Thursday's Frosty Mug
This was supposed to be a short week. So why am I looking at my calendar and saying "Really? It's only Thursday?"
Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
Apparently all it took was a Dave Bush meatball for Ryan Church to get his stroke back.
Also yesterday, Angel Salome, Alcides Escobar and Mat Gamel got their first major league at bats. The kids grow up so fast. The Official Site notes that Brad Nelson has the ball from his first big league hit, but not a house to keep it in. Maybe he can borrow Bob Hamelin's house.
CC Sabathia is NL Pitcher of the Month for the second time in two months, but he won't get a belated no-hitter.
Jeremy Jeffress has a new agent, the same guy who represents Taylor Green, Mickey Brantley and a handful of other Brewers. I just spent 5 minutes reading the agent's blog for the first time. Professional isn't the first word that came to mind. But he does claim to know who the PTBNL in the Sabathia trade is, giving him the opportunity to be completely wrong on something he claimed as fact for the third time this season.
Speaking of Brewer minor leaguers, MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo is all over the minor league playoffs, so much so that he blogged about the first six innings of West Virginia's game last night but didn't bother to mention how the game ended. The Power lost game 1 of their series, here's the box score.
Also, Jeff was on the radio last night discussing the Brewers. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but it's Jeff, so at the very least he might introduce you to a hot tennis player you hadn't heard of before.
Only one injury today: Jered Weaver cut his hand on the visiting dugout this week and will have to have his next start pushed back.
Remember when the Brewers dumped Grant Balfour on the Rays for Seth McClung, and the general consensus was happiness to be rid of a guy who was more or less done? Turns out Balfour is pitching pretty well for the Rays, so perhaps the deal worked out for both teams.
Not working out: the 2008 Reds, who were eliminated from postseason contention last night.
The Cubs aren't exactly eliminated, but you might guess they were from the tone of this all caps diatribe re-posted on The Junkball Blues.
More signs pointing to a AAA shakeup: Hot Foot notes that the Indians' decision to leave Buffalo will likely open the door for the Blue Jays to move from Syracuse to Buffalo, leaving the Mets free to move from New Orleans to Syracuse and have their AAA team closer to home. Where this leaves the Zephyrs is unsure, but the music hasn't even started playing yet so the game of musical chairs is far from over.
Oh, and apparently players become more aggressive when wearing black.
Drink up.
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33 comments
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A small request
The team has been swept since So hot right now was added. Can we go back to an interactive gangbang so they can start winning again? Thanks.
by Getting Yosted on
Sep 4, 2008 10:04 AM CDT
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Agreed
Besides, I have my own place now. The IGB would work out so much better.
"Brett Favre looks like a man in a parking lot playing with boys." - John Madden
"Pujols just unloaded." - Bob Uecker
by kirbir on
Sep 4, 2008 10:07 AM CDT
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If Kirbir's in, I'm in.
Hence my decision to call it "screwing around" as opposed to "in-depth study."
by KLSnow on
Sep 4, 2008 10:36 AM CDT
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Probably not
You’ll probably be told you can look, but not touch.
by Getting Yosted on
Sep 4, 2008 11:03 AM CDT
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You sayin' I'm a tease?
"Brett Favre looks like a man in a parking lot playing with boys." - John Madden
"Pujols just unloaded." - Bob Uecker
by kirbir on
Sep 4, 2008 12:15 PM CDT
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Nope
But if you found a partner at the IBG, it’s likely that the partner wouldn’t be that into KL. Or KL wouldn’t be that into him. I’m old-fashioned in my IBG sensibilities, I guess.
by Getting Yosted on
Sep 4, 2008 12:31 PM CDT
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Good point
Access to the IGB does not mean automatic access to me
"Brett Favre looks like a man in a parking lot playing with boys." - John Madden
"Pujols just unloaded." - Bob Uecker
by kirbir on
Sep 4, 2008 5:12 PM CDT
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Change it to
Getting swept by first place teams since May!
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on
Sep 4, 2008 10:58 AM CDT
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"giving up" on Balfour
I seem to recall at the time that there were multiple issues behind trading Balfour, none of which were “he’s never going to be any good.” The Brewers had just traded for Linebrink, and Balfour was being about 80 kinds of awful, and he was out of options so he got DFAed, and the Rays apparently thought “hey, a new shiny strikeout pitcher with a control issue, would the Brewers like our old slightly scuffed strikeout pitcher with a control issue?”
I really don’t think either team expected exactly what they received for 2008. The Rays didn’t think Balfour would end up more effective than Percival, and the Brewers weren’t expecting McClung to end up as the mostly effective 5th starter for part of the season. (Although he was starting in Nashville, so maybe.) I’m really not sure if Balfour could have done the same thing here; I definitely don’t think McClung would have done the same thing there.
by morineko on
Sep 4, 2008 12:18 PM CDT
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Who’s managing this team, anyway?
BCB's "very own marginally deserving all-star!"
by battlekow on
Sep 4, 2008 12:52 PM CDT
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that's scary
“All I was thinking about was putting somebody in there that could hit a home run,” Yost said.
by ol Pete on
Sep 4, 2008 12:58 PM CDT
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Doesn't Ted Simmons always describe his job as someone who suggests things to Ned?
Who’s bench-coaching the team?
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on
Sep 4, 2008 1:29 PM CDT
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How do you think Ned got the idea that they needed a HR? It’s not like Ned figured out all on his lonesome the easiest way to score was with a HR.
Anyone else think that Ned might have been the inspiration for the character Frito in Idiocracy?
by Getting Yosted on
Sep 4, 2008 2:02 PM CDT
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You like home runs? Me too!
Coffee is for closers
by drezdn on
Sep 4, 2008 3:12 PM CDT
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I hope Marty is around
that’s, well, sad.
Sat: George 2 (37, missed catch, fielding) Fri: George (35, throw) Tues: George (34, throw)
by Jordan M on
Sep 4, 2008 3:21 PM CDT
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Prediction:
Craig Counsell is the Brewers manager within 10 years of his retirement.
Wait, what?
by NoahJ on
Sep 4, 2008 3:27 PM CDT
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The apprentice has now become the master
If Counsell isn’t in some sort of coaching capacity with the Brewers within 5 years, I’ll be mildly shocked.
(And, from years of watching Brenly and Yost foul up, he may have learnt how to deal with pitchers.)
by morineko on
Sep 5, 2008 12:12 AM CDT
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From the tidbits in gameday preview
Portland manager Randy Ready, who on Tuesday joined the Padres staff after the Beavers completed their season, was named the Pacific Coast League’s North Division “Best Manager Prospect.”
Randy Ready of the Beavers is here? There are some jokes in there that elude me right now.
by ol Pete on
Sep 4, 2008 1:10 PM CDT
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WSCR
Zambrano has rotator cuff tendonitis. Had an injection and is expected to miss one start.
by ol Pete on
Sep 4, 2008 1:43 PM CDT
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Who "owns" a minor league team?"
Is it the major league club? is it local interests? If Cleveland severs ties with Buffalo and moves on to have columbus as their triple-a affiliate, do they just transplant the entire Buffalo roster, and call them the Clippers now? How does that work?
Sucks for the fans, who might get to know a set of players, and maybe a couple of minor league lifers, only to come back the next spring, and find an entirely different set of players on the field….and here, they can’t even blame Wayne Huizenga…..
by ahtrap on
Sep 4, 2008 1:58 PM CDT
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Local interests own the franchise
But the parent club provides the players. So Columbus will still be the Clippers, owned by the same people, but their roster will be stocked by the Indians, who will also provide the coaching staff.
Hence my decision to call it "screwing around" as opposed to "in-depth study."
by KLSnow on
Sep 4, 2008 2:59 PM CDT
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Sometimes big league owners also own minor league teams
A possibly complete list:
International League (AAA):
Gwinnett County – owned by Braves
Southern Leagueg (AA):
Mississippi Braves – owned by Braves
Texas League (AA):
Springfield Cardinals – owned by Cardinals
Florida State League (A+):
Clearwater Threshers – owned by Phillies
Dunedin Blue Jays – owned by Blue Jays
Jupiter Hammerheads – owned by Marlins
Lakeland Flying Tigers – owned by Tigers
Palm Beach Cardinals – owned by Cardinals
St. Lucie Mets – owned by Mets
Sarasota Reds – owned by Reds
Tampa Yankees – owned by Yankees
Vero Beach Devil Rays – owned by the Dodgers
(9 of 12 teams in the FSL are MLB-owned, with the Brewers’ affiliate, Brevard County, being one of the 3 exceptions. Also, notice that the Dodgers actually own the Rays’ club)
South Atlantic League (A):
Rome Braves – owned by Braves
New York-Penn League (SS-A):
Brooklyn Cyclones – owned by Mets
Staten Island Yankees – partially owned by Yankees
BCB's "very own marginally deserving all-star!"
by battlekow on
Sep 4, 2008 3:44 PM CDT
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The Rays own the Princeton Rays
I think several other Appy teams are like that. Maybe the Danville Braves?
by dixieflatline on
Sep 4, 2008 5:25 PM CDT
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Different source (and more frequently updated, probably)
Somehow the Baseball America list skipped the entire Appy League. I haven’t checked too closely but I think both lists agree otherwise, excluding very recent changes (such as Vero Beach being sold to a Rays-affiliated group last month and turning into the Port Charlotte Somethings next year).
by Zeyes on
Sep 4, 2008 11:06 PM CDT
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Well done, as usual
BCB's "very own marginally deserving all-star!"
by battlekow on
Sep 4, 2008 11:22 PM CDT
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Heh
Didn’t mean to pick on your Vero Beach comment specifically, if that’s what it came across as. I just couldn’t find another example of a recent change without going through the list in detail.
by Zeyes on
Sep 5, 2008 6:18 AM CDT
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No, I was being serious
It was well done. And here I was amused at finding that the Dodgers still owned the Vero Beach team even after it changed affiliations…
BCB's "very own marginally deserving all-star!"
by battlekow on
Sep 5, 2008 10:15 AM CDT
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from Gaslampball daily thing
“You know how I know the Padres are serious about losing 100 games? Because Shawn Estes is back, baby!”
Looking at some stories, he was described as a “crafty lefty.” I like the lefty but crafty makes me nervous.
by ol Pete on
Sep 4, 2008 4:19 PM CDT
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They actually mean he’s into arts and crafts. He sews bat cozies for the offense
Coffee is for closers
by drezdn on
Sep 4, 2008 5:02 PM CDT
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Now I heard him described as a “salad tosser.”
by ol Pete on
Sep 4, 2008 5:31 PM CDT
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Is that still about Estes?
Or are they talking about Matt Wise now? (Or Prince Fielder, for that matter.)
"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 4, 2008 6:19 PM CDT
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Jeff
nice interview. I liked the line “you can do a lot with $90 million”.
by molitorfan on
Sep 4, 2008 7:48 PM CDT
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