Here are some lyrics from the "Weird" Al Yankovic song, Albuquerque: "You got any ability to play like a winning team in September?"
"No! We're out of ability to play like a winning team in September!"

Sunday's Win Probability Graph
Sunday's BR Box Score

Saturday's Win Probability Graph
Saturday's BR Box Score

Friday's Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

I have a handful of links today, but nothing more entertaining than Tyler Maas' day in the life of Craig Counsell. So I'll lead with that.

So on Friday I started a conversation about general managers. I noted that Doug Melvin seems to be losing some ground among fans and Jack Zduriencik is still being called a GM of the future. I expected some discussion but a general consensus towards keeping Melvin around for next season. What I got instead was a poll showing 60% of readers think Jack Z should be GM next season. I'm surprised.

This is never good: the 2008 Brewers are being compared to the final scenes in Animal House.

Ray Durham hasn't played since straining his hamstring Friday. I haven't seen any reports on the seriousness of the injury. Rickie Weeks went 3-for-4 in his place on Saturday, but went 0-for-4 with 3 K's yesterday. Weeks is still hitting .310/.431/.548 in September.

Crawfish Boxes took a look at the long-term ramifications of Ben Sheets' most recent injury.

Statistically Speaking ranked CC Sabathia 3rd on his NL Cy Young ballot.

Jon Heyman is playing World Series matchmaker. Once he's done combining every possible big-market matchup, he notes that a Twins-Brewers WS would be pretty cool too.

The Brewers have fallen all the way to 15th in Phil Rogers' power rankings and 16th in the Whisnant Rankings.

On injuries:

Matt Holliday missed action over the weekend with a stiff back but could play again tomorrow.
Blue Jays SP Shaun Marcum will need Tommy John surgery and is out for the rest of 2008 and all of 2009.
Hideki Matsui has been shut down for the season and will have knee surgery today.
Marlins SP Anibal Sanchez left Friday's start with a leg injury.
Angels SP Joe Saunders will miss his scheduled start tomorrow with a kidney stone.

While we're on the topic of injuries, what are your expectations for an injured player on a non-contending team? Dusty Baker and Hal McCoy are making an issue of the fact that Ryan Freel and Norris Hopper haven't been seen around the Reds clubhouse since injuries ended their seasons. Should it be an issue?

Looking for a "buy low" candidate pitcher for 2009? Are you desperate enough to consider Russ Ortiz? Apparently he's eying a 2009 comeback.

Or, you could buy really low and trade for Adam Kennedy, due $3.3 million next season and hitting .269/.303/.343 in 2008. He's upset because he's not getting to play everyday in St. Louis. I can't imagine why.

Oh, and here's an exchange between Gabe Gross and Abraham Lincoln. Classic.

Drink up.

I'm not quite ready for a full time return to the active roster quite yet, but I am home for a couple of days, so the Mug returns temporarily today and tomorrow, and hopefully for good in early July. Thanks to Jeff for filling in admirably during my extended absence. Without him, life might imitate Garfield minus Garfield. I'll be back full-time soon.

Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

When I left on my mini-sabbatical, Prince had 8 home runs. Since then he's hit 8 more, including the one pictured here. If I go back on sabbatical and he hits 8 more, I'll be tempted to retire.

Also pictured: The biggest accomplishment of Jeff Suppan's weekend.

Matt LaPorta missed a couple of games last week after running into the outfield wall, then returned for one day before leaving the team again to be with his ailing grandfather. Best wishes go out to him and his family.

I hadn't updated my projection spreadsheets in a while, so this morning I updated the data and noticed that Russell Branyan is on pace to hit 42 HR in just 296 official AB's this season. Dave Cameron at Fangraphs notes that Branyan was called up on the same day (May 25) to play the same position (#5 on your scorecard) as Ryan Braun circa 2007. The similiarities pretty much end there, but they're interesting nonetheless. If you're looking for analysis of Branyan's hot start, though, dixieflatline's post from Friday is the best I've seen.

Speaking of Branyan: Weeks ago I bookmarked a link about him, then promptly forgot about it and went on vacation. Remember that 460-foot home run he hit into the Dew Deck on May 31? SensibleUnits.com says 460 feet is equal to 44 male African elephants standing on top of one another, 7.8 ten pin bowling lanes, 2.8 Olympic swimming pools, or 1.8 Airbus A380s side by side. Check out the link to get more.

Sometimes Phil Rogers gets a bum rap, and sometimes he deserves it: In his most recent power poll he ranks the Brewers, owners of a 21-10 record in their last 31 games, 16th. Thankfully, the Hardball blog has a little feature at the bottom where you can rate their posts. I'd encourage you to go give him one star. Sadly, it's the lowest option available.

Even Eli acknowledges it's unlikely to become a story, but the Phillies reportedly had a scout in town to watch Ben Sheets recently.

Mark DiFelice is starting to climb up an interesting list: By making his first ten big league appearances without issuing a walk, Recondite Baseball notes that DiFelice has tied the eighth longest streak of all time to start a career. There's seven names you likely won't recognize on the all-time list in front of him. Still, though, it's a pretty nice claim to fame for a guy most of us never expected to get out of the minors in the first place. On injuries:

Marlins P Burke Badenhop has been placed on the DL with right shoulder tendinitis.
Erik Bedard left his start Friday with back spasms.
Adrian Beltre missed this weekend's action with a bruised index finger but could return as soon as today.
Reds SS Jolbert Cabrera injured his hand sliding into second Friday, making him the fourth Reds SS to get injured this season.
Pirates SP Phil Dumatrait has been placed on the DL with rotator cuff tendinitis.
Yankees RP Kyle Farnsworth left Sunday's game after being struck in the hand by a ground ball. He needed 3 stitches.
Cards SS Cesar Izturis is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Reed Johnson is having back spasms and may have to go on the DL.
Rangers C Gerald Laird is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Blue Jays SP Shaun Marcum has been placed on the DL with elbow soreness.
Rangers RP Doug Mathis has been placed on the DL with shoulder inflammation.
Pirates SP Ian Snell will have an arthrogram (a what?) today to determine the source of his right elbow irritation.
Red Sox RP Mike Timlin has been placed on the DL with tendinitis in his knee.
Jose Valentin has suffered multiple setbacks in his rehab and will be out for the season.
Carlos Zambrano's shoulder has landed him on the DL. They're still calling it precautionary.
Barry Zito isn't hurt, but The Giants Baseball Blog is bringing up the possibility of taking a drastic step and having him undergo Tommy John surgery anyway.

Comedy legend George Carlin passed away over the weekend. Here's one of his all-time great preformances, highlighting the differences between baseball and football.

Here's a performance that's not exactly an all-time great: After a nearly unprecedented 3 managerial firings in 4 days, Scott Miller of CBS Sports wants to make sure we know we shouldn't expect it again. I guess I thought that was implied when phrases like "nearly unprecedented" are being used.

It doesn't look like Rich Hill will be back to help the Cubs anytime soon. On Friday, he threw 45 pitches and only got two outs in AAA.

Are we still talking about free pitchers the Brewers may or may not be interested in as bullpen help? If we are, can I interest you in Kiko Calero or Denny Bautista?

Chipper Jones' chances of hitting .400 continue to lurk at about 1 in 5000.

If you're looking for summer reading material and my links in the Mug aren't long enough, you might consider picking up a book or two off of The Klaw 100. Speaking of books, I picked up "Shoeless Joe" after reading Jeff's post this spring on must-read baseball books, where he didn't actually recommend it. But I loved it and if you haven't read it, you should pick it up.

On a chance encounter this weekend I happened to meet "kindie" rock star Justin Roberts. I wasn't familiar with his work but after hearing him perform "Henrietta's Hair" and noting his new CD is titled "Pop Fly," I'd recommend him to anyone out there who has kids, and maybe even some of you who don't.

That's all for today. Drink up.

If you only watch one game this week, this is the one to watch.  Shaun Marcum isn't exactly a household name, but he's among the AL leaders in just about every pitching category, and at the top of the list for ERA.  Ben Sheets is right up there, too, making this one of the best pitching matchups of the year.

Game time is 7:05 CT, and here's the BR Game Preview.  I'm not sure what's cooler: that Scott Rolen has a .500 OPS against Sheets, or that Ryan Braun has a 5.000 OPS against Brian Wolfe.

Go Brewers!

So, at least Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks are heating up, right?

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

There's not much out there this morning that I (or someone else) haven't already told you about. We've covered that Gagne has biceps tendinitis and won't throw again until at least Sunday.

We've also covered that Ned is still here, even though Dayn Perry thinks he should be fired, Scott Miller of CBS Sportsline lists him second (behind Willie Randolph) on his list of managers on the hot seat, and some guy named Eli lists him second on his list of managers to be fired, behind M's manager John McLaren.

So, since it's a slow news day, here's a stat to think about instead:

Johnny Estrada, April 2007: .312/.346/.455
Johnny Estrada, May 2007: .236/.244/.449

Jason Kendall, April 2008: .301/.366/.398
Jason Kendall, May 2008: .224/.314/.290

On injuries:

Moises Alou is back on the DL with a strained calf, meaning Raul Casanova is back in the big leagues.
Twins SS Adam Everett has been placed on the DL with a strained shoulder.
Nats OF Austin Kearns is out 3-4 weeks after surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow.
Phillies OF Jayson Werth left last night's game with an oblique strain.
Padres P Chris Young has been placed on the DL with a broken nose after being hit by a line drive Wednesday.

The results from the most recent Baseball Happenings blogpoll have been posted. Josh Hamilton takes home the AL MVP this week, with Cliff Lee winning the AL Cy Young and Jacoby Ellsbury winning Rookie of the Year. Full results here. Here's the ballot I cast:

MVP:
1. Josh Hamilton
2. Kevin Youkilis
3. Carlos Quentin

Cy Young:
1. Cliff Lee
2. Daisuke Matsuzaka
3. Shaun Marcum

Rookies:
1. Greg Smith
2. Jacoby Ellsbury
3. David Murphy

Maybe I'm just an NL guy, but I think the NL Rookie of the Year race is far more interesting, with Fukudome, Geovany Soto and Jair Jurrjens, who Braves beat writer Dave O'Brien thinks might be the best rookie of them all.

Astros 3B Ty Wigginton is tough. But can his toughness be matched by a Houston Chronicle writer? Click here to find out!

Oh, and here's a story about the inaugral "All-you-can-eat day" at the Metrodome.

The Mug is off tomorrow, Sunday and Monday for the holiday weekend. Drink up.