So on Friday I saw a friend, who greeted me with a hug. We had the following exchange:

"Hey, how are you?"
"Good. I'm finally getting over my cold."
"Oh...thanks for the hug, then."

I'm guessing you can about imagine how that turned out.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

So CC Sabathia threw 130 pitches last night to finish his fifth complete game with the Brewers, giving him the outright NL lead in CG. Ben Sheets has 4. Only five other NL pitchers have more than one. Only 29 NL pitchers, given a full season to work on it, have accumulated more than 8 wins. Sabathia's done that since July.

But the fact remains that he threw 130 pitches last night in a situation where it almost certainly wasn't necessary. Baseball Musings and Defensive Indifference came down hard on Ned Yost for letting Sabathia finish the game.

In the meantime, Chop-n-Change notes that 7 of Sabathia's top ten most comparable pitchers were done by age 31, which is why they're hoping the Braves won't sign him.

Even if no one else in the bullpen was ready, Salomon Torres was available to pitch last night. Also in that story: Rickie Weeks is feeling better and may not hit the DL after all.

Ryan Braun left last night's game after aggravating his intercostal strain swinging and missing. After the game, Braun downplayed the severity of the injury...I guess we'll see. In-Between Hops correctly predicted the development.

A lot was made of Cecil Cooper's prediction that the Astros would sweep the Brewers this week. There weren't very many people on the bandwagon with him, though. A poll at Crawfish Boxes showed that 38% of fans thought the Astros would win one game out of 3, and Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart thinks they'll get swept.

One note got buried in today's The Official Site's Game Preview: Jason Kendall needs seven more starts to tie the record for the most starts by a catcher in a single season in franchise history. Even if Mike Rivera starts 3 times in the next 10 games, Jason Kendall will have caught more games than any catcher in Brewer history before September 1st.

On injuries:

A's SP Justin Duchsherer left last night's game in the 3rd inning with inflammation in his hip.
Twins SS Adam Everett was hit in the hand by a foul ball last night, but X-rays were negative. He's day-to-day, just like the rest of us.
Nats C Jesus Flores hasn't played since Saturday with a sprained knee.
Ian Kinsler is likely done for the year after being diagnosed with a sports hernia.
Twins OF Delmon Young jammed his ankle last night and may miss some time.

Has there ever been a post-deadline trading period that was this active? The Dodgers reportedly acquired Greg Maddux yesterday.

This is why teams don't want their top prospects playing in the Olympics: Matt LaPorta is day-to-day (and lucky to not be much worse) after being hit in the head with a pitch during Monday's game against China.

Al Reyes is not one of TheJay's active pitchers who faced the AL Brewers, but he did spend 3 seasons as a member of the AL Brewers. Today, he's looking for work after refusing an outright assignment and being released by the Rays.

Oh, and Sabathia's win last night may not have looked that surprising, but according to NBC Olympic announcer Al Trautwig, winning when everyone expects it is one of the most difficult things in sports. Click the link to read Keith Law's reply.

Drink up.

Major League Baseball doesn't care about me, so for a day I didn't care about Major League Baseball.

Living in Iowa, I don't get to see the Brewers on TV very often. So I was pretty excited for yesterday's game on TBS. I planned my day around it. At 3, my commitments were done, the dog had been walked and I was on the couch waiting to catch game 3 of the Brewers-Dodgers series. Except I couldn't.

You see, I live in Iowa. And even though I'm hundreds of miles from Milwaukee, Iowa is technically part of the Brewers' "home market." So yesterday's game on TBS? Blacked out. Major League Baseball does this to encourage me to watch the game on FSN Wisconsin. But I don't live in Wisconsin.

All I wanted yesterday was to see a rare national television broadcast involving a team I listen to everyday but have only actually seen about a dozen times in 2008. Major League Baseball took the possibility away from me. So I skipped the game. I didn't watch it, obviously. I didn't listen to it. I didn't watch the highlights. This morning while preparing the Mug I heard it was an exciting game. I would've liked to see it.

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

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

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

The biggest weekend news is injury related. As noted in the fanshots, Rickie Weeks sprained his (surgically repaired) left thumb yesterday. I'm assuming an MRI is in the not-so-distant future, but he hasn't been DL'ed yet, so there must be a possibility it's a minor problem. Of course, there are some that would suggest that keeping Weeks from playing isn't a problem at all.

Furthermore, Salomon Torres was pulled from Saturday night's extra-inning extravaganza after one inning of work due to stiffness in his groin. If it lasts more than 4 hours, he should call a doctor.

All of these injuries are, of course, retribution for the Brewers' consistence on continuing to commit baseball's greatest atrocity: the untucking of shirts. Go ahead and click that link, if for no other reason than to look at the look on Ned's face while he's "congratulating" Prince.

I'm a few days behind on this one, but In-Between Hops was upset over Ned's decision to bat Laynce Nix third in Thursday's lineup. I was upset over how dumb it made me look for predicting Nix wouldn't get a single at-bat as a Brewer just hours before the lineup was announced.

The Hopster also took a moment to point out that if Mike Rivera kept up his current production and had been given Jason Kendall's playing time, he'd have 35 more hits and 65 more RBI.

Over the weekend, John Sickels reviewed his preseason Top 20 Prospects for the Brewers. Turns out he hit the nail on the head on most position players, but there's still pretty much no pitching in the pipeline.

After watching Saturday night's back and forth exchange during the final few innings, Adam Charles of Bugs and Cranks thinks the Brewers are showing signs of bipolar disorder. Also at Bugs and Cranks, Tyler Maas commemorates the one-millionth article on Prince Fielder's vegetarianism.

Worth noting: Of all 30 Major League Baseball franchises, the Brewers charge the lowest "convenience fees" for ordering advance tickets. They're still too high.

The Brewers rank 8th in Phil Rogers' most recent Power Rankings, seven spots behind the Cubs and five spots behind Scott Boras.

Jon Heyman has predicted the contracts some upcoming free agents will receive this winter. For Sabathia: six years, $150 million. For Sheets: three years, $51 million.

Apparently Ted Simmons likes art, but doesn't want to talk about it.

Marc Hulet of Fangraphs compares Jeremy Jeffress' drug situation to that of Josh Hamilton. Maybe I'm missing something, but last I heard Jeffress likes pot and has been suspended one time, right? That's a bit different from having to go back to living with your grandmother while recovering from cocaine addiction.

On injuries:

Chris Carpenter is back on the DL with a posterior shoulder strain.
Tom Glavine is on the DL with a strained elbow.
Angels SS Maicer Izturis is done for the season with a torn ligament in his thumb.
Jeff Kent is going to get hurt if he keeps talking trash about Vin Scully. (h/t Jim Powell)
Kazuo Matsui is on the DL with an irritated disc in his back.
Carlos Silva is on the DL with triceps tendinitis.

The Mets pulled off a trade over the weekend, acquiring reliver Luis Ayala from the Nationals. Just when you think the trades are over, there's another one. And the Nats, never one to miss an opportunity to make things worse, followed up the trade by failing to sign their first-round pick.

Three former Brewers in the news today: the Yankees DFA'd Richie Sexson after he hit .250/.371/.393 in 35 plate appearances. Gary Glover is back in the big leagues with the Tigers, and R.A. Dickey tied a major league record with 4 wild pitches in one inning.

Oh, and do you need a new tailgating grill? go win one here.

Drink up.

Well, at least now we know for sure Jason Kendall will be back for 2009. He made his 100th start yesterday, vesting his option for next year at $4.25 million. He celebrated the milestone by picking up one single in 4 plate appearances yesterday, raising his OPS to .645.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

Now that it's been 10 days and the ensuing winning streak is over, can we finally stop talking about Prince Fielder shoving Manny Parra? Baseball Digest Daily called it "The Shove of Inspiration."

Two-fisted Slopper isn't buying the hype on a possible 2008 return for Yovani Gallardo. Maybe there aren't enough innings to go around, but if a guy with a career 132 ERA+ wants to come back and try to pitch, I'm guessing the Brewers can find an opportunity for him from time to time.

Cardinals Diaspora is waving the white flag. They no longer think the Redbirds can catch the Brewers or the Cubs. In the meantime, The Cub Reporter asks if the Cubs should tank the NL Central to set up a more favorable playoff matchup.

Last night I was in attendance as the Iowa Cubs (managed by Pat Listach) defeated the New Orleans Zephyrs 6-3. Today, The Official Site's "Where are they now?" feature caught up with the former Rookie of the Year.

I may have been a little too hard on Big League Stew yesterday. They recently added a tattoo combining the retro logo and the Grateful Dead logo to their collection. Love or hate the retro logo, it's cool ink.

On injuries:

Blue Jays RP Scott Downs will be out at least a few more days with a rolled ankle, but may avoid the DL.
Yankees RP Dan Giese has rotator cuff tendinitis and should hit the DL any minute now.
Angels SS Maicer Izturis has an injured thumb that has kept him out of action for most of the last 10 days.
Troy Percival left yesterday's game after spraining his knee fielding a bunt. Grant Balfour came in and blew the save for him.
Aaron Rowand left last night's game with a back injury.
Brad Penny has been placed on the DL with shoulder inflammation.
Aramis Ramirez suffered a hip contusion and had to leave last night's game.
Dodgers RP Cory Wade has been placed on the DL with shoulder inflammation.
Padres SP Chris Young has been placed on the DL with a forearm strain.

Via Skyking162, I found this Lookout Landing post gathering way more stuff than I have time to read on the topic of statistical analysis in baseball. Years ago a professor friend of mine asked if I thought there would be enough interest to do a semester class on baseball statistics. Dan, if you're reading, there's your textbook.

Today is the last day to sign 2008 draft picks. Marc Hulet of Baseball Analysts has a nice roundup of what's remaining to be done.

It appears the Giants might have a hard time signing their top pick, Yonder Alonso, as he has an invitation on the table to play in the Atlantic League and live with Alex Rodriguez.

It looks like Zach Jackson had a solid but unspectacular debut with the Indians: He gave up three runs on eight hits in five innings and did not factor in the decision in Cleveland's 11-6 loss to the Orioles.

The Cubs did win yesterday, but they did it despite the efforts of Mark Kotsay, who was the first Brave in 21 years to hit for the cycle.

Oh, and this guy posted something unintelligible in the comments of a Youtube clip. (h/t Aaron Gleeman)

Drink up.

For someone who's a better prospect guru than me:

Laynce Nix was presumably brought up to fill Branyan's roster spot because the team needed a fourth outfielder and Nix was the best of all options that could play center field. (Sorry, Tony.)

But Nix is, at best, a part time center fielder in AAA. He's played 42 games in center this year, compared to 43 in right. Last year he spent more time there: 59 of his 83 games. His BR Minors page doesn't say where he played in 2006.

Nix was almost certainly not the best offensive option available in AAA. Among others, Brad Nelson and Joe Dillon are both there. Furthermore, if Nix hadn't been called up, Corey Hart likely could have played center in a pinch, if Cameron couldn't finish a game for whatever reason.

So, for someone who knows the minors better than I do: Is Laynce Nix a good enough center fielder to be appreciably better than Corey Hart would be in a fill-in role? Is the defensive difference big enough to make up for leaving better bats in AAA?

So I went to bed early again last night. As it turns out, it's a good thing I did because I had to get up at 4 to take care of a sick puppy. Speaking of sick puppies, Battlekow, even if I had no links today I would've posted anyway to push your post-game fanshot farther down the page. That's just unnecessary.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

The Official Site is reporting that Ryan Braun felt better yesterday and expects to play this weekend against the Dodgers. This greatly decreases the chance that Laynce Nix will get a single at-bat during his brief stint as a fourth outfielder.

Nix was brought up when Russell Branyan was placed on the DL with an oblique strain. Apparently 19 plate appearances over the team's last 20 games (including nine total PA's in August) were too much for him to handle.

In-Between Hops has updated the Fielder HR chart and notes that Prince has once again hit his stride.

How dominant would Team USA be if they could still have Ben Sheets pitching for them? In The Official Site's preview for today's game, Sheets remembers his Olympic glory in Sydney.

Jeremy Jeffress experienced slightly less glory yesterday in Huntsville, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks in just 2 1/3 innings in his Southern League debut.

Bugs and Cranks has the Brewers 8th (up one spot) in their most recent power rankings.

Big League Stew further destroyed their own credibility by posting a list of the 25 most improbable big league success stories that includes several guys who have racked up less than a full week of big league action, but mysteriously misses the most obvious Brewer. What part of "last year I managed in the minors, this year I'm hitting .304/.337/.490 for a likely playoff team" isn't an improbable story?

On injuries:

Carlos Guillen has a pinched nerve in his lower back. The team is saying 2-3 days but it could be more.
Derek Jeter missed last night's game to recover from being overrated fouling a ball off his foot Tuesday.
Mike Lowell is on the DL with an injury to his right oblique.
A's CF Ryan Sweeney is on the DL with a sprained right thumb.
Tigers RP Joel Zumaya is back on the DL with a sore shoulder.

Jose de Jesus Ortiz says next week's road trip to Milwaukee and New York is make-or-break for the Astros season. Right now they're the fourth best team in their own division and BP Postseason odds has their shot at the playoffs at .4%, or about one in 250. How much more broken can you get?

Last night, though, they did manage to send 12 men to the plate in the sixth inning of their game with the Giants despite only picking up 3 official at bats. Four walks (1 intentional), three HBP, two sac flies and two singles led to a six-run inning.

Did any of us expect Zach Jackson to be a major league starting pitcher this season? He'll make his AL debut for the Indians tonight, filling the rotation spot vacated when Paul Byrd was sent to Boston.

Oh, and Keith Law is commenting and speculating on the financial issues facing Whole Foods.

Drink up.

I'm getting old. Last night's game was played in a neat and tidy 2:34, but since it started at 9 I still couldn't stay up through it.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

All of today's reads will be better if read in the comforting voice of Morgan Freeman.

So, a nice start to the road trip and a 7-game winning streak, right? So what's the national media talking about? CC Sabathia went shopping for houses yesterday.

Ryan Braun doesn't seem to know exactly what's wrong with him. Doctors are still using phrases like "puzzling symptoms." But Gord Ash says Ryan Braun will be back in 2-4 days. I just asked the Magic 8 Ball if Ryan Braun will play on this road trip and was told, "Don't count on it."

Jeremy Jeffress was supposed to make his first start in AA last night at Huntsville, but the game was rained out. I'm assuming that means he'll pitch Game 1 of tonight's doubleheader, which starts at 5:05.

Adam McCalvy of The Official Site is reporting that Yovani Gallardo is along on the road trip and could throw off a mound before the Brewers return home. A September return looks a little more plausible every day.

Are the daytime shadows in Miller Park the worst of any park in the majors? Nats C Wil Nieves seems to think so.

On injuries:

Carl Crawford will have surgery to repair damaged tendons in his finger and will be out until at least September 25.
Andruw Jones has been placed on the DL with patellar tendinitis.
Tim Lincecum took a line drive off his knee last night, but X-rays were negative. He shouldn't miss a start.
Rangers SP Vicente Padilla is doubtful for his start Thursday.
White Sox OF Carlos Quentin missed last night's game after being hit by pitches on five straight days.
Phils OF Shane Victorino left last night's game with lower back stiffness.

Quick transaction notes from around the web: The Red Sox acquired Paul Byrd yesterday and Micah Owings has been confirmed as one of the PTBNL in the Adam Dunn deal.

Both the Red Sox and the Rangers will need more pitching after last night's 19-17 slugfest. If you're bored today, go look at the Win Expectancy Graph and play log front last night's game. The Red Sox were at 98.6% to win in the first inning, came all the way back down to 18% in the 7th, and still somehow snuck out with a victory.

Oh, and the people who make TV ads for 24-Hour Fitness can't count.

Drink up.

So, fresh off a four game sweep of the Nats, the Brewers are headed out to the West Coast. Get ready to adjust your sleep cycle to Pacific time.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to forget last year's San Diego-Los Angeles road trip, where the Brewers dropped five straight on their way to a season-high six game losing streak. So in my mind three wins on this six game trip would be a real victory. Here's the Official site's series preview.

The Padres will play tonight's game without bench coach Craig Colbert, who was suspended for a game for arguing with the umpires. The circumstances of the argument seem a little odd: Any Padres fans out there, or anyone who saw the game for that matter, who can explain what happened that caused the umpires to refuse a double switch?

While the Padres are playing without their bench coach, the Brewers will continue to play without Ryan Braun, who still isn't sure when he'll be ready to return. Here's a thought: if he's having back problems and you're not sure when he'll be able to play again, why are you putting him on a plane to San Diego today? I'm sure a cross-country flight is just what he needs right now.

On the plus side, Statistically Speaking accidentally discovered that Braun has the highest career OPS in history among players who have never led their team in the stat.

There are two things worth noting in this Nationals Journal post on the sweep: First, Garrett Mock is only the second pitcher all season to record 9 strikeouts in a game where he failed to pitch 5 full innings. Second, he also had this to say after the game: Whatifsports new MLB Power Rankings have the Brewers at third, and the reconfigured (again) Whisnant rankings have them 9th.

On injuries:

Evan Longoria has been placed on the DL with a fractured wrist and should miss around 3 weeks.
Marlins SP Scott Olsen rolled his ankle in his last start and could miss a start Thursday.
Marlins RP Doug Waechter hasn't pitched since Wednesday with shoulder stiffness.
Rangers closer C.J. Wilson is having arthroscopic surgery on his elbow and is done for the year.

In easily the biggest non-Brewer news of the day, the Diamondbacks traded a minor leaguer and two players to be named to the Reds for Adam Dunn. Redleg Nation reports one of those players to be named later could be Micah Owings or Max Scherzer. Getting one of them for a six-week rental of Adam Dunn would be a pretty good deal.

Baseball Digest Daily takes a look at the declining numbers of Kosuke Fukudome. I hadn't noticed, but the trends are certainly there. Also declining: the spirits of two Cubs fans who faced a judge yesterday for a parking lot assault at Miller Park. Anyone heard how that turned out?

The Pacific Coast League is kind of a strange case, as the league now includes teams on the coast, as the name would imply, but also in Iowa, Nashville, New Orleans and Omaha. As a result, when the price of airfare goes up, their travel budgets become a concern. They're supposedly considering an extreme unbalanced schedule next season, because spending a full season playing most of your games against 3 other teams is exactly what big league clubs want their top prospects to do.

Recondite Baseball explores the history of the single baseball rule that even the smartest baseball fans frequently can't explain.

Oh, and if you were about to finish construction on a brand new ballpark, would you want a second-rate summer football league to come in and tear up your grass in July and August? Me either, but apparently Fred Wilpon does.

Drink up.

A four-game sweep would be almost as delicious as the Corn Dogs at the Iowa State Fair. I missed most of yesterday's game waiting in line for one.

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

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

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

How back-and-forth was yesterday's game? Check out the front page at BR and scroll down. Three of the five biggest plays in all of baseball yesterday happened in the last six innings of yesterday's game.

Tom H. gives a lot of credit, as we all should, to Mike Rivera, who started for just the 12th time all year, but still got on base 5 times yesterday.

Of course, after the game the Brewers continued to commit the most heinous atrocity in the history of organized sport: they untucked their shirts.

Ryan Braun isn't feeling any better. I'm just hoping his sore back doesn't have anything to do with the time he's been spending with Marisa Miller.

CC Sabathia has already thrown 57 innings as a Brewer, but has allowed just 40 hits. I thought that was worth noting.

So apparently Catfish Stew tracks the Heavyweight Champion of Baseball. The process seems pretty simple: 2008 started with the Red Sox as champions, and anyone who beats the champions takes over the crown. During interleague play the title passed over to the NL via the Mets, and now the Brewers have it. I don't think a parade is planned.

The Brewers rank 8th in Phil Rogers' weekly power rankings, just ahead of the World Baseball Classic. They're 15th in Skyking162's rankings.

On injuries:

Mariners utilityman Willie Bloomquist has been placed on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Chris Carpenter left last night's game after 66 pitches with a triceps strain.
Carl Crawford has been placed on the DL with a "right middle finger tendon subluxation." That's a new one for me.
Jose Contreras will miss the rest of 2008 and some of 2009 with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Twins OF Michael Cuddyer was hit in the foot with a line drive last night in a AAA rehab game and suffered a broken bone.
Orlando Hudson broke his wrist Saturday and will miss the rest of the season.
Carlos Lee has a broken finger and is out for the season, ending any playoff hopes he thought the Astros had.
Brad Lidge was unavailable for the second straight day Sunday with biceps tendinitis.
Scott Rolen has been placed on the DL with a sore shoulder.
Tim Wakefield is on the DL with a stiff shoulder.

Baseball Musings notes that the Cubs just finished a 13 game run played entirely within the NL Central, and went 10-3. He says they may have put the NL Central away during that stretch. BP Postseason Odds have them at 96.7% to make the playoffs. These guys realize there's 44 games left and we're talking about the Cubs, right?

Oh, and the Gwinnett Braves would like some help naming a burrowing rodent.

Drink up.

It's a quick one today, coming off the off day.

While the team has been hot and cold with runners in scoring position lately, The Junkball Blues notes that all but three Brewer position players are outperforming their expected RBI's. Weeks, Kendall and Counsell are the three underperformers.

Speaking of Weeks, Tyler Maas of Bugs and Cranks says no one was more surprised by his four hits on Wednesday more than Weeks himself.

Dayn Perry waited until after the Brewers had won back to back games to tell us the Fielder-Parra incident won't matter.

Now that they've played a similar number of games, Fangraphs compared Ryan Braun 2007 to Ryan Braun 2008.

Beyond the Box Score lists Angel Salome as one of eight prospects that could contribute in 2009. I doubt he'll fill the "play once a month" role Mike Rivera is filling now, and Jason Kendall will be back, so 2010 seems like a more viable option.

On injuries:

Mets C Ramon Castro left last night's game in the 4th inning with a sore ankle.
Evan Longoria is ok after being hit on the wrist by a pitch last night. Hey, it's a slow news day.
Nats SP Tim Redding was hit with a line drive during BP and suffered a contusion on his quad.

There were two trades yesterday, with the Rays getting Chad Bradford and the Phillies getting Scott Eyre.

With the pending launch of the MLB Network, Biz of Baseball is reporting that MLB is considering lifting some of the blackout restrictions currently in place on MLB.TV and Extra Innings. Finally, fans in Iowa might be able to watch the occasional Brewer, Twin, White Sox, Cub, Royal or Cardinal game.

Dinosaurs invaded US Cellular Field Wednesday. Thankfully, there was no sign of THE SPAZZOSAURUS!

Oh, and Sam Mellinger wants to make sure you know not to be that guy.

Drink up.

So Gorman and I were out for a walk last night, and came across some ducks. Gorman loves ducks. So we chased the ducks around for a bit, until an old man sitting on his porch yelled at us to stop. I immediately thought of Murray Chass.

Also, the Brewers won their second straight road series.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

Rickie Weeks was the unlikely hero yesterday, going 4-for-5 with 2 RBI and 11 assists in the field. After the game, though, he dramatically and unforgivably insulted the game of baseball by untucking his shirt. Note the veteran grittiness of Craig Counsell, who refused to participate in such an egregious affront to the game and left his shirt stuffed firmly in his pants.

With the loss yesterday, the Reds have lost each of Homer Bailey's first eight major league starts. In fact, he hasn't participated in a win at any level since April 30. It's gotten so bad he's quoting Nietzsche.

The Brew Town Beat has joined me and Tom H. in wondering if Ned Yost is trying to kill Jason Kendall.

Apparently Twins backup catcher Mike Redmond takes ground balls at third everyday, even though he's only played there one game in his career. If Mike Rivera had devoted his spare time this year to learning new positions, could he play everywhere by now?

Mike Cameron narrowly missed robbing a home run yesterday. I feel like I've seen this picture, where he swings and misses at what would've been a great catch, 15-20 times this season. Has anyone done the numbers to figure out if/how much Cameron has actually helped in the field this season?

The latest Bugs and Cranks power rankings have the Brewers 8th.

There might have been more, but Robinson Cancel, Raul Casanova and Claudio Vargas are all Mets this year: Of the 99 former big leaguers playing independent ball this season, I was only able to find two former Brewers, Wayne Franklin and Will Cunnane.

On injuries:

Joba Chamberlain has rotator cuff tendinitis, less serious than previously expected.
Nats OF Elijah Dukes' calf strain is worse than expected and could end his 2008 season.
A's SP Sean Gallagher will have his next start pushed back at least 6 days to recover from shoulder inflammation.
Indians reliever Matt Ginter has been placed on the DL with a forearm strain.
Rangers RP David Murphy strained a ligament in his knee in a collision at home plate yesterday and should miss 2-4 weeks.

This is when you know you're having a tough season: Jeff Francoeur is slugging .357 in 2008, which is the same as the career slugging percentage of a pitcher (Mike Hampton) on his team.

I think we'd all like to see all 30 big league parks, but 30 parks in 26 days with overnight drives like Kansas City to Detroit and Minneapolis to Arlington seems a little extreme.

Drink up.