Thursday's Frosty Mug
Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
After losing 2 of 3 to the Brewers, the Astros are just one game over .500, 8.5 games behind the Brewers (and behind four other teams) for the Wild Card, and BP Postseason Odds has them at .13%, or about 1 in 756 to make the playoffs. But Crawfish Boxes wants you to know that if the Astros sweep 4 games from the Mets and the Brewers lose 4 in a row, they'll only be 4.5 games back.
Rickie Weeks was back in the lineup yesterday, and went 0-1 with 3 walks and scored 3 times. Al says he's the best leadoff hitter the Brewers have had since Paul Molitor. That's a study waiting to be done.
This much is for sure: Weeks did give J.J. Hardy a high-five following the home run that more or less sealed yesterday's game.
Prince Fielder hit two sac flies yesterday and leads the NL with 10.
Will Ben Sheets be the next injury-prone but dominant-when-healthy SP to sign a big deal with the Blue Jays? The Southpaw is hearing rumors that the Jays will make a run at Sheets this winter, but Jordan Bastian says the Jays likely won't look to replace pitching via free agency. Next spring only one of them will be right.
If the Jays would like a headstart, they could overspend on Brewer pitchers right now by picking up the contracts of Eric Gagne and David Riske, who both cleared waivers.
CC Sabathia is making the NL better one start at a time. Not only did CC Sabathia pitch his fifth complete game Monday, he also inspired Pirates SP Ian Snell, who watched footage of Sabathia on his iPhone, translated some things over to his delivery and dominated the Cardinals.
Ken Rosenthal seems to think the Brewers will exercise their $10 million option on Mike Cameron for next season. I guess the Eric Gagne experiment has shown us that there are worse ways to spend $10 million.
Jeff Moore at Dugout Central considered both Ryan Braun and CC Sabathia for NL MVP before deciding the only real candidate is Albert Pujols.
Yesterday, I took a quick look at Brewers who have hit 20 home runs and stolen 20 bases. Corey Hart needs one home run to become the first Brewer ever to do it twice. Today, Recondite Baseball takes a look at a more dubious 20/20 club: players who committed 20 errors and grounded into 20 double plays. No Brewer has ever made this list. None will in 2008, either.
Dayn Perry says the Brewers' biggest weakness is right handed middle relief. I can live with that.
On injuries:
A's SP Sean Gallagher has a tired arm and will miss his next start.
Rockies RP Matt Herges has been placed on the DL with lower back stiffness.
Hanley Ramirez will likely miss a day or two after bruising his thumb stealing a base last night.
Jim Thome was scratched from last night's game with slight soreness in his leg.
White Sox CF DeWayne Wise left last night's game with a strained abductor muscle.
Dixieflatline is everywhere these days. Today, he's posting at new SBN affiliate Driveline Mechanics about the stuff of Jeff Samardzija, whose name I still can't spell. That's the only name I've ever written, looked at and thought, "shouldn't there be another z in there?"
Finally, The Griddle handicaps the race between the Mariners and Nationals to be the first team mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Another look at the BP Postseason Odds shows that the Royals, Mariners, Nationals, Pirates and Reds have already been all but eliminated, with the Padres holding onto a slim .00005% (1 in 2 million) chance.
I filtered out 6 unnecessary commas from the original draft of today's Mug to make it smooth and add drinkability. Drink up.
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27 comments
Comments
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition

"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"
by roguejim on
Aug 21, 2008 11:04 AM CDT
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nobody expects the improper use of the flag either:P
by PagsBrewCrew on
Aug 21, 2008 1:16 PM CDT
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Improper?
Didn’t the Cubs lose yesterday to the Reds?
"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"
by roguejim on
Aug 21, 2008 2:02 PM CDT
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day late
and dollar short
battlekow posted it before you did;)
by PagsBrewCrew on
Aug 21, 2008 2:07 PM CDT
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His L Flag is a knock-off
It’s actually a painted-over E flag.

"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"
by roguejim on
Aug 21, 2008 2:14 PM CDT
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you know the vase-face thing
my eyes were just doing that with the “E” It was seeing the white background as being the letter. What does a backwards “C” have to do with anything?
Someone must have spiked my latte this morning with real alcoholic vanilla…
by PagsBrewCrew on
Aug 21, 2008 2:31 PM CDT
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Weeks
Al says he’s the best leadoff hitter the Brewers have had since Paul Molitor. That’s a study waiting to be done.
It seems that’s not saying much, considering who the Crew have run up there since Molitor. I haven’t done the study either.
It's called "playing the percentages."
by hilbelink on
Aug 21, 2008 11:15 AM CDT
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No, it's not saying much
Moreover, it implies that Weeks is, you know, good. You can make the case that he isn’t as bad as his batting average would suggest, but that’s a long long way from “good.”
"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"
by roguejim on
Aug 21, 2008 11:36 AM CDT
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Gabe Kapler is the best left fielder we've had since Ryan Braun
BCB's "very own marginally deserving all-star!"
by battlekow on
Aug 21, 2008 11:48 AM CDT
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Jason Kendall is the best offensive catcher we've had since Dave Nilsson
"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"
by roguejim on
Aug 21, 2008 11:58 AM CDT
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Chad Moeller was the most offensive
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on
Aug 21, 2008 11:59 AM CDT
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Leadoff hitters
I just posted a FanPost on the topic. The fact Weeks is already in second place for most starts in the leadoff spot since 1992 speaks volumes about the turnover in that job.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on
Aug 21, 2008 11:40 AM CDT
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This topic got me thinking
Has any hitter scored more runs than had hits in a season (you know, excluding the guy who gets one AB, walks, scores, and is sent down to the minors)?
The closest I found was Barry Bonds, who in 2004 had 135 hits and 129 runs. Right now, Rickie has merely 14 more runs than hits.
"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"
by roguejim on
Aug 21, 2008 11:43 AM CDT
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I think you mean Rickie has 14 fewer runs than hits
Either way, I found only one player with more runs than hits over a full season of playing time was Max “Camera Eye” Bishop of the 1930 Philadelphia Athletics. He scored 117 runs with only 111 hits (but 128 walks!) in 588 PA.
Willie Wilson (1978) and Rickey Henderson (2002) had equal numbers of runs and hits in 223 and 222 PA, respectively. Tillie Shafer of the 1912 Giants is the only other guy with 200+ PA to have more runs than hits. He scored 48 times and got a hit 47 times in 203 trips to the plate.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on
Aug 21, 2008 12:08 PM CDT
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How about Fernando Vina?
Remember when the Crew was banking on an infield of Jaha, Vina, Valentin, and Cirillo? Those were the days.
by oconnobe on
Aug 21, 2008 12:18 PM CDT
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Just saw...
TheJay’s fanpost … I thought Vina may be at the top of the list.
by oconnobe on
Aug 21, 2008 12:20 PM CDT
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In other news...
Jose Valentin’s 12 year old struck dad out in 19 consecutive at bats yesterday afternoon. In the 20th at bat, Valentin went “yard”, after which he concluded he was still pretty good with the bat.
FDR can suck it. - Jeff Sackmann
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on
Aug 21, 2008 5:57 PM CDT
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Whooo!
Someone should photoshop Archie onto a map of the US and then put a little star on Milwaukee.
And neck size to baby eating ratio.
by Jordan M on
Aug 21, 2008 12:48 PM CDT
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awww
they should have gone with Rudy the Rutabaga (one of the other options) when they choose a mascot. Artichokes are actually kinda good.
by PagsBrewCrew on
Aug 21, 2008 1:38 PM CDT
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Sheets to Toronto?
That’d be a stretch but if they are willing to empty the bank they should take their shot. It’d be more scary if they made a run for CC though. You’d never need a bullpen.
by Lavender on
Aug 21, 2008 1:08 PM CDT
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except the other 4 days a week, but who's counting?
by PagsBrewCrew on
Aug 21, 2008 1:19 PM CDT
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Just read your profile
Ned Yost, is that you?
by PagsBrewCrew on
Aug 21, 2008 1:35 PM CDT
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Beginning to question my manliness
I played this sport in high school

by PagsBrewCrew on
Aug 21, 2008 2:08 PM CDT
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Oldie but goodie
Just noticed this one on the indians’ forum in a thread on trading all of the Indians’ personnel.
by PagsBrewCrew on
Aug 21, 2008 3:24 PM CDT
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