Serious Question

Does anyone enjoy Michael Hunt?

Well, I guess I'm assuming that anyone who reads this blog (or the internet) is probably not a fan, but do you know anyone who actually enjoys his stuff...like maybe an Uncle or something? I mean its not even worth it to analyze the crap that he writes. I can't believe he gets to write about baseball for a major newspaper. Unbelievable.

He reminds me of Chris Berman. An old guy who stays around long enough and gets to cover anything that he wants.

Hey hey hey - What is going on here?

Picture is from The Big Lead

The Brewers don't get much national media, or even national blog attention so its unfortunate that this is the picture that has been making its way through the Internets today. I was initially disappointed, then realized the guy is at a Marquette game. A Marquette game people. That is all that needs to be said. A Marquette game. When you're one of the 8,000 people (some of whom wear Michigan gear?) that generally show up for their home games, you need to do whatever you can to keep awake.

I understand.

Brewers on TBS

I'm really not much for Brewer news- I'll leave that to a real website. But I did notice that the Brewers/Red Sox game on Sunday, May 18th is going to be on TBS. Some good national TV time for the Crew between that game and the Saturday game on FOX.

Awful Announcing

Polling Data

These are awesome

Should Rickie Weeks be the Brewers' leadoff hitter?
Yes (79.8%)
No (20.2%)
Total votes: 243

Will Brewers ace Ben Sheets get through the season without a significant injury?
No (78.2%)
Yes (21.8%)
Total votes: 1,001

Should the Brewers give away shades in a Corey Hart 'Sunglasses at Night' promotion this season?
Yes (86.2%)
No (13.8%)
Total votes: 756

There are people that actually believe that the Brewers have a better leadoff hitter in the lineup than Weeks? And seriously - the 13.8% who think that the Brewers shouldn't give away shades on Corey Hart night have probably never heard of the song....or are fucking idiots.

Stuff White People Like

I don't mean to pile on the Cubs again (not true), but thanks to a Deadspin link, yesterday I "discovered" the amazing website Stuff White People Like. Number 30 on the list? Wrigley Field. As a black man (not true), I found this especially funny. Check out the link for the whole article. An excerpt below:

Reasons why white people like Wrigley Field
1. Experiencing tradition at a high cost
2. Located on the North Side
3. Its Trendy
4. Comfortable Surroundings

Stuff White People Like - Wrigley Field

It is German for a 'Whale's Vagina'

Prior throws off mound

My second favorite team this year is probably the Padres. Any team that has both Mark Prior and Michael Barrett (2 of the most hated Cubs in recent memory) is fine by me. In a perfect world I want Prior to strike out Aramis Ramirez to eliminate the Cubs from the playoffs, with Barrett catching.

Why Brewerfan.net Sucks

Being a Brewer fan 10 years ago was a bit like being a sports fan before ESPN came along. The amount of information you could consume, and amount of discourse relating to your passion was limited. Sports fans in the 1970s depended on the newspaper and 8 minute clips at the end of the local news for your information. Discourse with other fans? Sure you could talk with any friends and family members but that was probably about it.

Like sports fans in the 1970s, the Brewer fans of 10 years ago were in a similar predicament. To get your Brewer news, you had the local TV news and newspaper- and that was only if you were lucky enough to live in the Milwaukee area. I used to be excited when I visited family in the area because I would get to read the expanded Brewer sections in the Milwaukee Journal. Even the Internet revolution was slow to start with Brewer fans. Lame, infrequently updated, and numerous Brewer fan sites popped up- none of which came close to filling the giant void that existed.

Enter Brewerfan.net

The site entered as a serious place for fans to talk not only the Brewers- but baseball in general. The creators had a goal in mind of what they wanted the site to be, what kind of site they did not want to be, and what type of discourse they wanted on their message boards. The site boasts incredible information on all Brewer baseball from the June Draft to the Minor Leagues to the Big Show. Today the site is a great database for all Brewer news. The message boards however.....

Suck.

How is this? Why is it mind numbingly boring to read? Why is there a 85 post thread on Jason Kendal batting 9th? A 466 post thread on Roger Clemens? Why do I learn 5 times as much by scanning through Rightfieldbleachers.com every morning than by looking at the first few postings on Brewerfan?

I've read Brewerfan for a few years but never posted. I would guess that 90% of people who dislike a message board dislike it because a) their postings get deleted b) people rip on their postings. Neither has ever happened to me (Don't get me wrong- I'm sure I would get ripped on if I did post). I judge good message boards on amount of new information, ease of reading and the content of the postings.

Rules, rules and more rules.

There is a rules of conduct. Tag directions and Guildlines. Questions and Suggestion tabs. Designated Threads. A discipline policy. A lineup thread. A resource FAQ.

There is a Brewerfan.net President. Director of Research. Director of Amateur Scouting. Fan Forum Director. Dungeon Master.

I understand where Brewerfan is coming from. I don't want 5 threads each with a different proposed lineup. I don't want 2 threads on why Turnbow sucks. BUT. I also hate reading though 5 posts about what forum a thread belongs in. Or 3 posts on what rules a post broke. Or anything to do with Tags and guildlines. Take it easy fellas. This limits postings big time. On the front page right now there is a post about something Dusty Baker said 3 days ago. I know its Spring Training and their isn't much news - but I have a ton of Brewer related thoughts going through my head at all times, there are tons of new blog updates and articles every day on JSOnline, and the Brewer message board seems to be doing what it can to discourage Brewer discourse.

My suggestion. Take it easy guys. I know there are some dumbshit Brewer fans out there. And those fans have computers. I get it. I have sat in $10 seats during a bobblehead giveaway and behind many obese families wearing goofy foam Prince "crowns" (Remember that game K.P.?). I've seen the worst of the worst. I know you don't want 85 threads on the same subject. I get that. But relax. Let people post. Encourage it. If the post sucks let it fall to the bottom of the page. If the post is repetitive - delete it. Trust me. People would rather you simply deleted a repetitive thread rather than spend 3 posts debating it. Encourage people to ignore stupid posts rather than debate what forum they belong in. I don't believe Yuku is charging you by the number of posts.

Thanks Brewerfan for all you've done. You've done for Brewer fans what ESPN has done for sports fans. But just like ESPN needs to evaluate and improve on what they're doing (there are approximately 6,552,335 blogs letting them know this)...so do you.

Your 2008 Grindy Awards

So full disclosure. I know you've been reading this website. Probably find it about average. Not great. But not terrible either. I don't make a lot of posts. Nor do I really have one post that stands out more than the other. However, one thing that I haven't told you is...that well...

I'm a grinder.

Yes, a grinder. I have the fire AND the passion. I'm the first to get to my office, and the last to leave. Sure, I'm still just an average employee at my job. But I'm not afraid to get my work clothes dirty, or to stay late and finish a project that a good employee would have had done by noon. I'm a grinder. I leave it all in the office. All my coworkers love me even though I sometimes can't do my job that well and force extra work on them. Currently I'm 88th out of 100 people in terms of sales, but if you asked my boss- I'm probably the 3rd or 4th best worker he has -- he doesn't like to get caught up in the numbers. I'm serious- I try REALLY hard. Even though this doesn't help with sales, I'll sometimes run to and from the break room just to get back to work faster.

I think you get my point.

Today I'd also like to recognize some of baseball's past grinders, and introduce the next big thing in 2008 for grinders.

David Eckstein

• Runs out every grounder. Usually makes it to 3rd base on a pop up in foul territory.
• Seems like he takes a lot of pitches (he doesn't actually take more than the average player)
• Fantastic bunter, yet only had 10 Sac bunts in the last 2 years combined.
• Makes a huge effort to throw the ball from SS to first
• Great Clubhouse guy (I'm guessing)
• White

Aaron Rowand

• Actually has half way decent stats compared with the above. HOWEVER, he will run into walls in the outfield and recklessly injure himself trying to make a play a good OF would have made without diving.
• Also white, and a great clubhouse guy

Darin Erstad

• Same exact traits as Eckstein, but was also a punter at Nebraska

And now. I'd like to introduce your 2008 favorite for Grinder of the Year.

Ryan Theriot

Recently put in the 2 spot by Lou Pinella despite a .326 OBP. He is an average fielder who will dive at anything. He will run out every play. He may not "hit for average" or "hit home runs." But god dammit- he will get his uniform dirty.

Plus, he has this quote:

"I'm not about numbers. I'm not a numbers guy at all. You look through my career, and nothing's ever going to jump out at you. I've been lucky to have coaches and management who don't buy into that stuff."

He is basically admitting, that he doesn't have "numbers" meaning he doesn't get on base enough, hit for a high average, hit home runs, etc. He was just lucky to find an MLB team that doesn't care about that stuff. They would rather have a scrappy white guy to cheer for. He freely admits that he does not have the traits of a good baseball player. HOWEVER, he does do the following:

"We always thought the guy was a gamer. Mentally tough. He's always been an 'intangibles' guy with great makeup. Those guys, if given an opportunity, usually seize it." -Cubs Farm System Director Oneri Fleita.

So congrats to Ryan Theriot for the award. Expect regular rave reviews from all Chicago Media, as well as Steve Phillips, Joe Morgan and other ESPN analysts.

Hello, friends

How have you guys been? Glad to meet up with everyone in Arizona. I've really missed Brewer fans. I guess the only thing I've missed more is David Eckstein, but I was going to miss him anyways. 2 things that I haven't missed are the Good Feet store and that dumbshit management in Milwaukee. I mean, I was the reason for the resurgence of the Brewers. Buckethead Brigade? Fuck yeah. Telling you whether it was a fastball, curveball, or slider on every pitch. Count it. Getting rid of Bob Brainerd? You're welcome.

When I told them I wanted $10 million or I was going to Arizona- those bastards told me to go to hell. Dumbshits.

I laughed when I read the news that there was even talk about starting Carlos Villanueva in the minors. Yeah, I mean I know he has options, but I mean a lot of guys have options on your team and you don't talk about starting them in the minors. Why would you waste the 3rd best pitching arm in the fucking minors? What will having your two best young pitching options outside of Gallardo (Villy and Parra) throwing to douchebags in Nashville accomplish?


Oh hey Schroeder, how you doing? Oh, yeah I hate the Good Feet store mostly because your dumb ass promotes them. What, fuck me? Are you kidding? Fuck your mother. Anyways, whats that? You say that that with Villy in the minors that it would clear space for other guys like Bush, Capuano, and Vargas to make the rotation? Vargas is still on the team? And they paid him what???

Wow, what a dumb ass philosophy to follow. Villy isn't 20 years old- he's 24 and entering the prime of his career. He had a sub 4.00 ERA despite struggling the second half of the year. He strikes out almost 8 for every 9 innings. Why would you start him in the minors? What else does he have to prove? Why start an older, shittier pitcher (Vargas is terrible- we can agree on that right??) Isn't Milwaukee doing some sort of "win now" philosophy which they used to justify the trading for Scott Linebrink and the moving of Braun to LF? Shouldn't part of the "win now" strategy be to have the best starting five in the rotation, regardless of if you fucked up by signing Vargas to a $5 million deal?

Bill, you didn't need to punch me in the face! I"m just wondering what you guys are thinking. I mean, next thing you know you're going to start talking about putting your pitcher in the 8 spot in the order or signing a single-A manager to a contract. What? You're kidding me. No way. Jesus Christ. Its like your manager is a former taxidermist or something. Oops.

Anyways, just got a call from Eckstein, he's ready for me. Later guys. Don't forget- there WILL be baseball played this year!

I'm Back

I'm back, and what a week of spring training I missed!

• Someone sent Jeff Suppan the wrong photo to sign!
• Capuano needs to have a better year this year!
• Bill Hall is playing 3rd Base!!!
• J.J. Hardy has a lot of gloves (and still loves the Milwaukee pussy)!
• Craig Consell thinks the Brewers are going to have a good year!
  
• George Webb is giving discounts on his shittastic burgers during spring training!
• Kendall might bat 9th? Yost turning into Tony LaRussa. Please don't Ned. Please don't do this.
• Villanueva starting in the minors. Makes perfect sense. Wait...Breaking news- its a terrible fucking idea (unless you're Dusty Baker). More to come on this.

Pretty much standard news. I expect Haudricourt's blog to contain the following everyday until the season starts: Player A needs to improve from disappointing 2007 year, or Player B needs to have an even bigger year than last year, Derrick Turnbow likes cheese fries, etc.

Exciting.

I'm off...

I'm taking off the next week for a work vacation/week of drunken debauchery. Not sure if I'll be able to update the site until next weekend. So hang tough loyal readership....I will return.

In the meantime check out the other genius blogs out there:

It's the Beer Talking

All Things Steve

I expect to come back to hear about another starting pitcher injuring his knee.

I will leave you with this:

Hope Springs Eternal

Finally.

No more checking Haudricourt's blog 4 times a day only to see no new news (there wasn't any)

No more reading Brewerfan to see pointless threads about nothing (there was nothing to talk about)

No more looking up Matt LaPorta's facebook account (Yeah, it happened).

No more reading about the Mitchell report (Fuck you Michael Hunt).

No more hearing half-baked trade ideas (that will probably not stop until July 31st).

No more checking my NBA fantasy league. That was never going to last.
.
Finally.

No more talking with my uncle about Gape Kapler (yeah, that happened)

No more 10 minute NASCAR reports on SportsCenter (Hello, Gammons - missed you).

Finally.

WELCOME BACK BASEBALL.

Fun with Facebook

What?

What the fuck is this "Arbitration" stuff?

I want to do 3 things.

1. Drink
2. Hook up with Marquette undergrads
3. Make some fucking cash

You'll notice - submiting my arbitration number isn't on that fucking list. J.J. Hardy does what J.J. Hardy wants to do - and going to a fucking arbitration hearing is not on that list.

Doug, are you fucking serious? Go to hell- I'm going to hit up Wells Street and find some tail.

Sounds about right

(Cocky)

Link

"Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramírez is prominently featured in a recent issue of a Dominican cockfighting magazine, En La Traba, in which he is pictured with several roosters that he raises for fighting. Of roosters, he said in the magazine, “When I’m in the Dominican Republic, I’m dedicated entirely to them.”

Shocking news, oh nevermind not shocking at all. The biggest douche on the team with the second largest contigent of douche bag fans (Maybe next year they'll catch the Red Sox?) trains roosters for cock fighting. Fascinating

Shocking.

And since I'm on the Cubs - thought I would post this for no reason:

I think....

"I think we're going to win the World Series, I really do" - Ryan Dempster 2/13/08

"We will win the world series, I guarantee you that" - Carols Zambrano (2007)
"I think that I'd take the Mavericks and the over" - Tim Donaghy

"I think we'll score a lot more than 20 points"- Tom Brady

"I think I'm going to play for Cal next year"- Kevin Hart

"I think we should make a 3-way phone call" - Kalvin Sampson

"I think its a great idea for me to turn pro"- Maurice Clarrett

"I think that I will be with leather tonight" - Chris Berman

"I think I'll have Brady through a bomb instead of kicking a field goal" - Bill Belichick

"I think I hate gay people" - Brady Quinn

"I think I hate gay people...wait, nevermind - I actually know that I hate gay people."- Tim Hardaway

Obligatory Clemens Post

"Mr. Clemens, do you recall bleeding through your pants in 2001?"

"I do not."

Comments of the Day - Part II

To recap the earlier post: I'm so bored and void of any good Brewer news recently that I've turned to the comments section of Haudricourt's blog on JSOnline for amusement. I realize how stupid that is...but hey - you're one of the 5 people that actually read this blog so what does that make you?

ANYWAYS....your comment of the day.

I'm totally against platooning players. I think it hurts the players being platooned and the other players in the line-up. A lot of baseball is about consistency - a steady line-up, getting in a groove, wearing the same t-shirt for a month etc.
If a player cannot play everyday, get a different player. I also, don't like all the strikeouts on the team, but I don't see any great alternatives right now.
I agree with comments above about Corey Hart - the best all around player on the team. Keep him in the line up everyday!

I had actually written a little paragraph about how stupid this statement is. It can be summed up much more concise:

• The goal of baseball is to get on base and score runs. This is why you platoon. If Bill Hall bats .175 against right handers - and Gabe Gross bats .310 against right handers (made up numbers) - YOU HAVE TO GO WITH THE HIGHER AVERAGE
• I love myself some Corey Hart even without the sunglasses, but he is not near the best all around player. He plays average defense and is probably the 4th best option at the plate. Not bad - but not nearly the best all around player. If he struggles against right hand pitchers this year I have no problem with Yost giving Gross or Gwynn a spot start every once in a while

JSOnline Comments of the Day

I'm not sure about you guys, but when I want to get quality news on the Brewers, I don't read ESPN, Baseball Prospectus, or even the newspaper -- I go straight to the people....thats right- I go straight to the comments on Tom Haudricourt's blog. Where else can I read what favrefan4ever, nedbooster-NOT!, and Jimbo45??

Let's take a look at some of the great analysis that Yost had his 2009 option picked up:

The last thing this franchise needs is a desperate Ned overusing the best pitchers, especially the young ones. (Good point- like how he overused Gallardo..um..nevermind)

Ned is the 4th best manager in the central. No way you can put him ahead of Lou, Tony, or Dusty. (Lou and Tony are both HOF managers, so duh. Dusty- the man who doesn't want to clog the bases? Come on man, ask any Cub fan who they think is better.)

And now...the winner on why Ned Yost should be fired:

I'm sure he will take this team to new heights in 2008! I can't wait until he keeps Derrick Turnbow in a game after 8 straight balls and 1 of them to the backstop.
Thats the reason that you think Ned Yost is not a good manager...because Turnbow has no control???? Is Yost a good manager if he takes him out after 8 pitches? 7? 5? 4? 3?

Both Haudricourt and commenters missed the big picture. This move means absolutely nothing. Its not an indication in Melvin's confidence as Haudricourt believes, nor does it have any affect on the long term prospects of Yost as a manager. This move means absolutely nothing. Never is Melvin going to think, "well we should fire him...but jeez we picked up his option for 2009."

No Dayn, No Gain

Worst?

Thanks to Haudricourt for linking this article. We have Dayn Perry grading the worst player at each position....OFFENSIVELY. Below, he makes the somewhat lame case for Jason Kendall as the worst MLB starting catcher.

.

C — Jason Kendall, Brewers
Kendall narrowly edges out Paul Lo Duca for worst catcher. In 2007, Kendall "hit" .242 AVG/.301 OBP/.309 SLG and tallied only 24 extra-base hits in 514 plate appearances. Unless you're a pitcher, those power numbers are patently unacceptable. That's to say nothing of Kendall's poor throwing arm behind the plate. At age 33, he doesn't figure to improve going forward.

I'm just going to look at 2007 stats, realizing this is by no means the best way to evaluate the best or worse players. However it seems that this how Dayn Perry evaluated Kendall so we'll go with it as well.

Unless you get a top 8-10 catcher, you aren't going to get great offensive numbers...in fact you probably won't get very good numbers at all. Thats just the way it is. That is why the majority of catchers bat in the 7-8-9 spot. I don't especailly care whether my #8 hitter hits 5 doubles or 35 doubles, I want him to get on base so he can be bunted over by the pitcher and set the table for the top of the order (or driven in by the bottom of the order in the AL).

With the theme of getting on base, here are 8 catchers with over 300 ABs, that were worse than Kendall in getting on base.

• David Ross - .205 avg /.271 obp
• Gerald Laird - .224 / .278
• Dioneer Navarro - .227 / .286
• Johnny Estrada - .278 / .298
• Miguel Olivo - .237 / .262
• Benji Molina - .276 / .298
• Michael Barret - .244 / .281
• Ivan Rodriguez - .281 / .294

Using Baseball Prospectus's VORP (Value over replacement players), the following were worse than Kendall, and these are only in the National League:

• David Ross
• Miguel Olivo
• Brad Ausmus
• Brian Schneider

I really had no point when I started writing this...except that while Jason Kendal is not to be confused with a good baseball player, he is far from the worst at his position. I'd actually be more pissed if I was Paul Lo Duca, but thats another posting for another day.

I think most Brewer fans would take Kendall rather than watch this guy swing at god awful pitches all day:

Greg Couch is an Idiot

Dumb Dumb Dumb

A couple great lines from a Greg Couch article in the Sun-Times:

(Santana) puts Mets way ahead of North Siders, who must get Bedard to have any hope of a World Series.

If the Cubs had the money and prospects that the Mets had...they would have gotten Bedard already. You can't just expect to get an elite player in a trade and in turn not expect it to hurt your team. What the Mets did was the exception not the rule. Its what an unlimited budget and the right prospects will do for a team. The Cubs have a neither of these things.

If (the Cubs)want to have a chance at getting past the Mets and into the World Series without a miracle, they have to answer back.
And that means grabbing Erik Bedard from Baltimore. I called for this two weeks ago.

Wow, you called that the Cubs should get Bedard? Wow! Kudos! Revolutionary! Well, I've been calling for 3 weeks that the Brewers should get Alex Rodriguez, Jake Peavy, and C.C. Sabathia!

The Seattle Mariners are trying to get Bedard out of Baltimore, but Orioles owner Peter Angelos has a way of flipping out just before making a trade. This wouldn't be a bad time for the Cubs, with all their prospects and revenue streams, to muscle in and make a big offer. Felix Pie, Rich Hill and Sean Marshall all can go.

You're going to give up your 22 year old starting CF and your #2 and #5 starters for Erik Bedard - fine. But you think this is going to IMPROVE your team? This is beyond ridiculous. If the Milwaukee Brewers reacted to the Santana trade by trading Corey Hart, Yo Gallardo and Calos V. for Erik Bedard I would lose my fucking mind.

This article goes on and on...Couch's basic premise is the following:

• Now that the Mets have Santana they will go from 88 wins to un-fucking-beatable
• If the Cubs want to go from 85 wins to un-fucking-beatable they have to acquire Erik Bedard at all costs

Get out of the bomb shelter Greg. If you reaction to the Santana trade is to trade for Erik Bedard at all costs, you need to step away from the ledge. Did we not learn anything from the Yankees and Red Sox? They both trusted in their young core of players and did not break the bank for Santana...why wouldn't you want your team to do the same?

As a Brewer fan I guess the real reason I took offense to this article is that it showcases the arrogance of some Cubs fans and the majority of the Chicago media. Why is Greg acting like this is the reason the Cubs won't be in the World Series? They won't be in the World Series for about a thousand different reasons- Johan Santana is the least of their problems.

Awww Shit!

Baseball Prospectus

#76? Hell fucking yeah. Single A is for pussies. Keep drug testing me you douches and I'll keep sending back positive tests. Just think if I actually played NOT stoned out of my mind.

.

Face it Doug....you need me more than I need you.