Good morning Brewer fans, and welcome to the first day of the rest of our lives.
I'm sure other teams played yesterday, but I could care less. Today's Mug is all about the long overdue decision to take on a new direction and save a small fortune on coffee.
If you haven't yet, take a moment to go add your signature to the First Bloginental Blogress.
I have over 30 links related to Ned Yost's departure, and no idea how to sort them. I guess we can start with the newsy ones. Tom H. says the order probably came from Mark A., Ned didn't see it coming and collects some other opinions on Yost. The third opinion on that last link, from Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times, nails it.
Also, for a second, let's take a step back and look at Ned's reaction again:
Ok, this one is for Ned, Al, Murray Chass, 6-4-2, and anyone else who either called the move "inexplicable" or treated the situation like Yost was fine until a slow start in September: YOU HAVE NO CONCEPT. Yes, this is unusual timing. It's also unusual timing when you pay your bills from August of 2006 in September of 2008. But that doesn't change the fact that they're long overdue.
I think I'm going to have to do other reactions in bullet points or I'll still be writing this at noon:
- Two Fisted Slopper has the longest (if not the best) reaction, divided into four parts.
- Baseball Musings is calling this a wake-up call for the team.
- Chuckie Hacks wants to know if you agree with the move. Tomorrow he'll ask if winter is cold.
- Fire Ned Yost celebrates a victory. Even if it's not about Yost, I hope Marty will keep that blog around. Now it's just an ironic title for a frequently well-written and insightful blog.
- In-Between Hops wrote a poem, and discovered nothing rhymes with Sveum.
- The Brew Town Beat thought 2008 was Ned's best season as manager since his first season.
- View From Bernie's Chalet loves the move.
- The Yost Infection has a picture that pretty much sums it up.
- Tyler Maas of Bugs & Cranks says Yost was the worst Brewer manager of the last two weeks.
- Goat Riders of the Apocalypse will miss Ned's late-season fades.
- Dan Agonistes takes a look at other mid-to-late season managerial changes and their impact.
- The Griddle offers some precedent for a firing this late on a contending team: The 2000 New Jersey Devils, who went on to win the Stanley Cup.
- Geoff Baker has another precedent that may have aided in the decision making process: The Expos firing of Dick Williams in September of 1981, which led to an eventual playoff berth. Baker, Doug Melvin and Gord Ash are all Canadian.
- Ken Rosenthal says the move might save the Brewers season.
- MLB Fanhouse confesses to calling the move "drastic" and "desperate," but also acknowledges that a last-ditch effort to save the season was warranted.
- Peter Schmuck is thoroughly undecided. There's still room to sit next to him on the fence.
- Lone Star Ball called the move "odd."
So, how about Dale Sveum? The Official Site has a nice profile of him from yesterday's press conference. This picture, taken afterwards with Sveum looking off into the future, could not have been posed better. Plus, he got through the whole press conference without saying "math is on our side." That's good enough for me.
Of course, a commenter at Al's is already calling for his firing. Again, NO CONCEPT.
Oh, and the Astros got a taste of the classiness of Cubs fans and Debbie Downer attended a game at Miller Park yesterday.
Drink up. Drink two, in fact. It's a big day.