Flop Sweat

Baseball is a game of averages. It is pretty easy to gauge how a player or a team will perform as averages usually don’t lie. After all, the marathon tends to even things up.

Opening Day in Cream City showed exactly how the averages work. In 2016, the Milwaukee Brewers were the worst fielding team in Major League Baseball. Only the Minnesota Twins came close, but the Twinkies were still a distance from their Southern neighbors. The illustrious Brew Crew committed 136 errors last season. In all honestly, they also probably led the league in mental errors. Their fielding average was .978.

In pitching, they had the third worst record for striking out opposing batters. Only the Angels and Rangers had fewer. In relief pitching, they had the fifth worst record for striking out opposing batters. Only the Angels and Rangers, who where joined by the Giants and the Tigers, were less effective.

This led the management to stress fielding and pitching in spring training. Let’s concentrate on fielding. While they let their second baseman go on waivers, and traded away both of their catchers, their strength up the middle would be at a premium this season. It didn’t work that way. One of the new catchers they obtained as one of two second stringers from other teams (remember, they traded away their All-Star catcher who also was an excellent hitter, a rare combination in the game of baseball), committed two (2) errors in his first game. Both were on throws. Then the eclectic Jonathan Villar, who now plays second, gave an over enthusiastic throw in a critical situation into the home team’s dugout, striking the back of the Double Bubble plastic pail with such authority, the reserves thought it was Halloween, thus allowing runners to advance and eventually score the go-ahead and winning runs.

As for pitching, their Opening Day starter, Guerra, suffered a pulled calf in the bottom of the 3rd while batting and running to first. Then the bullpen came in and gave the game away. Well, to be specific Jhan Carlos Mariñez gave it away. Get this, after 1/3rd of an inning, he gave up 2 runs and 3 hits, walked a batter for an ERA into infinity, or in Mr. Mariñez case, an ERA of 27.00. He will have to pitch a zillion innings to find respect.

OK. It’s only the first game. But familiarity is ever present.

While Miller Park was packed, new food venues were opened with local goods, and Big Jim West was behind the plate as the Hot Dog won the Sausage Race, the team on the field looked the same.

It is good to love mediocrity if you live in Milwaukee. After all, with one of the lowest payrolls (‘Managable’ as the owner said on television on Opening Day) in The Show, the Pigsville Nine will always perform to their averages. And that means it will be a long, long season in the ‘Gathering place [by the water]’. Gemütlichkeit!

#WatchingAttanasio

Play Ball!

Another Scab Is Formed

It begins with an affection…perhaps from childhood, when you admire from afar that player who becomes one of your favorites on your favorite team…perhaps after one moves and establishes new ties, there is that certain player that literally allows you to slightly shift alliances and like your ‘second’ team. It is convenient. You can always fall back on your ‘second’ when or if your ‘main’ team stumbles during a season.

Then something happens. Adoration is damaged with a scratch which draws angry protest or dismay over the actions of the player or the team. It is a blood spill. The next day or the next week or month, a scab develops to cover the pain of the initial hurt. Eventually, the scabe goes away and there is just a mark left…then a feint mark then…nothing.

This week in the land near Pigsville, the team departed to the West Coast and with it the disappearance of one of Cream City’s favorite sons. He was one of us. He came up through the minor league system. He was the ‘good citizen’ of the group…a favorite among veterans of the Armed Forces for the work he did. He was one of the best defensive catchers in the Majors and in fact, a two-time All-Star. He was an accomplished hitter. And, he was not the top earning player on the team, not even close. Yet, he was one of the very best. And that made him vulnerable to the system of baseball. He was an attractive, valuable piece to be traded on the board game of baseball.

The first offer over the weekend was with Cleveland. But like a smart player, he had exercised his right not to go to Cleveland. Besides LaBron, who would go to Cleveland? Even United Airlines pulled out as a hub city. Not to say there is anything bad with Cleveland but it is Cleveland.

According to Cliff Corcoran of Sports Illustrated, the Indians offered Lucroy absolutely nothing to approve the deal. Lucroy, a strong defensive catcher who finished fourth in the National League Most Valuable Player voting in 2014 and has hit .300/360/.484 (123 OPS+) thus far this season, projects to be worth $26.7 million next season and more than $100 million over the next five years. By way of comparison, the most expensive contract in Indians history was the four-year, $57 million extension they gave to Travis Hefner in late 2007. That was considered a bust. The Indians understandably refused that demand given the impressive quartet of prospects they had agreed to send to Milwaukee—catcher Francisco Mejia, shortstop Yu-Cheng Chang, centerfielder Greg Allen and right-hander Shawn Armstrong. Then the Indians told the Brewers it was up to them to get Lucroy to accept the trade. Given that Lucroy’s focus was on “long-term gain,” per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt, there was little the Brewers could do that would make sense for them or Lucroy and the deal collapsed.

Then the game turned into a school lesson for the new, youthful General Manager. Granted, his marching orders when he was hired was to rebuild a farm system that had been depleted as the Brewers made their charge in the past ten years which came to a complete collapse under the non-leadership of Roenicke. Boy GM was about to meet his match. He quickly found out that the learning tools of an effective general manager in major league baseball is not what he saw as an assistant in Houston. This is a game for big boys. This is a game where one plus one equals a minus one. Take the deal which created that which is a scabe today.

Meet Jon Daniels. He is the President of Baseball Operation and General Manager of the Texas Rangers. He has led the Rangers to two World Series appearances and besides the Blue Jays and the Yankees, is the only franchise to win back-to-back American League pennants in the last 22 years. When he was hired, he was the youngest GM in MLB at the time. He was only 28 years old when elevated in 2005. He is a Master of The Trade. And he is the Master of Milwaukee. Lets review: just before the 2006 trade deadline, he traded Lance Nix, Kevin Mench and Francisco Cordero to the Milwaukee Brewers for Nelson Cruz, who would become an All-Stare in 2009, and All-Star left fielder, Carlos Lee.

Now, ten years later, he led a lamb to slaughter. He suggested to the young general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers that he would be interested in acquiring the All-Star catcher, Jonathan Lucroy. The rookies GM in Cream City said he would have to have a couple of players which would have to include one of the most sought after young slugging third basemen in the minors, Joey Gallo. Gallo is a legend and has all of the ability to become a great player in The Show. The crafty GM of the Rangers said, he would have to have a pitcher along with Lucroy for that trade to become a reality. The rookie stumbled going back to his chair to think about the implications. Lucroy was a jewel in his trade crown. How the other guy wants a pitcher, a relief pitcher. The young GM couldn’t offer the 8th inning specialist, Will Smith because he had already committed to trade him to the Giants for a great prospect and a journeyman catcher. How about the closer, Daniels suggested. Jeffress was the closer for the Brewers with 27 saves in a horrible season for the team. He was the real deal who had been brought up through the farm system only to be traded away in the Greinke deal from KC and then returned last season. Mulling this over, the young GM obviously felt comfortable because he was going to trade Lucroy and he needed a catcher to back up Maldonado, so he brought up Pena from Colorado Springs, the center of pitching hell in the minors. Then told Lucroy not to travel with the team. If a trade could not be worked out, he would fly him out to San Diego to rejoin the team in time for Monday nights game.

That was check-mate time at the Miller Park B-Bar-B.

Daniels either pulled Gallo from the deal or simply did not include him in any further discussion and now left the rookie GM with a bag of nothing except an quietly concerned owner and a reputation that was clearly becoming backboneless. He balked and probably demanded Gallo be put back in. If he didn’t, that would be crazy. Daniels knew that he didn’t have to do anything because the kid didn’t have any cards. All the aces had been played and Daniels held all the kings.

As time slipped by, and no deal in sight, the deal was concluded when Daniels offered a solution. He would give the rookie not one but two minor leaguers…a AA outfielder, Lewis Brinson, a right handed AA pitcher, Luis Ortiz plus the most famous words in baseball, a player to be named later.

With no other team to rescue him, one young Mr. Strearns accepted. He was just sent to school…baseball school.

Jon Daniels stated, ‘We feel we definitely improved the club and we feel like we kept a number of the young players we liked.’

Thus the cut was made and now the scab formed…another mark on our body of baseball life.

Now we have no Jonathan. We have no Jeffress. We have no Smith. We have no Hill. But one thing we do have is a boat load of minor leaguers.

Rush to the ticket office, Brewer fans. See what-his-name playing over there. After all, its still baseball.

Want a beer?

Play Ball!

#watchingattanasio

‘The Moment’

‘The Moment’

Many people in life have ‘a moment’. And, in the annuals of life, one time…..just one time, a person has ‘the moment’. It is defining.

On Friday with most of the crowd headed for the parking lot, the 31 year old rookie sensation, Junior Guerra, was pitching a gem for the Cream City Nine. He had stepped into the top of the ninth against the mighty Pirates, having giving up only two hits the entire evening and now was leading 3-0. He appeared to be in complete control.

His journey in Pigsville had begun, not against the Pittsburgh nine, but when rookie General Manager, David Stearns’ made his first official move after being hired in that position. He claimed, last Fall, one Junior Guerra off waivers from the Chicago White Sox. As Manager, Craig Counsell said, ‘I don’t think anybody accurately forecasted this. But he was claimed for a reason. He was claimed because we thought there were possibilities there and there was talent there. We thought he was a guy that had gone about it in a really different way and got to this place in a really different way, but that he was a really good pitcher at this point. This level of success, maybe not. But yeah, I think we thought he’d have success.’

And he showed his confidence that really wasn’t at all about the Bob ‘Hurricane’ Hazel of this generation, but rather the rookie manager’s grasp of the psychology of the game. In the 9th inning, Junior had begun with only 87 pitches and Counsell was attempting to have his starting pitcher finish a complete game, the first complete game for the Brewers since last July. The first batter, Matt Joyce, got a single. Then John Jaso was walked. Two on, nobody out, Gregory Polanco was coming to the plate as the tying run.

It is one thing to face Jaso, but it was quite another to face this guy before the big guy in the Buc’s lineup.

The eyes of the 29,000+ were all on the manager in the dugout. Would he come out and bring in, what has been, a very iffy bullpen to try to wrap up the game? Or would he let his rookie pitcher try to complete the game in style? It was the beginning of ‘The Moment’ that will live with Brewer fans forever. Out came Counsell, looking quickly right down the first base line, then eyes down and walked up toward the mound as he approached the pitcher and the gathering infielders, Carter, Gennett, Villar and Jonathan Lucroy (in his last inning and game as a Brewer?).

Collectively the crowd at Miller Park was disappointed expecting the manager to accept the ball from his pitcher. But now he became a fan-legend in the land of beer, brats and cheese. With Guerra offering the ball to the manager, Counsell refused to accept his pitcher’s decision and slapped him on the back and it was now his game to try to finish. With stunning and overwhelming approval and cheers from everyone in the crowd and those watching on television, Counsell left the mound, with an astonished pitcher receiving slaps with the gloves of the other players on the mound. This was ‘The Moment’ when the guy from Whitefish Bay proved to be the next great Brewer manager, in the shadows of George Bamberger and Harvey Kuenn. Right then and there, Craig Counsell would be marked in history as doing something that most in the stands had never seen. But to be truthful, all were very happy to see. What a confidence booster. This was one giant step for the kid from Whitefish Bay.

The rest of the story, although a bit bizarre, finished with a win. Polanco hit into a fielder’s choice as Carter forced the runner at second. Andrew McCutcheon hit into another fielders choice to drive in Pittsburgh’s only run when Marte singled off the head of the second base umpire before Jeffers relieved Guerra and retired Kang to end the game with another (sic) Brewers victory. While the details of the game were unusual, THE story was about the decision that Counsell made on this historic night. ‘I really wanted him to get through the inning’, Counsell said of Guerra. ‘I thought he pitched like he deserved to, and I don’t think he was tiring or anything like that. I thought he was still making pitches.’

Guerra had won his seventh game of the year. He had lowered his ERA to a most respectable 2.70, ranking him #8 among Major League starters, just behind Stephen Strasburg and ahead of Jake Arrieta. And for all the stat rats, in 16 starts over 103.1 innings this season, the ‘Velvet Venezuelan’ has posted a 3.67 FIP, and an 85/34 K/BB rate while generating ground balls (46.3%) and infield pop ups (11%) along with a 20.8% K rate and an 11% swinging strike rate.

But the real story that will live well beyond the wins and losses of the pitcher will be…’Do you remember the time when Counsell walked out to the mound and kept the pitcher in the game?’ That will be ‘The Moment’. And that is when Whitefish Bay’s favorite son became THE manager of the Milwaukee Brewers in the minds of the Crew’s faithful forever.

Play Ball!

#win63
#watchingattanasio

There Ain’t No Pitching In Pigsville

On the 400th anniversary of The Bard’s death, when the buds of Spring state ’Now is the Winter of our discontent’, two teams met near the Johnson Cookies sign atop the factory that produced the legendary Johnson Cookie cards of ’1953, ’54 & ’55, exactly two seasons removed from a time when they ruled the Senior League. On Saturday in a Park called Miller, with a roof over thine selves, they came out of the dugout dressed in togs alike Major League uniforms taking the field as though they were the real, genuine version of those teams not so long ago. ‘There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest’ said the merchants wence I answered ‘Why, though hast put him in such a dream, that when the image of it leaves him he must run mad.’ This was not Sir Toby Belch but a fellow named Anderson, once removed from the team of D’Backs in the land of Sun, who is to say politely in a crowed of boisterous fans, is not the best of pitchers. He is not a Sir. He is not a Toby. But he does make us belch.

On this night, not the ‘Twelfth Night’, but the Eighteenth night of the new season’s play, two pitchers decided to set back time and proceeded to throw 59 pitches in the first inning where there were more 3-2 counts than the master of liver pills could provide. ‘If it be thus to dream, still let me sleep!’ said ol Sebastian. I wanted it to be a nightmare. The game became unwatchable as that first inning lasted nearly an hour. And they wonder why the younger women and men do not grasp the game as their parents and grandparents do. The home team with the funny logo on its cap, however, had fans in the stands, young and old, mostly older. ‘It is the cause’, they said. It certainly was not the pitching. When this many come out to witness such trivial play where the three basic tenants of the game of ball is played…pitching, fielding, hitting (‘You are three men of sin’)…is not in evidence, then in the stands they say, ‘I must eat my dinner.’ Ah, The Tempest. But after all, this is one place where you don’t have to ask another if they want to grab something to eat. After all, this is the land of beer and cheese for butter or wurst.

‘Alas poor Counsell’, the fans sympathetically murmured. No matter what he did, the more he changed pitchers, the more he knew this would be a long season of discontent. He has no pitching except for the horse from Klamath Falls, OR. Of the eighteen games this season, in just the first three weeks of the dream of the impossible, this team, our team…the team of our hearts and of our youth, languish near the bottom of quality starts. In a world filled beyond the a cup full of stats, quality start stats measure the strength of a team. As for the Cream City nine, they rank 29th out of 30 teams with with only 4 quality starts as that horse, James Jacob Nelson, has three. Without quality starts, the bullpen is soon to wear out. As Craig of Whitefish Bay must say, ‘O, reason not the need.’. ‘Hey, David of the House of Stearns. I need some pitching!’

If this season is to be measured by the owner’s need for being competitive in each and ever game, the team named after the monk’s brew of Miller, shows promise. On Saturday, they came back, time after time to give hope. As late as the bottom of the eighth, a fellow on the Crew, another from his former team of D’Backs named Hill, drove a ball which dreams are made of…flying up and up…with hopes of bringing in the leading runs, fell into the hands of that cheesesteak fellow up against the fence in left.

The fans were perplexed. Flummoxed, if you will. In the stands they were heard to say, ‘Once more unto the breach dear friends’ to which the fellow named Romeo yelled out, ‘Dreamt a dream tonight.’ His seat mate, Mercurio, stated ‘That dreams often lie.’ Everyone of the lads laughed. Sitting behind the dugout on first, the only place to watch a game, the lads continued the banter of the moment, Hammy said, ‘A dream itself is but a shadow’. Caliban stated, as the home team took to the field in the top of the ninth, ‘Who I waked, I cried to dream again’. Give me another brat. And some mustard. Now standing, glaring at the pitching mound, he yelled, ‘Did you hear that new pitcher from the pen of bull, some mustard on that ball…now.’

His friend, Antigonus, harking the vendor for more mustard, looked back and up at Cal said ‘Dreams are toys’. After all, these are the kids who pretend they play in the Major of Leagues. This is the fate of a feigned philosophy called ‘rebuild’. It is false hope for us, the diligent bees of the Crew…the True Blue Brew Crew of 2016. ‘What’s in a name?’ Hammy stated, raising one of Wisconsin’s finest brews, standing up with cup held high in his right hand, foam slipping over the top and dropping upon his bald noggin, ‘To die, to sleep-To sleep-perchance to dream…ay, there’s the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pass.’ To which Mac responded, sitting watching the next action on the field unfold, talking on top of Mac’s soliloquy, ’Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.’ he muttered to no one in particular, showing his disgust for that fellow who weaves the tales for the faithful to follow from afar.

The owner, that fellow from afar, basking in the warm climes of a California so Southern, watching via satellite on his telly, was heard saying he is pleased the team is competitive, no overwhelming losses (except for last Monday or Thursday against a team at the bottom of the Junior Circuit called the ’Twinkie’).

’This is the excellent foppery of the world’.

Playest some ball!

#watchingattanasio ⚾️

SAC Attack

Stearns/Arnold/Counsell…this is the triumvirate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They will attempt to put together a team that will do something none have done with this organization before…win a World Series. In 45 years, no combination of General Manager, Assistant General Manager and Manager have ever won a Word Series for this franchise. For those who are 45 years old, nada. For those who are 55 years old, nada for a ball club in this city. For those who are 57 years old, join the ‘never seen a World Series winning ball club in this City’ (NSAWSWBCLITC) club.

It has been a long, cold dry spell.

Now these three will go about their business devising a way which will bring a winner to this City.

What do they have? They have a catcher who can hit, but didn’t this past season because of injury and other things. Can’t really get full value from him until he proves he can hit once again. They have a first baseman who actually stayed healthy and can hit. Good time to trade him. They have a second baseman who might be able to hit but has a difficult time fielding. No trade value. There is a shortstop who has shown signs of great promise and on again, off again fielding and hitting. No real value there unless he gets hot. There is no third baseman except for Rodgers but he might be better at first. No value there.

A left fielder who can hit and hit with power but has one itsy bitsy problem. He can’t throw. The entire league takes advantage of his poor arm strength and accuracy. But teams need hitting and the American League would be a perfect place for this young, valuable bat. The Angels would always go for more hitting because they have never believed in pitching. No real center fielder that is proven. Scout the waiver wires. Center fielder who can run like the wind and hit for a team that traded away their last two who could do so, one to Kansas City and the other to Houston, would be the way you would write a help wanted ad for this position.

There is a right fielder coming back from injury, who is an emotionally tainted superstar and has a contract only a major market can afford. Are you listening, Yankees? Dodgers? Giants? Angels? White Sox? Tigers? Rangers? Sure, he’ll get boo’d in Arizona but chances are if you are an AL team, you won’t have to go there except for every sixth year. There is a back up catcher who can’t hit. A back up outfield who can’t hit. As for pitchers, we have a great young, up-and-coming pitching staff with favorable contracts. Nelson, Jungmann, Peralta, Davies, they have tremendous value. Do you dare trade any of them in a game today where pitching is more valuable than gold? There is Garza who has a contract bigger than most and cannot win any games. Not much value there. And if anyone…I mean anyone offers anything for him, they should not even think twice. Just get rid of this mess of a contract.

There is relief pitching. There is a left hander who has value because there are very few decent left-handed pitchers coming out of the pen in the Bigs. Just don’t tell anyone that he blows a few games every once in a while. He’s got value. There is a great relief pitcher who is destined to become one of the greatest all-time relievers in the game but has a bit of a problem showing up for Spring Training because…now all together, ‘he has problems getting through Venezuela’s passport procedures’ year after year. But once he gets to Arizona, he only occasionally steps on a cactus. There is that big guy, Hellweg, but he probably doesn’t have much value.

There is a third base coach who can’t hit or coach. He leads the league in bonehead plays, year after year. But he’s such a good guy, and, he’s funny. He tells jokes. Works hard. Must have something on the organization or owner because he’s still here after most of the staff was let go. He probably HAS value…to somebody.

Wait: there is a radio announcer who can’t make road trips anymore yet has more value than most of the guys on the field. A TV announcer who is on more networks than any social media surfer. He’s apparently got value. And that guy who sells the popcorn from the wagon behind home plate in the entrance lobby. He’s got value as he is the one person with salt. Then there is the real asset, Bernie. He’s got value…to somebody who wants to slide for a living. Unfortunately, the people with the most value in this organization are the ‘Racing Sausages’ but they are owned by the sausage maker. Great value…but can’t trade them.

There are those motorcycles in the gap in left center field. They have value. The Miller Park sign would fit perfectly into the man-cave of a fan with a basement big enough to house a dirigible. OK. Limited value.

So, as we stand here today, watching the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets battle for the World Series Championship, there is this team on the Western banks of Lake Michigan, near a legendary corner of this earth known to locals as Pigsville, where the aroma of Red Star Yeast waffles through the noses of residents in Kilbourntown, Walker’s Point and Juneautown, within eyeshot of Johnston Cookies, that is headed by SAC.

What on earth will they do this winter? Maryville is just 105 days away.

Play Ball!

Concerto in F Flat

In the world of symphonic music, the orchestras of the world are led by a conductor, who is regarded as the task master. He is the one who whips the orchestra members into place by relentlessly practicing over and over again until everyone understands his or her part and intones correctly every single phrase of every single measure. The entire group is led by a concertmaster, usually the number one chair violinist who is the second highest person in the orchestra. Then comes the first chair oboe, who is the one that begins the orchestra by first, carrying a tuning fork and plays a perfect ‘A’ to bring everyone into tune.

Orchestras are measured by their excellence. There is a group which contains the ‘Major’ orchestras. In America, according to various sources including Gramophone, one of the leading music publishers in the world, the Majors are Philadelphia, New York (#12 in the world), Cleveland (#7 in the world), Chicago (#5 in the world and the top in America), Los Angeles (#8 in the world), San Francisco (#13 in the world), Boston (#11 in the world) and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (#18 in the world). Then there are minors, divided like baseball into various levels. While there may be good musicians in Milwaukee, as a group, they cannot hold a candle, or in this refrain, a violin bow, to Chicago.

Baseball is very much like this. The manager is the task master. The coaches are the one who train, over and over again the disciplines of a major league player, in every situation, in every condition. Then there are the star players who set the tone for the team. The General Manager is the one who makes the chemistry work, mixing the whims of this player with the wants of another player, and so forth and so on. The Milwaukee Brewers today are a step away from relegation. They have earned an ‘F’.

Here is a team which is playing with, on Friday, a minor league catcher, a minor league second baseman and a below average coaching staff. The shortstop just got off of the DL. The Center fielder is a step behind what he was last season due to injury. The left fielder is the fourth outfielder on the team. And the manager is new. Since taking over three weeks ago, things are not going so well.

This is not a good team. Nor, with all realism, was it ever a good team even though they led the league last season for the first five months. The swan song they went into in September is legendary and that carried over in Spring Training and in the first two months of this season. The sad losing song is the same.

This team needs new professionals in many positions, most importantly in pitching, in coaching and in the general management of the organization.

They will have to trade away some of their better players to bring in top young talent from the minor leagues. They will have to free up their salary structure to lure free agents pros to come play in their world-class ball park. They need to reach the very top where it is most important, and that means pitching. They need pitchers like Zach Greinke who as a Brewers never lost a game he started in Miller Park. How impressive is that? Considering that Miller is a hitter’s paradise and a home run haven, ZG’s performance was legendary. There are pitchers who will become free agents who can come close to matching that record. Milwaukee needs them.

Now for the hard part. San Francisco needs a third baseman. As difficult as it may seem and this being his last year, Aarmis Ramirez should be dealt to the Giants if for nothing else, to free up some cash. Then there is Gerardo Parra. A gold glove outfielder, he should be dealt while he is hot. A middle relief pitcher could be pulled off. There of course is Ryan Braun. With $100,000,000 due him in the next five years, he is the key to a top ranked pitcher or two top prospect picks. Washington needs a top quality outfielder and they have pitching. He would be perfect for the Yankees who need a star attraction like Ryan for a couple of their top minor league pitchers. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim need an outfield of his caliber. Milwaukee needs a top-level pitcher. Texas, Seattle, Detroit, and Cleveland could use a player of Braun’s caliber. Milwaukee needs a top-level pitcher. Even the dreaded St. Louis Cardinals will need an outfielder. Milwaukee needs a top-level starting pitcher or a couple of their top prospects. The rest including Khris Davis, Matt Garza, Kyle Lohse and Martin Maldonado could all bring Cream City something of value. Davis simply was a bad replacement for Aoki. Garza was washed up. Lohse just seems extremely uncomfortable on the mound. No pace. No rhythm. No confidence.

What they should not do is mess with the middle. No trades for Lucroy, Segura or Carlos Gomez.

All of this hinges on a new general manager with vision for the future. That is why it is important that the first step that should be taken is to bring in an architect to put a new team together who understands the game as it is today. Pitching is paramount. Starting pitching is a necessity. And a coaching staff that are proven winners is a must. At present, including the new manager, there are only three other coaches who have won a League Championship or a World Series (Coles won a WS with Toronto in ’93; Tunnell won a NL title with St. Louis in ’87; and Shelby won two WS with Baltimore ’83 & Dodgers ’88.). And it is important to understand this: the current general manager has never won a League or World Series title.

The new General Manager has to be able to see into the future and blend all of his or her skills in bringing a winner to Cream City.

And that is the job of the owner. He not only has to have vision but has to be knowledgeable enough to find that perfect baseball person to take up the challenge Milwaukee presents.

The music they are playing in Milwaukee is off-key. Fans at Miller never boo. But on Saturday the dissidents drew the nation’s ear with the sound of displeasure. Some of the players are below average. Some of the coaches are below average. The new manager has been a winner in the game. Now, let’s surround him with other winners and make music together.

Tap the violin bow on the music stand and allow the oboist to play an ‘A’. We are #watchingattanasio. So far, all we have here is a Concerto in F Flat. Now is time to get in tune and make some music on the field of play.

Play Ball!

2 & 9

One of the joys of baseball is the many parks that present the game. Chase Field in Phoenix is a terrific venue for baseball. Yankee Stadium is more of a cathedral. Wrigley is a trip back in time (now, more than ever with few bathrooms). Dodger Stadium is a great place to see a game. The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is great if you are in a suite (it is extremely hot and uncomfortable for most of the games). Miller Park is one of the great restaurants in the nation as it is clear, eating is more important than the team on the field. But one of the most delightful baseball palaces is AT&T Park in San Francisco.

The view is frankly unbelievable. And the fans are absolutely into the game. They may be some of the best fans in the game today. Why is this possible? If you want to be outdoors (and what Californian doesn’t?), this is the place. If you want a view with your game, this is the place. If you want a winning tradition, this is the team. If you want post season play, this is the team that can provide it. And the food? This IS San Francisco.

So that was the way today’s article was going to go. It was more of a food oration rather than a venue description. But for the Pigsville crowd, wondering why the Cream City Nine is continuing their losing ways, gathering around the bar of Dave and Melanie’s at Sobelman’s Pub n Grill, the question is answered out loud: when are they going to fire the manager, Ron Roenicke? In what was one of Milwaukee’s original Schlitz taverns, another chimed in, ‘What about firing Doug Melvin? He’s the one who didn’t do anything in the off-season and told us that this is a better team than last year.’. The natives are getting restless in the land of bratwurst and beer.

The facts are that they now have the worst record in all of baseball. No team has won fewer games (2) and they are tied with the Marlins and Giants for the most losses (9) going into Sunday’s action. If not for Cole Hamels (7), Brandon McCarthy (6) or Anibal Sanchez (5), Kyle Lohse, the Cream City Nine’s #1 starting pitcher, would be leading the majors in most home runs given up in just the first two weeks of the season, four (4). As for fielding, the Miller Parkers have committed the third most errors so far this season (11), behind only the Washington Nationals and the New York Yankees. Milwaukee is ranked at the bottom of the hitting charts this season, as they rank #30 out of 30 teams. And they did fire their old hitting coach and replaced him this year. And, they are ranked #28 in pitching with a whopping 4.69 ERA. Needless to say, they lead the world in Opponents Batting Average, giving up a .290 average. Hit against Milwaukee and you have a shot at All-Star numbers.

The Brewers did make one move this off-season: they traded their #1 pitcher for whom they received…nothing of consequence. Let’s see…if you don’t pitch, you don’t hit and you don’t field…you become today’s new old Chicago Cubs.

So, how is this team better than last year’s team that folded like a paper cloth last season?

Come on, Ron, tell us. Come on, Doug. Tell us.

So in-between frustrating talk over a meal consisting of the best burger in Milwaukee, we are still #watchingattanasio.

Play Ball!

Play Ball!

Dither Of Delusion

In nearly every winter, the one constant is that the Chicago Cubs are the front-runner for something or another. And this Fall, before winter comes, those lovable losers from the Northside, are at it again, maximizing on a hungry press corp of baseball delusionals and the pretend flexibility and depth of the Northsiders pocketbook. Losers are losers. Just look at the Brewers.

This year as we approach the 70th Anniversary of the last time the Chicago Cubs were in a World Series (of course they lost), the hilarious rumor machine indicates that the Wrigleyites are the front-runner for getting Joe Madden as their manager. Writers are insisting Madden is compatible with the Cubbies GM. They are writing that Madden will accept a #25 million, five-year contract. Writers are writing. But nobody is reading because ‘Nobody Reads The Newspaper Anymore’.

The Cubs got into the World Series in 1945 because most of the great players in the game were still serving in the military during World War II. And because of travel restrictions, the World Series of 1945 had the first three games in Detroit at Briggs Stadium and the remainder in Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Cubs came back from Detroit winning two of the first three games. And they still lost the World Series…at home! This is the very definition of a loser.

While some may claim bias, due in part that a Milwaukee Brewer fan is making this point, there is no fear to worry. The Milwaukee Brewers are losers as well. Their owner has never been in a World Series let along win one. Their General Manger has never been in a World Series but he has been named into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Their Manager has never led his team to a World Series although he did play in one (1984) where he played in two games as an outfield and a pinch runner. His team lost. Their third base coach has never led his team into a World Series. He may have known someone who won in a World Series. The very best one can say about this group is that they are non-achievers at the highest level.

So one can see, Cub fans, that Milwaukee fans just don’t like your team. But, in reality, our team is no better except for the fact that we can actually go to all of our games and not have them postponed for bad weather. We even let Cleveland play in Miller Park when their weather is bad. And, we can park near our stadium for a game.

There is no dissolution in Milwaukee. The Brewers fortunes are tied to the men who lead them. If you lose, you are rewarded with an extension in your contract. But there has been a couple of exceptions. One of our managers, was leading his team to the playoffs and got fired a few games before the season ended. He now is managing in the World Series. Look over at the Kansas City dugout and you can catch a glimpse of him along with the guy who filled in for him by winning a play off spot for the Brewers and then was not giving him the managerial spot the next season. OK. That a lot of ‘hims’ but it is Sunday.

Play Ball!

Oh Me, Oh My

One of the songs waffling in the air during a September in the Midwest is the sound of the crowd at the baseball stadiums. For those who expect to win, the sound is full of excitement. For those who are on the brink of collapse, the sound of pending failure is deafeningly muted in its outburst of last air escaping from a dying effort.

Down by two in the bottom of the night, with two outs and a runner on third, while two rookies tried in vain to deliver a key hit to extend the comeback, there was a crescendo from the crowd lifted by the hope that what might be could happen. But most in the park understood that this is where so few of these epic victories have taken place as the inevitable surly would happen.

Baseball in most cities in the Major Leagues have rarely seen the delight of a championship season. It is the hallowed ground of the Yankees and the Cardinals, the Dodgers and the Giants. Oh, there have been bursts of greatness in Oakland and once in Phoenix, Atlanta has had one and ironically, Miami and Baltimore have seen their share as have Minneapolis and Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati. Boston and Chicago, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and once years ago by a team no longer in Milwaukee. Even Washington saw it before most people who are alive today were born. But never has the World Championship flag flown in Houston or Dallas, Tampa or San Diego. Seattle has never seen it fly except in other team’s stadiums.

But now in the present era of the game, the team that now occupies a place in the major leagues in Milwaukee has never seen it fly at home. They came close one time when they had won the American League pennant, but never since…some thirty two years ago. And perhaps, after a gallant season where they were in first place in the Central Division for so long, since early in April until Labor Day, another season sounded a possible death knell last night as the crowd silently filed out of Miller Park into the gloom of another failed season’s night. And who else would have silenced the crowd but their brewery town rival from the western edge of the Mississippi River down on the Eastern edge of Missouri.

One has to understand that it will be another long season where the Hot Stove league always brings hope for the next season, where the Cubs could win this next year because they have all of these great young players. But settling back on a cold winter’s night with every next day is pewter gray, the thought will haunt how close the Brewers were to finally raising the crown this year.

But the assembled veterans who made first base their home really couldn’t pull off the power first base as Prince used to do for so many years. Scooter just turned out to be a rookie who couldn’t come through in the clutch while Rickey did an amazing job raising his average with so few attempts at Second. Jean was hit in the face with a bat by a team-mate in the dugout, lost his son in a season to be forgotten by him and all of us who hopes he never has to go through anything like this again. Davis performed OK in his rookie season, hitting with power sometimes when it really didn’t count and in need of an arm to control left. Go Go was just a shade off of amazing before he hurt himself again, and now the team misses his power of excitement and energy. Braun just looked hurt all year, unable to regain the powerful stroke that made him a superstar before his fall from grace. Now, sadly, he is just another ball player. Vonnie continued to pick at the corners into mediocrity where he could no longer blow the ball past the pesky hitters who continued to run the count to full. Lohse  just could not eliminate the one bad inning. Peralta, after an amazingly strong first five months, simply ran out of steam. Garza was a complete waste of a three-year, $50 million contract, no longer capable of being a stopper. Yet maybe there will be hope as Lucroy had a career season along with Maldonado who should be the catcher as Lucroy could solve the first base situation. Fiers was tremendous for the past month and the amazing Aramis was the real pro at third base who delivered with the bat and played a remarkable third, fielding superbly. No one plays the slow rolling grounder to third better.

When the great slump of 9 losses finally ended, the inexperience of the manager was exposed and his coaching staff, praised by the team announcers on television as hard-working, were overwhelmingly inadequate.

And on Saturday as the crowd quietly slipped out of the Miller gates, the field left behind was again witness to another close-but-no-cigar season of fading dreams.

Now the pewter gray days and cold winter nights are surely ahead as we head in the direction of Pigsville. But for the Cream City Nine, this year was better than most and with that as a memory, it is a blessing for those of us who have rarely seen the big flag fly above the place called home.

The Marquette will taste the same at Real Chili. The pepperoni and extra onion pizza will still be sensational at Balistrai’s in Tosa. And the Belvedere extra dry will be blessed at Elsa’s on Cathedral Square. Nothing will change. And the Brewers will miss the World Series Championship again.

Play Ball!