.

July 16 – This was a crazy game that I had to finish listening to in my hotel room with a really fuzzy little alarm clock radio. Milwaukee fell behind 3-0 after four innings. Corey Hart finally got the Crew on the board with a two-run homer in the fifth inning. Milwaukee took the lead in the top of the seventh inning, 5-3, after a squeeze play, a sac fly, some ejections, and a HBP. Colorado took the lead back in the bottom of the seventh inning on a Todd Helton double and a Troy Tulowitzki single. Milwaukee tied the game in the eighth inning and took the lead in the ninth on a Rickie Weeks two-run blast. Axford got the save and K-Rod the win, 8-7.

July 17 – Milwaukee got a series split with a 4-3 win on Sunday.

Enough with the self-pity. I could do this. I could write something for my blog. But, by this point, I’d been away for almost two weeks. It had been so long, I was starting to have a mental block about writing again. I’d convinced myself that I had nothing interesting to say, that blogging was a huge waste of time, that I would never be able to finish the season.

El Super Monday. I could do it. Or not.

July 18—Josh Collmenter confounded the Brewers for the second time in the past two weeks and Milwaukee was shut out again on the road, 3-0.

What in the hell is El Super about this game? I’m tired. I need to sleep.

Only I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking that I should be up blogging. Internal conflict is stupid, especially about something like blogging about the Brewers. What is wrong with me? Just sit down and compare Mark Kotsay to grilling scallops or swimming through algae infested lake water. I’ll get up early and do it before work. [This is laughable to anyone who knows me. I don’t do mornings.] I got to work feeling distraught and overwhelmed. What if I never write again?

And then, with one sentence in his morning email to me, Seth got me to snap out of it. At the end of his email about items he should purchase at Target, came the following: “You need to do El Super, slacker.”

I hate it when he’s right.

4th of July El Super

2011-07-04T22:57:00.000-05:00

This week's El Super goes to Brewers fans and their All-Star voting skills. With 25 votes per email address, Brewers fans made enough mouse clicks to earn Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks starts in the upcoming All-Star game in Arizona. The Brewers are the only team with multiple starters in the NL and just the Yankees in the AL have more starters. Assuming Braun's calf injury doesn't keep him out of the game, it will be the first time in Milwaukee's history that it will have three starters in the game.

Diamondbacks 8, Brewers 6
Game played 7-4-11

Twins 9, Brewers 7
Game played 7-3-11

A Brewers Fan at Target Field Night 2: There was nothing small-ey about this comeback

2011-07-03T11:30:00.003-05:00

For most of the past year, I worked on one huge transaction at work. It was a horrible project involving lots of lawyers, lots of money, and lots of contention. For whatever reason, a lot of the nastiness was directed at me. I ended up working a lot of hours. During one conference call with others from my company, the higher ups joked about how much I was working. They commented that they didn't know how they would make it up to my husband for making me be gone so much.

Umm, wait. What? I'm working a bazillion hours a week and you're worried about Seth?? Seth is perfectly happy sitting at home playing video games and drinking beer while I'm working. In fact, I think he would prefer this to spending time with me.

So, while THUs discussed how they could make it up to Seth with beer, I mentioned that Seth would really like Brewers-Twins tickets (even though Seth would have preferred the beer).

My boss's boss said, "Done."

So, on Saturday night, as we entered Target Field and tried to locate Section H in the Legend's Club, Seth commented, "I don't think you're going to be disappointed with these seats." I nodded and smiled. My voice was gone. The only sound that I could produce was something that sounded like a cross between a whisper and a high pitched whistle. Our seats were in the second row of the second level directly behind home plate. We had our own private food and beverage section and our own waiter to bring drinks to our seats.

Target Field with view of Minneapolis.

Just before the game started, a camera guy came and stood next to us to capture the cute kids in the section next to ours. The camera guy commented to the family in front of us that Bert Blyleven was throwing grapes at him. It was at this point that I realized that we were sitting directly in front of the announcer boxes. I turned around and made eye contact with BA. He waved. Seth then said, "I think the guy sitting in front of you is Roy Smalley." My eyes darted to the woman to Smalley's left. I mouthed, "And that's his wife."

"You need to text Chris. Now." I squeaked.

Years ago Chris (see previous blog about Yankees series) told us a story about attending a game as a 12-year old. I forget the specifics but the just of the story is that a heckler at a near empty Yankee Stadium, in pretty good seats, yelled at Roy Smalley, "Hey Roy, does your wife call you smalley?" It was the kind of thing that would make a 12-year old giggle. Since Chris shared that story with us years ago, it's been a long running joke.

Seth, who was taking advantage of the fact that I was sick and acting as the designated driver, had had a few. He started threatening to tap Mrs. Smalley on the shoulder and say, "Excuse me. There's a question that I have always wanted to ask you." "Noooooo...." I mouthed. "Do not do that. Please do not do that."

View from my seat.

Ok, yes, the game. The game sucked. At one point, a bird shit on my nose. Literally. And I was going to use that as the metaphor for the game--that's how bad it was going. Minnesota scored one run in the first inning, two in the third and four in the fourth inning, all off of starter Chris Narveson. Meanwhile, the Brewers managed just two hits in the first four innings. Ryan Braun extended his hitting streak with a double and Prince singled but was erased on a double play. I felt like crying. Partly because the game was frustrating and partly because I couldn't even complain about Yuni because I lost my voice. 7-0 after four innings. That's bird shit on your nose bad.

In the top of the fifth, Yuni hit a seemingly meaningless one out single. For reasons that will never be fully explainable to me, Yuni tagged up on a Kotsay fly ball to center that didn't even make it to the warning track and attempted to advance to second with two outs. The throw beat him but Alexi Casilla caught the ball on the shortstop side of second and when he dived toward Betancourt to make the tag, Betancourt dove over Casilla and was called safe. A very disgusted Roy Smalley turned around, got Blyleven's attention, made the out sign with his fist, nodded and then told his wife that the left field camera had showed that Betancourt was out. Jon Lucroy followed with a single that scored Betancourt. 7-1.

Marco Estrada relieved Narveson and stopped the carnage in the fifth after the Narv-Dog allowed two more base runners that inning. The Twins would score no more runs. In the top of the sixth inning Rickie Weeks reached on an error and TPlush crushed one out in right. I stood up and threw up a "T" just because it's fun to do, not because I was really believing in the comeback yet. Some Brewers fans behind us inquired as to my actions. "Is that for Tony Plush?" they asked. I just nodded. 7-3.

Tony Plush rescued The Crew. He had a 2B, 3B and HR.

The score would stay that way until the top of the eighth inning, when Morgan came through with a one-out triple. He scored on a Braun ground out. (This ground out would be significant later on as Braun injured his calf running out the ground ball.) 7-4.

Takashi Saito pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Welcome back, Takashi.

Now, what I'm about to write is going to seem crazy and improbable, but it really happened. The Twins brought in Matt Capps to shut 'em down and send Milwaukee to its fifth straight loss. Instead, Yuni lined one up the middle to start the inning. Kotsay followed with a hot grounder that got under the glove of Casilla. Next, Lucroy took an outside pitch and dumped it in right field. Three straight singles. 7-5.

Braun would injure his calf running to 1B.

Craig Counsell followed with a popout to Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Weeks flew out to right field. Brewers fans were on their feet but The Crew was down to its last out. TPlush didn't keep us in suspense for long. He unleashed a deep fly ball that Michael Cuddyer (possibly) should have caught but when he didn't, both runs scored and Morgan stood at second. 7-7.

George Kottaras got down 0-2 but hung in there and finally drove one up the middle that scored Morgan. Somehow, the Brewers were now leading this game, 8-7. I was jumping up and down. I was throwing up the T. Silently. I couldn't even produce a sound anymore. John Axford took the Twins down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth, striking out Jim Thome to end the game. Holy shit. What a comeback. What a win. Holy shit. Holy shit.

I jumped around some more. Continued to throw up Ts. Some Twins fans found me amusing and took my picture throwing up the T. Later I got BA's attention and I threw up a T for him, too, and he laughed and pointed at me.

George Kottaras gets ready to win the game.

So flipping awesome.

Ax shuttin' the door.

Brewers 8, Twins 7
Game played 7-2-11

I've been told that my "T" looks more like a "Z" in this photo.

A Brewers fan at Target Field Night 1: Why are we in a weather delay when it's not raining?

2011-07-03T09:29:00.001-05:00

The national weather service had predicted severe thunderstorms, but for most of the day Friday it was bright and sunny and 100 degrees. (As I've mentioned many times, I live in Minnesota and work in downtown Minneapolis so when the Brewers come to Target Field it's like a holiday for me--Brewers and baseball without that five plus hour drive.) So on Friday, when it was quitting time, I threw on my shorts and Braun jersey and headed out to do some tailgating Minnesota style--that is, standing on the patio of one of the bars near Target Field. There is no parking lot for Target Field, just parking ramps, so there is no real tailgating. As much as I like tailgating Wisconsin style, I actually enjoy the downtown stadium in Minneapolis. It's a fun and festive atmosphere. Lots of Brewers fans, even more Twins fans, jammed into little beer gardens.

As game time approached, the sky darkened. By the time we reached our seats about 30 minutes before game time, the tarp came out. Tarp? Why not just close the roof? Oh, that's right, there is no roof. My understanding is that the footprint of Target Field was too small to allow for a retractable roof--plus, the money wasn't there. This did not prevent my friend Chad from chanting, "Close the roof. Close the roof. Close the roof." The Twins fans around us did not seem amused.

We were in left field and under an overhang so we just waited it out and soon enough the rain stopped. But the "weather delay" continued. From the radar that my sister's boyfriend pulled up on his phone, there was one last leg of the storm that was set to blow through in an hour. So we waited. (Apparently MLB would prefer for the game to not start and then stop so they try to wait for the entire storm to pass. At least this seems like the current trend.)

Finally at about 8:20, the storm hit.

When it finally came down, the rain didn't mess around.

The game started at 9:10 p.m. Chad commented that Target Field surely set a new record for beer sales what with the Brewers in town and the fact that the seventh inning wasn't until around 11 p.m. The State Fair stand ran out of cheese curds. I asked our cashier how they could run out of cheese curds with a Wisconsin sports team in town and she seemed confused. She told us to get the french fries instead.

When the game finally started, Carlos Gomez hit a first inning home run. I realize that this is a very small sample size but Gomez's numbers against the Twins are pretty crazy. In 8 plate appearances, Gomez has five hits and two home runs. The line looks like this: .625/.625/1.500.

This would be the only lead of the night for the Brewers. Jim Thome hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first and it just went down hill from there. After getting to within one run at 3-2 on a Rickie Weeks walk, a wild pitch and a Ryan Braun single, the Twins picked up two more runs in the fifth. Milwaukee went down quietly after that.

Speaking of quietly, I have had a cold all week and after a long week at work, a two-hour rain delay and having to let a few Ryan Braun hecklers know that they should "suck it", my voice was gone. Nothing more to say about this one anyway.

Twins 6, Brewers 2
Game played 7-1-11

They played some 80s heavy metal during the rain delay.

My little town blues are not melting away

2011-07-01T07:46:00.000-05:00

My friend Chris is a huge Yankees fan. (He grew up in New York.) He's also one of the most knowledgeable baseball people that I know. Sometimes when we go over to his house for dinner, he'll insist that we play a game where he names two teams and you have to name every player you can think of that played for both. (He usually does this with the baseball almanac on his lap to settle any disputes.) A few weeks ago in our softball game, when I was up to bat and the opposing pitcher was also sporting a Brewers cap, he yelled, "Wow. It's like Teddy Higuera against Bill Spiers." That's not a statement too many people would think to make.

He has also made the following two comments this year:

1) While we stood in line at Chipotle, he asked me if this was the year the Yankees got the NL Central in interleague. When I responded in the affirmative, he said simply, "YES!" and did a little fist pump.

2) While discussing the Brewers chances of making the playoffs he said that as long as the Brewers were at about .500 by All-Star break they'd have a great chance of winning the division. Then, just for fun, he threw in, "well, the NL Central is a joke this year." To which I may have gone to the high voice and started yelling, "WHAT? Why would you say that it's a joke." Sensing that I may completely melt down in his living room, he let it go.

So, coming into the series with the Yankees, I wanted to prove that the Brewers were not a joke. I wanted to be competitive and at least win one game. For obvious reasons, I wanted to prove that the team that I love and devote so much time to may not be the Yankees but were certainly worthy of my love.

It didn't happen.

The Brewers looked sloppy and ill-prepared in Tuesday night's game. Zack Greinke got off to a tough start when Nyjer Morgan mis-judged a fly ball and in twisting to get back into position slipped and fell down. It one hopped his glove as he lay helpless on the ground. Helpless. The Yankees got out to a 7-0 lead after two innings and it just continued to get worse. The only good thing about this game was that Mat Gamel, brought up to DH in interleague play, went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Wednesday's game got off to a better start with the Brewers scoring one run in the first inning. (The bar was pretty low.) I'd like to take just a minute to discuss right field in Yankee Stadium. The way that it is configured, I don't know how anyone hits a double there. There is no doubt that Nick Swisher plays the ball well in the corner, but the Brewers probably hit six balls down the first base line that would have been doubles in any other ball park. Just sort of an odd thing about Yankee Stadium. Ryan Braun shot one down the right field line that scored Morgan from second base but he was held to a single, for example. One run probably isn't going to hold up in Yankee Stadium, and it didn't on Wednesday. The bottom of the Yankees line-up struck for four runs in the fourth and the Brewers never mounted a come back in a 2-5 loss.

In the afternoon finale, Milwaukee faced CC Sabathia. The most sickening thing about this game was how nice CC is about his time in Milwaukee. The Brewers offered Sabathia a great contract after the 2008 season but, just for fun, the Yankees offered $10 million more or something like that. I can't remember. Apparently CC loves Milwaukee, though, so I guess that's some sort of silver lining for the Midwest. He still shut out The Crew 0-5 and had 13 strikeouts. But I think that if I drink enough and re-play some games from the 2008 pennant chase I can probably get over it.

Unfortunately, I did not get to prove that the Brewers are not a joke. My ego's a bit bruised but I guess I'll feel better if the Brewers can beat the Twins this weekend. Hopefully the Brewers will meet the Yankees in the playoffs and, after defeating them, Milwaukee will talk about how they picked up their game after the sweep. Or something inspirational like that.

Yankees 12, Brewers 2
Game played 6-28-11

Yankees 5, Brewers 2
Game played 6-29-11

Yankees 5, Brewers 0
Game played 6-30-11

El Super

2011-06-27T22:54:00.000-05:00

I can hardly believe it's Monday again. This week I'm handing the El Super to Jonathan Lucroy. He's had a fine week posting a .500/.533/.714 line in 15 plate appearances. Plus he hit his first big league triple on Sunday. He was just a single and home run away from hitting for the cycle.

As part of the First Half Review over on Brew Crew Ball, I gave my top three picks for the first half El Super. Check it out.

Move along. There will be no jinxing here.

2011-06-27T22:26:00.000-05:00

I'm going to hold off on writing anything about the Twins series until after I go to the games at Target Field this weekend. Don't want to jinx anything.

Brewers __, Twins __
Games played 6-24-11, 6-25-11, 6-26-11

Next time I'm buying twist offs

2011-06-27T21:50:00.000-05:00

For reasons that cannot be fully explained, I purchased beer for Wednesday's tailgating that did not have twist off caps--and then neglected to bring an opener. Usually, I can open the bottles on a tailgate with my hand. I know, I'm bad ass. But my Mom's mini-van did not have a good tailgate. It had some sort of soft, flexible rubber surface. Not ideal for opening a beer. But I tried anyway and ended up bruising my hand. Ahhhrgh.

The game sort of went like my attempt to open a beer. Initially, I was happy just to have a beer in my hand. (The Brewers got out to a 2-0 lead against David Price.) But then reality set in when I could not open it. (Kelly Shoppach home run. Tie game.) I asked my neighboring tailgaters for help. They responded with, "aren't they twist off?" (Elliot Johnson home run. 6-2 Rays.) So, I tried to open it on the rear bumper and side door of the minivan. I ended up with a half opened beer and a big bruise on my hand. Ouch. (Mark Kotsay pinch hitting with bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth with the tying run on first. Bigger ouch.)

Rays 6, Brewers 3
Game played 6-22-11

KKKKKKKKKK

2011-06-26T23:40:00.000-05:00

While we were throwing up the T, Zack Greinke was throwing up Ks. Ten to be exact. Over seven innings. In the meantime, the Brewers put up five runs. Which all meant it was time to put up a W.

Brewers 5, Rays 1

Game played 6-21-11

El Super Day

2011-06-20T23:38:00.001-05:00

In an otherwise forgettable week, Rickie Weeks gave us a little something to cheer about. While the Brewers were putting together a 2-5 road trip, Weeks posted a .393/.393./.750 line. He hit two home runs and four doubles (eleven total hits) over six games--good enough for an El Super.

Speaking of forgettable events:

Rays 8, Brewers 4

Game played 6-20-11

A thing of the past ... and Happy Father's Day

2011-06-20T13:53:00.000-05:00

The past week was dubbed the historic baseball stadium portion of the Brewers schedule. The Crew played at Wrigley for four games and then headed to Boston for three at Fenway Park over the weekend.

This portion of the schedule made winning seem like a thing of the past as well. Milwaukee managed just two wins in the seven games.

The Brewers dropped the first game against the Red Sox when Shaun Marcum injured his hip flexor and left the game after the first inning. The bullpen had to eat the subsequent seven innings--and the Red Sox don't really have the sort of line-up where this approach is going to be very successful. Marcum gave up two runs in the first; followed by Marco Estrada's three over four innings; Danny Herrera's four in one inning (3 ER); and Tim Dillard's one run over two innings. That's 10 runs if you're scoring at home.

Red Sox 10, Brewers 4
Game played 6-17-11

Game two of the series pitted Randy Wolf against Jon Lester. On paper, this was not a match-up that I felt super confident about. After watching the Sox's explosive offensive power on Friday, I thought Wolf's off-speed stuff might seem like big meatballs to the likes of Gonzalez and Ortiz. Instead, Wolf was downright masterful. He held Boston to just two runs on nine hits and one walk. Kam Loe pitched a scoreless eighth inning and John Axford pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 19th save. It was beautiful.

Brewers 4, Red Sox 2
Game played 6-18-11

On paper, Milwaukee had the advantage in Sunday's game. Yovani Gallardo just had to be himself and the Brewers needed to take advantage of Tim Wakefield. That turned out to be too much for the Brewers. After a one-day hiatus, the Red Sox bats were back. They sent 11 batters to the plate IN THE FIRST INNING and scored six runs. Meanwhile, Wakefield's knuckleball befuddled Milwaukee all day. He held the Brewers to three hits--but two homeruns--in eight innings.

Red Sox 12, Brewers 3
Game played 6-19-11

I'm sort of at a loss for how I'm feeling about the Brewers today. Without a doubt, I'm much more upset about the Cubs series than the Red Sox series. The Red Sox are really good. Winning one game at Fenway isn't great but it's about what I expected. I have no explanation for the Cubs. Milwaukee is still in first place, however, so all is not lost. It's time to get hot again--if for no other reason than the fact that I'm going to Tuesday and Wednesday's games.

Also, a word about my Dad in honor of Father's Day. I'd be hard pressed to think of anyone who works harder than my Dad. He was a dairy farmer for 30+ years and then sold his cows, rented out the farm land and opened a bakery and restaurant--which had been a lifelong dream. He gets up most days at 4 am and is still at work late into the evening. Most days, he'd tell you he loves it.

Craig Counsell is my Dad's favorite player. My Dad refers to him as "his guy." So, whenever I see Craig Counsell play, I think of my Dad (and the fact that using All Along the Watchtower as walk-up music makes him seem older than he is). Happy Father's Day.

This series made Baby Jesus cry

2011-06-16T22:57:00.000-05:00

Only taking one game in a four game series from the Chicago Cubs was tough--especially after coming off the high of a three-game sweep of the Cardinals and taking over sole possession of first place in the NL Central. Despite my disappointment, I know that I need to keep things in perspective. Over the weekend, I read through the comments on Viva El Birdos, the Cardinals SB Nation blog site. (Seth was gone on a guys' weekend and I had a touch of the flu so I had a lot of alone time to kill.) It made me vow to have a better attitude because I never want to act like that.

On Tuesday, my co-worker Kent stopped by my office. He informed me that he had "finally dropped Casey McGehee" from his fantasy team.

"Wait," I said. "You've hung with him this long and now that he's getting hot, you're going to drop him. Big mistake."

He laughed at me. He said he picked up the Royals third baseman instead.

Casey didn't go crazy but he did have at least one hit in each game against the Cubs. Overall he went 5 for 17 with four RBI. Let's hope Kent really regrets his move.

*****

I've mentioned this before but I work in downtown Minneapolis, not too far from Target Field. Target Field is in the middle of the downtown area (no parking lots) so spectators often park any where they can find an open ramp. After work on Tuesday, as I walked toward the parking ramp elevator bank, I ran into a couple coming off of the elevator. They were both decked out in Cubs gear.

Uhhh, guys. You know that the Twins are playing the White Sox, right? The Cubs are at home.

Cubs 5, Brewers 4
Game played 6-14-11

Brewers 9, Cubs 5
Game played 6-15-11

Cubs 12, Brewers 7
Game played 6-16-11

El Super

2011-06-13T23:43:00.001-05:00

Prince Fielder.

Last week's stats: 10 for 20; 6 HR, 13 RBI; 1.500 SLG; .643 OBP; 30 total bases

'Nuff said.

Cubs 1, Brewers 0
Game played 6-13-11

First Place

2011-06-13T22:06:00.000-05:00

What a weekend! Behind the strength of a three-game sweep of St. Louis, the Brewers moved from second place in the NL Central, 2.5 games behind the Cardinals, to first place, .5 in front of the Cardinals. After a Friday night blow out, Milwaukee had to come back in Saturday and Sunday's contests to get the sweep. It doesn't get a whole lot better if you're a Brewers fan.

While I tried to savor the victories and the giddiness I felt inside, I felt it important not to overdo it. It was just a few weeks ago where I wondered whether Milwaukee would ever win on the road. It's a long season. A lot can happen.

Oh, what the hell. YES. YES. YES. YES. WINNING IS AWESOME. FIRST PLACE IS AWESOME. THROWING UP THE T. PRINCE HOME RUNS. YES. YES. YES. If I'm going to feel terrible when they lose, then I should get to feel happy when they win.

Brewers 4, Cardinals 3
Game played 6-12-11

Walkin' a mile in some Cardinals shoes

2011-06-12T11:31:00.000-05:00

Saturday night is often WMLW night, which usually means that those of us in the "out-of-market" area can get Brewers games only via the opponent's feed. I don't like it. I'm not an objective fan and, typically, I don't like to hear what the other side has to say. But at least I get to watch the game. Seth says that I am a poor loser, so in an effort to improve my sportsmanship, I'm going to walk a mile in a Cardinals fan's shoes.

Bring on Rick Horton and Al Hrabosky. I'm ready.

Top of the first inning.
Rick: The Cardinals would like to get on top. Very important series, Al. The Cardinals dropping game one, but the Brewers and Cardinals, you know it's going to be fun baseball. Every time these two teams come together, the last few seasons, you know, you're going to get a ball game.
Al: The Cardinals have a lot of veteran leadership, and, you know, when you talk about the big three and here the good eye by Berkman ... But this Milwaukee ball club is trying to prove to themselves that they can play with the Cardinals.

Bottom of the first.
Al: Carpenter knows his assignment: go deep into this ballgame but re-establish ... And one: go deep. Save that bullpen a little bit. It's been worked an awful lot of late. And two, you know, go out there and be the ace. Stop this little losing streak. Tell Milwaukee that you're the stepchild; you're not good enough to be with us.

Top of the fifth. After John Jay makes a very nice catch robbing Casey McGehee of extra bases in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Rick: I love the reaction of his teammates on the field. Certainly reaction in the Cardinal dugout but Ryan Theriot clapping his hands. Albert clapping his hands. Carpenter waiting on the mound for John Jay to come in from rightfield and gave him a high five. Very appreciative of the effort of John Jay.

Bottom of the fifth.
Rick: We mentioned early in the telecast, in case you missed it, it's the night for saluting the Hispanic baseball players throughout the game done by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce here in Milwaukee. They do it every year so this is Cerveceros Day. The Cardenales and the Cerveceros.
Al: I like the idea but a little surprising to me that we'd be doing it in Milwaukee. Didn't think this would be a big Hispanic hot bed.

Top of the eighth.
Al: They're a very good ball club. They're not going away. Talked about it last night that Milwaukee a few years ago you saw this very very talented offensive ballclub. Didn't have much pitching. Almost with the arrival of Braun, the emergence of Prince Fielder. And then they got a little cocky. They started winning but didn't know how to win with class. Taking out the shirttails and kinda rubbin' it in your face. But now they've got starting pitching; they've got a good closer; Loe's become a good set-up man; and they're starting to understand, you know they've got a good management team. Ron Roenicke his first year here, he's got them playing very well. Feeling good about themselves. No need to play with ... I'll say, it, playing with class.

In the spirit of seeing things from the other team's perspective, I'll pepper in a few quotes from Viva El Birdos, the Cardinals SB Nation site.

Wat are these uniforms?
Designed by Ryan Braun?
Also, for a minute, I thought we were playing the Padres.

very glad that I don't have to listen milwaukee announcers today, had to yesterday
assholes, imo.

Oh and fuck these guys for screwing around with the Cards' uniforms
just because there are people in Milwaukee who are unaware of Hispanics.

Brewers 5, Cardinals 3
Game played 6-11-11

Brewers 8, Cardinals 0
Game played 6-10-11

Intoxicated by victory; a little hungover the next day

2011-06-12T08:54:00.000-05:00

It was easy to soak up Wednesday night's game and post-game festivities--the comeback; the Nyjer Morgan interview--it was the kind of thing a fan lives for. One writer described the end of Morgan's FS Wisconsin interview thusly:

Finally, he sprints off to the clubhouse, intoxicated by victory and soaked in sweat.

[Note: I think he was soaked in Gatorade that Prince dumped on him.]

It would have been hard for Thursday's game, the rubber match between the Brewers and Mets, to live up to the previous night's contest. Even with Packers QB Aaron Rodgers throwing out the first pitch, the Crew was a little flat. Yovani Gallardo didn't have his best stuff and he strugged through 4+ innings, giving up four runs on ten hits. The offense managed just one run on four hits. Not a terrible game by any means but it was sort of a let down after the high of Wednesday night's game.

Mets 4, Brewers 1
Gamed played 6-9-11

Throwing up the T

2011-06-08T23:25:00.002-05:00

After falling behind 6-2 on Wednesday night, the Brewers staged a frantic eighth inning rally to tie the score. Prince's second home run of the night got the game back to even. In the bottom of the ninth, with Craig Counsell on second and two outs, Nyjer Morgan sent a liner down the right field line to score the game winner.

After the game, Mark Concannon on FSWIS attempted to catch up with our hero.

MC: OK, Craig, thank you. And Nyjer...

Nyjer Morgan: What are we looking at? [Points toward camera; not sure where he should look.]

MC: Lookin' right there, my friend. You hit the game winning hit...

NM: I didn't know [voice gets high; laughs].

MC: You didn't know?

NM: I thought we were winning and ahhh just looking for a pitch and ahhh I guess I got it and takin' it down the line. But ahhh, man I didn't even know what time it was or anything, even though we got all the scoreboards and everything. I was just out there having fun.

MC: And what a win; to come back from 6 to 2 ...

NM: Yahhhh.

MC: so late. This is a huge win for you guys.

NM: Oh you know, I mean, we definitely ...

[Prince sneaks up and dumps water or Gatorade over NM's head. NM starts jumping up and down and saying "Yah. Yah. Yah."]

MC: It's a hot day, folks, Nyjer needs to cool off.

[Nyjer then points to the camera or someone and continues to jump up and down.]

NM: You see it? You see it? [Forms a T with his hands.] Throwing up the T. There it is. Throwing it up. Yahhhhhh. What up?

MC: Tell us about the ole Braveheart stuff from the dugout here. [Bends forward; makes motion away from camera.]

NM: What Braveheart?

MC: You had the arrows going?

NM: Oh no, that's a Usain Bolt.

MC: Ohhh, that's Usain Bolt. OK.

NM: Yah, you're cocking it back and letting it fly. [Pulls back the bow and let's it fly.] Haaah! Ha ha ha.

MC: Well, you let it fly tonight, my friend. This has got to be a great feeling. You get a chance now to win the series tomorrow and keep up the terrific play of late.

NM: Yeah, no, I mean, we just gotta come back, you know, tonight's over with. We're going to enjoy this for tonight but tomorrow get back to work and bring the pain again. Ahhhhh [flexes]. I gotta go. [Throws hands up in the air and runs away from Mark back to the clubhouse.]

Brewers 7, Mets 6
Game played 6-8-11

Laughing matter

2011-06-07T07:49:00.001-05:00

In Sunday's game against the Florida Marlins, Bill Schroeder talked at length about "Cuban coffee." He said that he always has two before every game when he's in Florida. And then he laughed and proceeded to be in a good mood for the rest of the game.

Bill was even joking around about the possibility of Josh Wilson hitting a home run when he came to the plate of the eleventh inning. And then he hit it. Bill laughed and said, "you never know."

While Bill might attribute his good mood to Cuban coffee, what has most of us smiling these days is a 5-2 road trip. The win gives the Brewers a much more respectable 13-19 road record and a 34-26 overall record. No team has been hotter than the Milwaukee Brewers. And that makes me smile.

Brewers 7, Marlins 2
Game played 6-6-11

Brewers 6, Marlins 5 (11 innings)
Game played 6-5-11

Brewers 3, Marlins 2
Game played 6-4-11

Loes and Highs

2011-06-04T17:03:00.001-05:00

The Brewers have not been good on the road (9-18 prior to Wednesday's game) and they haven't been good against the Reds (2-6 in 2011 prior to Wednesday's game) thus far. It looked like the Brewers might be turning a corner, however, after a 2-2 West Coast road trip, followed by an 8-1 homestand. Milwaukee dropped the first of three to Cincinnati on Monday but took Tuesday's contest.

So, entering Wednesday's game, I felt that if Milwaukee could win on Wednesday and take 2 of 3 from the Reds in Cincinnati, it would signal that that corner had indeed been turned. Milwaukee got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning and 3-0 after the fourth inning. Shaun Marcum was cruising along. Things looked good. Marcum, as is becoming customary, tired, and he gave up a two-run home run to Jay Bruce in the seventh inning. Still, the Brewers had the lead, 3-2.

Kam Loe came in to pitch the eighth inning and recorded two quick outs. He then hit Brandon Phillips with a pitch and Joey Votto followed by crushing Loe's offering 450 feet. In the blink of an eye, the lead was gone. The Brewers went out with a whimper in the ninth. Game over. Corner unturned. I was devastated. I couldn't sleep.

It is sort of scary to me how much I care about the Brewers. Sometimes it's hard to remember it's just one game out of 162.

After an off-day, Milwaukee was in Florida to take on the Marlins. Friday's game took on an eerily similar feel after the Brewers took leads of 2-0 and 4-1, only to see the Marlins take a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning. The Brewers got two runners on in the eighth but the middle of the line-up failed to plate any runs.

In the ninth, the Marlins sent the league's leader in saves, Leo Nunez, to the mound. He had converted 19 of 20 save opportunities. Things were not looking pretty. Would it be another blown opportunity?

Yuniesky Betancourt led off the inning with a single (although he tried to get picked off after he made too wide of a turn). A glimmer of hope. Ryan Braun, who was sitting out the game with a sore shoulder, came to the plate to hit for the pitcher. Braun was made for moments like this and he didn't disappoint. After working the count to 1-1, Braun tagged one to the blue seats in leftfield. In the blink of an eye, the Brewers went ahead.

Axford closed out the ninth for the win. I was so excited I couldn't sleep.

Reds 4, Brewers 3
Game played 6-1-11

Brewers 6, Marlins 5
Game played 6-3-11

Victory is ours!

2011-06-01T07:43:00.000-05:00

As you may recall, I had an epic battle with DIRECTV regarding the blackout of a Brewers-Padres game a few weeks ago. Today, I received a $5 customer loyalty credit.

Today is also the day that the Brewers finally won at Great American Ballpark.

I don't think it was a coincidence.

Brewers 7, Reds 2
Game played 5-31-11

Better Late Than Never: It's El Super Day

2011-05-31T17:52:00.000-05:00

This was a good week for the Brewers. They went 5-1, with the only loss coming at the hands of Tim Lincecum on Friday night. In reviewing this week’s splits, it was difficult to single out any one player. Nearly everyone had a good week. As a result, I’m turning to an arbitrary and random stat to choose this week’s winner—pitchers who hit home runs and have nasty breaking stuff in games that I attend (PWHHRAHNBSIGTIA). And since I went to Wednesday’s game and because Zack Greinke had both a home run and nasty breaking stuff, he wins.

One other thing. You know what would be El Super? Beating the Reds.

Reds 7, Brewers 3

Game played 5-29-11

The Giants Series

2011-05-31T17:47:00.000-05:00

This winter I decided to sign up for a triathlon that will take place in mid-August. I had knee surgery last summer so my idea was that this triathlon would be my triumphant return (to finishing in the bottom 25% of my age bracket.) Having something like this on my calendar is usually the best way to keep me on track. Without a goal, I flounder.

That is why when I started my blog last season over Memorial Day weekend, I made the simple rule that I had to write something about every game, and whatever I wrote had to be posted before the next game began. And when things got busy or I didn’t know what to say, I just remembered that it didn’t have to be brilliant or enlightening, it just had to be something—even a sentence or two would work. It was the same with my training; even if I just got in the pool and swam a few laps or even if I rode the stationary bike for 20 minutes, it would be good enough.

Of course, I find myself slacking on both fronts. Some days I can’t think of anything interesting to write. Some days I don’t want to work out. It seems like it used to be a lot easier. I used to be able to go out and run five miles without much effort. I used to write really brilliant comparisons of how baseball games were like Smirnoff Wild Grape or Mariah Carey falling on her ass. I used to see someone at the grocery store and it would end up being just like that night’s game.

Frustrated by my lack of effort/creativity, I decided to at least tackle the triathlon training over the Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday, I went for a 13-mile bike ride and worked in the garden. (I’m always surprised by what a good hamstring workout gardening is.) On Sunday, I did the P90X legs (think lots and lots of squats and lunges) and back workout with ab ripper X. I then jogged “around the block” (one mile) to stretch out my legs and then I walked around the Mall of America for an hour or so. You know you’re going to be in trouble when laying down hurts. Sleeping was painful. I could hardly walk on Monday so I sat on the couch and watched 11 episodes of Friday Night Lights because it hurt too much to do anything else. And then I watched the Brewers-Reds game.

Today is blogger boot camp (because, apparently, I was too sore to write anything). Hopefully it won’t take 11 more episodes of Friday Night Lights to recover from this exercise.

Brewers take 2 of 3 from Giants

1. Funny how things work out sometimes. Buster Posey’s season came to an abrupt end last Wednesday when a home plate collision resulted in a broken bone and torn ligaments in his leg/ankle. Along with Posey, San Francisco placed Mike Fontenot and Darren Ford on the DL and called up Chris Stewart, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt for the Milwaukee series. Crawford collected his first big league hit in the game—a grand slam—that ended up being the difference in the game.

Milwaukee did have a chance to tie the game in the eighth inning, but Posey’s back up, Eli Whiteside, held onto the ball in a play-at-the-plate as Prince Fielder tried to score. It was pretty risky sending Fielder and the throw arrived at home plate with Fielder only two-thirds of the way down the line. Seeing Prince running home at top speed has to be one of the scarier things a catcher can experience. I’m glad that the play was clean and that Whiteside didn’t get hurt. I do wish, however, that Prince would have been safe. Giants 5, Brewers 4. Game played 5-27-11

2. Finding new and exciting ways to score. Carlos Gomez hit a ground ball down the right field line in the first inning of Saturday’s game that turned into an inside-the-park home run when Cody Ross missed the ball and it went into the corner. Sometimes I wonder how my life might be different if I were as fast as Carlos Gomez.

Milwaukee led 2-0 for most of the game but the Giants tied the score in the top of the eighth. Braun and Fielder singled to start the ninth. McGehee moved them over with a ground out. Yuniesky Betancourt was intentionally walked (!) to load the bases with one out. Jonathan Lucroy batted for Wil Nieves and took the first pitch for a ball. The next pitched was bunted at the pitcher Mota. His only chance was to catch it with his glove and shovel it home in one motion. Mota whiffed and Braun was safe. Game over. I celebrated with a piece of chocolate cake. I think chocolate cake is the best thing ever. Ryan Braun is only slightly behind chocolate cake on my list of best things ever. Brewers 3, Giants 2. Game played 5-28-11

3. Less close is good, too. Milwaukee led Sunday’s game from start to finish and Yovani Gallardo gave up just four hits and one walk over eight innings in a 6-0 shutout of the Giants. The win upped Milwaukee’s home record to 21-7. I have no idea why Milwaukee has been so good at home and so bad on the road. Much has been written about it; theories abound. Now would be the time to solve that riddle. Brewers 6, Giants 0. Game played 5-29-11

I love this place

2011-05-28T09:54:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday, my brother, mom and I played hooky and headed to Miller Park. Tailgating was out due to the weather but the retractable roof meant the game was on. My mom always says that's it's nice to know that after driving 5+ hours that there will be a game no matter what.

There was a tremendous crowd (34,419) at the game. (It appeared that there was a school promotion as the place was packed with school kids.) I was proud of my fellow Brewers fans. It was a good showing for a Wednesday afternoon game.

Zack Greinke struck out ten (and LaTroy Hawkins and Kam Loe added one each). Oh, and Greinke also hit his first home run with the Brewers. (He had one in interleague play in 2005 with the Royals.)

Todd Coffey made an appearance for the Nationals, getting the final four outs. The crowd gave him a warm welcome when he sprinted to the mound.

Baseball is way better than work. Baseball is way better than work. Baseball is way better than work.

Brewers 6, Nationals 4

Game played 5-25-11

Road Trippin'

2011-05-25T08:58:00.001-05:00

When I was in high school, road tripping consisted of driving through corn fields while drinking Leinies. These days, road trips usually consist of picking up my Mom and driving to Milwaukee for a Brewers game.

On Tuesday, I played a softball double header after work, ran home, threw most of my Brewers clothing into a duffel bag and headed to Wisconsin. When I left St. Paul, the Brewers trailed 6-3. As I passed through River Falls, Carlos Gomez was striking out with Weeks on third and one out. Prince failed to get a big two-out hit and the score remained the same.

I was cruising down the Knapp Hills near Menomonie when Weeks hit his home run (after Counsell walked), shrinking the deficit to one in the seventh inning. I was in Eau Claire when the eighth inning rally happened. I missed the turn to my sister's house when Jonathan Lucroy's soft liner to right fell fair and scored Casey McGehee and Brandon Boggs for a 7-6 lead.

I convinced my Mom that we should watch Ax close out the ninth on TV so we joined my brother-in-law Jamison for that adventure. (We met at my sister's house so we could drive the rest of the way together.) My Mom got anxious after a few runners reached and decided that we needed to be driving for the Brewers to play well so we listened to the final out as we headed out of Eau Claire.

It is now 8:55 a.m. on Wednesday and my Mom is anxious to get back in the car to drive the last two hours to Miller Park to complete the first leg of the road trip. I'm hoping for a break out performance by Zack Greinke.

Oh, and don't worry, I am still going to have a Leinies--but it will have to wait until I get to the Stadium.

Brewers 7, Nationals 6
Game played 5-24-11

The problem with this one is going to be the acceptance speech

2011-05-23T23:32:00.000-05:00

That nifty little ballpark we like to call Brewers Stadium, The Fan, Petak's Petard, The Keg, The Iron Vagina, The Space Vagina, or just Miller Park--home to our Milwaukee Brewers--has ripped this week's El Super out of the very deserving hands of Shaun Marcum and Corey Hart.

Monday's 11-3 victory over the Washington Nationals was the Brewers' seventh straight home win. Milwaukee is now 10-1 at home in May and 17-6 at home overall. The only home loss in May came on the 11th, a 13-6 take down by the Padres. At home, the Brewers have a .291/.364/.847 slash line compared with a .220/.279/.333 road line (prior to Monday's game). Miller Park has been very good to the Brewers this year--and that's enough to earn this week's El Super.

Brewers 11, Nationals 3
Game played 5-23-11

That time again

2011-05-22T22:37:00.000-05:00

Fox Baseball Game of the Week and the associated blackout rules are stupid.

Then again, it gives me an opportunity to catch up on Yankees and Red Sox.

Brewers 3, Rockies 2
Gamed played 5-21-11

Totally worth the sleep deprivation

2011-05-22T11:37:00.000-05:00

After staying up late for all of the West Coast games, I was crabby on Friday--Andy Rooney crabby. I told Seth that he had to leave the house and leave me alone for a few hours. So we ate dinner and then he went to play poker. I opened a bottle of wine and got ready for the Brewers game. I figured I would be in bed by 10:30, 11 at the latest.

I noticed that no one over at Brew Crew Ball was available to do the game recap and, in typical Rachel fashion, I volunteered. I was going to watch the game in real time anyway. I might as well write a short recap and help out Kyle.

After drinking a glass of wine, I felt my crabbiness dissipating. The Brewers took an early lead by playing a little small ball. Rickie Weeks led off the first with a double and was bunted over to second by Corey Hart. He scored when Ryan Braun grounded out to shortstop. As I mentioned in my post after Thursday's game, I have to agree with this strategy. I know that plenty of others think that this is a poor strategy--especially in the first inning--because it may take the team out of a big inning. I disagree. I think it was important for Milwaukee to get on the board early after being shut out on Thursday. Plus, Hart can bunt for a base hit. I don't think that Milwaukee should do it every time that they hit a double to start the inning but I think that they should do it in some situations. (Milwaukee got the lead off hitter on in the first five innings but only scored in the first and the fourth innings.)

It was a close game with Colorado taking 2-1, 3-2 and 4-2 leads. Milwaukee kept fighting back and tied the game on an eighth inning homer by Casey McGehee. I started writing my recap with both a scenario that had the Brewers losing (which I wrote first, as to not jinx the team) and one with them winning. But this game would not end. Seth got home a little after 11 and was surprised to see me awake.

When the Rockies scored in the top of the thirteenth inning, I re-wrote my introductory paragraph for a 5-4 Rockies victory. Yuniesky Betancourt spoiled that paragraph with a towering solo shot. I wrote another intro paragraph with the Brewers losing after Betancourt booted a double play ball and Dexter Fowler followed with a single to drive in the go-ahead run.

I really felt like this was it. THIS was the intro that I would be using for the recap. Hart grounded out. I kept writing. Braun worked the count and was walked. I stopped typing. Paulino threw over to first to chase Braun back. And then he delivered the pitch, Prince turned on it and unleashed what looked like a home run swing. The cameras picked up the balls flight and it was carrying. It cleared the fence and ended up way, way back.

It was one of those moments where you can't quite believe what you are seeing. Hitting a home run is a difficult feat. Hitting a home run in that situation is unbelievable. I had the wherewithal to move the laptop off of my lap before I jumped to my feet and screamed, "YES, YES, YES!"

Game time was 4:35. It ended just before midnight. Who needs sleep?

BCB recap link.

Brewers 7, Rockies 6
Game played 5-20-11

I had hoped for more

2011-05-20T00:03:00.002-05:00

I'm tired and more than a little cranky. I feel like Andy Rooney about to go off on a rant that makes no sense. "You know what the problem with fruit is? There are too many kinds of fruit. ... "

The Brewers just wrapped up a four-game West Coast road trip with a 2-2 record. I stayed up for all four games except for Wednesday night's game where I went to bed after Milwaukee gave up the third run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

For some reason, when I get tired, I can't hear things clearly. For example, I swear that Jeff Grayson keeps calling Davey Nelson "baby." Which is just weird.

(On Monday night, I thought Rock called Rod Barajas a sweaty guy but he actually said something about Marcum feeding him a steady diet [of some sort of pitch].)

After going 2-8 on the previous road trip, a 2-2 trip is not terrible. I feel disappointed, however, because all the games were winnable. Milwaukee pitched well but was shut out in both losses.

"But, Baby, let's talk about Chris Narveson." I swear that Jeff just said it again.

Narveson pitched very well on Thursday going 7.1 innings and giving up just four hits and one walk but the lack of offense did the Crew in once again. They were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position in Thursday night's 1-0 loss. On this trip, they went 6 for 43 (.139) with runners in scoring position. Given this, maybe 2-2 is miraculous. (Does this sound too optimistic for an Andy Rooney type rant?)

Here's my thought about Thursday's game. When you are having a lot of trouble scoring runs on the road (and you are playing in a cavernous stadium), does it make sense to try to manufacture runs? I think back to the fourth inning where Prince led off the inning with a double. Should the Brewers have tried to bunt him over to third with one out in hopes of getting on the board? I know that it is not a great strategy every night (and I don't even know if Casey McGehee CAN bunt) but given how the game was going maybe it made sense. (Or, you know, the Brewers could have scored one run in the first inning when they had one out and runners on second and third.)

Dodgers 3, Brewers 0
Game played 5-17-11

Brewers 5, Padres 2
Game played 5-18-11

Padres 1, Brewers 0
Game played 5-19-11

The El Superest

2011-05-17T00:22:00.000-05:00

Another Monday, another El Super. This week the El Super goes to Jonathan Lucroy. Since coming off the DL on April 12, Lucroy has posted a .329/.378/.500 line. In four games over the last week, Lucroy went 7 for 15 (.467) with one walk, two doubles and two home runs. He posted a 1.000 SLG and .500 OBP. He also seems to have made up with Randy Wolf.

Brewers 2, Dodgers 1
Game played 5-16-11

Potential for injury

2011-05-15T23:29:00.000-05:00

For the first four innings of Sunday's game, Zack Greinke looked as if he might cruise to an easy victory. Milwaukee struck for four first inning runs and tacked on single runs in the second and third innings to take a 6-0 lead. Meanwhile, Greinke gave up just a walk through four innings and faced the minimum.

But the fifth inning nearly did Greinke and the Brewers in. Neil Walker fought through a 12-pitch at-bat before hitting a lead-off homer. After that, Greinke struggled. He gave up four more runs in the inning and didn't return for the sixth inning. There was some speculation that Greinke tired and that he will need a few more starts before he returns to the form that earned him a Cy Young award.

Although the Brewers held on to win (no thanks to some serious ninth inning drama), Greinke's injury got me thinking about the potential for other players to face a similar fate. What are other Brewers doing in the off-season or on their off-days? Is it safe? I turned to the 2011 Media Guide for answers.

-Ron Roenicke enjoys woodworking, golf, fishing and hunting.
-Ed Sedar enjoys movies and cooking.
-Dale Sveum enjoys tennis, golf, fly fishing and hunting.
-John Axford enjoys reading and movies, particularly foreign films.
-Brandon Boggs enjoys playing basketball and watching movies.
-Ryan Braun enjoys the beach, water sports, music, movies and cars.
-Craig Counsell on 12/29/07 made a cameo appearance (in uniform) in the Milwaukee Ballet's performance of The Nutty Nutcracker.
-Prince Fielder enjoys listening to music and spending time with his kids.
-Carlos Gomez enjoys rap music and also raps himself in his free time; and enjoys watching track events.
-Brandon Kintzler enjoys golf, basketball and poker.
-Mark Kotsay enjoys golf and fishing.
-Kameron Loe enjoys video games, playing poker, golf and kickboxing.
-Shaun Marcum enjoys golf, fantasy football and spending time with with his family.
-Chris Narveson enjoys golf, hunting and fishing.
-Wil Nieves' interests include golf, dining at restaurants and religion.
-Takashi Saito enjoys cooking and singing.
-Mitch Stetter enjoys ping-pong, cooking and fantasy football.
-Rickie Weeks enjoys music and fantasy football.
-Randy Wolf enjoys poker and is an avid movie-goer.

Overall, Ed Sedar, John Axford, Prince Fielder, Shaun Marcum, Wil Nieves, Takashi Saito, Mitch Stetter, Rickie Weeks and Randy Wolf seem the least likely to be injured while enjoying their self-reported favorite leisure time activities. I rated Ron Roenicke (woodworking), Ryan Braun (water sports), Craig Counsell (ballet), Carlos Gomez (rapping) and Kam Loe (kickboxing) as the most likely to injure themselves. I think the front office needs to take a look at this list. Bubble wrap shouldn't be ruled out.

Brewers 9, Pirates 6
Game played 5-15-11

Saturday's recap can be found at Brew Crew Ball.
Brewers 8, Pirates 2
Game played 5-14-11

Letting go [when stupid idiots try to ruin your viewing experience]

2011-05-13T18:10:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the late posting. I have had some problems with my internet access the last few days.

I have trouble letting things go. This would explain why, after 40 minutes on the phone with DirectTV, I was still demanding that they show me the Brewers-Padres game on Tuesday night.

When I turned to channel 669-1, DirectTV told me that the game was blacked out. It made no sense. FS Wisconsin was broadcasting the game; the game was being shown in Wisconsin; there is no reason that it should have been blacked out for a viewer in Minnesota. So I called DirectTV because I thought that they would quickly see that this was an error and un-blackout the game.

“They” would not authorize DirectTV to show the game outside of Wisconsin, the service reps said. When I asked for further clarification, I was told that the Milwaukee Brewers organization did not authorize the game to be shown outside of Wisconsin because they did not sell enough tickets. I asked the reps to think about that and see if it made any sense. The only people who could be reasonably expected to purchase tickets were being shown the game but the rest of us were not allowed to see it because ….? I was just told over and over again that the Brewers blacked the game out due to lack of sales and that if I had read the fine print in the Major League Extra Innings package I would have known that all games are subject to blackout rules.

“But there is nothing about this game that would trigger a blackout rule,” I said. “This is a problem between DirectTV and FS-Wisconsin. Can you please figure out what the problem is and fix it instead of feeding me a load of garbage that we both know isn’t true?” And then they repeated that the Brewers wouldn’t authorize DirectTV to show the game because of lack of ticket sales. “But there is no blackout rule in baseball regarding ticket sales and out-of-market viewers,” I said.

Sensing that I was at a loss, Seth took over the call. “If it were based on ticket sales,” Seth said to the rep, “then how would you ever show a Pirates or Marlins game?”

When no one would help him, he hung up on them and threw the phone on the couch. So I called back and tried again. Same story with the new rep only she sounded like she was four. When I got to the part where I asked why the Brewers, who are already paying to broadcast the game, wouldn’t want to make it available to even more fans (who wouldn’t buy tickets anyway because they are in other STATES), she wouldn’t answer me. In fact, when I asked if she was still listening, she started yelling at me. When I suggested that she look up DirectTV’s blackout rules on its website, she told me she didn’t have a computer. (Earlier a different rep told Seth that they didn’t have any TVs in their offices so he couldn’t see if he could get the game there.)

I finally gave up with the stupid, baby talking rep. I may have made a few parting shots to the effect that everyone at DirectTV was useless and that they were too stupid to do anything except read off of their non-existent computer screens.

In case you are wondering, here is the “fine print” from the DirectTV Extra Innings website regarding blackout rules.

If you live in a ZIP code that is within a Major League Baseball team’s territory, that team’s games will be blacked out on MLB EXTRA INNINGS® but will generally be available on your local regional sports network, cable network or over-the-air affiliate station. Blackouts protect the local rights holders who arrange separate distribution agreements for their exclusive territories.   In addition, because of the national exclusivity of both ESPN and FOX, there are no games available for distribution via this package on Saturday during the day or Sunday at night.

Brewers 8, Padres 6

Game played 5-10-11

Black-out worthy Attendance 22,861

If Zack Greinke Were A Trophy, He'd Be An El Super

2011-05-09T22:49:00.001-05:00

This week's El Super goes to those Brewers fans who hung in there and watched every game of Milwaukee's 10-game road trip. In posting a 2-8 record, the Brewers were shutout three times and nearly no-hit twice. It was brutal to watch and those that did so deserve to be recognized.

In most weeks, there is no reward for winning an El Super. This week, Brewers fans were rewarded with Zack Greinke. Greinke made his first start at Miller Park tonight and went six solid innings to earn his first victory with Milwaukee. Over six innings, Greinke gave up two runs on five hits and struck out nine.

Brewers 4, Padres 3
Game played 5-9-11

Thank My Mom For This Blog

2011-05-09T07:42:00.000-05:00

My Mom is a huge sports fan. I don’t remember my Dad being very into sports in my youth but because all of his children played sports and my Mom dominates the remote, he became a fan. With the exception of Duke basketball, which I inflicted on my family, all of my rooting interests were introduced to me by my Mom. And all of those interests involve Wisconsin sports teams. When the Brewers made the playoffs in 1982, my Mom watched the games. This is my earliest memory of baseball. I was eight or nine. I sat and watched with her and she explained the fundamentals of the game to me. Thanks to my Mom, I know that batting below .250 is not so good. I’m not sure what it was about baseball but I was instantly hooked. Paul Molitor became my favorite immediately. My Mom grew up before Title IV so she never got to play sports. She only got to watch her Dad and brothers. Just thinking about that pisses me off because she would have kicked ass.

Happy Mother's Day to the person that got me into this whole baseball thing.

I recapped Sunday's game at Brew Crew Ball. Check it out.

A good omen

2011-05-08T14:54:00.000-05:00

Saturday was the first truly nice day of spring. I took advantage of it by going for a bike ride along the Mississippi. At one point, a bright red cardinal flew in front of me. I took it as a sign. So did Yovani Gallardo.

Through seven innings of Saturday's game, Gallardo held the Cardinals hitless--which was a good thing because the Brewers had scored just one run. Gallardo gave up a single to start the eighth inning to Daniel Descalso but sent the next three Cardinal batters down to preserve the one-run lead. Milwaukee tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth and John Axford pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to snap the seven game losing streak.

In the event of another losing streak, I'd prefer if the Brewers were not scheduled to play Detroit. That might be too much excitement for a bike ride.

Brewers 4, Cardinals 0
Game played 5-7-11

Aptly named

2011-05-08T14:19:00.000-05:00

The only drama in Friday night's game against the St. Louis Cardinals was whether Jaime Garcia would pitch a perfect game. And, then, after he gave up a four-pitch walk to Casey McGehee with one out in the eighth inning, whether he would pitch a no-hitter. Seth said that if I was a fan of the game, I would want to see a perfect game or a no-hitter.

Umm, no, I do not want to see a no-hitter or perfect game pitched against the Brewers. So I glared at Seth and hoped for a hit. Yuniesky Betancourt finally broke through for a single in the eighth inning. Although the perfect game and no-hitter were off the table, the Brewers still trailed 6-0. And no amount of glaring at Seth could make the losing streak end at six.

Hang with 'em.

Cardinals 6, Brewers 0
Game played 5-6-11

Runs for the Brewers: Like rain the desert

2011-05-06T17:45:00.000-05:00

The good news: After putting up zeros in fourteen consecutive innings, the Brewers’ offense finally got on the board in the fifth inning of Thursday night’s game against the Braves. The bad news: it was their only run of the night and they gave up two.

Milwaukee dropped its sixth straight game on Thursday night, 2-1, to the Atlanta Braves. The losing streak includes a four-game sweep by the Braves. The Brewers offense has been nearly non-existent on the current road trip and the path to hits and runs probably won’t get much easier in St. Louis.

This sounds bad. Nonetheless, I'm going to grill some steak, drink some beer and enjoy the weekend. Maybe this is the right formula for run production.

Braves 2, Brewers 1

Game played 5-5-11

Well...

2011-05-05T18:07:00.000-05:00

... that pretty much sucked.

Game one: Braves 8, Brewers 3
Game two: Braves 8, Brewers 0
Games played 5-4-11

Home and Away

2011-05-03T23:30:00.001-05:00

Something to ponder during the rain delay. Double header scheduled for Wednesday.

Heading into Tuesday night’s match-up with the Braves, the Brewers had compiled a 13-15 record (8-5 home, 5-10 away). Thus far, the difference between the home and away records has been the offense.

At Miller Park, Milwaukee has a .301/.372/.473 line. On the road, .239/.293/.375. Despite having played two fewer games, they have walked 10 more times (47 vs. 37) and scored 10 more runs (65 vs. 55) at home. Check out the full stat line from Baseball Reference.

The pitching has been fairly consistent regardless of venue. The Brewers pitchers have a 3.86 ERA and 1.252 WHIP at home vs. 3.65 ERA and 1.309 WHIP on the road. More walks have been surrendered on the road (54 (3.6 per game) away vs. 33 (2.5 per game) at home). Stat line.

I tried to explain the differences by determining if the Brewers played better teams on the road. Milwaukee has played the Astros and Reds both at home and on the road. They have played the Braves at home and are in the midst of a series at Turner Field. They also played the Cubs at home. In addition, on the road, they have faced the Pirates, Nationals and Phillies. Other than the Phillies, it doesn't appear that the schedule is unbalanced (and the Brewers took 2 of 3 from the Phillies, in any case).

I know that it is early and this is a small sample size and all, but I was surprised by the offensive numbers. We'll have to see if these trends continue.

It's El Super Day

2011-05-02T23:18:00.002-05:00

The final El Super of April goes to Shaun Marcum. There were many worthy candidates but Marcum won the award for his seven solid innings against the Astros on Friday night. Marcum gave up just three hits and two walks, while striking out six.

The win against Houston gave Marcum a 3-1 record. In 36.2 innings pitched, Marcum has given up 11 runs (only nine earned) on 28 hits (three home runs) and 11 walks. He has struck out 34 and posted a 1.06 WHIP. Opponents are batting just .209 against Marcum.

*****
On Monday night, it appeared that Yovani Gallardo had returned to All-Star form. With a slightly faster delivery than in previous starts, Yo gave up just a solo home run through five innings. The Brewers actually had the lead, 2-1, after a Yuniesky Betancourt triple (not a typo). But the good times did not last. Gallardo fell apart in the sixth inning, surrendering four runs. The Brewers would go on to lose 6-2.

Braves 6, Brewers 2
Game played 5-2-11

Goose egged: Part II

2011-05-01T23:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I wrote about goose eggs. Apparently I should have waited until today. Today, Milwaukee put up a goose egg in each and every inning (as opposed to just in eight of nine innings) as they dropped their second in a row to the Houston Astros, 5-0.

Bud Norris was nearly untouchable giving up just three hits and three walks, while striking out 11 in 7.2 innings. Chris Narveson took the loss for the Brewers, although he did not pitch badly. He gave up one run in the second inning and then surrendered a three-run homer to Carlos Lee in the sixth inning.

The Brewers will try to find their offense in Atlanta on Monday when they begin a four-game set with the Braves. The series will present some interesting story lines. Yovani Gallardo will try to turn things around on Monday; Nyjer Morgan will be activated on Tuesday; and Zack Greinke will pitch on Wednesday.

Astros 5, Brewers 0
Game played 5-1-11

Goose egged

2011-05-01T15:50:00.000-05:00

On Saturday night I attended by sister Megan's 28th birthday party. Aside from the french fry bar (yum!), the main attraction was the UFC fight. It was my first UFC fight night. While I was aware generally of UFC, I hadn't devoted any time to watching a match (mainly because I am too cheap to purchase it on pay-per-view). Despite the fact that I watch a fair number of boxing matches, I was not adequately prepared for the pummeling that often takes place during UFC matches. The concept that you can get someone on his back and then beat his face in is somewhat novel to me.

Take, for example, the Jose Aldo-Mark Hominick featherweight bout. Aldo got Hominick on the ground and nailed him in the forehead with his fist and then his forearm. The largest goose egg that I ever saw soon formed above Himinick's right eye. The announcer described it as a second head. Did the fight stop? Hell no, the doctor said he was good to go. Going into the fifth and final round, Hominick seemed to be bleeding from three places on his face, with the hematoma growing by the minute. Yet, Hominick fought on. Eventually he got Aldo to the ground and then hit him with everything that he had. Hominick didn't end up winning but he never gave up even as his face became horribly disfigured.

Likewise, through eight innings on Saturday night, the Brewers put a big goose egg on the scoreboard. Wandy Rodriguez confounded the Brewers all night. He gave up seven hits but Milwaukee couldn't string enough hits together to plate any runs. Randy Wolf kept the Brewers in the game, giving up a single run in the first inning and then blanking the Astros through seven innings.

The Brewers seemed like Hominick pinned against the cage--unable to get up; unable to score any points--until Prince Fielder came to the plate with one out in the top of the ninth inning. After working the count to 3-1, he clubbed a game-tying homer to right field. But like the fight, the comeback didn't completely materialize. Cam Loe got the first two hitters out relatively easily in the bottom of the ninth but then walked the next two batters. Loe seemed to get out of the jam by striking out Jason Bourgeois but the close pitch was called a ball. Bourgeouis then singled in the winning run. A black eye in an otherwise solid pitching performance.

Astros 2, Brewers 1
Game played 4-30-11

On Friday night, the Brewers hit two solo shots in the first inning and Shaun Marcum scattered three hits over seven innings to lead Milwaukee to a 5-0 victory over the Houston Astros. Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder hit back-to-back home runs with two outs in the opening inning against Brett Myers. Yuniesky Betancourt followed with a solo shot, his first as a Brewer, in the fourth inning. Mitch Stetter (.1) and Brandon Kintzler (1.2) completed the shut out.

Marcum's performance takes him to 3-1 on the year with a 2.21 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.

Brewers 5, Astros 0
Game played 4-29-11

Concussed

2011-04-28T23:16:00.001-05:00

During Tuesday’s game we learned that Erick Almonte had been placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list and that Corey Hart had been activated to take his place on the roster. Hart was poised to make his 2011 debut in Wednesday’s game but his return was moved up a game when Craig Counsell nailed Almonte between the eyes with a thrown ball during batting practice. Almonte became the first player in MLB history to be placed on the seven-day DL.

Next came news that Almonte spent the night under supervision. "We had somebody spend the night with him last night and we didn't get a call, which is good," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said Wednesday. "Any time you have a concussion, the doctors now really don't like you to spend the night (alone)."

Wait…. What? Did the supervision take place in his hotel room? Who supervised? Did this person spend the entire night watching Almonte sleep? I get the impression that Almonte was not in a hospital so I picture Almonte in a hotel room with an intern struggling to stay awake, watching him sleep. Perhaps because he was the first player to be placed on this new DL, we're just getting more details than usual.

Without Almonte, the Brewers went 1-1. On Tuesday, the Crew finally beat the Reds, 3-2. The Reds bounced back to take game three, 7-6, in ten innings.

Brewers 3, Reds 2

Game played 4-26-11

Reds 7, Brewers 6 (10 innings)

Game played 4-27-11

El Super and Whatever is the Opposite of El Super

2011-04-25T23:15:00.002-05:00

Captain Obvious has arrived with an El Super for Ryan Braun. In a week where he inked a big deal to remain a Brewer through 2020, Braun also batted .480 (12-for-25) with three home runs and nine RBI. During the week, Milwaukee posted a 4-2 record and improved to 11-10 on the season.

*******

Tonight, I'm giving an Opposite of El Super to warning track power. In the first of three against the Reds, the Brewers hit six balls to the warning track and two more off the wall for doubles. Carlos Gomez was the chief offender hitting the ball to the warning track in the first, fifth, seventh and ninth innings. Braun was the only one who actually got the ball over the wall and his homer came in the bottom of the ninth with the Brewers trailing by six runs.

Some days you come up just short. And some days your team comes up four runs short. Sometimes it's on the same day.

Reds 9, Brewers 5
Game played 4-25-11

His moment to shine

2011-04-24T23:28:00.000-05:00

I celebrated Easter with my family this weekend. The big news in our family is that my brother is getting married this summer. Probably bigger news to Nick was that we let him say more than two sentences during the meal. See, Nick has had the distinct pleasure of growing up with five sisters. He's the fifth of six kids. Nick has sat quietly through many meals while we all blathered on and on about ourselves. Today, we were interested in what he had to say. We needed more wedding details.

"Nick," my sister Alice said. "I've been thinking about your bachelor party and I've got it: You, all of your sisters and Chubby's North. Think about it."

After years of sitting on the sidelines, Nick is finally front and center.

It's a little like Brandon Boggs. Boggs was selected by Texas in the 2004 draft and played in 101 games for the Rangers in 2008. He never made it back to the majors as a full-time basis, however, and following the 2010 season, he was granted free agency. The Brewers signed him in November. He seemed poised to make the team out of spring training (with the injury to Corey Hart) but the Brewers traded for Nyjer Morgan and kept Erick Almonte and Mark Kotsay to play right field.

Boggs was assigned to AAA Nashville and decided to accept the assignment rather than test the free agent market. He made the most out of Nashville, and when Morgan went on the DL last week, Boggs was called up to replace him. On Sunday, he hit a second inning home run to get the Brewers on the board. Milwaukee would go on to win 4-1 behind another strong pitching performance by Randy Wolf.

Good for Boggs for taking advantage of the spotlight while he has it.

Brewers 4, Astros 1
Game played 4-24-11

You can't hurry love ... or a Brewers victory

2011-04-23T16:32:00.000-05:00

There were so many things going on in Friday night's game, it took 3:44 to fit them all in.

First, we had to see how Ryan Braun would react in his first game after inking the big deal. Two words: Love Fest. The fans at Miller Park started the love fest with a standing ovation for Braun as he walked to home plate for his first at bat. Make a long-term commitment to us, and we'll shower you with love (unless you start sucking). Braun responded with a line out to right. In the third inning, Braun got a second standing ovation as he walked to the plate, and this time he loved us back with a three-run homer. On the night, Ryan went 3-4 with a walk. He has reached base in every game this season, while posting a .494 OBP.

Second, we had to see if we should be concerned about Yovani Gallardo. Since shutting out the Braves on 110 pitches on April 5, Gallardo has had some problems. In his first two starts of the year, Yo pitched 15 innings and gave up just two earned runs on nine hits. In the two that followed, Gallardo pitched 10.1 innings and gave up 11 runs. Against the Astros, Gallardo went six innings and gave up four runs on eight hits. He struck out seven Houston batters, his highest total of the season. Not a terrible performance by any means but not vintage Gallardo. The jury is still out on this one.

Third, we had to see if we missed Bill Hall. Ummm, no. Although Hall collected a hit and a walk, and scored a run, I think it is safe to say that Houston can keep Hall and his .203 batting average.

Finally, we needed to fit in the win. Nicely done.

Brewers 14, Astros 7
Game played 4-22-11

On Ryan Braun’s contract extension

2011-04-22T18:38:00.002-05:00

I have always been a big Ryan Braun fan, so, needless to say, when news of his contract extension broke yesterday, I was ecstatic. Barring some unforeseen scenario, Braun will be a Brewer until 2020. If nothing else, this makes my decision to get a Braun jersey a good long-term investment.

The reaction was immediate and, for the most part, based upon a statistical analysis of whether it was good for the Brewers, good for Braun or good for both. On one hand, the extension was surprising because the Brewers already had Braun under contract until 2015. On the other hand, it keeps Braun from being able to test the free agency market after 2015. In all likelihood, he’ll be a Brewer for life.

During spring training this year, I had a serious discussion with my husband about whether Ryan Braun really needed me anymore. “He doesn’t seem to need my love any more,” I said. “Maybe another Brewer needs it more. I mean, how much better can he get?”

Seth put an end to this quickly. “I don’t know if Ryan Braun ever needed your love,” Seth said. “But you need to love him. You need a Brewer to love.”

And that pretty much sums it up, folks. I love Ryan Braun. He makes my Brewers experience better. I can’t envision a time when I won’t wait for the third spot in the batting order to come around. I can’t envision a time when I won’t want him to be a Milwaukee Brewer. There isn't always a rational reason for why you love a particular player but you will almost always gravitate toward one in particular.

I was never very good at stats. I dropped out of my college stats class half way through so I could devote more time to drinking. You can’t really change who you love, nor should you.

What are the chances?

2011-04-20T07:49:00.000-05:00

It snowed A LOT and the Brewers lit up Roy Halladay for six runs on 10 hits and three walks, while Randy Wolf and the bullpen hurled a shut out. Really. All of this happened on Tuesday, April 19.

Brewers 9, Phillies 0
Game played 4-19-11

The straw that stirs the Brewers' drink

2011-04-18T23:34:00.001-05:00

This week's El Super goes to pitcher Shaun Marcum. On Wednesday, Marcum went seven innings against the Pirates and gave up just four hits and one walk. Tonight, he held the powerful Phillie offense to just five hits in six innings. He gave up no earned runs in either game. He also picked up two hits in four at-bats.

In his four starts this season, Marcum has pitched 23.2 innings and given up 18 hits and 7 runs, good for a 1.90 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. AND good enough for an El Super.

In the pre-game tonight, Rock described Prince Fielder as the straw that stirs the Brewers' drink offensively. This wasn't exactly the case tonight, but, after blowing a ninth inning lead, the Brewers bullpen strung together three scoreless innings and the offense eventually came around to take the opener from Philadelphia, 6-3, in twelve innings.

Brewers 6, Phillies 3 (12 innings)
Game played 4-18-11

Blogged down

2011-04-17T22:23:00.000-05:00

I went out of town this weekend so I ended up watching all three Nationals games today.

I was in Iowa over the weekend hanging out with a friend from college and her family. On Saturday afternoon, I plopped myself down in a recliner and didn't get up except to eat and go to bed. The effort it took to get up was so great that I decided to limit all unnecessary movement. [I'm sure there's a Yuniesky Betancourt joke that I could make here.] I'm sure that I seemed like an ungrateful house guest. I didn't really talk to anyone except that I did respond "yes" when asked if I was sleeping. Everyone said that I was OK but they were probably just being polite.

Kind of like the Brewers. It would be nice to say that it is OK that they got swept by the Washington Nationals but it's probably not a great thing to do with a series with the Phillies beginning Monday. On the other hand, now that it's done there's not much sense in continuing to feel bad about it. Move on and do better next time.

Nationals 4, Brewers 3 (10 innings)
Game played 4-15-11

Nationals 8, Brewers 4
Nationals 5, Brewers 1
Games played 4-17-11

Pitching is what's new

2011-04-15T16:40:00.001-05:00

The other day I was on the phone with a senior vice president from my Company. He asked, “what’s new?” I never know how to answer this question with a co-worker. Should I say, “not too much; just keepin’ it real”? Should I explain that my brother got engaged and I’m trying to diet so I don’t look fat in the wedding pictures (but am failing miserably)?

I rejected all of these options and instead went with: “Well, I’m excited that it’s finally baseball season.” It turned out to be the right way to answer this question as we were able to: a) discuss the weather in the Midwest (which people who live in warmer climates always like to do); and b) discuss baseball. I think he appreciated my helpful insight regarding the Seattle Mariners lack of offense. Man, Justin Smoak needs to start hitting. Baseball might be the best thing that’s happened to my career in a while.

I like to imagine that if Ron Roenicke were asked, “what’s new?” at his post-game press conference on Thursday night, he’d have answered, “Well, our starting pitching doesn’t suck this year.” [And then immediately found some wood to strike with his knuckles so as to not jinx the 2011 season.]

After a rainout on Tuesday, Shaun Marcum took the mound on Wednesday night against Pittsburgh. Marcum went seven innings and gave up only four hits and one walk. In fact, both Marcum and Pirates pitcher Kevin Correia took no-hitters into the fifth inning. The Pirates led off the fifth inning with two singles but were unable to score. Milwaukee’s first hit came in the sixth inning when Jonathan Lucroy made a triumphant return from the DL with a lead-off double. Marcum bunted him to third and was safe on the play. Lucroy scored on a Carlos Gomez sacrifice fly. Braun then singled and both Braun and Marcum scored when Prince Fielder hit a home run to center field. Zach Braddock, Kam Loe and Mitch Stetter held the Pirates scoreless over the last two innings to preserve the shut out.

Thursday night was Randy Wolf’s turn to shine. Prior to his most recent start, Wolf had struggled. He gave up six earned runs in four innings against Cincinnati and two earned runs in six innings against the Cubs (although he pitched worse than the numbers actually indicate against the Cubs). Against the Pirates, Wolf went 6.2 innings and gave up just three hits and two walks, while striking out ten batters. The Brewers, meanwhile, jumped on Pittsburgh early taking a 2-0 first inning lead. The Brewers tacked on two more runs in the ninth inning. John Axford made things a little interesting in the ninth, loading the bases and allowing a run to score, before striking out Josh Rodriguez to end the game.

The two wins against the Pirates put the Brewers at 7-5. Through 12 games, the team ERA is 2.98. Brewer pitching has given up 35 earned runs (44 runs total), 13 home runs and 40 walks in 105.2 innings pitched. They have stuck out 86 and pitched three shutouts. In March and April of last year (206 innings), Milwaukee posted a 5.16 ERA. The team ERA had dropped to 4.58 by the end of the season.

I know it’s early in the season, so I hope when the 2011 season is over, I can say the pitching didn’t suck this year.

Brewers 6, Pirates 0

Game played 4-13-11

Brewers 4, Pirates 1

Game played 4-14-11

It's El Super Day

2011-04-11T23:05:00.001-05:00

You might think that this week's El Super would be a no brainer--Prince Fielder was named the NL player of the week on Monday. Prince went 11-for-22 (four doubles and two homers) with a 1.496 OPS in the last week (or 11-for-25 in the last seven games).

I decided to go in a different direction.

While I think it is important to celebrate what a special player Prince is (and the fact that he's hitting in April!), I want to give the award to a player (or maybe two) who stepped in to fill a hole before it turned into a black hole. First, I want to give an El Super to Chris Narveson. In his second outing of the year, Narveson blanked the Cubs. He went seven innings and gave up six hits, while striking out nine. In fact, he has yet to give up a run this season. If the Brewers are to be a playoff contender this year, they'll need more solid contributions from Narveson. This is especially true with Zack Greinke on the DL.

I'm also awarding an El Super to Nyjer Morgan. Some of the areas that caused the greatest concern for Brewer fans as the season opened was the play of Carlos Gomez and the play of what ever right fielder would replace Corey Hart (which led to the fear that our 6-7-8 spots in the batting order would be where rallies would go to die). Whether starting, pinch hitting or entering the game as a defensive replacement, Morgan has shined. Morgan posted a .533 BA (8-15) with one double and two triples and an OPS of 1.429 in the last week. All the while, being a quote machine AND having an alter ego.

Remember how you got here

2011-04-10T22:17:00.002-05:00

My parents are visiting this weekend. My brother purchased tickets for them to the King Tut exhibit and dinner as a Christmas gift. Because my brother lives in Wisconsin and I live next to the King Tut exhibit, my husband and I took them to this dinner. My sister Megan and her boyfriend, Ben, joined us.

We went to a small place and we were a party of six so we had to wait a bit for a table. As a result, we had a few cocktails at the bar. After we'd all had a round (except Seth who was the DD), my Mom was debating trying a different kind of wine. She was on the fence, so I suggested that she ask the bartender if she could see the bottle or possibly even try a small sample. She asked to see the bottle, and when the bartender turned around to answer the phone, she pulled the cork out and poured herself some. After she had her "sample" she decided she didn't like it and went back to the original kind.

Later, after we'd been seated, my Dad spilled some of his beer. He joked that he was going to lap it up when no one was looking. My Mom seemed to appear out of no where a few seconds later with a few paper towels from the bathroom. She quickly cleaned up my Dad's spilled beer. "But, Mom," I said. "He was going to drink that."

"I know," she said, with the clear implication that had she not acted so quickly, my Dad would have slurped the beer off the table. No joke.

As my friend Dianna would say, I come by my personality honestly. If you spend any amount of time with my family, there will be little doubt in your mind about how I got "here."

Yovani Gallardo took the mound on Sunday in the follow-up to his complete game shut-out of the Atlanta Braves. He was no where near as sharp today in the third game of a three-game series with the Cubs. He was in trouble most of the game, giving up two runs in the first inning and ending his day after five innings. In those five innings, he gave up a total of four runs on seven hits and four walks.

Fortunately for Gallardo, Milwaukee's offense has some big guns. In the first inning, Prince Fielder smoked one to center field for a two-run homer to tie the game. After the Cubs grabbed a 4-2 lead in the third, Ryan Braun squared one up and knocked it out of the park to tie the game at four. In the seventh, the Cubs went ahead again, 5-4. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Yuniesky Betancourt walked (after falling behind 0-2). After Counsell moved him to second with a sacrifice and George Kottaras struck out, Casey McGehee came to the plate as a pinch hitter. And he came through with the Brewers' third two-run homer of the game to give Milwaukee a 6-5 lead. Axford pitched the ninth for his third save.

The Brewers have a lot of new faces this year, but in this game, they relied upon three offensive mainstays--Braun, Fielder and McGehee. On a day when the pitching was not great, it was nice to see that the Brewers have the offensive power to outscore their opponent. They've certainly had a lot of practice over the last few years.

Brewers 6, Cubs 5
Game played 4-10-11

Brewers 6, Cubs 0
Game played 4-9-11

Cubs 7, Brewers 4
Game played 4-8-11

Refuse[d] to lose

2011-04-07T22:49:00.000-05:00

The Brewers shrugged off a tough 0-4 start and took the last three games (of a four game series) from the Atlanta Braves. Milwaukee is now 3-4 heading into a weekend series with the Chicago Cubs at Miller Park.

While Yovani Gallardo pitched a complete game shut out on Tuesday, Milwaukee called on John Axford to shut down the Braves in the ninth inning of both Wednesday's and Thursday's games. The opportunity to close Wednesday's game not only gave Axford a chance to redeem himself after his opening day meltdown but also gave us fans an opportunity to hear his new entrance music. As I'm sure everyone knows by now, Axford allowed fans to vote for his entrance music. The options were:

1. Audioslave - Cochise
2. Ennio Morricone - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
3. Rage Against The Machine - Bulls on Parade
4. Refused - New Noise

On Wednesday, with the Brewers clinging to a 5-4 lead, Axford came out to New Noise by Refused. He promptly walked Jason Heyward, but then settled in to get the next three batters and preserve Milwaukee's second win of the season. After the game, Axford said that he was contemplating interchanging New Noise and Audioslave, but after the victory, he would probably stick with New Noise.

I've seen plenty of grumblings about this selection, but I think that it is a solid choice. Last year, Axford had the unenviable task of replacing Trevor Hoffman, who not only was the game's all-time saves leader but also had one of the all-time best entrance songs in Hells Bells. If Axford picked ANY classic heavy metal song, it would have seemed like he was trying to be Trevor 2.0. By selecting a song performed by a Swedish punk band, the Ax went in a different direction, and I can appreciate that--but only if they still play Livin' On a Prayer and Don't Stop Believing between innings--I'm a middle aged Wisconsinite after all. You can't argue with the results of entering to Refused. Axford closed the door on Atlanta on Thursday afternoon, as well.

Some other thoughts on the Brewers first home series.

Who is Tony Plush? Just days before the season began, Milwaukee traded minor leaguer Cutter Dykstra for Nyjer Morgan. Reactions were mixed. Morgan had a good 2009, followed by a 2010 campaign that saw his numbers drop and his suspensions rise. At least he isn't Mark Kotsay, was a common refrain. Tony Plush is Morgan's alter ego. He had some fun with the T-Plush thing but declared him dead in an interview this spring. "It got to the point where it was time to grow up. It's time to turn into a true professional. It's time to kick some ass," Morgan said.

Morgan's been pretty kick ass this year for the Brewers. He's gone 6-13 with a .500 OBP and one stolen base. Plus (or should I say Plush?), he's a very solid defender. He nearly single handedly scored Milwaukee's third run on Thursday. He doubled with one out, stole third base, and scored on a grounder when he knocked the ball out of Brian McCann's glove. I hope Morgan feels like he has something to prove this whole season.

Payback. Did anyone else notice that Ryan Braun gave a little extra fist pump after he homered off Tommy Hanson in the first inning on Thursday? Hanson hit Braun on the elbow last May. It was widely speculated that Braun was more injured than he ever let on and this led to an extended slump.

Perspective. I had to watch two of the four games through Atlanta's feed so I got to experience the musings of Chip Caray and Joe Simpson. Having come off of several weeks of listening to Gus Johnson, I can honestly say that I appreciate understated analysis. But (yawn), these guys (yawn) may go too far in the other direction. After Morgan took out McCann trying to score, Simpson started to whine that the Brewers were "launching themselves at Brain." His voice didn't get louder, his pitch just got higher. After replays, Simpson admitted that McCann was blocking the plate so Morgan had to go at McCann. But then he complained that Morgan didn't really slide properly so as to make contact with McCann. And that's a problem?

Brewers 5, Braves 4
Game played 4-6-11

Brewers 4, Braves 2
Game played 4-7-11

Brewers win!

2011-04-06T07:54:00.000-05:00

I was getting something off the printer at work on Tuesday, when one of my co-workers strides by and says, "tough start for the Brewers!" To which I replied, "yes, I don't think the Brewers OR THE TWINS really got off to the start they hoped for."

When you're 0-4, even fans of teams with 1-3 starts can make fun of you.

But, really, we shouldn't have worried. Yovani Gallardo was on the mound on Tuesday night and Yo often takes matters into his own hands. Bullpen giving up too many runs? No, problem. He'll pitch a complete game. Offense not scoring any runs? No problem. He'll pitch a shut out and get the game's first hit and score its only run. Gallardo went 9 innings and gave up just two hits and two walks. He struck out two as well. He went 1-3 at the plate.

Brewers 1, Braves 0
Game played 4-5-11

The Inaugural El Super

2011-04-04T22:59:00.000-05:00

When my nephew Jake was little, I called him Super Jake. This hurt his feelings because he confused super and stupid. When I called him Super Jake, he'd get this really hurt look on his face and say, "no, you're super. I am NOT super." After a time, I was able to convince him that being super was a good thing.

Now, if I could only convince the 0-4 Brewers that being super is a good thing.

Today I'm introducing a new Hangwith'em feature: the weekly El Super award. The plan is to hand out the award every Monday. Week One's El Super goes to Rickie Weeks. His offense is one of the lone bright spots of opening week. Weeks went 6 for 17 with two doubles and three homers. That's a line of .353/.353/1.000. A good start to what I hope is a great season for Rickie.

Chris Narveson pitched well in the home opener for the Brewers, going six innings and giving up just three hits. The Brewers held a very tenuous 1-0 lead going into the eighth inning but Takashi Saito was unable to hold the lead. He gave up solo shots to Dan Uggla and Martin Prado. Milwaukee would finish the game 0-8 with RISP. Is it just me or do the Brewers continue to be horrendous in scoring runners from third with less than two outs?

Braves 2, Brewers 1
Game played 4-4-11

You say 'cause for concern'. I say 'area for improvement'.

2011-04-03T23:28:00.000-05:00

The Brewers opened the 2011 season with three straight losses to defending NL Central champ, Cincinnati. The opener featured a ninth inning meltdown as the Reds rallied from a 6-3 deficit to win 7-6 on a walk-off home run. On Saturday night, the Reds led from start to finish behind the strong pitching of Travis Wood. The series was capped off with a 12-3 blowout, with the Reds collecting 19 hits in just eight innings.

Rickie Weeks called the sweep, “a wake-up call” but said that it was just part of the game and that the Brewers would get better. Here are some thoughts on those potential areas of improvement.

= Yuniesky Betancourt went 0-11 with one strikeout. In those 11 at-bats, he saw just 32 pitches. He also committed an error on Sunday. The acquisition of Betancourt was easily one of the off-season’s most controversial moves. Doug Melvin said that getting Betancourt was key to the Greinke trade and that he didn’t “know how [stat guys] can say he’s the worst player in baseball.” Well, Doug, let me tell you something about those stat guys—they’re pretty smart. I don’t expect Betancourt to go hitless for the entire season but this start doesn’t leave me feeling overly optimistic. We may find out how many innings you can get out of a 40-year-old shortstop.

= The good folks over at Brew Crew Ball have christened Mark Kotsay, Kotsucker. Again, no one in the blogosphere could quite figure out why he was signed. His 0-7 start seems to justify this criticism. With Kotsay, Betancourt and Wil Nieves/George Kottaras, filling the 6-7-8 spots in the line-up, I don’t think the bottom part of the line-up is striking fear in the hearts of opposing pitchers. The return of Corey Hart should help. I hope the return of Jonathan Lucroy helps as well.

= Carlos Gomez’s approach to hitting seems unchanged. In Sunday’s game, Brian Anderson said that he really liked Gomez’s approach against Francisco Cordero in the ninth inning of Saturday’s game. Anderson said that Gomez was just trying to make contact and go with the pitch. For most of the weekend, Gomez swung for the fences. He went 2-12 with one home run and four strikeouts. At this point, I don’t think he is going to be successful if he doesn’t make some consistent changes to his approach. Surely, I can’t be the only one that thinks this. Has no one told him this or is Gomez not capable of making a change to his approach?

= Cincinnati is gifted defensively. Milwaukee is not. Defense may have cost them Thursday night’s game. That Milwaukee is not a great defensive team is not a surprise. This weekend’s series made me wonder how much better our hitting and pitching will need to be if the Brewers are an average to below average fielding team.

= Part of the belief that the Brewers would win more games in 2011 was the underlying belief that the starting pitching would be much better. And part of that belief had to be based on the anticipation that existing members of the staff, like Randy Wolf, would be better. We’re only three games in so I’m not going to rush to judgment here. Hopefully Shaun Marcum was a little rusty after missing some time in spring training and Randy Wolf will find his groove/pace/aggressiveness [or whatever he attributed his turnaround to last year].

I’ll revisit these areas at the end of April.

Reds 4, Brewers 2

Game played 4-2-11

Reds 12, Brewers 3

Game played 4-3-11

It's the first day of the season. I'm not worried yet.

2011-03-31T20:58:00.001-05:00

I had so much to say today. Thoughts of what I would write for my opening day post had swirled in my head for months. I could hardly contain my excitement. I had to constantly remind myself that the season is long and I'd hate to burn out by May.

Ouch.

Last year, I was driving to Milwaukee on a Friday night in early April (for the next day's game). We were listening to the Brewers-Cardinals game on the radio. The Brewers led 4-3 going into the top of the ninth. Hoffman came in to Hells Bells--and gave up a two-run home run to Nick Stavinoha. While disappointing, it hardly seemed memorable at the time. It dropped Milwaukee to 2-2. Losing sucked but it was early in the season. (Insert it's a marathon, not a sprint metaphor here.) And then Hoffman blew another save on Sunday.

What I know now, that I didn't know then, is that things would only get worse for Hoffman. At one point, Carlos Villanueva was handed the ball as the team's closer. A team doesn't post a 77-85 record without any number of things going wrong, but blowing a ninth inning lead to a division rival is NEVER a good sign.

You'll have to forgive me if I'm a little rattled, then, after what happened today in Milwaukee's season opener. Yep, the Brewers blew a ninth inning lead to a division rival. Milwaukee built a 6-3 lead against the Reds behind home runs from Rickie Weeks, Carlos Gomez and Ryan Braun. And then John Axford came in to pitch the ninth and gave up four runs, including a walk-off, three-run homer to Ramon "Nick Stavinoha" Hernandez.

I may be a little jaded but I'm not worried yet. Really I'm not. I refuse to be one of those people that pretends that she saw a sub-par season coming and prepares for the worst. I have high expectations and, if all else fails, I have a lot of beer.

Reds 7, Brewers 6
Game played 3-31-11

Spring Training Day Three: Please leave the injuries in the desert

2011-03-14T22:52:00.005-05:00

While I ate my first ever In-N-Out burger, Ryan Braun was injuring himself. We were a little late to the ball park for the second day in a row but that was because of road construction on our maiden voyage to the holy land of hamburgers. By the time we arrived in the bottom of the first inning, Braun had been taken out of the game with a strained intercostal muscle. Sort of the story of spring training. The In-N-Out burger did not disappoint. I found it meatier and juicier than a Culver's burger, although Seth said that he preferred Culver's.

Spring training injuries should be left in the desert (to die).

When we did arrive at the ballpark, I had to squeeze into my seat because the guy next to me decided that he needed my leg space more than I did. Initially, I was annoyed and plotted ways to spill my beer on him. Later, after I chatted with him a bit, he said he remembered me (or at least the team that I played on) way back when I played high school basketball in Wisconsin. To be honest, he probably remembered my teammates who were much better players, but this little bit of flattery made me forget about his meaty legs for a while.

Shaun Marcum was the starter against the Diamondbacks and he did not fare well. He gave up four runs in 3.2 innings. He did get down a nice bunt, however, so that made me feel more positive about him. He also gave up a monster shot to Russell Branyan--which actually made me happy. Maybe that guy sitting next to me had more of an effect on me than I realized.

Is it a bad sign if Marcum's bunting was better than his pitching?

Branyan did not miss the next one.

Prince Fielder got hit by a pitch and went 2-for-2. Fortunately, the pitch didn't seem to dent him. He played on but took a long time walking to first. Casey McGehee followed with a deep shot to left field. I hope to see a lot of this in the coming year--two-run homers that is, not Prince getting hit by pitches.

In all, it was a pretty decent outing for the Brewers. After the game, I wanted to seek out player autographs or at least watch the players interact with fans seeking autographs but Seth said that it would "send him over the edge" so we headed back to the hotel instead.

Brewers 6, Diamondbacks 4
Game played 3-12-11

This passes as a partly cloudy day in Arizona.

McGehee and Prince head back to the dugout after McGehee's home run. Yuni seems invisible to them.

Spring Training Day Two: Marriage is about compromise

2011-03-14T00:05:00.003-05:00

Despite the fact that I tell him that he is all the time, my husband does not think that he is the luckiest man in the world. Many, if not most, men would think that a wife who likes baseball as much as I do would be awesome. Seth struggles with it. It’s not that he doesn’t like baseball. He does. It’s that he doesn’t like it as much as I do. If he were a single man (or married to someone else), he would not spend his vacation in Phoenix watching the Milwaukee Brewers play spring training games. But that’s where he was so he tried to make the most of it.

Taliesin West. I love Frank Lloyd Wright even if he never played an inning of baseball.

On Day Two of the vacation, Seth asked if I wanted to tour Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home. I said sure. It was about 10 a.m. and the Brewers game didn’t start until 1 p.m. It took us longer to reach northeast Scottsdale than either of us had anticipated, however, and our tour didn’t start until 11:15. I knew that there was no way that we would be able to get back to Maryvale Stadium in time for the start of the game. But I agreed to the tour and to stop for lunch any way because Seth wanted to (plus, it might keep me from eating another funnel cake.) Things are better when Seth is happy.

We got to the game in the bottom of the second inning. Yovani Gallardo was pitching and I was glad that I had not missed his entire outing. Gallardo looked fairly sharp in his 3+ innings of work. It occurred to me that I should take notes so that I could make informed comments for the blog. But the thing that struck me about spring training is that you have to pay very close attention to all the substitutions or you will be completely lost. The score tells very little about what is transpiring or what might be important for the regular season.

Yovani Gallardo gave up one run on four hits. He struck out four.

Mark DiFelice pitched a strong ninth inning and I was there to see it.

I was drinking beer (but not eating!!), re-applying sun block every third inning and trying to make sure that Seth didn’t melt in the sun, so I was not able to make any keen observations. I decided that I was on vacation and it would be OK to have fun rather than worry about Brandon Boggs' ability to hit to the opposite field. I will tell you that Erick Almonte made me feel better about Prince’s eminent departure. I will also tell you that Luis Cruz missed a sign for a suicide squeeze forcing Mike Rivera to attempt to steal home. I mean, why wouldn’t you want your third string catcher to steal home? And, I will tell you that Mark DiFelice pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the win. All of my compromises worked out just fine.

Zelous Wheeler. He should have a band called Zelous Wheeler and the Zelous Wheelers.

Brewers 4, A’s 3

Game played 3-11-11

And so it begins

2011-03-12T12:50:00.006-06:00

My first post of the 2011 season comes to you LIVE from beautiful and sunny Phoenix, Arizona. There are two things that you need to know to understand how I ended up here. First, one of the things that has become clear to me during this off-season is that I am not particularly good at--nor do I really care to engage in--statistical analysis as a mode of player analysis. Others do it better; argue for particular trades or against particular player signings. I read what they have to say and hope like crazy that the Brewers will win a lot of games in the upcoming season. Despite my lack of rational analysis, it doesn’t take a genius to see that the Brewers have put together one of their best rosters in recent memory. If you can’t get excited about the additions of Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, you didn’t watch enough Brewer games over the last few years. I’m pretty flippin’ excited.

Second, on the day before Thanksgiving, a meth head (or group of meth heads) broke into our home while we were at work. [This is according to the police, who do not have enough evidence to charge them.] They took a lot of our stuff and most disturbing to me, they took all of my jewelry. Nearly all of the things Seth bought for me, things from my dead grandmother, birthday gifts, items I wore at my wedding, GONE. (Fortunately, I had my wedding and engagement rings on so I still have those.) It was and is devastating. I felt violated. And then I felt bad for feeling bad--I mean, it was not like they took the money I had saved for my cancer treatment. (I don’t have cancer, but this was what came to my mind when I started to feel sorry for myself. Others have it worse.) As the holidays approached, I couldn’t make myself really give a shit. Usually, I love Christmas. This year, I didn’t. After some soul searching, I discovered it was because I thought that all of the Christmas gifts that I would receive would be replacements for the things that had been stolen. And then I felt bad for feeling bad. And I felt bad for feeling mad. I was a mess.

So, on Christmas Eve, my husband handed me a letter sized white envelope, smiled and said, “Merry Christmas.” Right away I knew that it was not replacement jewelry. I opened the envelope and started to cry when I saw the contents. And then I started to jump up and down and yell, “I’m going to spring training, bitches.” [OK, I didn’t yell bitches because I was at my in-laws’ house, but I think it makes for a better story.]

Spring Training Day One: Sunblock, Sweat and Powdered Sugar

Seth and I arrived in Phoenix on Thursday and drove directly from the rental car place to the Maryvale Baseball Complex. We asked two different parking lot attendants if there was somewhere that we could change. (You know, like the Sausage Haus.) There was no where so we ended up changing in the car in the parking lot. After putting on shorts, we slathered on two different types of sun block. One with an SPF of 70 in lotion form and one with an SPF of 100 that we sprayed on. We then walked into the stadium and headed for concessions. It was at this point that we both realized that we had put on so much sun block that we had white lotion residue all over our faces, arms and legs. Strike one.

We then scarfed down multiple brats, beers and pretzels before the game even started. We had good seats, just a few rows behind the Brewers dugout. And we were in the sun. It was awesome. It was 88 degrees. And then it became less awesome. Seth and I estimated that we may have spent as little as 5 hours outside all winter (and that number is only that high because sometimes I do my back-to-run program outside). After two hours in the sun, I was drenched with sweat, which, when combined with all the sun block, left me with that not-so-fresh, slimy skin feeling. So, I did what anyone would do in my position. I went and got a huge beer and a funnel cake with extra powdered sugar topping. Then I was hot AND covered in the dreaded trifecta of sun block, sweat and powdered sugar. And it was only the fourth inning. Strike two. Then my stomach began to revolt. It started to scream, “What did you do???” Strike three. I felt like such a rookie.

I vowed that these same mistakes would not be made in Day Two.

The Ax got roughed up a bit. Man, does he look skinny.

Oh, right, the Brewers. They lost in extra innings. Braun hit a three-run home run. Ax looked bad giving up two hits and two walks. Apparently he lost around 15 pounds because of the food poisoning. You can tell. I thought Prince looked thinner, too, but Seth thought he looked the same but was maybe wearing less baggy clothing. Chorizo won. Chris Dickerson was impressive. One of the highlights for me was when the “junior announcer” tried to announce Wil Nieves’ name and couldn’t quite get it right. Wil was laughing even as he stepped into the batter’s box and took the first pitch.

Despite my discomfort, the game went into extra innings allowing me a little more time to bake. Ron Roenicke and Jim Tracy made some hand signals to each other at the end of the ninth inning that I interpreted to mean that the game would go just one more inning. I love spring training. [I haven't heard any more about Tracy being sick after he collapsed at the winter meetings. He seemed fine during this game.]

Our new manager, Ron Roenicke, and our new pitcher, Zack Greinke. Hopefully they're still speaking at the end of the season.

Rockies 9, Brewers 8 (10 innings)
Game played 3-10-11

I'm ready for baseball

2011-02-26T09:47:00.001-06:00

Snow is bullshit. I'm ready for baseball season. In just a few weeks, I'm reporting to spring training. Look for some posts from Maryvale.

The bad news: It's snowing again. The good news: spring training has started and baseball is just around the corner.

The Forgotten Brewers Series

2011-02-13T08:41:00.000-06:00

Some have suggested that I've become lazy, that I've neglected my blog. I can't argue with that. The one thing I have done this off-season is a recurring feature on Brew Crew Ball.

Links to my series on Brew Crew Ball.

Part I - Scott Karl
Part II - Jaime Navarro
Part III - Bill Travers
Part IV - Chris Bosio
Part V - Cal Eldred
Part VI - Bill Wegman
Part VII - Mike Caldwell
Part VIII - Moose Haas
Part IX - Jim Slaton
Part X - Sixto Lezcano
Part XI - Sid Roberson

Catching my breath

2010-10-22T14:02:00.000-05:00

For the next nine weeks or so I'll have a regular feature on www.brewcrewball.com. Today was my first post in the Forgotten Brewers series, so check it out.

Since the Brewers season ended, I've posted exactly once. It's like the episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta where Kim decides to start exercising so she will look better when she performs "Tardy for the Party" at the White Party. After jogging and walking for what seems like less than a mile, she and her assistant spot a beer truck across four lanes of traffic. They dodge traffic and catch the beer truck before it leaves the liquor store. The pair then stops exercising in favor of drinking a few beers while sitting on the bench in front of the liquor store.

I jogged through the season but then I needed to take a little break.

Hopefully I will have a regular posting schedule soon.

Waiting for Superman

2010-10-06T23:46:00.002-05:00

The playoffs stared today. And Waiting for Manager opened in a theatre near you.

After sending me word that three University of Wisconsin students had been fined $86,000 for having a house party (really, this happened in Wisconsin?), my co-worker’s husband sent me a picture of Cubs announcer Bob Brenly.

Why would anyone send me a photo of this douche bag? I looked at the Journal Sentinel sports page. I looked at the front page of BrewCrewBall.com. Nothing about Brenly.

Then I got the link. Sources say that Brenly will be the new Brewers manager. WHAT? How could this be possible? This is a man who heaped criticism on the Brewers and famously suggested that Ryan Braun would have additional problems with his rib muscles if he continued to act like he did after hitting a home run against the Cubs.

I freaked out. How could Doug Melvin do this? I might have thrown my pencil across the room. I was eyeing my stapler when I went back to BrewCrewBall.com and visited the comments section. People were abuzz with the rumor. I needed to know that it would be OK before I hurled the stapler at my book shelves. Another poster suggested that I calm down and that Brenly was denying meeting with the Brewers. I sipped water slowly from a coffee mug as I tried to calm down.

A few minutes later came news that Melvin had not offered the job to Brenly and was a “bit incredulous” about the rumor.

I don’t remember being this fired up about anything in awhile. The movie Waiting for Superman gets its title from a Harlem educator’s childhood belief that Superman would rescue him (and fix the problems of the ghetto). I guess I’m waiting for Superman, too. I want a new manger to swoop in and rescue the Brewers from a losing record. I want this manager to lead the Brewers to the post-season. (No need to achieve these feats in tights and a cape. This sort of fashion statement should be left to Rick Peterson.)

Bob Brenly is no Superman. Admittedly, I know that no manager is going to come in and do the things I want without some starting pitching but I feel relieved--for now--or at least until Melvin interviews Juan Samuel.

2010-a barrel of fun

2010-10-03T23:15:00.000-05:00

The Brewers wrapped up the 2010 season today with a 3-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Randy Wolf had a decent outing going seven innings and giving up the three runs on nine hits and one walk. Milwaukee fell behind early but tied the game at two on a double by Corey Hart in the third inning. Jay Bruce untied the game with a fourth inning home run. And that’s it. The Brewers didn’t give up any additional runs but were unable to score any either. Milwaukee’s best chance to score came in the seventh inning when Hart tried to steal home. He was nearly hit by Aroldis Chapman’s pitch and was easily tagged out by Corky Miller.

And then it was over. All over. As in no more games this year over.

Milwaukee finished the year at 77-85,and in third place in the NL Central. Despite my frequent writing and wishing to the contrary, the Brewers were never really in contention this year. Trevor Hoffman blew five of his first ten attempts before he was extricated from the closer role. There was also that little matter of losing nine in a row in May that sunk the 2010 ship.

Thank you for reading (Mom)! For now I am out of things to compare the games to. To recap, I’ve compared either the game or the Brewers to the U.S. men’s soccer team; the TV show Mall Cops; my favorite cashier at the grocery store; cheap foamy beer; a pee cup; drinking all day; Walgreen’s; Jersey Shore--at least twice; my softball team; parenthood; the Harlem Globetrotters; The Tell-Tale Heart; Smirnoff Wild Grape; Mariah Carey; and Natural Dog magazine. Well, Natural Dog was about a member of the Reds...

Reds 3, Brewers 2

Game played 10-3-10

Game No. 161

2010-10-02T22:37:00.001-05:00

Did you know that there is a magazine called Natural Dog? It claims to be the complete guide to holistic dog care. I discovered this while at Borders today. I was reading about Jennifer Grey’s comeback while my husband shopped for a new book to read.

Corky Miller

I bring this up because the Brewers lost today when Corky Miller hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to break open a close game. It was Miller’s second home run of 2010 and the eleventh of his nine-year major league career. (To be fair, Miller has never been a full time catcher in the big leagues. He appeared in 31 games for Cincinnati this year with 77 plate appearances. Miller appeared in 39 games in 2002 for his most in a major league uniform.)

As they did on Friday night, the Brewers fell behind early against the Reds on Saturday afternoon. Chris Capuano was not sharp and gave up three runs on ten hits in 3.2 innings. He was relieved by Brandon Kintzler, who gave up a controversial home run to Jay Bruce in the fifth inning. The home run put the Brewers in a 4-1 hole. Bruce hit a long fly ball to center field that Lorenzo Cain had a beat on, but a fan appeared to reach over the fence (with his own glove) and hit Cain’s glove and bring the ball with him over the fence. The umpires reviewed the play and determined that it was a home run. Rock rarely argues with the umpires’ calls but he nearly jumped out of the booth over this ruling. It looked like Cain would have caught the ball, but even if he missed it, it would not have left the park. Not that I’m biased.

Milwaukee rallied in the seventh inning when Ryan Braun was hit by a pitch, Prince Fielder walked and Casey McGehee homered to left field. The Reds took the lead back in the bottom half of the inning and essentially clinched it on Miller’s home run off of Todd Coffey. Not that the Brewers didn’t have their chances but they would finish just 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

One more game to go! With his fifth inning double, Ryan Braun stands at 188 hits. He needs just 12 tomorrow to finish the year with 200.

Reds 7, Brewers 4

Game played 10-2-10

What about how the Brewers were able to come back tonight and really battle and eventually beat the Reds in 11 innings?

2010-10-02T09:43:00.002-05:00

At the conclusion of the Brewers come-from-behind, extra-innings win against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night, Telly Hughes dropped one of his “what about how” questions on Casey McGehee. These are not really questions at all but rather statements that Telly would like the player to agree with and possibly expand upon.

“What about how you guys are just battling every at bat—this is game 160 and guys are still going up there and just giving it their all?” Telly asked/stated.

A befuddled look came over Casey’s face as he tried to find the question in that “question” and then determine whether Telly was really saying that he found it surprising—and great—that the Brewers were still trying at this point in the season. “I mean it’s still … You know it’s still a reflection of our team and, umm, what kind of character we have on our team and we’re going to keep doing it for the next two days and umm try to leave a good taste in our mouth for the off season,” Casey responded.

What about how Mark Rogers was able to pitch tonight? The rookie got his second end-of-the-year start and went five innings giving up two runs on two hits and one walk. He struck out six. Rogers did not allow a hit until Jonny Gomes singled to center with one out in the fifth inning. (The run in the first inning came on a walk, stolen base, ground out and sac fly.) It was the first hit off of Rogers in 9.1 innings.

What about how Rickie Weeks was able to break up Travis Wood’s no hitter in the sixth inning? Entering the sixth inning, Wood had given up only a walk to Prince and hit Weeks with a pitch. With one out in the sixth inning, Weeks launched a shot to dead center to end the no-hit and shutout bids simultaneously. It was Weeks’ 29^th home run of the year.

What about how the Brewers were able to come back against the NL Central champs? Cincinnati built leads of 2-0 and 3-1 before Milwaukee tied the game at three in the seventh inning. What? They were still battling? Someone better tell Telly. The rally started with a one-out double by McGehee. Lorenzo Cain and Craig Counsell followed with singles. The tying run scored on a sac fly from Jonathan Lucroy.

What about how the pitching staff held the potent Reds offense in check while the Brewers plated a run? After Jeremy Jeffress gave up one run in the sixth inning, the Brewers bullpen shut down the Reds. Todd Coffey gave up just a walk in the seventh, Kam Loe gave up two hits in the eighth and ninth innings, Mike McClendon pitched a perfect tenth inning and John Axford, always up for making a save an adventure, pitched around a single and walk to earn his 24^th save of the year.

The Brewers got the go-ahead run in the top of the eleventh inning when Corey Hart singled and Ryan Braun walked to start the inning. Prince hit a fly ball that allowed Hart to advance to third. McGehee followed with a ground ball up the middle that looked to be a double play ball but gold-glover Brandon Phillips was unable to come up with the ball and everyone was safe. It scored Hart. It was originally scored as an error for Phillips but was then changed to a hit.

What about how the Brewers were able to win that game!

Brewers 4, Reds 3

Gamed played 10-1-10

Brewers take three of four from Mets

2010-10-01T17:37:00.000-05:00

About a month and a half ago, I thought we should keep Yovanni Gallardo but otherwise gut the entire starting rotation. I had even come to terms with the idea of trading Prince Fielder and/or Corey Hart to get that pitching. (I know, I was slow to come on board with this whole idea of a Prince trade—it’s not that I didn’t/don’t think we should do it, it’s that I like Prince and have a hard time with change. I had to change my mindset: A winning Brewers team without Prince is better than a losing team with Prince. And he’s almost certainly gone after 2011 anyway …)

Since that time, it FEELS like the pitching has been better, and the numbers reflect that. (See below for month-by-month breakdown. See also Disciples of Uecker analysis. Jack Moore’s pinky finger knows more about stats than I do. You should read it.)

April 5.16 ERA; 1.54 WHIP; 33 HR; 206 IP

May 5.53 ERA; 1.71 WHIP; 22 HR; 249 IP

June 3.93 ERA; 1.33 WHIP; 23 HR; 240.1 IP

July 5.22 ERA; 1.45 WHIP; 37 HR; 236 IP

Aug 4.77 ERA; 1.45 WHIP; 37 HR; 243.1 IP

Sept 2.96 ERA; 1.13 WHIP; 17 HR; 237.1 IP

The pitching in September has been much better than during any other time during the season. I don’t think that this should deter Doug Melvin, however, from pursuing pitching with gusto in the off-season but I do hope that it prevents him from signing another pitcher like Doug Davis. Desperation never leads to good results. (Plus, a lot of the pitching has been against September call-ups.)

Chris Narveson capped off a strong September team pitching performance by giving up just one run in 6.2 innings of work on Thursday night. His outing dropped his ERA to 4.99 for the season. Meanwhile, several Brewers hit individual milestones as the offense cranked out nine runs. The score stood at just 4-2 entering the ninth inning but Corey Hart would get his 100^th RBI, Casey McGehee would get his 100^th RBI, Ryan Braun would score his 100^th run and Prince Fielder would get his 110^th walk (to match his club record from 2009)—all in the ninth inning.

Brewers 9, Mets 2

Game played 9-30-10

Don’t look now, kids, but we’re back in third place

2010-09-29T23:34:00.001-05:00

The Brewers took a pair of games from the New York Mets on Wednesday in contrasting fashion. Milwaukee won game one of the double header in a slug fest, 8-7, and game two in a pitcher’s duel, 3-1.

The Brewers built a seemingly insurmountable six-run lead in the third inning of the first game, but ace Yovani Gallardo couldn’t hold the lead. The Mets came back with two runs in the bottom of the third inning and FIVE in the fourth to take a 7-6 lead. All seven runs were charged to Gallardo, who saw his ERA balloon to 3.84 in his last game of the season. Manny Parra relieved Gallardo and pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless ball to keep the Brewers within a run. Parra has not given up a run since August 22, a seven-run debacle against San Diego, in 12.2 innings of relief work.

Milwaukee took back the lead in the eighth inning when Carlos Gomez walked, stole second and went to third on a throwing error. (He has to lead the league in this category, right?) He scored on a single by Corey Hart. Hart would score the go-ahead run on singles by Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder.

The double header necessitated the appearance of some long-lost Brewers. Carlos Villanueva(!) pitched a scoreless seventh, followed by a scoreless eighth by Kam Loe and John Axford returned to form and sent the Mets down 1-2-3 in the ninth for his 23rd save.

When asked, Parra admitted to being a bit more relaxed on the mound since being moved to the pen. “It almost feels a little bit like irresponsible throwing ...”

In game two, Dave Bush was wickedly good in six scoreless innings, giving up four hits and three BBs. He was replaced by Mike McClendon, who gave up the only Mets run of the night.. Zach Braddock set the table for Trevor Hoffman(!) to pick up his 601st save.

Bush even got the offense started for Milwaukee by singling and scoring Alcides Escobar in the third inning off Mets knuckle baller R.A. Dickey. This would be the only run surrendered by Dickey in seven innings of work. In the eighth inning the Brewers got two insurance runs on a double by Ryan Braun.

As Braun suggested after the second game, it is supposed to rain in New York on Thursday, maybe they should have went ahead and played a third game. Let's play three!

Brewers 8, Mets 7
Brewers 3, Mets 1
Game played 9-29-10

The Adventures of the Ax

2010-09-28T23:28:00.000-05:00

Tonight’s game went sort of like Mariah Carey’s performance in Singapore on Saturday night. Everything was pretty rocking good and then it went kaput.

The Brewers built a 2-0 lead on Tuesday night in New York behind another solid pitching performance by Randy Wolf. Lorenzo Cain doubled in Casey McGehee, who walked, in the fourth, and Corey Hart hit a solo shot to dead center in the sixth inning. Wolf cruised through the first five innings, giving up just two hits until he ran into some problems in the bottom of the sixth inning. Wolf gave up a two-out single to Lucas Duda, followed by a home run to David Wright that tied the score. Wolf would pitch a scoreless seventh before being relieved by Mike McClendon. All in all, a pretty good outing for Wolf.

Milwaukee untied the score in the eighth inning when Joe Inglett led off the inning with a double, was advanced to third on a ground out by Hart and scored on a ground out by Prince Fielder. I felt pretty positive after the Brewers manufactured that run as they have left 9,000, give or take a few, runners on third base this year. The Brewers pitching staff pitched around a lead-off double by the Mets in the eighth inning, with John Axford seemingly poised to collect yet another multi-inning save when he struck out Wright to end the eighth.

And then the Ax sort of bit it in the ninth. Unable to keep his fastball down, Axford gave up a lead off double to Ike Davis, a single to Josh Thole and the game-winning hit to Ruben Tejada in the ninth.
Mets 4, Brewers 3
Game played 9-28-10

Today is St. Wenceslas Day (Czech Statehood Day)-- On this day in 935, St. Wenceslas, Duke of Bohemia, now patron of the Czech State, was murdered by his brother. This seems like an odd day to celebrate but, hey, at least I didn’t fall on my ass today--like Mariah. I’m giving Axford a break. He’s been pretty rocking good this year.

PPD

2010-09-27T22:09:00.000-05:00

Monday night's game with the Mets was postponed due to rain. There will be a double header on Wednesday. With the Packers on Monday Night Football, this actually makes my life a little less complicated.

Anyone else think Mike Martz looks a little bit like Ken Macha?