A Brief Story of Redemption

As many of us get mad at Doug for seemingly boneheaded moves (Kotsay) its nice to see he is still a classy guy.

That is amazing that Doug took the time to call a fan during the season

Seriously, I’m amazed. I wonder sometimes if the team ever reads blogs, letters, and articles, or if we’re just pissing into a vacuum. It’s nice to know that being a fan is in fact a two-way relationship.

made me wonder in the back of my mind if Doug Melvin’s father wrote him and Doug gave him a call back;)

If so, hi Doug and thanks for stopping by our favorite blog.

If not, kudos Doug Melvin and administrative staff (that were responsible for getting Melvin to see this letter)

you’re okay and so is sicklebeat’s grandfather.

To be real honest, its easy to micro-manage from the couch, and think you know what’s best for the team; that Doug Melvin is an idiot, and if you were GM, you’d do things differently.

After reading this, I realize my estimation of Melvin has been much too low. What an awesome guy.

Tell Grandpa to keep writing his letters!

Thanks for sharing!

Bud Selig was still the owner of the Brewers and my dad worked for someone who was throwing a big party in downtown Milwaukee at his house on the lakefront. Selig attended the party and I got to meet him and talk to him for about 10 minutes. I went off onto a tangent about why the Brewers needed to extend Scot Karl, he was really polite and heard out my reasoning only to tell me afterward that they had just come to an agreement on an extension and sure enough 3 days later it was announced in the press.

I know he was probably just being polite to a young kid but that’s one of those memories I will never forget and he really was very nice about it when he could have just more or less just brushed me away…

On another baseball related note…

My friend just graduated from UW Madison and his frat had a contacts board for graduates looking for employment. My friend wants to get into the sports industry and there was an email listed from the Seattle Mariners. Turns out the President of the Mariners was a fellow brother and my friend emailed him, actually got a personal email back from the president the next day, they emailed back and forth and he was kind enough to get my friend in touch with the VP of HR for the mariners who is now working at helping him get into the industry…

All in all I have to say the few run ins I have had (through myself or my friends) with executives in the MLB really have me impressed with what seems like a really classy group of people and this story only reaffirms that feeling.

That was Nyjer Morgan with some free time on his hands.

He called me twice when he owned the Brewers, both times after I had written something he took issue with. The thing with Bud, he is a talker and tries to overwhelm you with his aura, and he is really not into listening.

During the second call he trotted out his “People don’t remember” line. I am a pretty passive guy but that line irked me that day and I cut him off saying “Don’t tell me I don’t remember!” “I was there for the 1968 Twins-White Sox mid-season exhibition game. You oversold the stadium and had fans standing on the roped off warning track, and any ball hit into the fans was a ground rule double.”

I actually rendered Selig speechless. After a few moments of silence he said, “You are a good fan.” We then ended our conversation and enjoyed a rather cordial relationship during the rest of his tenure.

I applaud, not only Mr. Melvin reaching out to the fan base, but Mr. Attanasio as well for being open with the paying customers.

He approached him, introduced himself and his fiance, they had a short talk about the Brewers and how he liked how the team was headed, nothing too long. My friend sent an invitaion to the wedding to MA to Miller Park. Not long after the wedding they received a gift basket with Brewers gear and a short handwritten note thanking them for supporting the Brewers and talking to them at the Cubs game. Very cool that he remember the conversation and sent the gear.

As long as we’re sharing “I had a chance to talk to…” stories, I had a chance to talk to Rick Schlesinger and Tyler Barnes last year and they were both very engaging and active listeners. It’s something they seem to take really seriously in that organization.

When I go to the stadium even the ushers regard me the cool indifference of those who know they’re better than I am.