Friday's Frosty Mug
by KLSnow on Sep 25, 2009 9:03 AM CDT
in News
51 comments
(Yeah, I've been a little hard on kids this week. It's been a rough week. Sorry)
Doug Melvin has finished his evaluations of the team's manager and coaches, and while he hasn't announced any plans to make a change, he also declined another opportunity to give a vote of confidence to Ken Macha, saying he hasn't decided yet if Macha will return next season.
The Brewers were shut down by J.A. Happ yesterday in what might turn out to be one of Happ's final starts of 2009. The Phillies are considering moving Happ to the bullpen to help fill a hole in the late innings of games.
Meanwhile, Manny Parra is ready to pitch today, and will likely get two starts to attempt to finish the season on a positive note. Parra hasn't pitched since lasting just one inning on September 8 (and threw just 88 pitches in the start before that), so he'll probably have a short leash and a low pitch count tonight.
Prince Fielder is the only player in baseball this season to start every game for his team, and could become just the fourth Brewer ever to start all 162. Fielder cited a lesson he learned in little league as his reason for wanting to play every day.
Speaking of things that seem like they happen every day, Jason Kendall was hit by another pitch last night, the 246th of his career. Plunk Everyone has dozens of notes on the accomplishment, including this one: The Brewers are just 5-7 in games where Kendall is hit by a pitch this season.
I usually avoid blog posts that focus on tearing apart bad sports writing: Just because there are still fish in the barrel doesn't mean you need to keep shooting. With that said, Rubie Q (with a small assist) is taking on the assertion that the Brewers would have eight wins better with Rickie Weeks. If you've never considered how rare an eight win player is, this one is worth your time.
Braden Looper has had an up and down season but probably hasn't been the Brewers' worst starter, even if he did set a new franchise record for home runs allowed. Should he be back next year? Fire Doug Melvin says yes, as long as he can transform into a "100 foot tall metal version of Looper that could throw non-meatballs and then crush a car while spitting fire."
Baseball America has a cumulative look at organizational minor league performance this season, and the Brewers finished 22nd with a 332-348 record, buoyed by good seasons from Brevard County and Huntsville but anchored by poor records in Wisconsin and Arizona.
On Power Rankings:
- Yahoo moved the Brewers up one spot to 17th.
- Beyond the Box Score moved the Brewers up one spot to #22.
Pirates: Claimed pitcher Anthony Claggett off waivers from the Yankees.
Jorge Says No! is continuing their series on players who will be free agents at season's end, and they've come across another player the Brewers may have interest in: Doug Davis. They think he'll get three years/$27 million on the open market.
Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts has an interesting conversation starter on the state of baseball commentary: With the increasing amount of information available and the resulting increase in the knowledge of the average fan, can any national baseball writer really be trusted or expected to do the work necessary to keep up with all 30 teams?
I want to sit next to this guy the next time I go to a game. After spending hours sitting in the hot sun watching the Angels lose, a fan in Anaheim bought out an ice cream vendor and distributed the contents of his cooler for free to nearby fans.
I've got significantly too many "On this days" today, so it's time to bust out the bullet points:
- On this day in 1974, surgery was performed to replace the ulnar collateral ligament in Tommy John's elbow, resuscitating the pitcher's career and earning him a new claim to fame. Now, I'd guess most baseball fans know what Tommy John surgery is, but have no idea it's named after a pitcher who won 288 games over 26 seasons.
- On this day in 1986, the Brewers beat the Orioles 9-3 in George Bamberger's final game as manager.
- On this day in 2001, the Brewers beat the Diamondbacks 9-4 as Richie Sexson and Jeromy Burnitz became the first pair of teammates ever to hit three home runs in a game.
- On this day in 2007, Prince Fielder hit two home runs (one of them off of Braden Looper), making him the youngest player ever to hit 50 in a season. The Brewers beat the Cardinals, 9-1.
- And on this day one year ago, Ryan Braun's tenth inning, walk-off grand slam propelled the Brewers to a 5-1 win over the Pirates.
Oh, and today's Mug, most of my recent work and my management of this site might suck, but they're all asbestos free.
Drink up.
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Toughest competition in sports
“Brewers worst pitcher”
It’s really hard to pick a clear winner here. It’s must easier to identify the losers — us.
by Marty McSuperFly on Sep 25, 2009 9:14 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Updated the looper drawing
To include a render of what Looper 2.0 would possibly look like.
by SgtClueLs on Sep 25, 2009 9:50 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
I would buy a ticket for that
but I’d prefer it be an open-roof game.
by ecocd on Sep 25, 2009 10:07 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
That picture is clearly a forgery
There’s no way Looper’s still pitching into the 7th.
"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 25, 2009 10:29 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Agreed
Plus it is obvious from the pitch that it isn’t Fielder at first base so hopefully the new and improved Looper 2.0 can hit as well.
by Infield Fly Rule on Sep 25, 2009 10:40 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Reply fail
picture not pitch
by Infield Fly Rule on Sep 25, 2009 10:40 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
That's because it's Looper 2.0
He not only crushes cars but can time travel. Notice how there is no picnic area? He transported himself back to 2002 to kill Sarah Conner bring us a pennant.
by SgtClueLs on Sep 25, 2009 10:51 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
No picnic area, no "Uecker 50 years in baseball" in the rafters, backwards logo on cap...
It’s bizzaro Miller Park!
by sjlee on Sep 25, 2009 4:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Tommy John
Is he HOF worthy?
He definitely changed the game going forward. His accomplishments on the field fall just shy of HOF worthy, but his surgery is going to put at least one guy (John Smoltz) into the Hall.
Maybe they can open a different wing for guinea pigs.
by backtocali on Sep 25, 2009 10:14 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
What'd did TJ do?
Shouldn’t it be his Doctor the one who did the surgery then the one who got it? If anything the Doctor should get into the HOF for contributing to baseball.
by SgtClueLs on Sep 25, 2009 10:17 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I dont have a problem with that
If announcers and writers can make it, front office guys and commissioners, why not the doctors who heal these guys?
Who was his guy, was it James Andrews?
by backtocali on Sep 25, 2009 10:30 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
It wasn't James Andrews.
Dr. Frank Jobe did the procedure.
That's all I've got for you today, unless you're interested in some Chris Capuano/Tom Haudricourt Fan Fiction.
by KLSnow on Sep 25, 2009 11:27 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Reminds me of the Simpsons/Baseball analogies.
It’s obviously old, but still humorous.
Arizona Diamondbacks – Inanimate Carbon Rod – Inexplicably shot to prominence after an unbelievable rescue (sealing the Space Shuttle during re-entry, 2001 season). Hit the covers of every major magazine as heroes, and then faded back into obscurity almost as quickly as they arrived.
Chicago Cubs – Moe Syzslak – Unloved but by a select few patrons, whom they have a tendency to betray from time to time. Even their closest friends acknowledge their loser status, and outsiders love to laugh at their failures. Constantly subject to self-doubt, and always coming up with new schemes to shoot themselves in the foot. Owners of a revolving-door establishment that never sees more than one or two likable characters at a time.
by Yar Nivek on Sep 25, 2009 11:14 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'll vote yes for Tommy John
Three reasons:
1) If counting stats are your thing, he’s not that far from 300 wins at 288.
2) He had a very long career. Consider this: He posted an ERA+ over 100 for the first time in full time duty in 1965, and for the last time in 1987. He lost a full season to surgery and still pitched in 26 seasons, including an ERA+ over 100 for 17 straight.
3) Even if the surgeon deserves more recognition, he volunteered to try a somewhat experimental surgery that has now become an everyday part of the baseball lexicon.
That's all I've got for you today, unless you're interested in some Chris Capuano/Tom Haudricourt Fan Fiction.
by KLSnow on Sep 25, 2009 11:25 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
There are small Hall guys and big Hall guys
You, KL, are a supersize Hall guy.
Marty, on the other hand, is a Bill Hall guy.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Sep 25, 2009 12:32 PM CDT up reply actions 2 recs
Rec'd!
I’m going to be in Seattle next week. I’m thinking about taking in a Mariners game.
by Marty McSuperFly on Sep 25, 2009 12:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
6-3
If the Cream City Crushers go 6-3 to finish the season, they’ll finish at .500. Considering the train wreck of a second half, I’d be pleased.
"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 25, 2009 11:06 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Why The Cubs Will Never Win The World Series, Reason No. 1,873,981:
Because stuff like this happens to them, and only them.
by Rubie Q on Sep 25, 2009 11:35 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I know this qualifies as shooting fish in a barrel, but honestly:
Somebody, please, tell me that this:
“Everyday Fiedler: When Prince Fielder was 12 years old, he fouled a ball off his leg in Little League….”
… is just a typo in the online JS and didn’t make it into the print version.
by Rubie Q on Sep 25, 2009 12:50 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I didn't see the print version
But maybe some intern got confused.
I don’t have a category for "washed-up guys who may or may not be dominant big-league closers sometime soon."
~Jeff Sackmann
by Charlie Marlow on Sep 25, 2009 12:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Fiedler lane is a street near Badger Road in madison
3 shootings in 2 weeks in that area of Badger/Fiedler/Park when I was in the mad city.
by PagsBrewCrew on Sep 25, 2009 2:48 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
so there are actual mean streets of madison?
"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."
by Hyatt on Sep 25, 2009 3:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, Simpson St.
A billion years ago, when I was a pizza delivery guy, we used to get calls to Simpson St. in Madison, and this one guy would keep insisting “to send the delivery guy with a lot of change”.
I would usually just not deliver that pizza.
Taking shallowness to new depths -- FtJ's blog
by Fatter than Joey on Sep 25, 2009 4:03 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm confused
this one guy would keep insisting "to send the delivery guy with a lot of change".
You used to work with Obama?
by Marty McSuperFly on Sep 25, 2009 4:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Good one...
Maybe they wanted hope, instead of mugging and raping me.
Taking shallowness to new depths -- FtJ's blog
by Fatter than Joey on Sep 25, 2009 4:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
looking at the map
nestled up against 94 like that in cottage grove…yeah, I can see that. That area actually looks familiar. I think my brother-in-law lived near there for a year or two.
by PagsBrewCrew on Sep 25, 2009 4:41 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
but the tradition "high crime" areas of madison are
Badger road, which got supplanted by Allied Drive. Both south of campus, but allied is also a bit west (just west of the south part of the arb.)
by PagsBrewCrew on Sep 25, 2009 4:46 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Right... basically the areas just west of the Coliseum.
by sjlee on Sep 25, 2009 4:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
yeah...i suppose you're right
that was a creepy creepy bus route some nights going past the coliseum
by PagsBrewCrew on Sep 25, 2009 4:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I lived in Chalet Court, about 2 blocks from Allied from 98-99.
I used to walk over to Allied to catch the bus down town and take the bus ride home to a stop on Allied around 10PM 3 or 4 nights a week. Allied wasn’t that bad then, but it was already thought of as the worst neighborhood in the city. People left me alone even though I usually had a laptop sticking out of my backpack. It was easy to pick out the dealers though…
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Sep 25, 2009 4:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ugh, the memories
I looked at an apartment there. It was when I first moved to Madison, so I didn’t yet understand.
I didn’t know whether it was more courteous to let the realtor show me the place, or to say, “I’m not gonna waste your time, I just want to get the f*** out of here.”
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Sep 25, 2009 5:04 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
You were smarter than I was, perhaps.
I just moved to Madison too but I figured, what the hell, it’s cheap and it’s only a year. It really wasn’t that bad. I was in that apartment for a little over a year. In retrospect, I’m pretty sure the guy down the hall was dealing, and the Hazmat team was on Chalet Gardens a few times (I’m assuming for meth). But people left us alone and it was cheap while we saved up enough to buy a condo on the west side.
There was an Indian couple on our floor that made fantastic food and invited us over for dinner a lot. I wouldn’t choose to live there again but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like living there. It was kind of fun.
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Sep 25, 2009 5:43 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Did I mention I was only there for a year...
… damn I hate the lack of an edit option.
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Sep 25, 2009 5:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
not smarter, just recently burned
the year before that, I had lived in a pretty sketchy neighborhood in brooklyn. part of the reason I was looking forward to madison was … middle america, suburbia, no knife-wielding neighbors…that sort of thing.
so I ended up spending a little more for a place off Whitney just below the beltline.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Sep 25, 2009 5:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ah...
…I can imagine that would put you off Allied, though you might have found some of the tough guys there pretty funny after Brooklyn. The condo we bought was just south of the beltline off Gammon, which if memory serves is just an exit beyond Whitney. We used to go Laredos on Whitney and catch a movie at the Woodgate all the time. Not sure if it’s still there, but you could catch independent films there back then without running downtown to the Orpheum or the Majestic (RIP).
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Sep 25, 2009 5:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Woodgate was great.
Sounds like your condo was in roughly the same neighborhood…though four+ years out, my memory of madison streets has waned.
I thought that was the best place to be in Madison. Pretty easy access to downtown/UW, but far enough away that you could turn around without bumping into a student.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Sep 25, 2009 6:03 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Pretty close to the same neighborhood...
… Whitney was about a 5 minute drive up Schroeder Rd. (past that hideous 9 hole course with the green and yellow clubhouse) from where we were. I liked it there. We stayed until I was through law school and about a year after, until a job offer pulled us up to Appleton.
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Sep 25, 2009 6:12 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Simpson Street don't exist no more
They tore down the tenement/crack houses, actually made it a thru street and renamed it. It isn’t the greatest neighborhood, but it isn’t an open-air drug market any longer. So it’s got that going for it.
For open-air drug markets and tenements/crack houses, one must go to Allied Drive or Badger Rd.
by Getting Yosted on Sep 25, 2009 4:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
okay
then what’s simpson called now? what part of the city?
I lived in the Badger road hood for a year. Other than that two week span, it wasn’t too bad. Landlords didn’t give a shit about anything, but oh, well. Hookers were seen on occasion at the corner of Fish Hatch and Badger.
by PagsBrewCrew on Sep 25, 2009 4:48 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Things are starting to get a bit iffy
in places like the Schroeder Rd/Hammersley Rd. areas as well—sort of bleed-over from Allied.
But now that I live in Middleton, all is right with the world! All the benefits of Madison, with less crime and more friendly people. Although there tend to be significantly more stuck up assclowns here than Madison…
Present company excluded, of course.
I don’t have a category for "washed-up guys who may or may not be dominant big-league closers sometime soon."
~Jeff Sackmann
by Charlie Marlow on Sep 25, 2009 9:07 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ice Cream
I’m taking the Braunophile to his last game of the season this Saturday at Angel Stadium. It’s supposed to be mid-90s in Anaheim that day. (Fortunately the game doesn’t start until 6:00, so it will have cooled off a bit by then. Unfortunately, I’ve also promised to take him to Disneyland during the day, so I’ll be outside sweltering in the mid-90s heat during the middle of the day). The question is whether I should buy him ice cream, or rely on the kindness of strangers to provide for the necessary sugar rush….
by Brew Angel on Sep 25, 2009 1:29 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
At least
if you do buy ice cream, its not horribly expensive.
Ive heard Angels games are on of the most family friendly places to see a game for the wallet.
Disneyland on the other hand…..(unless its his birthday)
by backtocali on Sep 25, 2009 2:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Louis
|
91 | 71 | .561 | 0 | Lost 6 |
|
Chicago
|
83 | 78 | .515 | 7.5 | Lost 1 |
|
Milwaukee
|
80 | 82 | .493 | 11 | Won 3 |
|
Cincinnati
|
78 | 84 | .481 | 13 | Won 2 |
|
Houston
|
74 | 88 | .456 | 17 | Lost 3 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
62 | 99 | .385 | 28.5 | Lost 2 |
(updated 11.20.2009 at 4:30 PM CST)
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