So, how did YOUR team do today?

i think, perhaps, the jays defeat was just as bad. 7-0 loss to de-fucking-troit - shame¡

Is there any greater feeling than listening to your team on the radio? Especially when Bob Uecker gets a little tips' like J-Kwon and starts free-associating?

Note to NESN & WSBK - MORE SEAN MCDONOUGH PLEASE!

I don't understanding batting Patterson 2nd, but hey if it works that is good with me.

The Reds are going to suck this year. They should hit pretty good, especially if Jr. can stay healthy, but their pitching staff looks like something out of the American Association.

Grudz/Walker should be a pretty decent platoon tandum, if they can both deal with neither having the job outright.

-- David R. (ilxo...), April 6th, 2004.

instead of more mcdonough maybe they should bring back bob montgomery. my favorite monty moment was when he described a hurler as a "muchlier improved pitcher". i stopped listening to games on tv after that.

I THINK Patterson is not the regular leadoff hitter because of his lack of plate discipline / low OBP. But I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have in that Cub line-up lead off, and I'm not sold on Grudz doing it. Regardless, I thought Dusty would be gung-ho to have a speedster setting the table.

also, rays as shorthand for devil rays = classic, d-rays = dud

that being said, schilling looked awesome on tuesday and lowe looked pretty damn good for most of his outing.

how about captain caveman? yeesh...sort of an all or nothing kind of guy, huh?

Robert says:
tom goodwin is up
Robert says:
tom will work teh count
mattbot says:
better pinch run with kerry wood
Robert says:
yeah
Robert says:
goodwin is taking pitches!!11
Robert says:
2-1 the count
Robert says:
I am excited
Robert says:
titilated in fact
mattbot says:
he'll k looking
Robert says:
2-2
mattbot says:
expect the worst
Robert says:
expect the best!!!1
mattbot says:
you are not a cubs fan yet
Robert says:
:(
Robert says:
but goddy never fails
Robert says:
oh damn
Robert says:
he just grounded out
mattbot says:
like i was saying

check out cornejo's k-rate last year.

Seriously, I don't think they have a chance. But what the hell, dude, don't blame the players for whatever sins you want to attribute to the management. You're anti-Podsednik? Anti-Spivey? You would actually hate on Chad Moeller?

Miller Park was a bond-fueled election-approved issue in Milwaukee County, and it would have failed except for a lawmaker who rather mysteriously changed his vote at the last second. The voters were all pissed off and recalled him, but it was too late. 'Round here, though, it was seen less as "Selig bribed him" than "suburban Republicans pressured him and he caved."

Anyway, Miller Park (I was saying all this to teeny on AIM earlier!) is an architectural wonder more than it is A Great Ballpark. And people love it. And it's not like County Stadium was all that to begin with...that place was a (semi-lovable) DUMP. MP is awesome.

And yeah, Leee, I didn't even think about that. You KNOW you're road-tripping up here for games, no matter where you go to school (cough cough Chicago), right?

And if you're not here, and you don't know about the way the attendence fell the hell off last year, and the HUGE bills the team still fields from the stadium (it wasn't ALL funded by the fans, y'know), then I'm sure it's easy to pick One Bad Guy and blame everything bad in baseball on him.

Hey, I don't like Bud Selig one bit, and I was mad as hell when they reduced payroll and sold out Ulice Payne like that. But I think that your selecting him as the only fall guy is pretty lazy thinking.

I'd rather that the Brewers overperform with their low-ass payroll team than that the Yankees win the World Series for three reasons:
1. Milwaukee is my team.
2. I think salaries are out of control, and owners' assholery BECAUSE salaries are out of control is ALSO out of control, and I'd like to see if a team can get to .500 with a 27-million dollar budget.
3. I don't really like the Yankees as an organization. But I have NOTHING against the players on the team whatsoever.

Leee: Milwaukee is exactly 90 minutes on I-94 from downtown Chicago. Madison is two hours 15 minutes on I-90 if you drive fast and stop only once to pee and don't get caught in traffic at the huge merge around O'Hare and don't stop at the NiceNNasty porn shop off the interstate.

Anybody else get DirecTV? This MLB "free trial" thing they've got going on this week is AWESOME. I could seriously see myself ponying up the scratch for the package...

Yeah, Damon was playing at Texas Leaguer depth, it seemed, and Mora really shouldn't've taken off, perchance. But, then, Felipe Cesar Geronimo Crespo shouldn't flail at the pitch he took twice previously with the bases loaded. (Grammar? Fuck that.)

Going to the 12th! Wooo! If anything, this is keeping me from re-installing Warcraft III on my desktop (which is a good thing).

first as an aside, salaries are undergoing a re-adjustment - they're already much much less out of control than they were just 2 years ago.
but here's my thinking about point number 2: suppose they do get to .500 - where does that get them? it depends. will the fruits of the player's efforts - the brewers fans hard earned cash, of course - go back into the team, or into selig's pockets? the way things have gone in the past, i think it'll be the latter. that's seriously fucked up all by itself, but what if it catches on? cinci and pittsburgh, at least, already seem to be heading toward a similar business model. what if the twins and oakland decide to cut 10M off their payroll so that they can operate with a fail-proof profit every year? what about the royals, tigers, indians? there are plenty of potential casualties. i don't want to risk that.

it's a major problem with the current system, and a parallel can be drawn between selig exploiting revenue sharing to stuff his pockets and steinbrenner exploiting the ny market and lack of cap to build a billion dollar franchise. the difference is steinbrenner is getting rich by benefitting his fans, and selig is doing it by bending his over.

so if selig is going to take the money his players make him and his fans give him and give it back, then i wish them all the best. but if he's just going to keep it for himself..how can i root for that? if i support the brewers, i won't really be supporting anyone other than selig. the brewers aren't getting any of my money until i know it'll be used for something other than a better hairpiece.

Oh yeah, man; I was watching some game last night - Seattle/Anaheim maybe? - I just couldn't believe how narcoleptic they were. I mean, no excitement, no vocal inflection whatsoever. And people make fun of Hawk Harrelson??? I'm sorry, I'll take Hawk over 90% of these bores, no question about it!

But yeah, as if I wasn't already enough of a hermit ... I have a feeling I'm gonna go into SERIOUS withdrawal when they take this package away next week. I mean, this thing is like heroin! There are basically games going on all day long!

gygax! (or someone out in Cali), could you please put a hit out on Rex Hudler? Or maim him? Or throw a(nother) brick wall at him?

I miss Ray Ray.

I did get to see Bernie Brewer slide into the suds though, and there was a nice fireworks show set to the music of the lovely and talented Kate Smith after the game.

I've got Comcast, and we're getting all the baseball games when, according to our package, we're not supposed to be getting them. I don't know if this is also a 'trial' or if Comcast screwed up. They screwed up all of our channels - I'm pissed because we're supposed to have ESPN Classic and we don't have it yet.

Anyway, go to the menu & hit "sports" and it will tell you what baseball games are on.

bj ryan is a beast!

Yeah, this is so OTM. I've met a number of Brewers fans over the years, through mutual friends as well as just randomly at games in both chicago and milwaukee. They are always super friendly, in addition to being very knowledgable about both their team and the game. Also optimistic! I've never met a Brewer fan who was all "oh woe is us." There's a bit of comfortable insouciance among Brewers fans. They are generally not bitter despite many reasons to be.

Also the tailgating thing is true. It is taken very seriously. My first trip to Miller Park we had a good time partying with some Marquette people who had this HUGE setup, like a whole section of the parking lot. They gave us burgers and beer. One time I went to County Stadium and on our way back to the car we saw a couple of people firing up their grills AFTER the game!! With charcoal, not gas. And this was at like 10:00 at night!

I like Miller Park. I like that they built little nooks and crannies into it like in right field. Not having Bernie Brewer go into the beer stein is LAME, though. Um, it's called MILLER PARK fer goshsakes.

I might have to get it - it is addictive.

congrats maura dot com

maura, i'm jealous.

pinch hitter pedro feliz hits a single up the middle
ray durham hits a double for runners on 2nd/3rd
jt snow walks the bases loaded
for michael tucker who swings at the first strike changeup then check swing strikes at the next two 79mph changeup meatballs down the middle of the plate.

on deck: barry bonds.

but it's been a pretty exciting series so far though. trevor hoffman looks extremely hittable so far this season (6.00 ERA, 2.33 WHIP, .429 BAA). and where is rod beck should hoffman continue to struggle?

"I felt terrible because I knew it was not smart baseball," said Monroe, who threw a ball into the dugout while trying to double a runner off first. "This year, Tigers baseball is about playing like professionals."

God I love them.

at least it's not snowing like last year.

Grant Roberts... grab the surfboard and push the 420 in Malibu, bud.

Snow walks
Tucker bloop singles

crowd begins to chant "BARRY! BARRY! BARRY!" &c.

Alou obliges, pulls Bonds off the bench and puts him up to bat.

He gets 4 wide to load the bases for Alfonzo, who grounds out to end the inning.

One good reason the Yankees might not be everything. A player with some spark like this would have been given more of a shot on those late 90s clubs.

and honestly, just about anyone on the yankees bench could be sent packing in his stead. they all suck.

I could have wet myself laughing as Tom Grieve and the other yahoo talked about Mickey Callaway's vast improvement in all four of his pitches and how he was going to be a pleasant surprise for the team, etc. etc. etc. right before he gave up six in 1 1/3 last night. I might actually root for the Rangers once or twice, if they didn't have their announcers shilling for Tom Hicks & Co.

But I agree with Neyer, 661 ain't 756... it may be a big PERSONAL milestone given his relationship with Mays, but the rest of can wait til July 2006.

josh fogg is about to be waived from the precision ottos.

"The Genius of Brian Sabean" (BA/OBP):

Edgardo Alfonzo(.179/.256)
Michael Tucker(.243/.300)/Jeffrey Hammonds(.111/385)/Dustan Mohr(.111/.200)
Neifi Perez (.261/.306)
AJ Pierzynski (.225/.244)
Brett Tomko (7.98 ERA, 1.88 WHIP)
Kevin Walker (16.20 ERA, 5.33 WHIP)/Leo Estrella (16.20 ERA, 8.88 WHIP)

Lastly, getting the bases loaded against a no-name journeyman pitcher while down one run and not scoring combined with hitting into 4 double plays... baseball at its worst.

Jake Peavy walked Bonds on 4 pitches, nothing even close to the strike zone, but get this: with an 8 run lead... not once, but TWICE. While that's great and gives him his shut out, I hope someone lays down a bunt single if Peavy ever gets good enough to take a no-hitter into the ninth inning.

And did he walk Pedro Feliz on purpose too right after Bonds the first time, throwing the same pitches in the same spots, just to piss you and Barry off too? I think the second walk was probably intentional-ish, but the first one is unfairly characterized as "nothing even close to the strike zone," the ball was breaking wrong outside for him that whole inning. And it was only with a seven-run lead. So there, nyah nyah.

(Watch, now g! will pull some compelling stats out of his arsenal to ruin my argument.)

wrt: the strikeout
the second and third strikes on the first at bat (and granted i didn't have the proper vantage point) looked low (below the knee) which I'm okay with. If an umpire calls a low strikezone... so be it, just so long as it's called all night to both teams. i don't think Peavy (nor Schmidt) got those pitches called the rest of the game.

Yeah, I can deal without the batter's box drama too. He was probably pretty upset at himself. It's not like he can't take a low and outside pitch out of the strikezone pretty deep (659 against Roy Oswalt). It still doesn't excuse the desire to throw pure garbage with a 7- or 8-run lead though. Peavy was getting it rough from the hecklers.

strike two looked like a blown call by the ump but strike three was on the black and was definitely going to be called a strike if the ump called the other one a strike.

Batting: The Giants are 26th in OBP (.328) and 26th in Runs Scored.
Pitching: The Giants are 29th in ERA (5.44), 30th in WHIP and 28th in Ks.

Things can only get better right? Didn't the Angels start out 3-11 in 2002?

This one day after giving up 4 runs in the 10th to blow a game they started 4-0.

Winning Ugly Part Deux!

6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3K, 74 pitches.

But don't look at this season's numbers to make that judgement. As is his habit, it took Dotel a good three weeks to reach his full velocity, which led to some ERA-inflating innings early on.

Lidge has just been filthy nasty since day 1, though.

Cincinnatti's bullpen last week went a long way towards becoming the worse in the state of Ohio this weekend, which is saying something. I think they blew four leads last week, which is two worse than Kyle Farsworth.

BTW, Texas = thee suck. Boo hiss boo hiss.

FYI, Griffey left in the 3rd inning with hamstring problems. I hope it's nothing too serious.

Cliff (Teacup) Floyd allegedly returns tonight.

Heck, even Ryno looked like he could cover some ground on that infield.

The Cubs and Reds have both tagged the Dodgers hard in last week, LA only winning one out of six games. The Cubs swept the Padres last weekend. The Pirates swept the Giants last weekend. (Sorry Gygax.)

All of the NL Central is still over .500 except the Pirates, which are one game under.

For as sorry a start as the Phillies have seemed to have, they are still 19-17 and 1 1/2 out of first. (Jimmy Rollins is about up to the Mendoza line at around .212)

Oakland seems to be heating up.

Both the Twins and Angels are winning while having many key players on the DL. Can they stay there?

*Colorado beat Philly again on Monday.

The Pirates were 1-9 and had the 2nd worst record in baseball before sweeping the Giants at home. The Giants even made Josh Fogg (0-4 and 8.68 ERA prior to the SF trip) look like Sandy Koufax.

Herges coming in to "nail" this one down. *gulp*

Cincinnatti 26-18, first NL Central:
They are coming off a four game sweep of Houston and have been very hot the past couple of weeks. Their pitching has been better than expected and Danny Graves seems to have regained his form back in the closer spot. Will it hold out? I doubt it, the Reds have gotten off to decent starts the past few years and the pitching completely collapses like Junior's legs in the second half. Paul Wilson is probably the new Elmer Dessens. Sean Casey has been a freak so far this year, his contract must be up.

White Sox 25-18, tied for first AL Central:
They are quietly putting together a pretty good season and would be up a few more if not for some blown chances by their bullpen early in the season. The Big Hurt is off to a good start and Paul Konerko seems to have regained his bat. They are hitting .280 as a team. I haven't seen them play, but going by the stats, they seem to be a decent all around team and could win their division.

For as bad as things have been this year in Atlanta, they are still only a game below .500 and only 3 1/2 out of first place in the NL East.

Reds, 26-18, 211 runs scored, 211 runs allowed (0)
Cubs, 25-18, 210 RS, 163 RA (+47)
Astros, 24-20, 238 RS, 186 RA (+52)
Cards, 23-21, 214 RS, 197 RA (+17)
Brewers, 22-20, 207 RS, 209 RA (-2)
Pirates, 19-21, 182 RS, 185 RA (-3)

I think we know how this Cinderella story ends.

Since I'm going to Cincy for the SABR convention in mid-July, I'm hoping the Reds hang in til then.

As far as run differential, the Reds were -10 a few days back, so maybe they're making progress.

Where the hell is Claussen, BTW?!?!?!

Schilling / Hudson tonight on ESPN, I believe. Should be good stuff.

but i successfully executed the hidden ball play at first!