The freaks come out at night. As was the case last night when Milwaukee had 4 different batters go yard, one blasting two. That "one" is none other than Ryan Braun who hit his 19th and 20th home runs of the season. This on the same day he shot up in All Star votes to fourth place. If he doesn't make it....well, not much you can do about it. It's the useless way outfielders are voted in that irks me. Hell, Cory Hart is way down the list yet he is having a better season then Fukodome of Chicago. Popularity. Getting off topic here...
Those that had home runs were Prince Fielder (12), Russell Branyan (8), and.....wait a minute....Craig Counsell??? Yes The Port Washington,WI native even went yard by belting his first one of the season. Thos that weren't as fortunate were Mike Cameron, Jason Kendall, Corey Hart, and Joe Dillon who all went o'fer. No sweat though. Perhaps the two groups will flip flop for tonights game an those who had zero's will be hero's? That tends to be the case for Milwaukee.
Even more impressive was Manny Parra (6-2) who earned the convincing win by lasting 7 strong innings and giving up only 4 hits, 4 walks, and striking out 5 batters. Even more important was the shut out that was sealed by another decent outing by DeFilice, who pitched 2 innings giving up NO hits and NO walks, fanning two! Great job by the pitching.
Unfortunately, I was unable to watch the game on tv as I had attend a course last night...my DVR failed to record the game as well, so there isn't much I can tell about other than this.
-Milwaukee is on pace in breaking their attendance record! Last night certainly helped that cause when over 37,000 fans showed up on a Monday! When was the last time that happened?
-Russell Branyan has had 8 home runs in 56 at-bats. He could be in line for June's player of the month in the National League if he keeps that pace. Keep in mind, he was only called up the last week of May.
-David Riske pitched one inning last night in Nashville, striking out all three batters, throwing only 12 pitches!
-Brett Lawrie WILL be a future ALL STAR, Gord Ash even thinks so! I didn't know that Lawrie was Canada's highest position player ever selected in the draft. This kid is the real deal, and he's a cocky son of a gun...which is great! He feels that he can hit the Bigs in only a couple of years. Cocky? Perhaps. Confident? Yes.
-JJ Hardy will be in the line up for tonights game. Hell, if Wausau's WSAW thinks so, it has to be true.
-Swell story on Brewers' 12th pick Garrett Sherrill, who started with Helena yesterday.
-So, I'm sure we've all read the statistic that Ned Yost is one of the most tenured managers in the National League behind only 3 others and sixth in the Major League. I was reading letters to the editors in the Journal Sentinel on Sunday and some fan wrote it a good paragraph on Ned's haters (myself included). He asked the simple questions, "Who should replace Ned" if he were to be fired tomorrow? Good question. There isn't much out there. Ted Simmons? I used to think that wasn't a bad idea. But lets face it....there isn't much out there.
Please don't suggest Willie Randolph.
-My wife's grandma (now deceased) was friends with Bob Uecker. I would've loved to hear stories from her.
-My good friend John Link from Wausau,WI and who is now residing in Chicago, was college roomates with minor leaguer Vinny Rottino at Wisconsin-La Crosse. Rottino, a Racine native, shacked up with John and 2 others in a converted lounge turned 4 bed "room". He told me stories that Vinny used to use his ballglove as a pillow. When they would all go out to the bars, Vinny would stay back and work on his swing inside....in the dead of winter. Committed. Sadly (yet proudly), Vinny Rottino's 26-game hitting came to an end last night when Nashville was blanked by Oklahoma. Regardless, that is quite impressive!
You will also notice Tony Gwynn JR has been lights out in Triple A. Milwaukee faceds decision time come next month. What to do? I say trade him and get a third baseman.
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