Jason Kubel's White Rocket posted by Dustin

The Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers are locked in a border battle of non-epic proportions.  Compared to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox rivalry, we are the two douche-bags on the play ground yelling about an ill-advised Magic the Gathering card throw.  

Unfortunately for them, the Yankee’s and Red Sox’s players are tainted with steroids over the past decade so our border battle is pure like Columbian Cocaine right off the plane in Miami.  

Last night Nick Blackburn lost a game that wasn’t his fault.  He is looking like the Ace the Twins need for the future and yet the runs didn’t support him.  Jason Kubel hit his 13th homer which keeps his 3rd place behind Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer.  Watching Jason Kubel hit home runs is like watching Lumberjack days.  He just cuts down trees to blast balls covering the fans with his white rocket.  

Carlos Gomez’s line drive off Greg Looper in the 5th was a frightening moment until Prince Fielder caught the ball.  Then it just became a wrongly placed line drive.  You want to hit the person and knock the ball at their feet while their confused.  That allows our fastest player to make it to the base in time.  Often these situations are scary but if you don’t make it to the base then it just sucks.  

Twins lost which isn’t awesome but I must give props where props is due.  Trevor Hoffman made his money when it was on the line.  He walked Joe Mauer and made the next batters get their own outs.  

Twin’s Verse Brewers 1st Inning Minnesota Experience posted by Dustin

Deciding to sit among baseball fans, I wanted to be in the competitive environment of a major league stadium.  My fraternity brothers are eclectic and both sides of the boarder.  Wisconsinites mingle freely on Minnesota soil.  I sat down just in time to see nervous eyed Carlos Gomez bat lead off. 

Listening to my friends I sat in a room of Wisconsinites and Minnesotans. Bets flared, cases of beer and keg cups were bartered before anyone even got up off the couch.  College students don’t have much to offer for bets except alcohol and $5.  Miller High Life is the request of the Wisconsinites and Coors is for the Minnesotans.  Well anything that doesn’t support Wisconsin is a beer of choice.

The conversation shifted to who has a better ball park.  Target Field verse Miller Park (We all pretend the Metrodome isn’t real) The home run porch verse the chance to have balconies like the Chicago stadium.  Unresolved, we watch the bats of the first inning.  Little excitement until we see a strike 3 pitch in the dirt that advances a runner.  “Hooray, an All-Star catcher like Joe Mauer wouldn’t error like that!” Ruckas becomes the norm in a fraternity.  We live out loud.    

Conversation moves to the recent playboy issue. Jokes: the difference between a redneck and a good ole boy? The good ole boy raises livestock and the redneck gets attached. (We laughed even if you didn’t)

Invariably these jokes lead to comparisons between the women of Wisconsin.  (No offense but some are goat ugly)

Rosenthal’s Picks to Improve Yankees Bullpen before the trade deadline posted by Cesar Valverde

Hazel Mae interviewed Ken Rosenthal from Fox Sports the other night on MLB Network’s show Quick Pitch. Mae brought out the point that the Yankees needed to improve their bullpen. Ken mentioned that the Yankees are all set with Brian Bruney and that they expect improvement in their bullpen upon his return. He also brought out some possibilities considering that Brian has been on the DL twice this season. Here are his picks along with my personal reaction to each pick:

Jose Valverde (Houston Astros) – Valverde is the closer for the ‘Stros. Last year he had over 40 saves for them for the 2nd year in a row. Last I read, he’s only got 3 saves this year so far. He’s been hampered by an injured calf and an injured foot from a comebacker hitting off his leg against the Dodgers earlier this year. He tried his best to work through it but ended up on the disabled list and ex-Yankee LaTroy Hawkins filled in for him. Do you think Houston will give him up if they fall out of contention? At first I thought, “He is their man. He is their closer. He’s their version of Mariano Rivera. He’s had 40+ saves the previous 2 seasons. They’re keeping him.” Then I looked at their place in the standings and found that they were in the cellar 6 games behind the 1st place Cardinals in the NL Central. If they fall out of contention by the trade deadline, I believe they might trade him to a team looking for a reliever.

Huston Street (Colorado Rockies) – The 2005 AL Rookie of the Year with the Oakland A’s, Street is now the closer for the Rox. He recently got his 100th career save. In the series against the Tampa Bay Rays that MLB.com called the battle of the 2 hottest teams in baseball, Street was lights out against the Rays. He was called in to close those last 2 games and did not disappoint: 2 games, 2 saves. I believe that if the Rockies continue to win and move up the standings, Street will be the key to close out their ball games. They may not be able to catch up to the Dodgers in the NL West. L.A.’s running away with that division this year. But they may be able to catch up to the Brewers in the Wild Card and Street will be key in those close games.

Rules of the game (MLB) posted by Eric Hatleback

I thought it would be fitting for my first post to discuss a rules question I've thought about for baseball for quite a long time. Here's the situation: Runner on first, less than 2 outs.  The pitcher accidentally goes into the windup, and the runner takes off for second.  (Or the runner takes off, then the pitcher goes into the windup.)  There is a strange combination of blazing speed in the runner and very slow motion in the pitcher's windup.  The runner reaches second base before the pitch reaches the plate.  The batter hits a lazy fly to the outfield.

Now: does the runner need to tag up at first base or at second base?  The real issue here involves when the runner gains possession of a base and when a "play" in baseball starts.  It could be that as soon as the pitcher begins his motion, the situation is "frozen" and anything that happens after that requires the runner to tag up at first.  Or, it could be that there are no "plays" in baseball, that the action is continuous and that the runner can claim any base he can reach before the ball is struck by the hitter. The second option raises interesting implications for the situation when there is a runner on third with 2 outs.  If he steals home and crosses the plate before the hitter strikes out, does the run count?  That situation is bound to have occurred during some game somewhere, and it should give clues about what the verdict should be in the case with the runner on first with less than 2 outs.

Brew Crew gives Wahoo Blues x 3. Brewers sweep the Indians, win 9-8. posted by Brad VanFossan

Cleveland Indians vs. Milwaukee Brewers - June 17, 2009

David Huff vs. Jeff Suppan

Progressive Field - Cleveland, Ohio

Well so much for my 7-2 homestand prediction. The Indians will have to win this game just to go over .500 at 5-4. Every time I say something positive the Indians give me two reasons to be negative. Carl Pavano is suddenly terrible, and the bullpen has been atrocious again. The offense is averaging 8.5 runs a game vs. the Brewers in the frist two games of the series and has won neither.

I’m not a huge fan of Eric Wedge or Mark Shapiro for that matter and I’ve been trying to give Wedge the benefit of the doubt lately. But one thing that is really starting to infuriate me is the lineup inconsistency. Even before all the injuries, it was almost a different lineup with guys in different positions every night.

I know the talent level right now is almost that of a team of utility men, but you can’t manage a team with that mindset. Sure a lot of teams platoon guys here and there and of course players need off days, but a different lineup every damn game? Right now that is my biggest criticism of Wedge. Guys need to have an idea of where they’re going to be playing and not have to wonder if they are even playing while driving to the ballpark. Baseball is a game of routines, both in the game itself, and mentally. I think that consistency is needed and is severely lacking on this team.

Here are some random thoughts and things that caught my script “I” today and during the game:

-So much for David Huff getting off to a good start as he allows a run in each of the first two innings and the Brewers take the early lead 2-0. He would also allow a run in the third as well.

If you can't pitch, swing for the fences! Milwaukee Brewers 14, Cleveland Indians 12 posted by Brad VanFossan

Unfortunately that goes for both teams.

Screw it, I'm not going to edit this, this was how things were going to appear as late as the top of the 8th:

The best thing that can happen when you're team isn't getting the best pitching performance in the world is for your opponent to be having the worst pitching performance in the world.  Ok, it wasn't quite the worst in the world, but the Brewers pitching was worse than the Indians tonight.

Things that caught my script "I"

-I don't really understand why on the night of the Ricky Vaughn bobblehead why the Indians and Brewers didn't wear the retro uniforms again, why not just wear them the whole weekend and tonight?

-Nice to see the long ball back at Progressive Field and all of them not being hit by Albert Pujols.  Shin-Soo Choo, Mark DeRosa, Victor Martinez, and Travis Hafner all went deep for the Tribe.  Ok, probably every column in Cleveland is going to say it was nice to see Hafner go deep, but it really is.

-The Brewers have to be ecstatic that Ryan Braun is locked up for eight years.  By the end of that deal he'll be 33, I guess still not quite too old for the Yankees, but he will definitely be the Franchise player for the Brewers, I'd let Fielder walk when his contract is up.  I just can't see how you can be that overweight and maintain the kind of bat speed to continue to be a power hitter, let alone productive for years to come.  In game edit: I had to know Prince Fielder would do something to put the Brewers in a position to win tonight after I wrote what I did about him, sorry.

The Yankees need to get it together against the Bosox posted by Cesar Valverde

The losing streak against the Red Sox continues. Yankee management needs to set up their rotation so that they have their best against against Boston. They need to come up with some kind of plan to keep the Boston offense in check every game. This losing is PATHETIC! Are the Yankees going to bow down to Boston all season, slide into the playoff picture via the Wild Card without beating them and spanking the other teams? It's been done before. During their World Series years (96, 98-2000), they were getting spanked by the Angels and they still won the World Series those years. Back to pitching, how can you set up a rotation where 2 opposing pitchers face off against each other back to back?  Every time A.J. Burnett takes on Boston this year so far, it's been against Josh Beckett. Are they going to do this again in their series against Boston in August and September? I hope not, Beckett seems to have A.J.'s number this year. How about putting in C.C. Sabathia against him? The Milwaukee Brewers worked him like a Hebrew slave in the time of Moses last year, pitching him on 3 days rest to win key games during the season. How come the Yankees can't do that? Unfortunately, Girardi's strategy is to keep the pitch count down on the rotation because he doesn't want to tire them out. Starting pitching needs to improve against the Red Sox. Mark Teixiera tried to get something going last night going 3 for 4, but the offense as usual fizzled out leading to a 5-4 Yankee lost. Oh well! Tonight, it's C.C. Sabathia against Brad Penny. Can even C.C. hold the Red Sox down in the early innings? Can Texieira, A-Rod, and the boys jump on Brad Penny's flamethrowing fastball? We'll find out tonight.

Brewers drop another tough one posted by Paul Olson

So the Brewers lose their second straight to the Rockies and take the series loss. Having Dave Bush on the mound against Jorge De La Rosa it looked like an easy victory for the crew before it even started. De La Rosa came out sharp and showed the Brewers what they let go years back. Usually hitting lefties well, the crew only managed 4 hits and 2 runs off De La Rosa in 6 innings of work and struck out 8 times. For the second night in a row the Brewers jumped out to a 2-0 lead only to give it up in the end. It's not like the pitching has been terrible for these two games giving up just 3 and 4 runs. The offense certainly needs to step it up and score more than 2 runs per game. One thing to notice is the crew not taking advantage of opportunites when they arise. A Prince Fielder leadoff bloop double in the 8th inning has to turn into a run. It's situations like those that can cost you runs and sometimes even a game. Hopefully the crew can salvage one game in this series tomorrow with Gallardo on the mound and the offense looking to back him up. GO CREW!Continue reading "Brewers drop another tough one"

The Cards' Cavalry is on its way posted by Ryan Turner

1. Well, the Cardinals' recent road trip didn't go according to plan by any stretch of the imagination. They had to salvage a win at the end of each series after dropping the first two. Coming home to play the Brewers didn’t improve things. The only lead the Cards had against Milwaukee in the entire series got washed out by a monster of a storm on Friday. Colby Rasmus, who hit the two-run homer in the bottom of the second of Friday’s rainout, managed to get it back by hitting another two-run bomb in the bottom of the seventh of Monday’s makeup. However, it wasn’t enough as the Cards were held to just six runs over the three-game series, none of which came during Adam Wainwright’s two-hit, one run performance on Saturday. The Cards managed to get back on track a bit on Tuesday, thanks to a three-hit complete game shutout by stopper Joel Pineiro (Did I really just say that?). Rasmus’ bat stayed live with yet another two-run bomb off of lefty Ted Lilly in the fifth. The Cards also managed to manufacture a run in the first with a leadoff walk to Brendan Ryan, a sacrifice by Rasmus, and a stolen base by Ryan off of Lilly whose ignorance of the situation led to there not even being a throw down to third. This set up Yadier Molina for a two-out RBI single to put St. Louis on top after one inning. Molina also helped the Cards get back some of their defensive prowess in the top half of the opening frame, picking off Alfonso Soriano off of first, the 29th time Molina has done so in his career.

2. This brings me to my next point. Soriano might me one of the laziest players in baseball. His lackadaisical run after an Albert Pujols single later in the game turned it into a double for Albert. El Hombre may not run out every ground ball and full speed, but if there’s a chance to make a play, he’s going to do so and he certainly took advantage of Soriano’s ineptness in the outfield. When healthy, the Cubs have to of the laziest players in the league on the left side of their field, with Aramis Ramirez at third base. This guy constantly got booed in Pittsburgh for not running out grounders before the Pirates gave him away to the Cubs in what seemed to be more of a promotional item than a trade. Sure, both of these players contribute to the Cubs offense and are probably given more respect at the plate than Ryan Ludwick and Rick Ankiel by pitchers, but I’d rather have our pair that injures themselves running after fly balls in the outfield than the Cubs’ pair of bums any day.

Brewers are 3 for 3 against Pirates, must of taken notes from navy seals. posted by Luke Smith

 Vs

(Bernie Brewer)               (Somalia Pirate?)

And the streak goes on.....I'm not too suprised. This is will be the 15th win over the Pirates in a row. Even though todays game was not the most exciting it just comes to show how the Brewers pitching has been turning itself around since the start of the season.

Since this is my first blog I will make it a short one, and end it with a question. Name three other National teams that brewers should sweep every time?