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Tuesday's Frosty Mug

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Two more celebration threads have been posted since yesterday, so swing by Kirbir's blog and Two-Fisted Slopper if you've still got some exuberance you need to get out.

Apparently 14,000 people still had some exuberance left yesterday afternoon, and attended the Brewer pep rally at the Summerfest grounds. Click the link for video. Big League Stew has the Brewers' postseason bid acceptance speech.

So Yovani Gallardo gets the ball in the biggest start of his life tomorrow afternoon. I guess that means this shirt, which was only sent to me yesterday, is already obsolete. The Phillies have named their first three starters: Cole Hamels, Brett Myers and Jamie Moyer.

While the grounds crew paints fancy logos on the field at Citizens Bank Park, pundits around the web are making their predictions for the series: I recognize it's the playoffs and anything can happen, but anyone who picks the Phillies in 5 needs to remember that a game 5 Phillies win would have to come against CC Sabathia...and if the Brewers get to a game 5 with CC on the mound, I like their chances.

It's time for your daily collection of links about CC Sabathia: Dave Cameron of FanGraphs has a look at the Brewers' path to victory.

The Southpaw says Doug Melvin should win Executive of the Year. Not bad for a guy an awful lot of us were ready to can a week ago.

The Junkball Blues takes a look at NL relievers and the leads they successfully converted. The things you probably know: Salomon Torres isn't exactly an elite closer, but Brian Shouse consistently converts leads. The thing you might not have realized: Carlos Villanueva was about as effective as anyone in the bullpen this year.

Via BBTF, I found this story about a musician who won't be invited back to play at Brewer games, but can't figure out why. After all, all he did was play "Go Cubs Go" after a Cub win at Miller Park. His quote:
"I'm just kind of the guy being kicked in the backside for no reason. I've been a Cubs fan and a Brewers fan all my life."
Someone should tell him the reason, then kick him in the balls.

So far, all 30 MLB teams appear to be keeping their managers, but the coaching carousel did spin a little more yesterday: the Padres need a new hitting coach and a bench coach, the Pirates are shopping for a first base coach and a pitching coach, and the Rangers are in the market for a bench coach and third base coach.

Also, we had the first "offseason" signing. A quick recap:

Kyle Lohse, 2006: 5-10 in 34 games (19 starts), 78 ERA+
Kyle Lohse, 2007: 9-12 in 34 games (32 starts), 100 ERA+
Kyle Lohse, 2008: 15-6 in 33 games (all starts), 113 ERA+
Kyle Lohse, yesterday: signed a 4 year, $41 million dollar deal with the Cardinals and laughed all the way to the same bank Carlos Silva probably uses.

One of the things about reading over 200 blogs daily is that I see a lot of opportunities to enter prediction contests, and sometimes I take them, even if it's something I don't know all that much about. For example, I recently missed by 2 in the contest to predict Kila Ka'aihue's 2008 plate appearances. Usually, I forget about them. So I was surprised to discover I almost won True Blue LA's Dodger prediction challenge. I'm also reminded that I never thought to look up the final results on our own BCB over-under contests. I'll add that to my list for today.

Oh, and by all accounts we've got a pretty cool owner, but this quote from Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg makes me feel like they've got a pretty interesting owner, too:
"Employees like Jonathan Higgins are the spicy mustard that makes our team’s meat taste extra delicious."
Drink up.