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!

Watching Attanasio

Baseball is never ending. There is a rhythm and flow that predates rock and roll. It is part of past, present and future. It is there for us, on demand, as regular as running water. We know it is there and when we want it, it comes out. It is, after all, our heritage. It is an American legacy.

The temples where the game is played of green grass has a look all its own. There, the gods of the sport, now and before, play the game. Their ghosts are everywhere. Aaron and Banks. Williams and Mantle. Spahn and Mathews, Musial and Koufax. Jackie and Robin. Through the turnstiles, past the concession stands, into the venue itself, the opening is there and passing through, there it is…it is the place where magic will happen today.

Hope for the season ahead is ever present. This is the season when the heavens will open up and victory in the form of a World Series pennant will be ours.

For many of us, it is a way of life, passed down to us from our grandparents, parents or relatives. It is our legacy. When remembering the past, it is the time we spent with our grandfather and grandmother, Mom and Dad at the ballpark. For those who grew up in Wisconsin, the home team, our home team is the Milwaukee Brewers. So much had been seen there; the great players like Roger … ‘The Rocket’, perhaps the greatest pitcher the game has ever seen, or Reggie and Yaz, Cal and Randy Johnson, as well as Griffey, Jr. and Ichiro, the greatest hitter the game has seen in our lifetime. ‘The Brewers Win The Pennant’ with Simba, Robin, Pauly, Gimby, Stormin, Rollie, Vuch, Coop, Benji and the Harvey were all witnessed with family and friends, Moms and Dads, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. CC and Sheets, Prince and Braun, Greinke, Weeks and Nyjer, K-Rod and AxMan, brought the feeling back but fell ever so short.

This was a team that was brought to Wisconsin after the first great heartbreak of our sporting life, on a loan from the Schlitz Brewing Co. family to a car dealer’s son who would become the Commissioner of Baseball (after he was involved and found guilty in the collusion between the owners to keep players from earning their fair share through free agency) to fill the void left by the carpetbagger who moved the beloved Braves to that city down south.

We live in a world of globalization. We live in a world where the game is played by athletes everywhere. Milwaukee is a community that has diversified over the past half century as well. Today 39% of Milwaukee County is made up of Black Americans, 13% Latinos, 5% Asian Americans. It became a majority minority dominated city in 2000.

Today’s baseball team in the Cream City no longer reflects that diversity. Of the 40 man roster, there are only two Black Americans, one an aging Weeks nearing the end of his career and Davis, a young man just beginning his career. The Latino contingent is well represented, with some sixteen team members. There is one Asian, a Taiwanese pitcher who is yet to make it to the Bigs.

We no longer live in a Jim Crow era. Yet the team that is in Milwaukee has just two Black Americans. When they made a run for the pennant, the starting first baseman, second baseman and center fielder were black. Prince was beloved since he came up through the minors and would, fans thought, forever be an All-Star Brewer. Rickie was the college educated, All-Star second baseman. Nyjer was the center of joy. And he did get THE HIT. Together with Braun, Hart, Lucroy, Grienke, Vonnie, K-Rod and Axford they made their run which would be only the first of many to come. Today there is no Prince, no Nyjer, no Grienke, no K-Rod nor Axford. And there is no Hart. Rickie is waning, Vonnie is struggling and Braun is coming back from the unknown.

The team has no minority manager or coaches with the single exception of John Shelby who begins his third season on the coaching staff after joining the organization as outfield coach/eye in the sky, whatever that is; no upper management who are minority. Yet this is the governing body of the team that represents a majority minority city in the great Midwest. ‘A team is a reflection of the community it represents.’

The owner is from Los Angeles. There is little that is the same on Wilshire Boulevard or Pacific Palisades as compared to Pigsville or Lincoln at Kinnikinnick. In the City of Angels, Brats (with Secret Stadium Sauce) and beer are as foreign as sushi and wine are in Bayview. Brookfield is not Beverly Hills and Racine has kringle. Try finding that at Gilsons. This is a town where there are bubblers and kids wear rubbers on their feet when it rains. There is a separation here. It is not just distance, but a cultural misunderstanding that Milwaukee is the same as it was or the same as everywhere else. It is not. The Packers and Brewers, Badgers,  Bucks and Marquette belong to Wisconsinites, not Californians. Curley, Uecker, Crazylegs and Chones are our guys. Spencer Tracy, Fred MacMurray and Gene Wilder are our guys. They all, uncommon individuals and brilliant in their craft, who have all played at one time or another in California, are Wisconsinites through and through. The Brewers, every last one of them who ever played in the Cream City, belong to us.

If there is one thing a person from Los Angeles knows, it is star-power. They know that if you have a star for your program or movie or team, people will come and fans will pay in record numbers to see them. It is as eternal as Cary Grant, Bob Hope or Babe Ruth. They don’t call Yankee Stadium ‘The House That Ruth Built’ for nothing. Mark Attanasio lives and works in Los Angeles. He occasionally shows up in Milwaukee as the owner. He should know more than most what a star does to propel a team and make money. The present team looks like a fragment of their former self. Yes, the payroll is manageable and the team will make money…a lot of money. What is our VORP? Who gives a crap. Enough with Keith Wollner. We want a PENNANT. We want to be competitive. We want it NOW.

A former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers in the old American Association, Bill Veeck, said, “Baseball must be a great game because the owners haven’t been able to kill it.” The fans will fill the stands. And records will be broken. But we need a Prince or a Price, a Tanaka or, hell, a first baseman who can play first base. It is time for change. It is time for an owner to get in touch with the city his team represents and a management who represents a constant path to victory. We are watching Attanasio.

We will be heading to Maryvale in February and again the gates will open and warm, brilliant sunshine will illuminate the field. The lines will be chalked and fans will press for autographs. The smell of brats and beer will fill the air and the boys from the team representing Milwaukee will take the field. Will this team have a chance to win the pennant or will this owner be like so many before him, make money on a fan base who will support them regardless of the outcome. He will earn it on the millions who will go through Miller Park. He will earn it from broadcast and telecast, mobile and digital rights. He will earn it from the advertising in the stands and on merchandise that is sold. He will make it from those over the limit teams who will spend monies to try to win the pennant and pay the  tax. He will earn it by paying for mediocrity on the field, in the dugout and in upper management. Can you spell Masahiro? David? Or, even Prince?

It is time to …

Play Ball!

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Another Perfect Game. There Used To Be A Ballpark…

When Matt Cain pitched a perfect game at AT&T Park in San Francisco this week, he became the 22nd perfect game hurler in the history of major league baseball and the first Giant ever to accomplish such a feat in the club’s 128 year history. It seems that every month this season, someone is throwing a no-hitter. Why?

It got me thinking about an old Frank Sinatra song, written by Joe Paposo titled “There Used To Be A Ballpark”.  As he sang it, “Oh, there used to be a ball park where the field was warm and green, and the people played a crazy game with a joy I’ve never seen.”

In the days gone by, the ballparks seemed bigger. Sure, I was smaller and everything looked larger. But there was the Polo Grounds where Willie made his famous catch off of a Vic Wertz smash into deep centerfield during the 1954 World Series. That year center field was 483 feet from home plate (it had been moved in from 505 feet in 1949). Imagine, a center field that deep. In fact, in the entire history of the game at the Polo Grounds, only four players ever hit a home run over the center field wall. They were Luke Easter, when he was playing in the Negro Leagues in 1948 before he came up with the Cleveland Indians; Joe Adcock of the Milwaukee Braves on April 29, 1953. Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals did it on June 17, 1962 and Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves was the last player to do it on June 18, 1962. There is no ball park in the majors today to match these dimensions.

“How the people watched with wonder, how they laughed and how they cheered. Yes, there used to be a ball park…right here.”

Yet the Polo Grounds also had two short porches in left and right field. In left, only 279 feet allowed Bobby Thompson hit the ‘Shot Heard ‘Round The World’ in the famous 1951 playoff game against the Brooklyn Dodgers as the Giants went on to win the National League title. “The Giants win. The Giants win.” Down the right field line, it measured only 258 feet.

“And the air was such a wonder, from the hot dogs and the beer. Yes, there used to be a ballpark, right here.”

In modern times, Legendary Hall of Famer pitcher, Carl Hubble of the Giants threw a no-hitter in the newer version of the Polo Grounds (version IV from 06/28/1911 thru 09/19/1963) on May 8, 1929. Three Pirates reached base on two errors and a walk. No perfect game. On September 9, 1948, Rex Barney of the Dodgers hurled a no-hitter against the Giants at the Polo Grounds.  Again the three runners reach base for the Giants on one error and two walks, but no perfect game.

“And there used to be rock candy and a great big Fourth of July. With fireworks exploding all across the summer sky.”

Now, in the season of no-hitters every week, the Giants have their first perfect game in history. But they play in the modern ball parks that major league clubs call home. They are all smaller with nearly all having equidistant dimensions. AT&T has a centerfield that measures 399 feet from home plate. That’s a 9 iron for most golfers. Safeco Field in Seattle, where the center field is 405 feet from home, this past week saw six Mariner hurlers, including Kevin Milwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League and Tom wilhelmsen combine for a no-hitter and  in April on the 21st, Safeco fans saw a perfect game by Chicago White Sox pitcher Phillip Humber against the Mariners. On June 1st, at Citi Field in New York, another no-hitter was thrown this season where the center field is 408 feet from home. This time it was by Johan Santana against the St. Louis Cardinals. On May 2nd, Jered Weaver fired a no-hitter against the Minnesota Twins 9-0 in Anaheim at Angels Stadium where center field is a mere 400 feet from home.

“And all the people watched in wonder, how they’d laugh and how they’d cheer. And there used to be a ballpark, right here.”

Why so many no-hitters and perfect games this season? Five no-no’s are unheard of. My theory is this: Pitchers have become used to the ‘standard stadium size’. In this era of balanced teams, ground balls are in abundance because of sinkers, two seam snapper’s and limited space in the outfield where bigger ballparks would force outfielder’s to play deeper than they do today. How many center fielder’s do you see creeping up into shallow center field taking away the Texas leaguer? How many long one’s do you see over the head of the center fielder today? Smaller ballparks bring the speedy outfielders in closer thus eliminating a number of hits that would drop in at fields like the Polo Grounds, Forbes Field, old Yankee Stadium, Brigg’s Stadium or Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium.

“Now the children try to find it and they can’t believe their eyes ’cause the old team just isn’t playing. And the new team hardly tries.”

For those who say bigger parks created a better atmosphere for pitchers where no-hitters could be had, check the records. Now you can have center fielder’s hitting below the Mendoza Line but they are faster than a guy whose hair is on fire. Today in The Show, speed kills. And before the season is over, at this rate we will have 15 no hitters with 6 perfect games. Citi moved in their fences this season and you already have had a no-hitter in that ball park. It’s time to rethink the dimensions of the ballparks.

And the sky has got so cloudy when it used to be so clear. And the summer went so quickly this year. Yes, there used to be a ballpark, right here.”

For me, I love the home run and the grace and elegance of a triple is terrific. Doubles in the gap are nice. I love the chance of seeing the ball go beyond the reach of the outfielders. That is becoming more and more difficult in today’s game.

Ya Frank. There used to be a ballpark, right here.