Friday's Frosty Mug

by KLSnow on Sep 12, 2008 9:05 AM CDT Comment 30 comments

While reading this morning's Mug, be sure to reload this page every few minutes to see if the Large Hadron Supercollider has destroyed the Earth yet.

Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

So apparently Corey Hart doesn't like the fan interaction at home. I'll admit there's been a lot of booing lately. But realistically, I think the problem can be limited to one source. Here's the full list of things I've booed at Miller Park in 2008. I think there's a notable pattern:

A) Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost.
B) Bad decisions made by Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost.
C) Negative outcomes immediately stemming from bad decisions made by Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost.

The pattern is subtle, but I think the solution to the problem is pretty obvious.

Adam Charles from Bugs & Cranks has some advice for Corey.

Getting back to Yost for a moment: I think I've figured out what we're doing wrong. When it became clear that management of the Milwaukee Brewers was headed in the wrong direction, one of us created Fire Ned Yost, but didn't specify a timetable. As an example of a better solution, behold one of my new favorite Dodger blogs: Fire Ned Coletti Now.

As I write this, you've got about an hour and 15 minutes (before 10 am) to go vote for the Brewers call of the coin flip to determine home-field advantage in tiebreaker games. Baseball Musings says if the vote ends up tied, Doug Melvin should just flip a coin. (Also noted in the Fanshots)

So Prince finally hit a home run yesterday. Unfortunately, with the Brewer loss the 5-way tie scenario for the NL Wild Card is still in play.

Gabe Kapler is likely done for the season. I guess this means Tony Gwynn is our last option in center, but I'm hoping Joe Dillon would get the AB's if a corner OF was needed.

Mike Greenberg wants to give the NL MVP to CC Sabathia. His second choice? Manny Ramirez. Mike Greenberg should not be allowed to vote for MVP.

It's a day late, but since there's still 3 games left in the series, here's Brewerfan.net's Brewers-Phillies series preview.

On injuries:

A's 2B Mark Ellis will require surgery to repair cartilage damage in his shoulder, but should be ready for spring training 2009.
Braves SP Charlie Morton is done for the year with pain in his shoulder blade.
Tigers OF Clete Thomas is out for the season and some of 2009 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

The Angels backed into a save situation last night, leading 7-0 in the 8th but allowing the Mariners back into it. That save situation, though, allowed Francisco Rodriguez to tie the single season saves record. Congratulations to him.

Yesterday I mentioned that Dusty Baker doesn't want to play the Reds' September call ups. Today, Redlegs Rundown asks if it's possible Dusty's long track record with pitchers has a new victim: Aaron Harang.

Oddly enough, one of baseball's younger managers doesn't want to play one of his September callups either: Royals rookie manager Trey Hillman isn't finding any playing time for fan favorite Kila Ka'aihue.

Drink up.

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frickem frackem

The problem is that boos carry so well, so it would be better if, in times of trouble, everyone muttered under their breath like yosemite sam. It wouldn’t be so disheartening.

by friendo on Sep 12, 2008 11:06 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Parra

In that blowout loss to San Diego, there was a moment when Parra was in a serious jam of his own doing, and the fans cheered him in a critical spot, as if they understood he was young and needed the lift.

I’m not saying the fans are usually positive, but I am saying they aren’t negative all the time. I’m sure the Brewers don’t want to bear the burden of history. But if they want the fans to stop panicking, they’re going to have to demonstrate a reason not to.

by Et tu Brewte on Sep 12, 2008 11:56 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I really liked Bugs and Cranks breakdown of what Hart said

This is awesome:

If a few dead-enders with nothing else to do want to boo when you ground out (or, perhaps, when Bill Hall strikes out on three pitches out of the zone), why do you even care? They do not warrant more attention or acknowledgment than the other 40,000+ that have been behind you since your first call-up. You think you’ve been treated unfairly by some fans? Go tell it to Aaron Rodgers, then watch how he handles himself this year.

If you win 8 of your last 15, you will win the Wild Card and be a hero to the people of Wisconsin forever. No other group of fans in baseball could ever show you the kind of love that Crew fans will show you for just one postseason berth. You could get swept in the NLDS (you know, like the 2007 Cubs) and still get a bigger parade than whatever team ends up winning the whole thing.

But, more importantly, even if you don’t make it, the vast majority of us with lives, careers, friends, and dignity will still support you so long as you wear that uniform. So don’t ever lump us in with the a**holes again.

Sat: George 2 (37, missed catch, fielding) Fri: George (35, throw) Tues: George (34, throw)

by Jordan M on Sep 12, 2008 12:22 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

mug comebackers

The weird thing about that supercollider is that there are a bunch of mainstream scientists who think its a bad idea. I’d put billions it costs as a bad idea.

I rarely boo, but Yost is my exception as well. Billy Hall is entering that territory, but i probably still wouldn’t.

Mike Greenberg shouldn’t be on TV at all. He reminds me a lot of a handful of Milwaukee sports “talkers.” Apparently being loud and having an obnoxious personality combined not only with non-athleticism, but doughy ineptitude is what it takes.

by ol Pete on Sep 12, 2008 1:47 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Most of the time, I think people are really just booing Yost.

We've got uniforms and everything, it's really great!

by drezdn on Sep 12, 2008 2:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was saying “Boo-ewers.”

We've got uniforms and everything, it's really great!

by drezdn on Sep 12, 2008 2:01 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I'll defend Yost if nobody else will

I think we need to be better than the typical fans that start to blame the manager for every small slump during the season. It’s baseball. Slumps happen – it’s a part of the game that every player and team goes through. Has Yost made some bad decisions? Yes, but so has every other major league manager. In many cases, the decisions managers make, whether they turn out good or bad, are made for complex reasons that most baseball fans don’t even understand or can see on TV.
Let’s start giving Yost some of the credit for having the Crew 19 over .500 and in a prime spot to win the wild card. After all, they’ve done this with one of their top pitchers injured and in a year where prince’s production has dropped off.

by ajoconnor on Sep 12, 2008 2:09 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I can understand that

however, blaming Yost for a slump is entirely different than questioning his managerial decisions, and I don’t think anyone here is blaming him for a slump. I don’t know if it’s just me, but it seems like a bunch of times this year he’s made terrible decisions that don’t blow up in his face, whereas last year every stupid decision wound up as a yosting. The outcome of a decision doesn’t change if it was a good decision or not, in baseball anyway. For example, I thought it was a bad call to have Villanueva come in to face Utley and Howard last night when Stetter was already hot.

Also- I for one don’t accept other manager’s mediocrity as a reason to accept our own manager’s stupid decision-making.

Sat: George 2 (37, missed catch, fielding) Fri: George (35, throw) Tues: George (34, throw)

by Jordan M on Sep 12, 2008 2:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm blaming him for a slump.

These guys aren’t robots, and a lot of them are little more than kids (even the outsized ones like Prince). When their “leader”, aka Nervous Ned is so tight he’s making diamonds out of coal using a convenient orifice, isn’t it just possible that the team could tighten up and play worse than it had earlier? If the team plays better when it’s loose, I don’t think Ned is the kind of guy able to keep a team loose when the pressure’s on. Is “looseness” a myth? Maybe. But apparently Hart doesn’t think so, and he’s in a better position to know than any of us are.

And the bad decisions he’s rightfully criticised for decrease the margin for error and puts more pressure on the players to perform, thus decreasing the likelihood of success. Those decisions help turn wins into losses at times, and thus they extend short losing skids into pressure packed slumps where some of the hitters take bad approaches. I know that’s hard to plug into the calculator, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

I have an unreasonable dislike of Bill Hall.

by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Sep 12, 2008 7:11 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I think we need to be better than the typical fans that start to blame the manager for every small slump during the season

I agree 100%. We shouldn’t blame the manager because the team goes through slumps. We should blame the manager because he’s just not very good.

But, if you’d like to take a whack at the particular skill set Ned brings - or, why Ned is a better manager than, say, Gorman the Dog - I’d love to hear it. All I’ve seen is a protruding jaw and an inability to talk to the media without sounding like a complete ass.

"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 Sep 12, 2008 2:26 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

One positive I'll give Yost

There is no way the dugout wall is falling over, not on Ned’s watch anyway. If he gets ejected, then all bets are off.

by Getting Yosted on Sep 12, 2008 2:52 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

now THATS good stuff

Can't pitch Gagne in rain. He’s like the B-2 bomber of baseball.--TheJay

by verno329 on Sep 12, 2008 3:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rec'd!

I really don’t think Gorman would be an exceptionally effective manager, though, because he’d chew everyone’s shoelaces.

He wouldn’t be nearly as abrasive, though. He’s too cute to be abrasive.

Hence my decision to call it "screwing around" as opposed to "in-depth study."

by KLSnow on Sep 12, 2008 3:55 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Alright here are some examples of where we should be giving Yost credit for what he’s done rather than only pointing out what hasn’t worked.

(1) Yost decided to put Torres into the closer role after Gagne faltered and got hurt. Torres was not by any means the clear cut favorite here, as he could just have easily gone to Riske or Mota – both of whom had pitched fairly well up to that point in the season.

(2) Making the decision to give Branyan extensive playing time at third (while he was still healthy). I know it may have seemed like an easy decision because of Hall’s struggles – but many guys would have just stuck in Counsell instead of looking to a triple-A player that many fans questioned the Brewers even acquiring in the first place.

(3) Moving McClung to the starting rotation – where he put up some solid fifth starter numbers. The clear favorites for this spot seemed to be Villanueva who had begun to pitch very well again. Instead he went with the guy who struggled with Tampa Bay as a starter – and he stepped up as a solid fifth starter until we picked up CC.

Thanks for pointing out the difference between slumps and decisions – they are indeed very different and Yost can be blamed for his bad decisions – just remember during the course of 162 games every manager/player/coach is going to make them. I’m just saying we should also give him credit for his good ones.

by ajoconnor on Sep 12, 2008 2:53 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Sure we can give him credit for good decisions

You just know I’m going to pick apart #2, though. Before Branyan got hurt, he was almost 100% benched in favor of Counsell and Hall at third base. And it wasn’t because he was hurt- he got 2 starts in about 4 weeks, and he pulled the muscle in batting practice at San Diego.

Sat: George 2 (37, missed catch, fielding) Fri: George (35, throw) Tues: George (34, throw)

by Jordan M on Sep 12, 2008 3:09 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wellllll

Can I assume, then, that you’d say Ned’s strength lies in making smart baseball decisions?

"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 Sep 12, 2008 3:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nedly

Michael Hunt wrote a column not long ago that still represents how I feel. Here we are at crunchtime, and a team helmed by a terribly tense Ned seems to be — surprise — terribly tense. Hunt’s position was that at some point, the team reflects the disposition of the manager. I leave the door open that this is possibly what’s happening.

by Et tu Brewte on Sep 12, 2008 4:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bingo.

I have an unreasonable dislike of Bill Hall.

by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Sep 12, 2008 7:12 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Today's prediction

Parra goes 6 2/3 IP giving up 2 runs on 6 hits with 7 K’s and 2 BB and gets the win thanks to some nice work by the bullpen. That is all.

Visit my baseball blog ...or else!

by dixieflatline on Sep 12, 2008 3:01 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I hope you're right again

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Sep 12, 2008 3:43 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

good try

but you should have watched the Weather Channel

by molitorfan on Sep 12, 2008 6:17 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Branyan

Yeah that is true, but part of it is Yost riding the hot hand – and it was a very good decision to find that hot hand in Branyan. Even after Branyan’s began slumping and got benched, his numbers are pretty good compared to our options, as you can see below. During May and June he hit .276 with 11 homers and an OBP of .366 in 30 games.

Branyan: BA .252, HR 12, OBP .340
Hall: BA .225, HR 15, OBP .292
Counsell: BA .231, HR 1, OBP .339

I’m just saying I think Yost did a good job of giving the opportunity to Russell, who played very well and provided some needed offense, and then once he felt Russell was beginning to come back down to his typical numbers he got him out of the lineup.

by ajoconnor on Sep 12, 2008 3:49 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

What makes you think this is what happened? It could be that he began not hitting as well because he was basically benched while he was doing well. Ned continually plays Hall despite grim numbers because he thinks he’ll get hot is getting hot.

by ol Pete on Sep 12, 2008 7:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

If he benched him while he was playing well than how do you explain his average dropping from .300+ to .252? And check out the following numbers. I suggest checking out www.baseball-reference.com for anyone that likes checking out any stats/splits of any player in the majors or minors. Its an awesome site.

Branyan’s stats by month:

May: BA .300 2 HR
June: BA .269, 9 HR
July: BA .189, 1 HR
August: He was only given 7 at bats.

by ajoconnor on Sep 13, 2008 9:22 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The site is old news. I can look at his game log and argue against your thesis. If you think that Yost is a wise old manager for basically abandoning Branyan based on about 15 at bats, why does he play Rickie Weeks for years?

by ol Pete on Sep 13, 2008 11:51 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh, you and your newfangled computers and stats

Counsell:

June: .268/.359/.393/.752
July: .174/.286/.174/.460
August: .234/.333/.313/.646

Sat: George 2 (37, missed catch, fielding) Fri: George (35, throw) Tues: George (34, throw)

by Jordan M on Sep 13, 2008 6:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let's stop discussing this now and focus on the Phils.

Hamels is going to be a tough challenge, but I like having a lefty out there to help neutralize Utley and Howard. I’m predicting a Braun home run to break out of his little drought that he has been in.

by ajoconnor on Sep 12, 2008 3:51 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Just a quick tip

if you want to reply to a specific comment, just click the little [+] reply button after that comment and a new POST A COMMENT box comes up.

Sat: George 2 (37, missed catch, fielding) Fri: George (35, throw) Tues: George (34, throw)

by Jordan M on Sep 12, 2008 5:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That never works.

"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 Sep 12, 2008 5:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey Corey

if you don’t want to be booed how about picking up more than one RBI a week during the crucial month of September. Rumor has it that RF is supposed to be a position that provides some power. Although I see that the friendly crowd in Philly allowed you to badly misplay 2 balls in the field and ground out on one pitch with 2 men on in the 8th.

by molitorfan on Sep 12, 2008 6:19 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

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NL Central Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
St. Louis Viva El Birdos	91	71	.561	0	Lost 6
Chicago Bleed Cubbie Blue	83	78	.515	7.5	Lost 1
Milwaukee Brew Crew Ball	80	82	.493	11	Won 3
Cincinnati Red Reporter	78	84	.481	13	Won 2
Houston The Crawfish Boxes	74	88	.456	17	Lost 3
Pittsburgh Bucs Dugout	62	99	.385	28.5	Lost 2