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Baseball players are among the most superstitious people in the world. From KTVI in St. Louis.
The Old Gray Lady’s one starring roll was 20 years ago. Just as no one can drive a golf ball without some bonehead yelling, “It’s in the hole!” Because of this movie, until baseball ceases to exist, a wild pitch thrown back to the screen will always be referred to as, “Ju-ust a bit outside.”
Being an old fogey, you would expect me to say “Yep! Just like ‘58 when the Braves came back again and won the league or ‘59 when they should’a won a third straight!” But I’m sitting here looking at the Brewers’ opening day roster and it feels a lot more like 20 years ago, the 1988 and 1989 seasons.
In ‘88, the Brewers finished a measly 2 games back. Ted Higuera was a stud, yet only won 16 games. Two other starters (August and Wegman) won 13 each. Chris Bosio managed to lose 15 games, despite a 3.36 ERA. A mish-mash of other pitchers managed to combine to get the Brewers close. What got them over the top was an offense led by two Hall of Famers: Molitor and Yount. Still, the offense had no one with 100 RBIs and Rob Deer led in homers with only 23. They were poised for 1989. I mean, Higuera should win 20, Bosio’s got to win more than 7 games with that stuff, right? Molitor, Yount, Gantner, Deer, Surhoff, Braggs, that’s a solid returning line-up. Sure enough, in ‘89, Yount had his second career MVP year, Bosio nearly reversed his record to 15-10, Deer hit 26 dingers, Greg Brock raised his average 50 points and yet the Brewers slipped to .500 and finished 8 games out in fourth.
In order to win 90 games in a baseball season, you need 6 of your pitchers to average 15 wins. Because you only have 5 starters, the burden falls on them. Anything they come up short of, the bullpen has to make up. Now look at the Brewers’ roster again. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
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You came up with 74 wins, right? So did I. Now, I’m going to be an optimist and say that Gallardo’s the real deal and in these days of post-steroid, washed out talent, he won’t get hurt and will win 18 games. Even with that break-out year, I still don’t know how you get 72 wins out of the rest of that staff. I don’t see another 15-game winner there. I see a bunch of 10-12 game winners at best.
Bush pitches as well as he can last year and wins 9 games. Suppan, God love him, I like crafty old pitchers who throw every piece of junk they have (my nod to Eddie Harris of Major League), but can you see him winning 15 or more? Parra’s a lefty, so by definition, he’s a head case. McClung with control is David Wells, without control is Nuke LaLoosh (my nod to “Bull Durham”).
Offensively, they shouldn’t be too bad. I’m still a believer in Bill Hall, darn it. I’m still not a believer in Rickie Weeks. Fiedler will be solid, if not spectacular. Braun is looking an awful lot like Paulie Molitor in both his ability to hit and his propensity for getting hurt. I like Corey Hart because he looks like my nephew, if my nephew was 6′6″. JJ Hardy should probably be declared the “shortstop of the future” instead of Mr. Escobar, who reminds me way too much of Ronnie Belliard for comfort. Kendall’s a solid catcher. Counsell, McGehee, Duffy and Rivera will get too much playing time, but will do their best. Nelson might be the first baseman of the future, if by “future”, you mean August, September and October after Fielder is traded for prospects.
P.S. If this new manager truly intends to bat Jason Kendall first, then he’s going to be fired or quit in less than two years, but we’d better hope he’s pulling an Aloysius X. ‘Guffy’ McGovern (another baseball movie nod).
The Brewers are seriously depth-deprived. Injuries, as often is the case, may influence the Brewers’ ultimate finish. But the real difference in baseball is pitching and we ain’t got enough of it. I’m thinking that 1989 is going to repeat itself, the Brewers will finish no better than .500 and no worse than fourth place in the division. Still I’ll watch or listen or be at every game because that is my curse. I do like baseball.
What could be better than opening day unless you won the whole thing last year? Only the Phillies are pleased with the results of 2008. I’ll be musing about the Brewers’ chances a little later, but with tufts of snow in the air and the promise of sleet, freezing rain and two inches of snow to come, it’s time to pull out the Weber grill and have roasted ground beast stuffed in animal entrails for lunch. A little hot giardiniera and brown mustard please!
Morris Kantor’s best-known work: “Baseball at Night” from 1934 should remind you of the Frame Park you know now, not the tax-supported cash cow for a private ownership which may be there as soon as next summer. In the ’40’s, every industry had its baseball team and the games at Frame must have looked very much like the painting.
The poetry is from 1978 from late Red Sox fan, and accomplished poet, May Swenson. It’s probably about sex, critics will tell you, for critics define poets that way. But I think it’s about baseball and on opening day, that’s all that matters.
“Analysis of Baseball” by May Swenson
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It’s about the ball, the bat, and the mitt. Ball hits bat, or it hits mitt. Bat doesn’t hit ball, bat meets it. Ball bounces off bat, flies air, or thuds ground (dud) or it fits mitt.
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Ball fits mitt, but not all the time. Sometimes ball gets hit (pow) when bat meets it, and sails to a place where mitt has to quit in disgrace. That’s about the bases loaded, about 40,000 fans exploded.
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As a fifth starter, Pedro Martinez would surely grab my interest more than what I see on the Brewers’ roster right now. I don’t know how much money he wants, on the other hand, it’s not my money. I saw him in a WBC appearance and he looked pretty good.
Or whatever’s left of the Brewers, that is. The weather forecast has cast me into deep depression. Only thinking about the new baseball season keeps me hopeful. February 25th is the first game.
Not only does Bud Selig manipulate the weather during this World Series with his ultra powerful brain, but he schedules next World Series to run until November 7th, which ensures more bad weather next year. He thus ensures that all future World Series games will be played in Milwaukee under the Miller Park roof!! I, for one, welcome the major leagues to my doorstep. But I don’t stay up past 10:00 so … fix that.
(f) If, in the judgment of the umpire, a base runner willfully and deliberately interferes with a batted ball or a fielder in the act of fielding a batted ball with the obvious intent to break up a double play, the ball is dead. The umpire shall call the runner out for interference and also call out the batter-runner because of the action of his teammate. In no event may bases be run or runs scored because of such action by a runner.
Rickie Weeks. Man. Rickie Weeks. It was October 2005 when I first mentioned that Rickie should be somebody’s outfielder. In the playoffs, each mistake is magnified. In a five-game playoff series, you’re using an electron microscope. He’s an excellent athlete, you can see that, but he just …
If I knew what he could do I’d be a genius and I am plainly not. You know who he reminds me of? Do you remember Glenn Braggs? He was an outfielder who came through the Brewers system in the late 80’s. The man looked like he could rip screaming line drives all over the park, but all he could do was rip screaming one-hoppers to the shortstop for double plays. Someone who’s still in baseball might be a better example: Nelson Cruz. The next Roberto Clemente as he came through the system. If Doug Melvin wasn’t the Brewers’ GM, Nelson would be a starting outfielder in Milwaukee, hitting .250 and striking out 150 times. He just looks so good. But he wasn’t.
I don’t know why some succeed but most fail. Maybe it’s because success is what normal people would call bad odds. Shoot, success for a hitter is failing 70% of the time. Baseball is the hardest team sport to master. I think it’s because it’s the only sport where the offense doesn’t control the ball.
- I hate to flog the 1982 horse again, but the Brewers lost the first two against California in the 5-game league championship series that year.
- This Philadelphia blogger gives an even-handed synopsis of the key points of game one.
- A Philadelphia Inquirer columnist doesn’t sound confident that the Phillies are going to sweep.
- The Freeman talks to kids about the Brewers.
- An Atlanta writer blames all the Falcon woes on a loss to Green Bay in 2005.
- Wisconsin movie maker David Zucker has a new must-see film.
- The Freeman got jealous and went out and got their own artist’s representation of Larry Nelson Stadium.
- Sound Off is about Sonics and cemeteries.
- The Waukesha School District is putting off making a decision about closing any school.
- The James Wigderson column.
- There’s a vice presidential debate tonight and I have to admit, I don’t really care. But in my experience let me say this: Mrs. Palin’s a very good looking woman. Sometimes that makes old men say stupid things to impress them. Sometimes it makes them tongue-tied. Sometimes it makes them act foolishly. The thing about politicians is that they have such enormous egos. Joe Biden is in that class. So I predict that despite all evidence to the contrary, Joe Biden will believe he is the prettiest one on the stage.
Ned Yost’s firing was overdue, but at this point it’s like rearranging the deck chairs.
From a St. Louis Post-Dispatch blog.
– One more thing: I simply do not understand what the Cardinals are trying to do in their approach to Milwaukee bopper Ryan Braun. This kid simply murders them, and the numbers almost read like fiction.
– In 57 ABs vs. the Cardinals this season Braun has 28 hits for a .491 BA. He’s slammed 7 homers and has 13 RBIs. His OBP is .516, and his SLG is .965 …
– In his two-season career, Braun has 99 ABs against the Cardinals and he’s raked ‘em for 43 hits … that’s a .434 BA … and he has 10 homers and a SLG of .838.
– And yet the Cardinals keep pitching Braun the same. In yesterday’s blog I relied on the STATS scouting reports to offer a glimpse at Braun’s weak spots as a hitter, and basically you pound him low with fastballs and sliders and mix in the change. Or you can ride the fastball up and get him to chase it. What you don’t do is throw this guy any heat from the top of the knees to the belt; he’ll destroy you. And you don’t try to blast him inside; Braun loves to turn on those pitches in. So what do the Cardinals keep doing? Of course: throw the mid-thigh gas, and try to smoke him inside. That was their strategy Tuesday, and Braun launched a thigh-high fastball into the Milwaukee bullpen for a two-run jack. And he added two singles. That’s right: give it to Braun exactly where he likes it. And let the dude keep mauling them. It’s almost comical the way Braun slaps them around. And they simply refuse to alter their approach. It’s as incomprehensible as anything I’ve witnessed of this team in recent years. Yep, the Cardinals will keep showing Braun that they’re right; you just watch.
Is there any doubt that Ned Yost is a Tony LaRussa clone? Ned is as stubborn as any Cardinal.
This is starting to look to me like last season for the Brewers: encouraging start, then a slide out of the race. You know how nothing gets done on Fridays at work because people are distracted by the upcoming weekend? That’s how the Brewers looked all week. If only we played the Pirates 160 games per year.
How many pitchers with ERAs over seven can they look bad against? Flailing at pitches a foot out of the strike zone, watching belt-high fastballs down the middle of the plate without offering until you’re ready to scream, “What were you looking for?”, little tee ball slaps back to the pitcher with two outs and runners in scoring position, these are a few of my favorite things.
A lead-off man with a .325 on-base percentage, a second baseman who always drops the throw, it doesn’t matter from whom, a second baseman who always seems thisclose to turning into Steve Sax. A team with a bullpen incapable of turning in a one-two-three inning. A team which conversely makes every relief pitcher look like Eric Gagne. Not the Eric Gagne we have, mind you, but the Eric Gagne of the Los Angeles Dodgers who a saved a bazillion games in a row.
Then there’s Ned talking about the defense, “It’s fine,” Yost said. “It’s been a lot better. I’m happy with our defense. We’re catching more balls, we’re not booting as many balls, we’re not allowing as many base runners.” The only upgrades on defense have been in center field (Cameron is an excellent center fielder despite the “error” Friday night, that was lost in the lights) and catcher. It’s not Braun’s fault, since he’s new to the position, but you can’t say that there’s been an upgrade there. Hart and Hardy are as good as they were last year. Fielder tries his best and is no worse than he was last year. But Weeks is bad and Hall has been a disappointment. I didn’t think there was that much difference between short and second or third, but Hall was a much better shortstop than either of those two positions. If I’m not mistaken, that was his natural position.
Forget the Cubs, they’re no longer in the same league as the Brewers. It’s wild card or bust and bust it will be as Sheets, Sabbathia, Kendall and Cameron all leave after this year, unless you’d like to pay Cameron $10M. Soon, the core of the team, Hart, Hardy and Fielder, will be ready to leave. This is it. In my lifetime I will probably never see another contender of this quality. That’s a daunting thought for me. It should be for you because you’re no spring chicken either.
