Thursday's Frosty Mug
by Kyle Lobner on Aug 7, 2008 8:26 AM CDT
Email
PrintAlso, the Brewers won their second straight road series.
Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
Rickie Weeks was the unlikely hero yesterday, going 4-for-5 with 2 RBI and 11 assists in the field. After the game, though, he dramatically and unforgivably insulted the game of baseball by untucking his shirt. Note the veteran grittiness of Craig Counsell, who refused to participate in such an egregious affront to the game and left his shirt stuffed firmly in his pants.
With the loss yesterday, the Reds have lost each of Homer Bailey's first eight major league starts. In fact, he hasn't participated in a win at any level since April 30. It's gotten so bad he's quoting Nietzsche.
The Brew Town Beat has joined me and Tom H. in wondering if Ned Yost is trying to kill Jason Kendall.
Apparently Twins backup catcher Mike Redmond takes ground balls at third everyday, even though he's only played there one game in his career. If Mike Rivera had devoted his spare time this year to learning new positions, could he play everywhere by now?
Mike Cameron narrowly missed robbing a home run yesterday. I feel like I've seen this picture, where he swings and misses at what would've been a great catch, 15-20 times this season. Has anyone done the numbers to figure out if/how much Cameron has actually helped in the field this season?
The latest Bugs and Cranks power rankings have the Brewers 8th.
There might have been more, but Robinson Cancel, Raul Casanova and Claudio Vargas are all Mets this year: Of the 99 former big leaguers playing independent ball this season, I was only able to find two former Brewers, Wayne Franklin and Will Cunnane.
On injuries:
Joba Chamberlain has rotator cuff tendinitis, less serious than previously expected.
Nats OF Elijah Dukes' calf strain is worse than expected and could end his 2008 season.
A's SP Sean Gallagher will have his next start pushed back at least 6 days to recover from shoulder inflammation.
Indians reliever Matt Ginter has been placed on the DL with a forearm strain.
Rangers RP David Murphy strained a ligament in his knee in a collision at home plate yesterday and should miss 2-4 weeks.
This is when you know you're having a tough season: Jeff Francoeur is slugging .357 in 2008, which is the same as the career slugging percentage of a pitcher (Mike Hampton) on his team.
I think we'd all like to see all 30 big league parks, but 30 parks in 26 days with overnight drives like Kansas City to Detroit and Minneapolis to Arlington seems a little extreme.
Drink up.
23 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
The slow death of Jason Kendall
Don’t forget about his contract for 2009 (from Cot’s):
2009 option increases by 2008 performance bonuses earned based on games.
2009 club option becomes guaranteed at:* $4.25M with 110 starts in 2008
* $4.35M with 120 starts in 2008
* $4.6M with 130 starts in 2008
I wonder if Ned is Jason’s agent. :)
"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!"
Kendall
He’s started 140+ games as a catcher in a season seven times in his career (139 games in another year) and 130 games last year, so it’s not like he doesn’t know how to handle starting every day. For whatever reason he actually has hit better in August and September throughout his career, so it’s not like he becomes useless on offense (well, any more than usual) because he starts a lot.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
ha!
"I wore 37 in Tampa... my brother Marcus wore 37... my brother Sam wore 73... my nieces and nephews wear 37... It's a family thing." McClung
If MLB teams were run like penny pinching companies, Kendall would play 4 more games and then be benched for the rest of the year.
Coffee is for closers
You mean
Good thing he’s not playing for the 2003 Expos. Bud and MLB would have probably just released him as soon as he got close to making more money.
C. Magruder scored, R. Weeks to second on balk
Or almost any MLB team prior to the mid-1970's.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
dogs chasing waterfowl
I’m all for it. Large areas of the park near where I live become unusable when the goose population is large.
Dachshunds were bred for hunting badgers I believe. Hopefully a UW-Madison sweatshirt doesn’t set him off.
Birds in Milwaukee Baseball History
“The dozens of seagulls that plagued Friday’s game returned tonight, but the Brewers combatted the problem Saturday night with Gus the wonder dog, from Wisconsin’s waterfowl association. Gus was used between innings to scatter the birds, and he was successful in keeping them off the field.”
In June 1993, “Gus the Wonder Dog” became a fan favorite at County Stadium. The Brewers brought in the trained pooch to chase away thousands of seagulls who had swarmed the ballpark. The gulls, who feasted on migrating moths and tailgate party leftovers, were scared away from their lakefront homes because of the noise from a Harley-Davidson reunion that was taking place downtown.
“I remember that,” Brewers pitcher Cal Eldred said. “They had to bring in the dog to chase the birds, then they had a guy with a shovel chasing after the dog to clean up after him. That was pretty embarrassing, I’d have to say.”
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
Could have cleaned up with this bet
Who will be the first pitcher from the Harden trade to go on the DL?
Homer Bailey has been bad this year
But these aren’t his first major league starts. He got called up midseason last year and went 4-2 in 9 games. After being the supposed savior of the Reds rotation, he’s got a long way to go to catch up with Volquez and Cueto.
To learn more about Homer Bailey and what’s causing his struggles, head over to Red Reporter on a night that he’s pitching, and Johnnypronto will fill you in.
Cam's defense
He certainly has missed his share of balls on the fringes of his range but he definitely has helped. His RZR is .922 which is actually better than he has done since at least 2005. That puts him in the top half for center fielders in the league but not upper crust. Braun and Hart are also slightly above average so the outfield is certainly the best it has been for a while. Add in the relatively strong arms (which RZR doesn’t do) and I would say the outfield has been quite good this year. I have heard some rumblings that if Cam is let go that Braun should be the one to move to center not Hart but Hart has a better RZR so I think conventional wisdom is right here and an outfield of Braun, Hart, Gamel/Gillespie/Kapler left to right would be the way to go.
I wish Brady Clark was patrolling center field
Then we wouldn’t have the swinging and missing at catches, we would have the chasing the ball as it’s bouncing plays.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
Hey...
... if the park organist would have played Baby Elephant Walk to those “chasing the ball as it’s bouncing plays” people would have loved it. They just didn’t know how to market The Brady.
FDR can suck it. - Jeff Sackmann
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Aug 7, 2008 4:54 PM CDT up reply actions
Also, he would have stolen like 60 bases if 2nd was only 80ft from 1st.
I still think he’s the only player I’ve ever seen that elicited audible groans of dread from the stands when he’s bolt for 2nd. Yet he seemed to have the green light until mid-July.
FDR can suck it. - Jeff Sackmann
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Aug 7, 2008 4:56 PM CDT up reply actions
Some random tidbits
Clayton Kershaw is going for the Dodgers against the Cards this afternoon. If you don’t have anything else to do you could listen in. Also, it looks like Cuban has a real shot at buying the Cubs which scares the hell out of me. The Cubs already are showing real signs that they understand things and with their extra money are already a huge threat long term. Cube would bring more money to the table and things like latin scouting and SE Asia scouting is only going to go up. Something to watch for. Is there any way we can get Peter Angelos to dump the O’s and make an offer for the Cubs?
Kershaw goes at least 6 innings
He is pitching really well right now and the future looks really bright for him. Four seamer and 12 to 6 curve with a change up. Looks a lot like Sheets at 20 maybe. If his control tightens up, and he is only 10, he could be a huge star.
by dixieflatline on Aug 7, 2008 2:59 PM CDT up reply actions
speaking
of the cards is anybody else suprised that Chris Carpenter has done so well in his first two starts? I have never really bought into the whole getting a player back off a major arm injury after the ASB is like trading for an ace thing because it takes some time for pitchers to get right again but so far it looks like he hasnt missed a beat.
He goes Sunday vs the Cubs at Wrigley so I will get a chance to see what kind of action he is getting on his pitches up close
Psst!
Wayne Franklin and Will Cunnane are ex-Brewers, it’s true, but so is Travis Phelps, not that anyone would remember his six innings for the team without looking it up.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
I was surprised
I remembered Will Cunnane, much less Travis Phelps.
Hence my decision to call it "screwing around" as opposed to "in-depth study."
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Cincinnati
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Houston
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Milwaukee
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
St. Louis
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
(updated 2.13.2012 at 7:02 PM CST)
Baseball Nation Recent Stories
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- Five tips for Showtime’s second season of ‘The Franchise,’ featuring the Miami Marlins
- The 10 best things about being a Detroit Tigers fan
- Surprise! A’s finally end the Yoenis Cespedes derby with $36 million deal for Cuban star
- The time Whitney Houston sang to Jim Bowden
- Pitchers and catchers! Mariners get early start in Arizona
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
