Jeff Suppan is on the market!

CLICK HERE for more details.
Apparently Billy Hall is going to be packaged with him!

Close one....

Indeed, the Milwaukee Brewers pulled off a 10-6 win last night over the lowly Mets. A team that is missing 4 or 5 of their main ingredients and their bench players are even frequented with injuries. Yet the Brewers still managed to have their troubles with this some-what dangerous team. A win is a win. But this one, although a good ass-kicking, could've ended up disasterous.

Casey McGehee, who could have a legitimate shot at NL ROY this season, dropped a routine pop-up that could have ended the sixth inning; thus providing Braden Looper with 7 and 1/3 shut-0ut innings. Instead, the very next batter (Schneider) blasted a 2-run double that was close to being out of there. McGehee stood their in disgust.

His next at bat he sought redemption, and that is what he received. A grand-slam homerun that put the Crew up 7-3.

The next inning McGehee again had troubles throwing out a fossil (Gary Sheffield) during an in-field grounder. Shef beat Casey's throw out at first and Macha then yanked McGehee right after. He opted for Billy Hall who thanked Macha with a well-placed double down the thirdbase line.

Milwaukee tallied 19 hits in last nights game. JJ Hardy (8) and Casey McGehee (4) both went yard.

JJ flirted with a cycle and probably would've gotten it if he exploded out of the batter box when he hit his second double (7th inning). Instead, he saw it off....a double....he acutally jogged there for bit to see it off. Silly. It would have been close for him to reach 3B, because Counsell was held up there. JJ ended the game going 4 for 4 with a walk.

I actually permitted my wife to turn the station in the 9th inning. She wanted to watch her soaps before hit the hay, and since she permits me to watch baseball every evening...I thought what the hell. I then turned on my iPod to check out the score....and it read 10-6 in the 9th. Apparently Carlos Villanueva gave up 3 runs on 5 hits in 1/3 inning. How the hell does that happen?!?!?! Scary.

It turned out okay though, Trevor Hoffman came in to earn an easy save off of 2/3 innings. His 18 on the year.

The player of the game could go to JJ, Casey, and Braden Looper. Loop (6-4) was lights-out and never really struggled with his command or location. Despite showing up to Miller Park with a grapefruit sized bruise on his throwing arm, he was till able to last 6 1/3 innings.

HERE is another reason why I despise the Chicago Cubs. I can honestly say that I get an upset stomach when I hear people talking about them. This stoy only gives me more reason to dislike the shlubs. Honestly? You can't find someone to donate 8 tickets to 8 veterans who suffer from PTSD and fought for your country?

Where to turn for pitching?

Tonight may turn ugly quick. Mike Burns (0-1) will take to the mound against Johan Santana (9-5).

My record is is 2-10

My record, or I should say Milwaukee's record is 2-12 when I attend their games.
This dates back to last season. The only two wins come from their victory they squeezed out in 10 innings against the Cardinals on Memorial Day weekend and their NLDS #4 win.

Yesterday proved no different. Milwaukee lost 7-0. Yet again, I had to endure another Jeff Suppan start. Every time I go to a Brewer game.....he's starting..

I don't know what it is. Yesterday, I even brought my son (3 year-old) and my wife to the park to attend the game. I mean, c'mon on, it was Jason Kendall bobble-head day (he went 0 for 3) and my son was finally visiting Miller Park with his 0l' man.

Well, the Giants started a young pitcher who was making his ML debut, which of course spells disastor for the Crew. Ryan Sadowski tossed 6 shut-out innings in facing Jeff Suppan (382nd start of his career). He basically made Soup look like a senior citizen on the mound. Ugly.

If you are looking ahead to your schedule and trying to figure out when to debut your promising young pitcher down in AAA, wait until you play the Crew. Milwuakee is 0-4 in facing debuting pitchers. Ken Macha blames it on the lack of video footage they can review in preparing themselves for the match-up. What he doesn't realize is that the opposing teams also have no video coverage of pitchers like Chris Smith who are making their debut. Yet it is our newly arrived pitchers who get the loss. Is this a case of bad scouting (of opposing teams)?

Trade rumors are starting to heat-up. With only 2 more games left in June, Milwaukee is in desperate need of a lead-off hitter and another starting pitcher....one who can last more than 5 innings.....!

Tom Haudricourt mentions the idea of going after Doug Davis and Felipe Lopez. We all have the 411 on Dougy, he's not great but he will do. Lopez is a speedy switch hitter who can play 2nd along with Counsell and McGehee.

Apparently Gord Ash clames Melvin inquired about Mark DeRosa, before he went to the Cards. The Indians wanted "something the Brewers don't have"......Young Pitching! St. Louis, meanwhile, didn't fill their biggest void....3rd base help.

In my opinion, it's far too early to be pulling out trades. Yes, we need help now...who doesn't? There are just too many teams in the hunt and it won't start to clear out for another 2-3 weeks, at the very least wait until after the All Star break. Teams are asking way too much for average players...because they can.

Yovanni Gallardo will pitch in Wednesday's game against the Mets. Meaning he will NOT pitch in the 4-game series in Chicago. Instead, we get to endure Seth McClung and Chris Smith, Jeff Suppan and Braden Looper. UGH. With the way the NL Central has been unfolding, Milwaukee's will probably maintain their 3.5 game lead on the Cubs going in to Thursday's game. By the end of the weekend, Chicago could very well be in first place if they hand it to the Brewers. The good news is that they are struggling too. In fact, yesterday the Sox blanked them 6-0. Milton Bradley is butting heads with Lou and Zambrano is starting to be hated in Chi-town! Love it.

The Chicago Tribune is asking the Cubs to waive Zambrano, hilarious. Didn't he just toss a no-hitter last last season....AT MILLER PARK?!?!?!?!? And now you want him gone?!?!

HERE is more on Milton Bradley. I love seeing this club unfold before our eyes. They are still dangerous though, and Milwaukee will have a tough opponent. First things first, beat the Mets!

Crew's winning streak at.....2

Milwaukee scored 3 runs in the 9th inning to come from behind and beat the San Fransisco Gigantes. Unreal game. Prince Fielder provided the dramatics by hitting a double down the first baseline. The Crew had to come from behind twice; they were down 4 runs through out most of the game and then down 6-4 in the 9th when Trevor Hoffman struggled the entire inning.
Thankfully, he will not be credited with the loss....rather a win, thanks to Fielder's game winning hit.

Seth McClung will probably make his last start of the 2009 season. He lasted only 4 innings before getting yanked, giving up 6 hits and 3 earned runs. He struck out 3 batters and probably could've lasted longer had there been some early run-support. No-brainer right?

Chris Smith fared much better, lasting 2 innings and striking out 3. He did give up a HR though.
Coffey & Stetter are proving to be one of the best set-up team in the NL. Despite Stetter bombing Thursday's game, he was lights out tonight.

Prince Fielder (19) & Casey McGehee (4) went yard, back-to-back. It was Casey's shot that tied it up 4-4.

Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, and Mike Rivera all doubled.

Mike Cameron made the best catch of the year (to date, for the Crew) when he robbed a homerun in deep center. But....he then had a brain fart when he hit the first pitch and grounded out in to a double play when the Crew was down 2.

Bill Hall had a hit!

-Prince Fielder is having a career-season and could possibly be competing for the NL MVP. Granted, it's way early in even thinking about this. However, Fielder has yet to have a lengthy slump this season. He's not just hitting for power either, the man has 18 doubles and is batting .300 thus far. It has been his career goal to hit .300 for the year. It will likely come down to Albert Pujols and Prince for the NL MVP. With Raul Ibanez on the 15 day DL (groin) with a nagging injury that probably won't go away, rather it will be a reoccurring nuisance.

I am kicking myself for even mentioning the idea of trading Prince for a starting pitcher this past off-season.

-Jeremy Jeffress is a douche bag who, yet again, failed a drug test (POT) and got served with a 100 game suspension. One more time, and he has a lifetime ban from the Minors.

-Some more news on Milwaukee being buyers

-Tom Haudricourt takes a unique stance on the state of Milwaukee's pitching. Basically, the Crew is in trouble now. But, there are some crafty pitchers working their way up in the minors. You could even throw Jeffress in to that picture. Jake Odorizzi is ranked #2 in the farm system, and he's only playing rookie ball in Arizona. Zach Braddock is a southpaw that is playing in Huntsville, listed #1 on the list.

Not a good debut....

Mike Burns made his first career start in the majors yesterday afternoon at Miller Park. If only pro baseball was 3 innings long.....

After throwing 3 scoreless/hitless frames, Mike Burns quickly fell off the wagon. Milwaukee was one of two teams left in the ML who was using their original 5 man rotation prior to Manny Parra's breakdown and Dave Bushs' injury (the other being SF). Well, that was then and this is now. Now the Brewers rotation is in for their biggest challenge of the season. Try to endure 2 more weeks with your #3 and #4 out of the rotation.

The Twins capatilized off of Burns' free passes that he gave out to lead-off hiters. Despite keeping the Crew somewhat close to the Twins (4 runs on 6 hits), Milwaukee was unable to close the gap late in the game.

Chris Narveson damaged the Crew the most by giving up 2 key runs in the 6th inning. The guy couldn't even keep it close, pitching a pathetic 1/3 inning.

Mitch Stetter, thankfully, was able to stop the bleeding and put the inning out of it's misery. Although he too struggled in giving up a hit and a walk.

The Crew loss, despite 3 different players going yard.
Prince Fielder (18) Ryan Braun (16) McGehee (3)
Fielder also contributed with a double as did Counsell.

Prince Fielder is having an excellent year thus far.
In 72 games, Fielder is batting .301
77 hits
17 doubles
18 HR's
Most impressive of all....a covetted .423 OBP
Sadly enough, it won't be enough to beat out Albert Puhols for the All Star game.

Both Milwaukee players and opposing teams hate day games at Miller Park, due to the shade line. It's very noticeable on tv and especially at the park. I don't know who it favors though?

Finall...Some good news on the upcoming trade race....Milwaukee Brewers' owner Mark Attanasio said the Brewers can be BUYERS!

In my humble opinion, the follow players should be off limits:
Escobar, Gamel, Salome, any pitcher in the farm system, and anyone from our pen.

In my humble opinion, you can send the following players packing by all means....
Hardy, Hart, Cameron (Although I love the guy), Rivera, Gerut, Cantalonotto (spelling...who cares, he butts), Billy Hall, and any outfield prospects in the minors.

Now get yourself a starting pitcher!

San Fransisco is coming to town over the weekend. Should be a good series. To date, SF is in the Wild Card lead thanks to some great starting pitching. Yovanni Gallardo takes on Matt Cain. Hopefully, Milwaukee will have some of their scouts at the game watching Cain.

The Good NEWS!?!?!? Milwaukee will NOT be facing Tim Lincecum!

Crew cashes-in on mistakes

Milwaukee finally snapped a 5-game losing streak to their old arch-rivals, the Minnesota Twins last night at Miller Park. Thanks impart to a well-placed double by Jason Kendall in the 8th inning, JJ Hardy was able to score on a wild-throw to home. That in turn, allowed Jason Kendall to round 2B and approach 3B. Nick Blackburn who was cruising along for what appeared to be a complete game, launched a rocket over the head of the covering 3B. Kendall then strolled home for the go-ahead run. Finally the cards fell in our favor!

Corey Hart was the only Brewer to o'fer in the staring line-up. All of the players contributed with a hit except for the pinch hitters (what else is new?).
Mike Cameron and Jason Kendall doubled.

Braden Looper pitched a pretty damn good game, despite getting the no-decision. He lasted 6 innings giving up 3 earned runs, 5 hits, 4 walks, and whiffed 4. He even took a line-drive off his throwing arm (bicep-tricep area), which he walked off. It appeared to be okay, but then he quickly declined in the 6th, paving the way for Mitch Stetter to relieve him for the 7th.
Stetter was lights-out, yet again. This time against the meat of the Twins' batting order where he struck out 2.

Trevor Hoffman notched his 17th save of the season, which he really had to earn in facing Mauer and Morneau. Todd Coffey earned the win (3-1).

-Mike Burns will start in his first major league game of his career. He will face Scott Baker (4-6) in this afternoon's game. After playing for 5 different organizations, he will finally get his wish.

-Seth McClung will start in Saturday's game against the Giants against Barry Zito (4-7).

-The recent turn of events, including the announcement that Chris Capuano being out for 2009, set-off a chain of promotions and re-arranging in the farm system. (SEE HERE, scroll down)

-Here's a neat story of some rural Illinois kid being summoned by the Milwaukee Brewers to come play for them. It came as a surprise and when he took the call, the Brewer rep said the team was "in need of pitchers". You think? Andrew Dunn will report to Rookie League, in Arizona. He hasn't thrown since the end of his college season.

-The Twins were a lock for yesterday's game against the Brewers. "Lock it up". Vegas lost some money!

Heading Down Hill

Man, that was a tough game to stomach last night. Right from the very start, I know the Brewers were going to lose this one. It just wasn't their night. Don't get me wrong, I had a glimmer of hope during the first inning. Soup looked to be cruising right along and Viola....Jason Kendall blocked the ball, but in turn, it quickly rolled away from him towards the backstop. That was the end of it.

Milwaukee has now lost 10 of their last 14 games.
Milwaukee is also entering a crucial stretch of their season where they are given 15 of their next 19 games home at Miller Park.

Tom Haudricourt made it seem like the flood damage was worse than what Miller Park disclosed to them.
"It was an out-of-sorts day from the very outset when players arrived to see much more flood damage on the clubhouse level than the team revealed over the weekend. But Macha said that was no excuse for the lack of intensity his team showed, particularly in the field."

Sounds like excuses to me. Piss poor defense and leaving runners on base is what ultimately decided their fate. It wasn't the condition of their locker room. Look at the MetroDome....yet the Twin seem to find a way to win there.

Bill Hall is as useless as two tits on a bull. It's painfull watching him up to bat. He went 0-4 with 3 whiffs. Horrible. He is the worse player on that team right now. The worse. Goes to show what happens when someone takes a little steroids one season and belts 35 HR's and the follows it up with complete garbage. You could trade him away for a satchle full of fingernail clippings, and the Brewers would still come out ahead. Worthless.

On the other hand, Casey McGehee is one of the few bright spots on the team. He went 2 for 5 with a double. He's now batting .352 on the year.

Jeff Suppan looked decent...at best. Of the 7 runs given up to the Twins, only 4 of those were earned.

In some (finally...) good news, Manny Parra pitched a pretty darn good game for Nashville. Oddly enough, he was pitching against Manny Ramirez. He struck him out once and had him ground out to SS. He got the loss, but gave up only 5 hits and one run in 7 innings of work.

Dave Bush was placed on the 15-day DL. Makes sense. It's just awful timing with the home stretch and all. Mike Burns was recalled from AAA-Nashville.

We can all stop wishing for a starting pitcher. Melvin said that Gammel and Escobar are staying put.....what about JJ Hardy?

Check out this story on Joey Votto from the Reds. Apparently it was his father passing-away that led to his stint on the DL. He bouts with dizziness were actually Votto dealing with depression, anxiety, and stress. I feel for the guy. All too often we think of these players as being different than us and the rest of the world. They have their ups and downs just like everybody else. I tip my hat to him for disclosing these issues. Solid character!

Swept in an ugly fashion.

The Brewers were busted down to 2nd place after being swept in Detroit over the weekend.
The starting rotation is in shambles and Doug Melvin will/should be in desperate search of a starting pitcher. It doesn't even have to be a southpaw. You know damn well that this could be the start to a prolonged slump for Dave Bush (it's already started) and the verdict is still out on Manny Parra. Right about now, Brad Penny is even sounding good...if we can get him at a bargain. People can rip that idea all day long, but right now Pedro Martinez is even sounding good. Bushy is suffering from arm-fatigue that will results in him being bumped from his next start. It will be interesting to see how Kenny Macha responds to this. Seth McClung is always an option, but he's doing far too good in the pen to be messed up and brought back in to the rotation.

Milwaukee plays 14 of their next 19 games at home before the All Star break. The next three weeks should be a pretty good indication of whether or not the Brewers make it to the post-season, according to this blog. Although there's plenty of season left after the break, it should position themselves with a (possible) pretty big lead in the Central....should they win their series'.

The Crew is now 1.5 back behind the Cardinals, who just won Tony LaRussa's 2,500th game with a called shot (HR) by Albert Puhols.

Milwaukee NEED

Time to tame the tigers

That's 5 different T's that I used in the headline....talent.

The Brewers are in Detroit visiting the loveable Tigers this weekend. The last time they played Detroit Verlander earned a no-no and the Crew lost the series. That was then, this is now. Milwaukee is coming off a series sweep over the Indians, who albeit haven't been too impressive as of late. Thanks Greg Aquino! The one-time Brewer really gave the Crew a decisive edge. He's now being DFA.

Over the past 24 hours the Milwaukee metro has been hit with some severe storms. Miller Park even had some flooding which wasn't too severe.

Prince Fielder is having a MVP caliber year thus far. In the month of June (to date) he's batting .383 with 16 RBI's in only 16 games. The bad news is that he was 4 for 20 in Detroit two years ago. ComAmerica Park will host Braden Looper (5-3, 4.62 ERA) and Armando Gallarraga (3-7, 5.56 ERA). Looper's last three starts have been no-decisions.

THIS blog feels the same way I do (and most of Wisconsin)...Cliff Lee would be the best option.

Although I am very upset with Manny Parra's performance this season, who's to say that he won't come back in July with more confidence (and control)? He may be the 2009 version of 2008's Dave Bush. For the sake of the club and making it to the post season, I hope so. The idea of landing a decent pitcher before July is rapidly fading away. There just isn't much to chose from and most teams are in contention. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks the picture should become clear and the teams who don't have a chance (like Toronto) will drift away. Roy would be nice. It's nice to dream right?

You think the Cubs are kicking themselves for parting ways with Casey McGehee right now? Probably. With Aramis Rameriz out until (at the very least) early-July, the Cubs have struggled at the plate. If it weren't for their starting pitching, they would be in the cellar. They are still dangerous though and if Soto returns to his rookie-year form, they could make a run. If they add Pedro Martinez (as being rumored) they could bolster their pen even more and have a 1-2-3 punch out with Marmol, Martinez, and Gregg.

Back to Casey McGehee....he's been the one of the best off-season pick ups in the National League. Things could change though. Russell Branyon was the stellar in the first half of last season too....until he drifted away in late July. Speaking of....he may be on the market. He would be a solid option for platoon with Mat Gamel. Two power-hitting lefties.....far fetched though...

Crew Sweeps Tribe

I can still say "tribe" right? That's politically correct? Oh wait, it's not? Well, how about this...."Brewers Sweep Native-Americans". Better?

Apparently FSWisconsin picked up last night's signal off of WMLW and the game was aired. I was not aware of this. My channel guide did not make me aware of this. So I was unable to watch the game last night. Instead, I checked in via radio and using my Ipod's MLB At-Bat application. More on this later in the post...

It took extra innings and Trevor Hoffman blowing save, but the Crew was able to fight of the pesky Engines (take a joke people). The final score was 9-8 in 11 innings.

The bad news that came from this dramatic game: Ryan Braun exited late in the game with lower-back tightness. I found this out by using Twitter. I hate this "social networking" site, but I am signed-up and "friends" with Tom Haudricourt and Heyman from SI. Heyman's a douche, but TH actually has some good insight in to the game, considering that he's right there watching and knows about injuries before Brian and Bill do, typically.

Corey Hart (9), Hardy (6) and Bill Hall (5)....YES...I SAID BILL HALL, all homered for the Crew.

Craig Counsell added a triple and a double

Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, and Corey Hart all doubled as well.

The only Brewers who struck out last night? Mike Cameron with 3 total whiffs.

Mat Gamel went 0 for 5 with a walk.

Milwaukee scored 30 runs in the series.

Suppan looked a little rocky, lasting 6 complete while giving up earned runs on 7 hits (2 BB, 2 K's) to get the no-decision.

Trevor Hoffman had his first blown save opportunity last night, with a 4-run lead. We knew it was going to happen. Now I'm curious as to how he'll rebound from this. In his past 3 outtings, he's broken 2 "hot" streaks, so to speak (ERA being 0.00 was the other).

DiFelice earned the win and Mitch Stetter collected the save.

Just throwing this out there, but it's nice to know that we do have a solid southpaw alternative for the closing role.....if Trevor Hoffman starts to struggle. We can't expect this insane hotstreak to last forever! So at least Macha has one candidate for a rotating closer or closer by committee....which I hate. And don't call me premature for saying Trevor Hoffman's level of play won't last. It will be much better than last season! Although Torres was lights out most of the second half of the season.

It's nice to see players other than Braun, Fielder, and McGehee start hitting. Hart & Hardy both play a crucial role with this club.

p.s: I'm still pissed at Hart for swinging at every first-pitch last year...especially in October.

For those that live in the dark ages and don't own an Ipod Touch or Iphone....It's the best purchase I have ever made (tied with my 42" Panasonic Plasma TV). What makes my Ipod touch even better is THIS! I purchased the MLB At-Bat for my Ipod and I love it. It allows me to listen to (almost) every game by using either teams' radio station. It also has up-to-the-minute score updates and boxscores. I can't say enough about it. Well....it just got better!

I can now watch (some) games on my Ipod...at work, while camping, or on the road (pending internet signal). I can't wait. Love it! If you own an ipod or iphone, I highly recommend this application. It's $10 or $11 bucks for the season.

Remember one-time Brewer (for a month or so) Mike Lamb? Well, he's playing for AAA Buffalo right now. He started the season 3 for 38, but has since turned it around. I remember back in spring I accidentally called him Matt Lamb and Mark Felice (forgetting the Di). Some douche bag let me have it.

Anyone else love all the talk ESPN does on "who's a seller and who's a buyer"? Douche bags. Doug Melvin puts it wisely HERE. There are just too many good teams this season. No one, aside from your Nationals, are completely out of it. Any team could "put together a 10 game win streak". Look at the NL Central! It's June 18th and the Reds, Cards, Cubs, and Brewers are pretty damn close to one another.

Cameron & JJ Hardy HIT!

Prince looks so happy!

While watching the 1st inning last night I couldn't help but think that Cam and Hardy are due. Both are known for prolonged slumps that reign down periodically through out the season. They typically last a 2-5 weeks in length. Well, it was time....

JJ Hardy had his first multi-hit game since May 19th by going 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's.

Cam was 0-13 entering last nights game. He went 2 for 5 with an RBI.

Hell, Jason Kendall also added 2 hits and an RBI.

Billy Hall even had an sac-fly RBI. That's swell and all, but he's still 7 for 75 at the plate. His average has dropped to .202, yet for some reason Kenny Macha has him batting 2nd...because he "mauls" left handed pitchers....sure thing. What really pissed me off is when Billy hit his sac-fly and thried to see-it-off. He thought it was an HR, depite the ball being caught just shy of the warning track. Douche bag.

Somehow, some way, Yovanni (2.93) was able to escape Progressive Field with a win and only giving up 2 earned runs, 5 hits, 6 walks, and 8 strikeouts. Yo needed 37 pitches to get throught the 1st and 83 to get through 3. Irregardless, the ace is now 7-3 and could still hit the 10 win mark prior to the All Star break.

The Bullpen certainly looked off as well, with Villy giving up a 2-run HR in the 9th (scared the shart out of me) and Coffey giving up his own run.

A win is a WIN.

-Mark DiFelice isn't lettingh is swollen elbow prevent him from playing. Apparently the dude hit on his stairs (railing) at his Milwaukee apartment. Not quite as creepy/weird as Matt Weise cutting his fingers on "salad tongs" or Wes Helms slipping on a slickened loading ramp.

-Cleveland Indian skipper Eric Wedge had some not-so-kind words for Jhonny Peralta.

"He needs to get his head on straight,'' said Wedge. "He can't keep trying to jerk the ball out of the park every time up. He's no baby. He's been up here four or five years. He needs to start recognizing what he's got to do. He's going to have to figure it out. This is the big leagues.''

-On a sad note, the Milwaukee Brewers will not be facing the oft struggling pitcher Dontrelle Willis this coming Saturday in Detroit. Willis is 1-4 with a 7.49 ERA. Makes you wonder, what did the Marlins know about Willis that the Tigers didn't. People laughed when they traded him (w/ Miguel Cabrera who's batting .325) to Detroit. It's a toss-up on who came out ahead.

-Tony Gwynn Jr. is kicking some serious ass in San Diego. He's batting .346 and has an OBP of .453 for the month of June. Meanwhile, Jody Gerut sucks something fierce.

Prince lifts Brewers past the Indians in an UGLY win

It wasn't purty, but I will take it.

Dave Bush got rocked early and often. In fact, the guy tossed 72 pitches in 3 1/3 innings. He blew leads in the second and third innings. Hopefully he will snap out of his slump that has covered 5 starts. During those starts Bush has accumulated an 0-3 record, 8.64 ERA, 30 hits, 24 earned-runs, all in 25 innings of work. Ugh.

The bullpen had a pretty damn good night. Aside from newly arrived Chris Norveson who game up 3 runs immediately upon entering the game and another run later on in the game.

Mark DiFelice gave up a run, which is unusual.

I believe it was Todd Coffey's dominant inning that turned the tide for the Crew. He had a quick 1,2,3 inning.

I had a good laugh or two when I was reading the Monday morning headlines...

"Hoffman Caves In"

"Hoffman blows lead"

"Hoffman give us first run...first loss"

Well, Mr. Hoffman just collected his 16th consecutive save.

Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun combined for 11 RBI's. That's pretty-much insane.

Fielder (16) finally achieved a career-first in belting a grand-slam homerun in the 8th that put the Crew ahead! It was a line-drive smack that ESPN played over-and over-and over-and over again. Thankfully, it was a Brewer who did it.

Braunie (2) also hit a 2-run jack himself.

Casey McGehee is playing extremely well since moving in to a starting role. The guy can play any infield position including Catcher (emergency). He's batting .357 and added another double last night going 3 for 5.

Mike Cameron is in a slump. He went 0-4. He is still one of the best CF's in the big's.\

JJ snapped his skid by going 1 for 5. Again, we had to endure hearing ESPN's crew talk about JJ hitting the ball hard.....they are just directly to the opposing teams. Yada yada yada.

Haudricourt has finally come to his senses and is claiming that the Brewers need a pitcher....ya think? I have been saying this since the start of the season. This rotation WILL NEVER hold. They are decent, but not good enough to last the entire season.

Here's the downfall, there are sooooo many teams in contention this season that no ONE is giving up starting pitching. No one. Hell, the Giants are in 2nd place...so you know they'll hold tight on Matt Cain and Sanchez. Peavy and Bedard are hurt.

One of OUR ONLY OPTIONs IS BEN SHEETS or Eric Bedard. Sheets won't cost us a pick and he should be ready by late-August, at the earliest.

Ken Rosenthal is also claiming that the Brewers will make an aggressive run at Eric Bedard (LHP) from the Mariners. Which makes good sense considering the Jack Z (Seattle's GM) knows Milwaukee's prospects quite well and can target a couple of them. The only glitch with that is that Bedard has been scratched a couple of times from starts with shoulder inflammation.

Ken also discusses the issue of trading JJ or Escobar....it won't happen.

Pedro Martinez is another idea. However many clubs are looking at him as a solid 1 to 2 inning reliever, according Pascerelli on ESPN last night.

Brewers go 1-5 on homestand

Milwaukee dropped a close one to the Chicago White Sox yesterday afternoon 5-4. The winning hit came off of Trevor Hoffman (0-1), who hasn't given up a run this season, in the ninth inning.

Braden Looper didn't have his best outting, giving up 4 earned runs and striking out only 2 batters.

The Brewers went ahead early in the game with a Casey McGehee HR, the first of his career.

Corey Hart added two HR's and has officially snapped his slump. He had a great weekend going 7 for 19 with a double, a triple and 2 HR's. He whiffed only twice.

Just because the Crew is bringing up a pitcher from the minors doesn't necessarily mean he'll start. With 2 days off in the next 8 days Kenny Macha will have plenty of options in resting his rotation. In fact, they could go with a 4-man rotation or have McClung do a spot start.

Michael Hunt seems to think that JJ Hardy could be benched. I agree. His average has dipped to .211 and he's not getting any better (0 for 28). I'm also sick of Rock and Brian Anderson constantly bringing up the fact that he is "hitting the ball hard". Who cares? He's hitting it straight to the defense! Perhaps Escobar will be getting the call come Wednesday? If Hardy doesn't produce in Cleveland, I would expect Escobar to get summoned. Enough is enough. It's mid-June and you have to start making these big decisions.

Will Milwaukee deal or won't they?

First round pick Eric Arnett signed a hefty deal over the weekend with the Crew. Now he's getting anxious to start his pro-career.

Billy Hall went 2 for 7 over the weekend. A soft in-field single that BARELY made it to the base 2B-3B base path was one of those hits.

The Timber-Rattlers have seen a 60% increase in attendance this season (to-date). The city is thanking the Baseball gods that Brett Lawrie is playing in Grand Chute.

Another stupid story saying the Miller Park is the leader of the pack when it comes to vegan options. Who cares. Those who decide to live that lifestyle are probably the same ones who are wearing velcro-shoes, tappered jeans, and neon sun glasses to the game.

HERE's the low-down for the game tonight in Cleveland.

The Cubs have stunk (so has much of the NL Central) the past couple of weeks. So they fired their hitting coach.

Ryan Braun circa 2002

Brewers' roller coaster continues

Milwaukee won Friday night 7-2. It was a come from behind victory that made think they were out of this slump.

Milwaukee then lost yesterday, on national TV, 7-1. Milwaukee (to my knowledge) is winless this season when they play on National TV. They mustered only 3 hits and 1 run. Manny Parra took the wind out their sales right away in the 2nd inning. He's now shipped back to the minors, where he can hopefully pull a Dave Bush ala 2008 and come back stronger than ever.

Reason #28 why I love Ken Macha...He told Manny Parra, in the dugout during the game, that he was going to be shipped down. When asked if that a good thing to do during a game,
"There's a time for everything" - Well put sir.

With a 7.52 ERA in the past 13 outings, one can't be too shock.

Milwaukee hasn't been able to give Trevor Hoffman any save opportunities since last Saturday. Regardless, he's still in top 5 for the NL with 15 saves and has an ERA of 0.00. He even made a spot appearence in a non-save situation in yesterday's ass-whooping. He gave up a hit.



Corey Hart has been looking sharp the past couple of games. Especially his 2-run double in Friday's game. He might be the player that leads the Crew out of this slump.

Jacobi McDaniel was selected by the Brewers in the 33rd round. It's looking like the kid will be playing for FSU instead, as their Defensive Tackle. Apparently there's some confusion over whether or not the Brewers made an offer of 800 k.

LA Times rips the Brewers' "Dollars for Dingers" promotion. Meanwhile, there are still idiots who frequent Dodger Stadium wearing fake dread locks that sewen into baseball caps.

Eric Arnett signs with the Crew

I hate twitter....but it can serve a purpose.

http://twitter.com/Eric_Arnett

Brewers get swept by Rockies

The fricken Rockies? Are you kidding me? Well, I don't feel so bad now because at least the Cards got swept by them too. This makes 7 straight for Colorado....all on the road. The club really didn't make too many mistakes. Aside from yesterdays 3-run shot that Braun had.

Yesterday's score was Colorado 5, Milwaukee 4. The game wasn't as close as the score claims. The Rockies controlled the game since the very start.

Ryan Braun hit his 13th HR. Too little too late though.

Billy Hall has 10 (10 for 84!!!) hits since May the 1st. Yet some how, Kenny Macha doesn't want to pull the plug on this guy. It's apparent that he just can't snap out of this (3 total) season long snap. If we would've seen any indication of this, it would have been on Memorial Day when he hit the game winning single.

Yovanni didn't look too sharp yesterday either. It was weird to see him pitching a weekday-afternoon game.

Tom Haudricourt puts this slump in to prospective, rightfully so. It's not that bad people (famous last words right?). Hang in there. I have a good feeling that the Crew will win the series with Chicago and Manny Parra, that's right, Manny Parra will pitch a fantastic game. His back is to the wall and there's no where to go but up!

Eric Arnett should be signed by this weekend. This is nice. It's the high school players who you have to worry about. I didn't feel confident about the Crew signing Brett Lawrie last year until he actually did.

Tonight, Jeff Suppan (4-4) takes on Clayton Richardson (2-1). Chicago is favored to win. The crew has yet to lose 5 straight games this season.

Another great promotion by the Brewers organization. 'Dollars for Dingers' rewards the fans! For every Brewer HR hit between June 15 thru 25th, a dollar comes off lodge (OF) seats for a July series against the Cards. Perhaps those tickets will be free ($28.00)?

Another ugly loss

Brewers dropped their 3rd straight last night to the surging Rockies.

Dave Bush (3-3) couldn't hang with the pesky batters of Colorado. He gave up 3 earned runs on 5 hits, all the while striking out a respectable 7 batters. One of the bullpen's top hurlers, again, got rocked with a HR by Brad Hawpe. The only bright spot about last night's game was Chris Smith's two hitless inning he tossed.

Offensively, well, there wasn't much of that. Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, and Casey McGehee all doubled in the game.

However, the woeful story of the game was 8 runners left on base and the went 2-12 with runners in scoring position. That's horrid.

They will hopefully take one in the series this afternoon when Yovanni Gallardo takes to the mound.

-Frank Cantalanotto is batting .200 and not getting it done of the bench. Hopefully we start seeing some productivity from this storied pinch hitter.

-Ex Brewers Jorge De LaRosa earned only his second win last night. Embarrassing. He's not 2-6.

-Milwaukee's first pick in the draft, Eric Arnett, should sign pretty quickly. The deal could be in the 1.2MM neighborhood. Get those draft picks signed! August 15th is the deadline.

-Billy Hall is/has changed his batting stance. Last night we all saw his left foot tap the ground a couple of times while he about to swing his bat. Sort of a Prince Fielder-approach to swinging. Yea. Won't work. His confidence is just shot and his play has dropped so low, that I don't see him lasting as a Brewer. Hall's batting average, which started with a bang at .304 for the month of May....has now dropped to a retched .136 in May and 1-16 in June. Piss Poor.

-Brewer draft pick Caleb Thielbar was working for the Minnesota DNR as a summer-intern while getting the call yesterday that he was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers. Neat story.

There were 13 Players from the Northwoods League (wooden-bat/collegiate summer league) who were selected in this years first 5 rounds. HERE is a chart/tracker of all the players drafted over the past couple of days. There were 79 total players who have played in the Northwoods League, that were drafted this year. Pretty impressive. Tulane's Josh Prince (pictured right) was the highest N player selected by the Milwaukee Brewers (105th pick overall). He played SS for the Green Bay Bullfrogs. Tony Sanchez was the top NWL player who was picked (4th overall).

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Milwaukee is 9-12 since May 19th, the day after Rickie Weeks' (possible) season ending injury was diagnosed.

Milwaukee was 24-14 with Rickie Weeks in the batting order.

Coincidence? I think not.

Although I have done plenty of Rickie-bashing over the past 3 seasons, you can't deny the type of All Star-start to the season he was having. He was finally evolving in to a solid lead-off hitter that the Doug Melvin and his staff have been aiming for. Now he's done, possibly the whole season and Milwaukee is stuck with a shuffled batting order. Thankfully, Casey McGehee had a double and walked twice last night. He may be the necessary fit for lead-off role.

TeamWisconsin's favorite pick: Kentrail Davis

Milwaukee made their selections yesterday in MLB's 2009 draft. Two stand out, the rest I just don't know much about. Kentrail Davis and (of course) Eric Arnett will make an impact rather quickly, at the big league level. Arnett sooner than Davis, I would imagine.

Eric Arnett is a RHP who played college ball in the Big Ten at University of Indiana; making him the first college pitcher the Brewers drafted since 1999 (Ben Sheets). Apparently Tom Crean, head coach of Hoosier Basketball put in a good word for him. I hate Tom Crean. More on this later today.

Will Arnett, er...Eric Arnett went 12-2 this past season with a 2.50 ERA, 39 walks, 109 strike-out in 108 innings. That's a K an inning, for you mathematically inclined readers (like myself).

He stands 6 foot 5 inches and weighs 225 lbs. His fastball (bread & butter) hits in the mid-90's.

The other pitchers Milwaukee selected shared similar height/weight profiles. Melvin and Co. went after larger/taller pitchers who are very athletic. Burly pitchers who can hit the 90's with their fastballs.

Blah Blah Blah pitching....

I am more excited about the Brewers selection Kentrail Davis, a sophomore from Tennessee. The Vol has a pretty nice resume, as noted by here: Davis earned four separate Freshman All-America honors, a UT first, in 2008 after leading the Vols in nine offensive categories. He claimed the team triple crown by pacing the club in batting average (.330), home runs (13) and RBIs (44). He also logged four multi-homer games and led the Vols with 21 multi-hit games.

Davis stands only 5 foot 9 inches and tips the scales at 195. He reminds me of a short little tailback who is quick and can run over the biggest of linebackers. He's built like a brick-shithouse. A workhorse if you will. A modern-day version of Kirby Puckett.

Davis will make an impact with the club by 2013.

Mike Cameron won't play forever. Hell, I bet he will play 2 more years tops (if that) in Milwaukee. Who's the next option in Center? Corey Hart. Who would then play right field? Kentrail Davis...that's who. This kid will rise through the ranks and will be this years Brett Lawrie or Ryan Braun in the draft. Forget the uncertainty of pitching. Davis is where it's at.

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Milwaukee dropped their second straight last night to the Colorado Rockies (6 straight wins). Looper looked great until the 7th inning when he gave up a run. DiFilice came back and recorded his 7th hold. Then Todd Coffey came in and the Rockies went ahead quickly.

Despite taking an early lead behind Game's 2nd HR, the Milwaukee bats went silent the rest of the game. It seems like the days of come-from-behind wins are long gone. They don't have that magic like last season.

Billy Hall sucks.

Corey Hart is 5-33 in his past 9 games. Kentrail Davis should have a bright future in Milwaukee's outfield!

Sports Illustrated ranks Milwaukee at the top, over the past 10 years

This is some encouraging words for tonights draft. CHECK THIS OUT. I forgot Hunter Pence was drafted by the Crew, but was unsigned.

-Jorge Julio was picked up by, who other than,....The Rays. That makes 6 ex-brewers who now play for the Rays. F'n joke.

Cameron gets two-game suspension; set to appeal

Mike Cameron was suspended for two games for bumping homeplate umpire Marv Hudson in Saturday's game. Cam will appeal the decision.

MORE HERE

DRAFT DAY!

Milwaukee should be able to escape the wrath that has been the Colorado Rockies as of late. They don't have to face the National League's win-leader in Jason Marquis, as he pitched in yesterday's win over the Cardinals. In that 4 game series, Colorado's rotation accounted for 29 1/3 innings and a 2.45 ERA. Their bats have certainly came alive as well, outscoring the Cards 33-9.

Milwaukee now has a 2.5 game lead in the NL Central.

Nonetheless, Milwaukee will have their hands full with a talented rotation. Braden Looper (5-3) will take to the mound against RHP Jason Hammel (2-3).

Colorado has a 5 game winning-streak entering play tonight. This is their longest since their torrid run in 2007 which resulted in 11 straight wins.

-3 Managers for 1 team....brilliant!

-Milwaukee has the 26th overall pick in today's draft. This is the lowest pick since 1983 when the Crew picked future closer Dan Plesac from NC State. This will Milwaukee first draft in quite sometime, where they won't have Jack Z. However, his right hand man for the past years will be there (Bruce Seid, Director). The Brewers have 5 selections in the first 74 picks. I don't know about you, but I am confident they will land one solid pitcher (preferrably with the 4th or 5th pick).

Here's the thing....Jack Z had a great ideology when it came to the draft, you pick the best player available...regardless of their position or how well your stacked there. This has been proven to be a success in the past 9 years. The times where they didn't do this has resulted in huge mistakes when trying to target pitchers.

HERE is a great story if you would like to read-up before the draft.

Stephen Strasburg will the first overall pick in this years draft. The Washington Nationals will be able to utilize right away next season. Imagine that rotation? Suddenly they are getting pretty dangerous with the likes of Jordan Zimmerman, Shairon Martis, and Strasburg. That's a solid start of a rotation.

What to do....What to do

I guess I can't be too pissed that the Brewers lost yesterday. They did, afterall, take the series against a team trying to find themselves. The Braves just couldn't hit in the first two games and then yesterday they erupt with 13 hits and 8 runs.

On a day where there were 3 Brewer-homeruns nonetheless. Milwauikee should have won this game, easily.

Ryan Braun blasted his 11th & 12th HR's of the season. He went 2 for 4 with 4 RBI's.
Mike Cameron (12) also went yard, going 1 for 3 with 3 RBI's.

Why isn't Mike Cameron going to be an All-Star this year? Is it because he's too old and the idiot fans of the MLB don't recognize someone having a great year right before their eyes. On that note, should Craig Counsell be recognized as a potential candidate (1 for 5 yesterday)?

On the very same day that JSOnline wrote a niece little piece on Carlos Villanueva....he tanked it. That's to be expected though....this was his third straight day of pitching.

Why didn't Macha bunt? That's what a lot of fans are asking. I couldn't tell you. What I can tell you is that Kendall probably wouldn't have bunted in to a double play. If anything, he would've advanced Casey McGehee to second....afterall, Kendall is a pretty decent bunter. Ned Yost would've done the same thing, AND, he wouldn't give you reason for it. Macha at least follows a plan.

-Tom Haudricourt doesn't believe the Brewers need to "fix" anything. I disagree with you sir. Milwaukee needs to add a pitcher. Brad Penny and Tom Glavine are not the answer.

-Bush is slated to start Wednesday's game against Colorado. This guy is a work horse. Thankfully, Colorado will come to town pretty fatigued. Afterall, they just played St. Louis in a 4-game wrap around series. Here is the probably pitchers line-up. It's all jacked up because it doesn't list Bush.

-If you have $4,000.00 and still want to fulfill your dream....Milwaukee Brewers Fantasy Camp was announced. It will be held in AZ.

-I mentioned JJ Hardy being targetted by the Boston Red Sox. Apparently, they are more intersted in bringing Orando Cabrera back. He was on the 2004 team that won the World Series. Boston is down two SS's right now and they are desperately in need of one. Jack Wilson is also being thrown around. Who cares? Unless of course the Brewers could get Wakefield for Hardy....me like that.

Back to Back Shut-outs

Milwaukee is 33-23, tied for the 2nd best record in baseball (with Boston).

This is nice. A fan could get used to this sort of success. Before Friday's game I pretty much knew that the Braves couldn't hit. After all, that's why they brought in McClouth. In both games, starting pitchers Yovanni Gallardo (6-2) and Jeff Suppan have pretty much had their way. Yo lasted 110 pitches and 8 complete innings before letting Carlos Villenueva take over. Right when the bullpen needed the most rest, Yo delivered and probably could've gone the complete game. He gave up only 2 hits and fanned 6 for his second best performance of the season.

In last nights game Jeff Suppan went 5 1/3 giving up 6 hits and 2 k's. He looked calm and collective from the very start. Todd Coffey relieved him in the 6th and then leftie Mitch Stetter struck out the final batter of the inning. Trevor Hoffman notched his 15 straight save and continues his dominance since coming to Milwaukee with a 0.00 ERA.

Prince Feilder (15) had a pair of HR's last night, in back-to-back plate appearences. Both were shot almost exactly to the same part of the park (right-center). He also had a double in Friday's game and went 2 for 2. He is now batting .299 on the season.

Mat Gamel's batting average continues to rise; it's now at .262 on the season. He had a 4-RBI game on Friday with a double and a ground rule double last night.. This guy is like Lyle Overbay, only at 3B. He loves to pound out the doubles (4).

Craig Counsell went 4 for 9 in the past two games and is now batting .315 on the year. Enough can't be said about this man. Thank God Doug Melvin decided to re-sign him to another year.

-Carlos Villanueva has been stellar most of the season. He has now pitched 15 score-less innings. Some of his confidence and success can be credited to Trevor Hoffman's addition to the team. In Carlos' past 9 innings he has not allowed a hit, a reliever's version of a no-hitter.

-Brett Lawrie has had a challenging start to his new career, one that's filled with ups and downs and a position change to 2B. He'll be fine. He just needs to grow in to his body more and mature. Instead of playing 20-30 games a season (high school)...he now has to play many many more. It's a looooong season. He was also announced as the reserve 2B for the 2009 Midwest League All-Star game along with 4 other Rattlers.

-Doug Melvin is a great GM. However, it is in my opinion, that he's given non-performers like Jenkins, Billy Hall, and Eric Gagne far too many chances. That's starting to change now. This season he has already released Brad Nelson and shipped Chris Duffy to the minors. Now if only he would do the same with Billy Hall. He stinks.

-Milwaukee faces top NL prospect Tommy Hanson today.

-Chipper Jones left yesterday's game due to dizziness.

-JJ to the Red Sox? Apparently that's been discussed over the weekend. Jeb Lowrie won't return until the second half and JJ Hardy is a prime target, especially with Escobar patiently awaiting his shot. Melvin believe's he's ready. Perhaps the Crew could get a solid starting pitcher in return for JJ. According to Tom Oates of the Wis. State Journal, this is what priority #1 should be for Doug Melvin. I agree. The Crew desperately needs to add another starting pitcher. Manny Parra may settle in down the road, but you can't take that chance. Perhaps Tim Wakefield and a prospect? I'd like to have a veteran like Wakefield in that starting rotation. No matter what....I don't want Brad Penny...he's far too over-hyped.

Brewers drop series to the Marlins

The Milwaukee Brewers lost the final game of the series to the Florida Marlins. It was a close game and probably could've tilted in favor of the Crew...had Dave Bush not been beamed by a linedrive in the first inning. Despite the heft mark it left on his arm, the tough guy stayed in the game and pitched pretty damn good....until he gave up a homerun to Josh Johnson....THE STARTING PITCHER. Ouch. Crew loses 3-4 and have now dropped 6 of their last 7 road games. Not good. Snap out of it.
Prince Fielder belted his 13th HR of the season, that's positive.
Billy Hall was given one last chance by Ken Macha, so it seems, and he went 0-3 with a K. He sucks.

Ryan Braun: The first true sports villain in Wisconsin's history

Over the top? Perhaps. But let's face it, Ryan Braun is one of the most hated (and best) players in baseball. Since the start of the season he has skyrocketed from the middle of the pack, to the top echelon in the category of disliked baseball players among fans and colleagues.

Not here in Wisconsin of course, we love him. He's the future, the Albert Pujols of the (true) Brew City.

However, for those MLB fans who follow other teams (especially in the NL Central) Ryan Braun is probably the player with the biggest target painted on his head when he enters the batters box. Read any blog out there, read Deadspin, read Rightfieldbleachers reporting on what other sites say....it's all there people, don't ignore it.

There are many reasons for this. Some do point the finger at his egotistical behavior and demeanor on and off the field. Some don't.

Seeing-off a towering shot to leftfield is NOT one of those reason people hate him. It doesn't help the cause, but many players do this.

Untucking his jersey isn't the reason either (except in St. Louis).

Or untucking his jersey to expose his washboard abs while rounding firstbase; this after hitting the walk-off homerun that put Milwaukee in the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. No, No.

No. These are all just part of the game.

Now, launching your own clothing line in the state where it's citizens tend to wear pajamas out to the bar (neighborhood joints), not the best idea. Indeed, he has an entrepreneurial spirit which can be applauded. But selling these tight fit shirts for 75-95.00 a pop seems insane.

He's catering to about 5% of his fan base. In fact, I would be hard pressed to find one of his tshirts on someone outside the downtown area of Milwaukee and perhaps the Eastside.

Granted, being married and a father to two young boys (5 months & 3 year-old) I don't get out much, let alone to the downtown clubs that Milwaukee offers. My idea of getting dressed to go out involves wearing a pair of jeans with a polo shirt and sometimes a Brewer Cap. So my fashion sense is thrown out the door and has been for some years now. This could be me just speaking from my ass with out a clue of any fashionable skills.

Continuing...Ryan Braun has also called out opposing pitchers and complained publicly to the media about pitchers trying to play chin music on him. That often times comes with the territory when you're as good as he is. Likewise with stare-down he gave Ryan Dempster of the Cubs a couple of weeks back, after he was beamed with a ball that didn't look too intentional.

Ryan Braun has also signed many endorsement deals that could spark additional envy amongst other players....especially those who play in a small-market town like Milwaukee.

My father even smirked after reading his story in the Journal-Sentinel regarding his clothing line. But he still said the man could hit, so who cares.

Call it jealousy or call is envy, most players in the league would love to be in Braun's shoes. He's the icon of Wisconsin now. Gone are the days of Brett Favre and Robin Yount being the ambassador of pro sports in Wisconsin. Heck, even Aaron Rodgers could take a back seat when it comes to Mr. Braun. Wisconsin may be a football state, but the Milwaukee Metro is a baseball city. Robin Yount is more coveted than Brett Favre down there, this according to a poll done by Onmilwaukee.com a few months back.

The neat thing about it? He's the first professional sports villain the state has ever had (if my memory serves me). Most of the leagues other fans (Cubs & Cardinals especially) dislike Ryan Braun. Most players in the NL, if not the entire league, dislike the man. Perhaps not to his face, but they do in their locker rooms and in their dugouts.

Name me a professional athlete who is/was a bigger villain than Braun in Wisconsin? There isn't.

Gary Shefield (during his time in Milw.)? No, far too young and he purposely sucked while playing here.

Tony Mandrich? Perhaps, but he didn't last too long....heck, he didn't last.

Anthony Mason of the Bucks? (He sucked while playing here)

Gary Payton? (He only lasted a half-a-season here)

Brett Favre? (Not until he left the Green Bay Packers)

There has never been a bigger "bad guy" or villain in Wisconsin sports, than Mr. Braun. Sort of like the Detroit Pistons of the late 80's....only not a fighter and he's one man.

I for one, like this. I may not (hell, I won't) buy his new skimpy man-shirts....but I will proudly don his jersey at all Brewer games I attend.

Coming tomorrow!

My little write-up on why Ryan Braun is/will be the first true villian/bad guy of ANY Wisconsin sport team in history.

Trevor Hoffman awarded NL Pitcher of the Month

It's a rarity to see a reliever earn this monthly award. Hoffman pitched a perfect month, going 11 for 11 in saves and recording a 0.00 ERA. To date, I would argue that TH is near the top in best off-season additions to a ball club. To think, Eric Gagne started as the closer last season....

Brewers Seal The Deal

Despite the Brew Crew scoring 6 runs in the fifth inning to go ahead 9-1, Braden Lopper still found a way to fall apart in the bottom of the inning. The fifth inning is starting to become a pain in the ass for the Crew. Mainly because the starting pitchers can't last more than 5 innings before coming undone.

Again, I can't stress this enough....Milwaukee needs to add a lefty who can go deeper than 5 innings. Cliff Lee, Cliff Lee, Cliff Lee. Live in the now Wisconsin. Don't always look to the future. We have a great shot of going deep in to the playoffs this season. Yes, it's only June 4th. I don't care.

Seth McClung (3-1) earned the win by going 3 1/3 innings and only allowing a run. Thank goodness for our pen. However, it's the pen that has been stretched thin as of late and now Melvin decided to call up yet another reliever in 28 year-old Chris Smith. He has 12 saves thus far in to the season. Mark DiFelice has a sore elbow and a grandmothers funeral to attend.

Trevor Hoffman notched his 14th consecutive save last night. His ERA is 0.00. Sweeeeeet.

Dan Ugla is a Brewer killer. Not only did this freak get his 100th career homer off the Crew, he also notched his 101st last night off of Seth McClung, his 11th of the year.

Ryan Braun (10) continued to stay hot going 2 for 5 with a HR and 2 RBI's.

-I don't know about you guys, but I found it challenging to watch the past 3 games at "Landshark Stadium". My attention has been elsewhere. If I recall, the same thing happened last year. It's the damn stadium. All those empty seat and the bright hunter-orange that blankets that damn fossil. What is it with Marlin fans? You have two rings since 1993. How is it that you still don't want to support your team. City's like Louisville would love to have your team, or: Orlando, Portland, or other medium sized metro areas. I think Louisville would be a great baseball city, but it's far too close to Cincinatti. Perhaps a city like Memphis or Inianapolis would be better suited. I don't now, but Miami is not a baseball town. Despite it's huge hispanic population (oh! off the deep end). Relax, it's been statistically proven that Latin America love baseball.

-Melvin and Macha agree that Mann Parra will not be sent down to the minors. Give him one more start to blow and he will....I bet 20.00!

-Next week, Milwaukee could face 3 to 4 LHP's when they take on the Rockies (De Le Rosa) and the White Sox (Danks, Richards, Buehrle). So I would expect Gammel and Hall to split their time at 3B, likewise with Counsell and McGehee at 2B. Additionally, Cantalanotto and Gerut will also get spot starts. Milwaukee will probably have 5 left-handed batters in the line-up a couple of times next week. When was the last time you could say that? *fifth being Manny Parra*

-Tom Glavin was released by the Braves last night, in a move to free up 3.5MM. One would think that Milwaukee would swoop in and snatch him up. Melvin shot down that rumor pretty quickly. He mentions that Atlanta knows Glavin pretty damn well, and for them to release a LHP like Tommy-Boy....well, there must be something wrong. Plus, dude's 43 years-old...but man was he stud back in the day.

-Nate Mclouth was traded to the Braves for 3 prospects. Nate was in a pretty bad slump the past month or so. Hopefully he can hit out of it on a winning team. This move should do wonders for the gold glover / All-Star.

-Mat Gammel is filling in nicely. Despite his brief mini-slump where he went 2 for 16 (if I recall) has now gone 4 for 9 and is batting .235 overall. He's now playing pretty decent offensively, and so-so defensively.

-Is trading Corey Hart a bad idea? This blog says so. I am torn. This season Milwaukee has a couple that can platoon out in RF. So why not trade him for a solid LHP who can fill in on the rotation. Manny Parra would make a great reliever! He rubbed me the wrong way last season when he bad-mouthed the fans of Milwaukee, calling us boo-birds. Well, perhaps if you didn't swing at every first pitch last season we wouldn't have to.

Which is it?

Here are some examples on Mark DiFilice's (spelling?) spellings:

HERE, courtesy of Wisconsin State Journal

HERE, by his hometown paper (neighboring Philly)

HERE, by some newspaper website in the state of Missouri.

HERE, by MLB.com

Jared from RFB claims that it's "Mark DiFilice"....which has been the spelling that I have used most of this season. Although recently I have changed it. I can't spell that great anyways...now this is really messing with my head. HELP!

DiFilice

DeFilice

DiFelice

Difilice

Also....doesn't DiFilice look like Lane Garrison from Prison Break? Only minus the teenage girls that Lane was driving with when he crashed his sport car and killed one? Just throwing that out there.

Seeing the positive in an ass-kicking....

Let's look at the positives in last night's ass-kicking.

Brewers could still split the series.

The negatives...

Manny Parra (3-7) is pitching himself right out of the rotation. Which sucks, considering that he is the ONLY leftie in the rotation and there's no help in the farm system. So that tells me Melvin will be looking for a leftie and will be willing to give up a Corey Hart or some prospects for one. Paging Cliff Lee....Paging Cliff Lee.

Although Kenny isn't ready to pull the plug quite yet on Parra....you know damn well the kid has one more start to prove himself on

The inconsistent Parra lasted a piss-poor 4 innings (when Macha needed 6 innings) and gave up 10 earnedruns on 11 hits. He doesn't deserve to be in the starting rotation and Macha won't allow it for much longer.

The loan bright spot last night was watching Mike Burns, who was just summoned from Nashville yesterday morning. This journeyman tossed 4 shut-out innings...which Macha quickly dismissed, saying "(Born's) no consolation when you get your butt whipped."

I chuckle when I read these blogs out there that argue Melvin doesn't need to make a trade. They are on crack. You didn't think this trend would last did you? The hot streak the starting rotation was riding? This isn't the end of the world or the season. It's a blip on the radar. But it's a sign of things to come for this pitching staff. Only one pitcher is capable of lasting more than 8 innings. Only 2 pitchers can last 7 innings. Suppan and Parra can only last 4 to 5 innings...6 on a good day. So tell me professional critics out there in Brewer blogging land....why shouldn't the Brewers go after Cliff Lee or Jake Peavy? Joke.

-Dan Ugla hit his 100th HR last night. A towering blast to left-center field.

-You ever notice that some webites and stat sources spell Mark Defelice's name wrong? They spell it "DiFilice" or "DiFelice". I botch it every time I type it.

-The Brewers media team (who run the website) are doing their part in trying to lift the spirits of former first-rounder Jeremy Jeffress. Since being drafted the 21 year-old has struggled on and off the field. He was even busted down to Single-A last month or so. Well, he had a good outing....which is fine and all. But shouldn't he be in AA at least?

Jorge Julio: See ya later you douche bag!

Doug Melvin came to his senses and released Jorge Julio this morning. The open roster spot was filled by the club calling up Mike Burns. In Nashville, Burns had a 6-2 record in 10 starts and a 2.98 ERA....and one shut out. The guy can throw strikes, something Julio and Swindle don't like to do.

Jorge Julio screws the pooch

Man was that an ugly relief appearence by Jorge Julio last night in the 6th inning. The Brewers were cruising to their (what would've been) 4th straight win. That took a turn for the worse however when Julio collected 5 runs, 4 of them earned. He also hit two batters. Sweet Julio, sweet.

This could be the last we see of ol' Julio. I remember when the Crew picked him up in the off-season. Many blogs and websites sort of chuckled at the idea. I can see why. Despite Julio putting together a string of 4 games where he didn't allow a run, he did bomb the earlier appearences in the start of the season.

It was a pretty boring game. It was a lot of small ball and only one player had a double, all other hits were singles.

Jeff Suppan threw 100 pitches in 5 innings, 59 of those were strikes. Holy Sh*t. That's awefull.

Mike Cameron's tendenitas flared up again (same as last year). He had to leave the game early, along with Ryan Braun who fouled a ball of his right foot.

-Milwaukee will be looking to bring up a pitcher from the minors. With their bullpen being spent of the past 4 games and DiFilice unavailable, it's looking like Chase Wright (from the Yankees) or Nick Green will get the call. Both are starting pitchers. Chase Wright is a lefty, which would make sense because Mitch Stetter has been used quite a bit. RJ Swindle isn't an option because he blows. MORE HERE. Tim Dillard, by far the best pitcher in the Brewer farm system won't be an option. He just pitched on Sunday (7 innings).

-There are more and more rumors being thrown out there regarding Corey Hart being possible trade bait for a starting pitcher. I can't see how Hart is worth a #1. Possibly a 3 or 4. Some "sources" say that Melvin is targeting Eric Bedard from the Seattle Mariners. Which would make sense because Jack Z is in love with Corey Hart....in a gay way. This site says Milwaukee should target LHP Cliff Lee.

-Shocker...David Riske is done for the season and possibly more. He will undergoe surgery today on his throwing elbow.

-This new plan allows Brewer fans to kick out Cubs fans, the next time Chicago comes to town. This won't work...why even try it. Far too much time and energy will be spent on Security answering bogus complaints.