Well, this weekend was a nice step back into tradition. First, on Friday, the Brewers came home with an 8 game winning streak. They'd just finished what Jim Powell was calling the greatest Brewer road trip of all time. So they put on the retro uniforms and lost.

Friday's Win Expectancy Graph
Friday's BR Box Score

The Brewers are 4-5 in retro uniform home games this season, and 28-14 in all other home games. The Brew Town Beat has joined me in calling for the end of Retro Fridays. We don't need to use 1982 to generate excitement anymore, the team on the field right now is pretty good.

Then, on Saturday, a come from behind victory and high fives all around:

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

Finally, on Sunday, we took a trip through more recent history, and had a good old fashioned Yosting.

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

This should come as a surprise to no one: Ned Yost says Suppan was one pitch away from getting out of the 5th, which is why Ned left him in to surrender 7 runs. Al says most of Suppan's problems can be traced to bad luck. That doesn't change the fact that he walked the leadoff man, gave up hits to 5 of the next 6 batters he faced, and came within about 20 feet of giving up back-to-back-to-back home runs to Carlos Lee, Geoff Blum and Hunter Pence. And he was allowed to do all of this in a pennant race game while an extra starter, Seth McClung, was sitting in the bullpen.

In-Between Hops wants Suppan pulled from the rotation. I still think he can be effective if managed properly. Yesterday was the textbook definition of improper management.

All of this plus the tight races in the AL and NL East have combined to create the closest pennant races in decades. Baseball Musings looks at just how close they are.

Phil Rogers ranked the Brewers 5th in his most recent power rankings. This week, there's only real teams in front of them.

Tom H. ranked the top remaining Brewer prospects by position. I'm curious to hear what people with a better grasp of the minors think of that list. I immediately noticed that Hernan Iribarren is nowhere to be found.

Skyking162 gives Prince Fielder a 3.5 and Ryan Braun a 3.0 in his rating system for hitters. I think Braun belongs on the same level as Fielder, but aside from that I can live with it.

On injuries:

Rick Ankiel was scratched yesterday with an abdominal strain.
White Sox 3B Joe Crede was DL'ed Friday with back stiffness.
Phillies 3B Pedro Feliz missed the weekend series with a stiff lower back but should play Tuesday.
Twins OF Carlos Gomez had to be taken off the field on a cart Friday night after colliding with the wall while making a catch.
Scott Linebrink has been placed on the DL with shoulder inflammation.
Brian McCann left yesterday's game with a mild concussion after a collision at home plate.
Kevin Millwood has been placed on the DL with a right groin strain.
Tigers RP Joel Zumaya left yesterday's game with tightness in his tricep.

Obviously the Sheets-Sabathia 1-2 punch is pretty good, but could a Sheets-Oswalt combination be similar? Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart thinks the Astros should make a run at Ben Sheets this winter.

If that doesn't work out, Gary Glover will likely also be on the market, as the Rays may be getting ready to DFA him.

Major League Baseball has kicked the issue around long enough. Bats are breaking at an alarming rate, and they're calling in...The US Forest Service? What?

Oh, and if you have to postpone a game because of a stabbing a block from the ballpark, maybe you're playing baseball in the wrong neighborhood.

Drink up.

So, just to make sure we're clear: Retro uniforms - unlucky. Pink bats - awesome.

Sunday's Win Expectancy Graph
Sunday's BR Box Score
Sunday's BDD Recaps

Saturday's Win Expectancy Graph
Saturday's BR Box Score
Saturday's BDD Recaps

Today, apparently, is a big day. So big I used two unnecessary commas in my opening sentence. It's a big day because Doug Melvin and Ned Yost are meeting to "discuss the Milwaukee Brewers' personnel and what might be done to improve the club."

Scott over at In-Between Hops seems to think making Prince eat a steak will improve the club.

Al notes that the team hasn't announced a starter yet for Thursday. Perhaps that will be addressed in the meeting.

Yovani Gallardo will have surgery tomorrow morning to repair his torn ACL. Hopefully the extended delay in surgery won't keep him from being ready for spring training in 2009.

Apparently commenters are watching to ensure I use the proper level of snark when posting power rankings. I hope they'll find today's snark appropriate. Or they'll find something better to do than burn half a day commenting on how I addressed Phil Rogers.

Phil Rogers is widely seen as a subpar baseball writer. He has the Brewers 21st in his most recent power rankings.
The Southpaw improves on those rankings in two ways. First, they moved the Brewers up to 18th. Second, they included a picture of Summer Glau. Who is Summer Glau? I have no idea.

On injuries:

Blue Jays reliever Jeremy Accardo has been placed on the DL with a strained forearm.
Mets 2B Luis Castillo left yesterday's game with "quad discomfort."
Chone Figgins is on the DL in Anaheim with a strained hamstring.
Kevin Millwood had to leave his start over the weekend after just two outs, and has been placed on the DL with a groin strain.
Vernon Wells has a broken non-throwing wrist and will miss 6-8 weeks.

A news flash from Chicago: Apparently the ladies love "some asian guy."

In other Cubs news, it looks like Ryne Sandberg is getting pretty good at getting ejected from games. He's been suspended from Midwest League action following a confrontation with an opposing manager Thursday.

I'm really easily distracted some days: I got up early to write the Mug this morning, but lost all the time I gained when I spent half an hour on Keith Law's list of ten home cooking mistakes.

Oh, and the Mets have DFA'd Raul Casanova.

Drink up.

Morning. Let's skip talking about last night's game and the standings and get right into the Mug.

Last night's Win Expectancy Graph
Baseball Reference Box Score
Baseball Digest Daily Recaps
ESPN Video Highlights

With the loss, BP's win projection for the Brewers dropped four tenths to 81.7, but their odds of winning the NL Central, interestingly enough, went up four tenths to 17.4%.

Gabe Kapler Gabe Kapler Gabe Kapler. Both ESPN Video and Sports Illustrated are talking about him, ironically enough on the same day he ran into the wall in BP and was scratched from the lineup. The ESPN interview might be the most awkward professional interview I've seen in quite some time.

Gaslamp Ball has opened up a debate, once again, on batting the pitcher 8th. Fungoes takes it in a new direction and asks "Why bat the pitcher at all?"

Ryan Braun was given the day off yesterday to "relax." I don't know about you, but watching my team lose while Joe Dillon hit in my spot in the lineup wouldn't be relaxing for me. Maybe he had a drink with an umbrella in it.

Brief Alphabetical Morning (BAM) Injury Reports:

Erik Bedard's hip will land him on the DL. The DL Informer thinks it could be serious.
Indians P Joe Borowski is headed to the DL with chronic ineffectiveness a strained tricep.
Twins SS Adam Everett will have his shoulder examined by team doctors today, and missed last night's game.
Nats C Paul Lo Duca missed last night's game after being hit in the hand with a pitch Sunday.
Kevin Millwood had to leave his most recent start with a bruised shin.
Braves P Peter Moylan is on the DL with an elbow strain severe enough to send him to Dr. James Andrews.
Alfonso Soriano strained his calf hopping to catch a fly ball last night, and is day-to-day.

Who knows if he can consistently catch anymore, but rumor has it the Reds are interested in signing Mike Piazza.

Maybe Dontrelle Willis' hyperextended knee will keep him from driving drunk.

Again, we've gone round and round on Eric Gagne's struggles, but one fact is inarguable: He's pitching much better than Jose Valverde.

The Dodgers are inviting bloggers to meet with club personnel. That's a nice touch. I don't mean to drop hints or anything, but I'd be open to meeting with the Brewers front office staff...y'know, more or less anytime.

And, for the second time this week, if you're looking for work, the Marlins may have your answer. I think it's always dangerous to include phrases like "limited supervision" in the first line of a job description. Maybe that's just me.

If you have something you'd like me to consider for inclusion in a future Mug, be sure to drop it in the comments.

That's all for today. Drink up.