My contractual obligation

Tuesday's game was another one of those games that caused me to curse out loud--and this time it had nothing to do with Hunter Pence. Dave Bush pitched six strong innings, giving up only 1 run. Milwaukee had numerous chances to knock Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez out of  the game but was downright pathetic (0-12) with runners in scoring position. Nonetheless, the Brewers led 1-0 until the sixth. With the score tied at one, Kam Loe and Zach Braddock combined to give up four runs in the seventh inning, leading to a 6-1 San Francisco victory.
As I fast forwarded through the last several innings of the game, I reminded myself that I am under no contractual obligation to watch the game. So I fast forwarded right on through to the end. I didn't even stop for Ryan Braun's at bats. There is something very freeing about remembering that watching the games--and even caring about the outcome--is a choice. That got me wondering what other people do when I am watching, reading and writing about baseball. I don't have kids. I know that that is a big part of it but I don't think a poor fielding day by Alcides Escobar is any reason to get pregnant. And if having knee surgery has taught me anything it's that I don't do well with a lot of free time. The Housewives of Orange County marathon is proof of that.

I'll be back for Wednesday's game.

Giants 6, Brewers 1
Game played 7-5-10

Six runs; one earned run

Everything you need to know about Sunday’s game can be explained with Gallardo’s line:

Yovani Gallardo

2.2 IP (left game with strained left side muscle)

5 H

6 R (Alcides Escobar had some serious problems)

1 ER

2 BB

2 SO

This game should have been a pitchers duel. Instead, it was a Cardinals blowout—and it could turn out to be something much worse if Gallardo did anything other than mildly sprain his oblique muscle. My fingers are crossed. Doug Davis is no Yovani Gallardo. In fact, Doug Davis struggles to be Chris Narveson.

Cardinals 7, Brewers 1

Game played 7-4-10

On Sunday, the 2010 All-Star teams were announced. The fans vote on the starting eight position players, while the players, coaches and managers select eight pitchers and one back-up player for each position. The team manager then selects the remainder of the 33-player roster. Finally, the fans select one remaining player (from five selected by the team manager) through on-line voting. Replacement players are also selected by the manager. There are a few rule changes for the All-Star game this year. The rosters have expanded from 33 to 34 players; the DH will be used every year, even in national league parks; there is a re-entry rule, and pitchers who start the Sunday before the All-Star break will not be replaced on the roster but will still be recognized as All-Stars.

Got that? Pretty soon you’ll need a degree in abstract algebra to figure this out. Remember that the winner of the midsummer classic gets home field advantage in the World Series. The irony of this fact was not lost on me as I voted 25 times per e-mail account. Why use something like overall record, when you can rely on internet-based fan voting? I’ll rant more about this when my pain meds wear off.  

Ryan Braun was voted to start in his third straight All-Star game, while Corey Hart was voted in by the players as a reserve. Yovani Gallardo was selected by manager Charlie Manuel. Braun collected 2,972,525 votes. I like to think I am somewhat responsible for about 500 of Braun’s votes. Where would he be without me? 

Focus

I'm trying to blog through the pain. I do not want to go on the 15-day disabled list. It's been tough, though. I can't remember watching the games. I sleep through large portions of them. The pain meds stifle my sharp wit. I find myself staring at the computer screen trying to remember what I was going to type. I read the same sentence over and over but cannot comprehend what I am reading.

What was I talking about? Oh, right. The game.

Manny Parra took the mound for the Brewers against Chris Carpenter on Saturday night. St. Louis has an outstanding pitching staff and Carpenter is one of its aces. Before Saturday Carpenter had been 15-1 with a 1.97 ERA against the NL Central the last two seasons. Parra has been fighting to keep his spot in the starting rotation as Doug Davis gets set to come off of the DL. I have no idea why Davis is stepping right back into the starting rotation. He was 1-3 with a 7.52 ERA before going on the DL with inflammation around his heart. Plus his nickname is Double D, which makes me want to vomit. I digress...

With a set-up like this, you can probably guess what happened. Rickie Weeks led off with a home run, Carpenter hit two batters and the Cardinals played defense like they were on my pain meds. Milwaukee staked Parra to an eleven-run lead, which Parra seemed uncomfortable with. He gave up a few just to feel normal.

Brewers 12, Cardinals 5
Game played 7-3-10

If I watched the game, why can't I remember anything about it?

I know I watched Friday night's Brewers-Cardinals game but I can't remember anything that happened in it. A review of the game on espn.com indicates that the Brewers lost. Hmmm ....  My doctor warned me that the day after the surgery would be worse than the day of surgery--it was--so I guess I took considerably more pain meds. I feel sort of dizzy.

My brother Nick and his girlfriend Karen went to St. Louis for the weekend to see the Brewers.

St. Louis truism #1 (compliments of Nick):



That Jaime Garcia kid, he can pitch.


Cardinals 5, Brewers 0
Game played 7-2-10

A good start and a new start

On Thursday I had knee surgery to release my IT band. I've been in quite a bit of pain for the last two years. I had given up the idea of ever running again. Surgery was my only remaining option as I have seen three specialists (knee, back and hip), four physical therapists and two chiropractors. There have been numerous days where I wanted to give up. I was so sick of getting referrals, fighting with my evil insurance company, making appointments, missing work to go to the appointments, etc... I have done every physical therapy exercise known to man. I felt like the injury had taken over my life. I know Seth was sick of hearing about it. I was sick of talking about it.

I had never had surgery before and I was sort of freaked out. So, when I started to panic on Thursday, I pictured myself running along one of my favorite routes or I pictured myself doing a triathlon. It helped.

My doctor said the surgery went well and sent me home with several different kinds of pain meds, muscle relaxers and Tylenol. I was able to put weight on my bad leg right away. It was through the haze of pain meds that I watched the first of four St. Louis-Milwaukee games.

Randy Wolf went 6 1/3 innings, giving up just one run, a homer to Albert Pujols. The Brewers scored all four of their runs on home runs, as well. Prince, Casey McGehee and George Kottaras all went long to get the series off to a good start for the Crew. The Brewers have now won 8 of their last 11.

Brewers 4, Cardinals 1
Game played 7-1-10

Wandy is a funny name

There was a time that Wandy Rodriguez wasn't really Wandy at all. He was Eny Cabreja. Acording to Wikipedia, when Rodriguez was scouted by the Astros in 1998, Rodriguez pretended his name was Eny Cabreja and that he was 17 years old. He had convinced a friend to let him borrow his identity. The real Cabreja was born on August 18, 1981 while Wandy was born on August 18, 1979. Wandy lived under the name Eny Cabreja until 2002, when he admitted to the Astros that he was really Wandy Fulton Rodriguez and that he wasn't really 21 but 23.

A common practice amongst Dominican ball players, MLB has attempted to put safeguards in place to stop the players from using other's identities. Check out the movie, Sugar for an interesting behind the scenes look at Latin American ballplayers.  

On Wednesday afternoon, the Brewers had a similarly dificult time identifying Wandy's pitches. Rodriguez gave up one run over seven innings to stake the Astros to a 5-1 victory. With the win, the Astros took two of three games from the Brewers. The Brewers went 6-3 for the homestand.

Astros 5, Brewers 1
Game played 6-30-10 

Princeless in Milwaukee?

That slow start—it’s a thing of the past. Prince Fielder hit two homeruns on Tuesday night and suddenly has 17 total, just one behind the NL league leaders.

Prince’s two homeruns helped Milwaukee collect another W against the Houston Astros. On a night when Yovani Gallardo didn’t have his best stuff, the offense picked him up. And Yo’s homer helped, too. Gallardo went six innings and gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks. He also hit the first pitch he saw in the third inning into the left field stands to get the offense started. Jonathan Lucroy* smashed another homerun in the sixth. John Axford pitched a less than stellar ninth inning to pick up his eighth save.

With the “resurgence” of Prince Fielder, talks of his contract have also heated up. (Ten of Fielders 17 homeruns have come in June.) Prince will earn $10.5 million this year and will be eligible for arbitration for the last time in 2011. Apparently contract negotiations between the Brewers and Fielder (and Fielder’s agent, Scott Boras) have come to a complete halt after Fielder and Boras rejected the Brewers’ initial offer. Baseball insiders feel that the Brewers have two options: trade Fielder now or keep him and try to re-sign him after the 2011 season. Before the season began, Fielder and Boras made it known that they want “Alex Rodriguez money”—something in the neighborhood of $200 million over the next eight years. It is unlikely that the Brewers will be able to keep him and remain competitive. The question is whether the Brewers try to trade him or take their chances after next season.

I foresee a CC Sabathia situation all over again. And I only had half of a season to become attached to CC. Prince has been a full-time Brewer since 2006. It happens all the time, I know. Players follow the money. I don’t blame them but it still hurts when they leave. You cheer for the player’s success even though you know that that success will mean they won’t play for your team in a few years. (Maybe Prince can bat .165 in 2011?)  A Prince-less Milwaukee sounds pretty bad to me right now. I think I’ll have a beer and stop thinking about it.  

Brewers 7, Astros 5

Game played 6-29-10

* Over the weekend, I selected Jonathan Lucroy as my Mom’s summer boyfriend because he is one of the youngest players on the team. He just turned 24 on June 13. When I started referring to Lucroy as her boyfriend, my Mom said, “Yah, right.” I think that she is secretly pleased.