Monday's Frosty Mug
by Kyle Lobner on Aug 31, 2009 9:39 AM CDT
in Milwaukee Brewers News
Email
PrintThe Brewers have a day off today to prepare for what might be their last opportunity to prove themselves relevant in the NL Central in 2009: A nine game stretch against the Cardinals, Giants and Cardinals again. Ken Macha says the Brewers have to be realistic about their position in the standings (which is why he's passing on the opportunity to skip a spot in the rotation this week), but also acknowledges that things could change if the Brewers can get hot this week and next. The Brewers are 23-24 this season against teams they'll see in September.
With roster expansion on the horizon, J.J. Hardy is expected to rejoin the team tomorrow, and we'll see if the issue with him blows over or boils over. Mike Seal, Hardy's agent, obviously appears to disagree with the decision to demote Hardy, but also called it "a shrewd move" by the Crew to send Hardy down and delay his free agency. J.J. Hardy's Nashville bio picture says a lot about his thoughts on the situation.
As you may have noticed, Hardy is swinging and missing a lot this season. In fact, he's also consistently failing to make weak contact: Plunk Everyone noticed that Hardy has the eighth lowest foul ball percentage in baseball. Jody Gerut, by the way, was tenth.
The Brewers are only expected to call a handful of players up from AAA, and they're expected to stagger the callups over the next few days. With that said, the Brewers also have three players getting ready to return from injury, as Corey Hart is getting ready to go out on a rehab assignment and Seth McClung and Jesus Colome both threw off a mound this weekend. If the Brewers call up six players from the minors and these three all return, they'll have 34 players on the active roster.
The Cardinals have opened up a ten game lead on the Cubs, and it's hard to imagine a scenario where they don't win the NL Central at this point. Murray Chass has a look at what happened to what was one of baseball's closest divisions a few months ago.
This race might be closer: With one month left to play, the Brewers rank 24th in wins in the 2000's. They're four games behind the Reds for 23rd, and 13 games ahead of the 25th place Tigers.
As hopes of contending in 2009 drift away, Doug Melvin is continuing to take a fair amount of heat for not assembling his roster differently, fair or unfair. Melvin responded to critics over the weekend, asking what they would have done differently. He's right, to a point: There weren't really any quick fixes available to the Brewers this offseason that would have dramatically improved this team. With that said, as many commenters have previously noted, Melvin was also responsible for the drafting and developmental strategies that left the Brewers with this hole in the first place.
Felipe Lopez had a rough weekend at the plate (2-for-17) but is continuing to try to play through a sore tendon in his foot. The most recent Elias rankings are out, and they have Lopez as a Type A free agent for the first time. If Lopez continues to struggle and the Brewers aren't careful with him, they could cost themselves a compensation pick next year by allowing him to play his way back down to Type B status.
The Brewers got a pretty good outing out of Jeff Suppan yesterday, as he gave up just one earned run in six innings and lowered his 2009 ERA to 5.20. In a world where we make near daily jokes about Sidney Ponson and Livan Hernandez, mgl wonders if Jeff Suppan is the worst veteran pitcher you never hear about. Meanwhile, Rob Iracane of Walkoff Walk says the Pirates, who couldn't beat Jeff Suppan, Manny Parra or Braden Looper over the weekend, will win the NL Central in 2011.
How much impact will Chris Bosio have on the Brewer pitching staff? Casa de Machado was at Thursday's game and saw Bosio doing some things with pitchers he never saw Billy Castro doing. The results haven't necessarily shown up yet, but that doesn't mean they won't.
Coaches are also working with Manny Parra to develop a cut fastball. As TheJay noted in this Fanshot, that's a bit of a philosophical switch from the past coaching direction.
In the minors:
- Chris Capuano is taking one small step back up the ladder to the major leagues. Now that the season has concluded for the Arizona League Brewers, Capuano is moving up to Helena to get a few more innings in before the minor league season concludes.
- Several Brewer farmhands are getting ready for the Arizona Fall League. Prospects Paradise has an AFL preview, and lists Zach Braddock, Lorenzo Cain and Jonathan Lucroy among the top prospects on the Peoria Javelinas.
On Power Rankings, playoff odds and miscellany:
- Baseball Digest Daily ranked the Brewers #17 in their ASTRO Rankings.
- CoolStandings has the Brewers' playoff chances holding steady at .3%.
- Justin Inaz of Beyond the Box Score ranked Jason Kendall as the 22nd best catcher of all time.
Around Baseball:
Angels: Acquired Scott Kazmir from the Rays for two minor leaguers and a PTBNL that could be Brandon Wood.
Astros: Placed reliever Alberto Arias on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Dodgers: Acquired Ronnie Belliard from the Nationals for a minor league reliever.
Indians: Acquired minor league pitcher Johan Pino as the PTBNL in the trade that sent Carl Pavano to the Twins.
Mariners: Placed Russell Branyan on the DL with a herniated disc.
Pirates: Signed Jorge Julio to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Signed Ryan Freel to a minor league deal.
Red Sox: Acquired Joey Gathright from the Orioles for a PTBNL or cash.
Twins: Claimed Ron Mahay off waivers from the Royals, acquired Jon Rauch from the D-Backs for a PTBNL and designated R.A. Dickey for assignment.
Today, they're reserved for making up rainouts, but at one point doubleheaders were a key part of the baseball schedule. Seamheads has a look back at September 7, 1903, when all 16 major league teams were scheduled to play two.
If you watched the Cubs play over the weekend, you might have seen Ryan Dempster trying on the new helmet MLB is promoting to help decrease head injuries suffered via HBP. Player reviews of the new helmets have been almost universally negative, but baseball is going to require all minor leaguers to wear them next season.
The Brewers had pretty good luck convincing draft picks to sign this season, including one player, fifth rounder D'Vontrey Richardson, who had to be convinced to give up football at Florida State. Jonathan Mayo has a look at the decision two sport athletes face.
Ever wonder what broadcasters do to prepare for games? Alyson Footer has the details and pictures.
Before you go any farther, take a moment today to be happy for what you have and to remember how quickly it can all go away: Jonah Keri has the story of a rollover car accident he somehow survived over the weekend. Keri is due to become the father of twins sometime in the coming weeks.
Apparently it's been a good week for harrowing experiences: Hal McCoy has the story of Aaron Harang and a Reds' equipment manager's drive from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati prior to Harang's appendectomy.
Hall of Very Good recently interviewed Jeff Cirillo, who spent many years as a Brewer position player and one day as an opposing pitcher. It's a good read.
Speaking of Jeffs, if you need a Jeff Sackmann fix, he's got three posts up on his personal blog previewing the US Open, which begins today.
On this day in 1996 the Brewers made a pretty good trade, sending Kevin Seitzer to the Indians for Jeromy Burnitz, who hit 165 home runs over six season as a Brewer. On this day in 2002, though, they made a pretty bad trade, sending Mark Loretta (who would go one to become a two time All Star) to the Astros for Wayne Franklin and Keith Ginter.
Happy birthday today to former Brewers Gabe Kapler (34), Hideo Nomo (41) and Tom Candiotti (52).
Oh, and with summer coming to a close, you're running out of opportunities to use your car as a dehyrdrator.
Drink up.
64 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
1504 words and 48 links today.
Today’s Mug is so big, it might make you have a pleonasm.
"The reports are that he is getting better. The definition of better is nebulous."
S100
Sorry about the image sizes, to lazy to resize the big one. Look like it’s a lot more curved maybe to induce glancing blows?
Maybe they should have pitchers stop throwing at guys heads.
Seriously though, I know they’re bad injuries, but how many have there been? It doesn’t seem like this type of injury is common enough to require this dramatic of a change that none of the players seem to be on board with. Of course make it an option, but don’t make it a requirement.
Same thing with the moronic “coaches must wear helmets” thing. If the player/coach feels legitimately threatened, give them the option. If not, don’t force something that’s going to reduce the probability of a serious injury from .0005% to .0001%, it’s not worth it.
No problems with coachs wearing helmets
Seriously, what’s the big deal? It’s not like it interferes with their ability to do their job at all. It looked strange when they first did it, but it will provide a bit of protection. (I don’t think it would have saved Coulbaugh though, since he got hit in an area not covered). But it’s a reasonable protection.
I’m semi surprised they don’t require Pitchers to not have a helmet. I think a reasonable protection could be achieved by using that funky 3DO stuff as hat liners. Helmets won’t work very well due to probably requiring a strap to keep it on during the throw, but if you enbedded a bit of that 3DO stuff you might be able to provide a little more protection and avoid worse head trauma then with out it.
I don't think it should have been required, it's alright to be preemptive sometimes.
But why coaches, and not umpires, and pitchers, like you said. Why not the fans in the stands in the lower level where line drive foul balls are always hit. Are we requiring better reaction time out of the fans than the umpires and coaches? (ok, that’s a silly argument, but whatever).
I think my problem with forcing the coaches to wear helmets was the forcing. It didn’t solve any problems, it was a rash overreaction to a tragedy that wouldn’t have been prevented with this measure.
I’m all for additional safety if it solves a common problem, but coaches weren’t/aren’t getting pegged all the time, and there aren’t that many serious injuries involving fastballs to the head. You hear a lot about the ones that do occur, but they’re rare enough that I don’t understand how MLB can justify the additional cost of developing and implementing the snowglobes they want these batters to wear on their head.
It didn’t solve any problems, it was a rash overreaction to a tragedy that wouldn’t have been prevented with this measure.
What if MLB hadn’t done something in the wake of the Coolbaugh incident and in the year following another basecoach took a hit and was seriously injured? There would have been a huge backlash against MLB. In the end, they were protecting their own asses with a solution that didn’t really affect anyone negatively (except Larry Bowa, and I’m okay with that).
It is what it is.
Thats not my point
It doesn’t matter whether or not a helmet would have saved Coolbaugh (it wouldn’t have). The point is MLB had to do something, because if they didn’t and someone sustained an injury that could have been prevented they would have had 10 times the problems and significant outrage directed at them.
It is what it is.
Why did they have to do something? I don't see why you think there'd be an outrage. If something happened that had never happened before, it'd be a wakeup call,.
If a player gets hit with a liner while sitting in the dugout, is there going to be an outrage as to why they’re not encased in shatterproof glass?
So how many times would a basecoach have to get hit in order for them to do something about it?
It is what it is.
So we wait until a preventable injury occurs, then we take action?
Rather than when an injury occurs that alerts us to the potential for preventable injuries happening?
It is what it is.
Oh please. Before the Coolbaugh thing, EVERYONE knew that the coaches were vulnerable.
It didn’t alert anyone to anything.
Proactive vs. Reactive
Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, ""That’s all they need is another home run hitter".
And this logic is why
getting onto a plane is so cumbersome.
Or, as Mel Brooks so eloquently put it:
We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen! We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph!
by Getting Yosted on Aug 31, 2009 1:26 PM CDT up reply actions
Reasonable protection
Is the name of the game. MLB provides reasonable protection by putting up netting where a ball is often hit hard into the stands that would leave most people unprotected. MLB instated a reasonable protection for the coaches on field who are not always watching the pitch when doing things like watching the man on second and timing the pitcher from the stretch. There are plenty of distracting things to keep the person from protecting themselves.
I just don’t understand the logic behind bitching about making it mandatory to provide reasonable protection for a coach. It does’t hamper anything besides the holy image of a coach with a cap on.
I also believe Rawlings developed these helmets on their own. And marketing them to youth/college players who are probably plunked in the head more often due to control issues.
But why mandatory protection for coaches and no one else, like umpires, or pitchers, as we've discussed?
The only reason coaches have to wear helmets is because of the Coolbaugh incident, which we know wouldn’t have been prevented by a helmet. I’m all for protection, just not selective protection. Do we really have to wait for an umpire to get nailed in the head by a line drive before they get theirs?
And sure, Rawling’s developed them on their own, but all of a sudden, MLB is their biggest customer, you think these things are cheap?
The first and third umpire is watching the at bat to see if they checked swinged or not. So they are supposed to be watching the at bat and are able to react accordingly. My point is there is plenty of reasons why the 1st and 3rd base coach can be distracted and not watching the ball being put into play.
And Umpires already took reasonable protections by making the home plate umpire wear padding and a face mask. and I already touched on the Pitcher thing, a helmet would require a rethink on how to do it with out it flopping around. I’d have zero problems introducing something like that D30 stuff I mentioned above since it wouldn’t cause a slipping of the hat (Just stripped inserts put in).
And who cares what the cost of a new helmet is, it could cost $2000 for all MLB cares. Lets see.. $2000 for a helmet a year. Or $8,000,000 for the loss of a player due to a plunk to the head. It’s a simple risk avoidance investment.
Yeah, but losing a player is such a low probability of occurrence, I'm not sure if that investment is justifiable from an economic standpoint.
It’s an overreaction to a non-problem, or at least a very tiny problem.
how about an instant lifetime ban to any pitcher who hits a guy in the head. That’ll fix the problem too, and won’t cost anything.
Tell that too
David Wright. Scott Rolen. Marco Scutaro. Sammy Sosa (When his helmet just exploded) I’m sure the Mets would gladly pay Rawlings $10,000 a helmet to avoid having Wright on the DL for the 2 weeks. The investment is low compared to the loss of a player.
That won’t fix shit except kick a bunch of players out of the league. It’s not like David Wright was thrown at, it was a poorly thrown ball. The helmets we have now are pretty outdated and old, perhaps something not as bulky as the S100 would be better, something that can absorb substantially more then they can now, but not as bulky as the S100.
You named 4 examples. There's hundreds of major leaguers. My point is that it's not a serious problem, and not something that requires the overreaction of the spacesuit helment.
I’m not saying they shouldn’t try to protect the players, but making this monstrosity a requirement is a vast overreaction to a non-serious problem.
That’s like saying the players shouldn’t be allowed to wear cleats because a few players have had their achilles snapped by a baserunner. Sure it sucks when it happens, but it’s such a freak occurrence that there’s not much value to be gained in trying to minimize the occurrences.
But your argument wasn't that
You were arguing that it wasn’t cost effective for MLB to invest in helmets that offer greater protection and that 1st and 3rd base coaches shouldn’t be forced to wear helmets due to the general rarity they get hit in the head.
Coulbaugh was screwed after the crack of the bat, a freak accident happened. But it pointed to a potential issue that could be solved by a simple use of a helmet. I never once said you could ever fully protect a player/fan/coach. But you can minimize risk by making protective gear that doesn’t change their ability to do their job mandatory. That’s it.
I’m done arguing since this is going in circles.
Right, but I'm saying there's hundreds of potential freak injuries like Coolbaughs that we can prevent. So why not do it? Why be selective?
It’s not cost effective to solve something that hasn’t been a problem historically. If it becomes a problem, then you fix it
See Dale Earnhardt's death
Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, ""That’s all they need is another home run hitter".
Cleats...
Have any players had their Achilles snapped by a baserunner wearing metal spikes or was that just a poor analogy?
also...
players wear them for a reason…without them, there would be more concussions with players slipping and falling, especially in the outfield.
by PagsBrewCrew on Aug 31, 2009 1:05 PM CDT up reply actions
Yep,
looks quite silly. I am sure it is capable of absorbing a 100mph fastball, depending on where it is hit. It would seem more sensible to design the helmet to disperse pressure away from the temple and keep it smaller than a football helmet.
Mykenk, I agree with you about headhunting. A much better plan is to not let people like Ozzie Guillen anywhere near a baseball field.
by Braunstalker on Aug 31, 2009 10:49 AM CDT up reply actions
I'm guessing that the part that rests on your head
is set farther away from the outer shell. You can attach them with what are essentially shock absorbers to reduce the impulse created by a collision. Basically, the same amount of force delivered over a longer period of time will do less damage. Just like a collapsible bumper on a car. Unfortunately, it’s probably very uncomfortable to wear. I could picture this thing bobbing on your head when you run.
Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, ""That’s all they need is another home run hitter".
Yes... he had to have been called up today.
But back to your original question… did you think they weren’t going to recall him until later in Sept?
Yeah. Guess I misremembered the text of that fan post. I doublechecked it.
Is it more dickish that they won’t even call him up on a team day off just to delay his free-agency?
Probably. Oh well, he’ll have a good career somewhere. Over under 10 ABs for Hardy the rest of this year? I say under.
"Is it more dickish that they won’t even call him up on a team day off just to delay his free-agency?"
No. If they called him up today, they would have to send someone else down for 10 days.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
Re: the helmets
Gary Gaetti must be rolling over in his grave.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
Re: the dehydrator
Ron Popeil must be rolling over in his grave
"That's not a weird stat. Rickie is a run-scorer," Yost said. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter," Yost told reporters. "See, you guys have no concept. He's a run-scorer. So there's nothing weird about it. That's what he does."
Jarrod Washburn
After allowing the following to begin the game:
Single
Walk
Double
Double
Double
HR
Washburn has retired the last 9 batters. Funny how quickly a pitcher can turn things around.
Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, ""That’s all they need is another home run hitter".
Del Crandall
I went to the link on 25 greatest catchers of all-time —
There were some former Brewers on the list – Sunberg, Porter, Simmons, and of course Jason Kendall – I am always amazed on how Del Crandall gets overlooked on these lists. He was overshadowed by Matthews and Aaron — but was quite good.
Del Crandall > Jason Kendall
Taking Shallowness to New Depths...
by Fatter than Joey on Aug 31, 2009 1:05 PM CDT reply actions
Isn't that list based mainly based on hitting?
From a career hitting standpoint, I’d still say Kendall > Crandall.
I am just throwing this out there.
I think including Brantley as the PTBNL in the Sabbathia trade is going to look bad for us down the road. His OPS isn’t great right now, but I do believe he will be developing more and more power. A .750 ops guy in center that can steal 50 and rarely get caught would be an amazing thing for this team to have next year. Brantley and Escobar hitting one and two in front of Braun and Fielder would be hell on pitchers and fun to watch.
More power?
Doubtful, but he’s definitely got the makings of being a quality lead-off hitter… hits around .300, 30-50 SBs and strikes out less than 75 times a season.
If Weeks can come back hitting like he was, having him and Escobar in the top two spots would be pretty nice.
I don't think so, Tim
"That's not a weird stat. Rickie is a run-scorer," Yost said. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter," Yost told reporters. "See, you guys have no concept. He's a run-scorer. So there's nothing weird about it. That's what he does."
Brewers don't make the postseason without Sabbathia
I don’t think the Brewers get Sabbathia without a PTBNL at the level of a Brantley. The Brewers got historically amazing results from their midseason trade and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sept schedule
Anyone else think that the 23-24 record we have against remaining teams is a non story? The Brewers have played .493 ball against all teams and .492 against the remaining teams. That’s the 2009 Brewers is a nut shell. We play everyone about .500. Crappy teams .500. Good teams .500.
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 2.16.2012 at 1:03 AM CST)
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.
