Does Miller Park have adequate drainage? A rudimentary lesson in hydrology (or our most interesting post ever)

It's not often I get to use my professional expertise in the environmental sciences to write about sport-related topics, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to hear that the Brewers may be displaced for their upcoming series against the Twins due to severe flooding at Miller Park. As for you Milwaukee-area fans and friends / YCS co-authors who may have flooded basements or--at a minimum--are pissed off at the prospect of the Brewers losing three home games: Sucks to be you. Ha-haw. Etc.

Like any normal person, my first reaction upon reading the story was to check out the USGS website and look up the severity of the storms that caused the flooding. The result: It was a lot of friggin' rain.

The table below shows the Thursday night / Friday mornng rainfall totals and river stage data from the USGS gauge on the Monemonee River in Wauwatosa, about three miles from the stadium. The gauge height in the second column is the water surface elevation relative to a datum of 628.86 above sea level (i.e. a reading of 0.00 = 628.86 above sea level). The rainfall column is the measured rainfall over the given 5-minute interval, and the final three columns are running totals for the time interval given in the column heading.

As the table shows, the rainfall was extremely intense over a two-hour period that resulted in 4.40 inches of rain--just over half of that falling in the first half-hour. In all, from the time the rain began at 11:15 Thursday night through 11:15 Friday night, 5.40 inches of rain fell on 'Tosa.

Without spending the time to look up the rainfall frequency distributions for the Milwaukee area, I'm going to assume that they're only marginally different than those for the northeast Illinois region, which are shown on the following chart pulled from the Illinois State Water Survey, Bulletin 70. The colored lines plot the 30-minute, 1-hour, 2-hour, and 24-hour peak rainfall totals from Thursday / Friday storm that's left the Brewers homeless for the time being.

[For those unfamiliar with the term, a "recurrence interval" is the theoretical period of time that will ellapse between one random event and an event of equal or greater magnitude. For a full explanation, go here.]

By any measure, this was indeed a very rare downpour, and--contrary to popular belief--all that water doesn't just disappear when it hits the ground. If you go back to our table, you see that the Menomonee River crested at 15.35 feet above datum, which, according to NOAA, is expected to occur once every 15 years (roughly) and has been exceeded only three times since 1973. That, my friends, is what we in the biz call a "flood."

Now, none of this answers the question posed in the title. Was Miller Park properly designed to handle severe weather events? Unfortunately, I resold my Standard Design of Stormwater Drainage Systems for 50,000-Seat Baseball Stadiums, 4th Edition textbook for booze money once I got my D in the college course, but I'll guess that a project as costly and conspicuous as Miller Park would have been designed for a 100-year storm and 100-year flood.

If I'm right (probably not the case), it doesn't necessarily signal failure on the part of Miller Park's architects because, after all, it does not sound as though the stadium underwent any permanent damage. Also, my experience has taught me that stormwater management is a highly empirical and highly imperfect art that's very difficult to get "right." (Or at least that's the line I use at work.)

Pretty cool stuff, huh? Well, I hope you've learned something valuable. (Disclosure: You have not.)

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Jiffy Pop on a Coleman grill

In case you missed it, last night the Brewers debuted a great new fan-draw: drive-in movies.

As if Miller Park tailgates aren't awesome enough,

the Brewers have enhanced America's pastime with the most nostalgiarific and makeout-inducing pastime of America's past... time. Obviously, I think this is a fantastic concept. 

For opening night of this promotion, the double-feature was Jaws and Anchorman. What the heck, right?

That's an odd pairing of popular movies, seemingly incongruent with the experience of a Brewers game. But I think that's the right way to go. Tonight, they're showing (as I write this) Major League and The Sandlot. I think this pairing is a mistake.

I understand the intent of showing beloved baseball-themed films as a warm-up to real baseball action. But I think this may leave the tailgate crowd with a sense of baseball overkill malaise. By the time they march up to the gate, the drunken mob has already taken in over three hours of baseball-related content rife with hilarity and the idealized distortion of the game that harkens back to age ten, with which little can compete.

Given this backdrop, I'd expect the Brewers may be uninentionally setting up their fans for the unwanted realization that the real thing isn't nearly as hilarious or triumphant as its cinematic representations. Context matters too--Brewers fans who long for the shabby comforts of County Stadium will be reminded (by the baseball scenes in Major League, of course) that their old hangout no longer exists.

This whole drive-in idea could make for a wonderful expriment in behavioral psychology, though. How would a Saturday night crowd behave after a double-feature of, say, Braveheart and Apollo 13 versus, say, Boys Don't Cry and No Country for Old Men?

Would stories of triumph make for a riled-up crowd screaming for more vicotry? Or would a depressing double-feature make for a crowd salivating for catharsis? Or both? Hmmmm...

I have no idea where I was going with this post.

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I'm Crazy Pickle Moustache. I have a pickle for a moustache... Now give me some Kendeigh!

Via Shysterball, my attention was drawn to this article by WISN sports anchor Andy Kendeigh (pronounced "ken-day" I hope, or else my title is even dumber than it already was). In it, he argues--nicely, I might add--that the Brewers need to ditch the sporadic throwback uni nights and just make a call, one way or another, whether to readopt the popular "MB" ball-and-glove logo. 

However, he closes by suggesting that if the Brewers were to readopt the ball-and-glove logo, they should retain the current color scheme, giving "the current players a look of their own with respect to the past." Unfortunately, there's a simple reason why Kendeigh and everyone else who suggests this is wrong: It's called branding.

By abandoning the ball-and-glove and the old blue and yellow team colors for subsequent monograms and navy-based uniforms, the Brewers traded in a unique, timeless brand for a generic, transient one. In my opinion, it was, and continues to be, a horrible business move, and--without having any way to prove this--I would hypothesize that the Brewers would have made more in merchandise sales since 1993 had they never replaced the old color scheme and logo. And that assumes the uniform changes since then caused a temporary bump in merch sales--an assumption I don't have time to research but would proabably hold true.

The problem with simply bringing back the old logo while keeping the current color scheme, script, and uniform is that it would create an unholy marriage of those two branding alternatives--simple/timeless and fashion-forward. As an organization, you have to make a call. Either choose to be the Yankees--shunning any notable alteration to a classic look--or the Astros--constantly rebranding to keep pace with fashion trends, no matter how outrageous the results.

The ball-and-glove represent timeless values of simplicity and cleverness. Metallic gold trim and odd-shaped, shadow-effect numbers (Matt--you know how I HATE THOSE FANCY NUMBERS) represent acceptable aesthetics circa 2001. The two have nothing in common, so why try to marry them up? At worst, they'd end up like the Nationals, whose 2-D / 3-D mashup serves as a fantastic tribute to Who Framed Roger Rabbit? but sucks as a baseball uniform. At best, they'd end up like the Padres--a team that chases every fleeting fashion trend yet stubbornly holds onto a monogram that doesn't particularly go well with any of the team's multiple rebrandings. That said, the Padres' "SD" is generic enough not to clash with anything. The ball-and-glove is too distinct, I think, to get away with this.

The Yankees approach and the Astros approach are both perfectly acceptable, but the in-betweens are rarely pretty. If the Brewers' marketing people were smart like me, they would opt for the timeless look, primarily because it jives better with midwestern values of stasis and being homely. Not only does this approach carry intrinsic advantages of familiarity and resistance to early obsolescence, it would also--in the Brewers' case--come with an instantly recognizable, one-of-a-kind logo and rarely-used color scheme.

So I hope you're reading this, Brewers front office people. And if you are, my consulting fee is $130/hour. Pay up.

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Happy Opening Day from YCS

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He makes WHAT?

I just read this story on the Journal-Sentinel's website about Craig Counsell coming back to the Brewers for one more year in a utility role.

Something struck me as odd - oh, yeah, it's the money. Craig (FUCKING) Counsell makes one million dollars a year. Are you kidding me? I knew I should have been a gritty utility infielder, this economy wouldn't affect me at all!

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Yes, I'm Still Excited

A few quick points about yesterday's game:

1. A special thanks to Gavin for oversleeping (due to drunkenness) so that Poethig could go to the game. He and I have both suffered through some awful Brewers baseball for basically our entire lives. He was, to say the least, excited to be there.

2. Speaking of Poethig - when Braun homered in the 8th, he and I embraced in a manner not seen since this special moment from Rocky 3:

(I was totally Apollo Creed)

3. As I may have told you already, I saw my old man (also known as "the toughest son of a bitch alive" or, "what would happen if John Wayne and Lou Brown from Major League had a kid) tear up when the Brewers won. I was flabbergasted. Poethig's response was, "Man, he's grizzled."

4. To the girl sitting in front of us at the game: Hey...what's up? How you doin'?

5. Having to watch the conclusion of the Mets/Marlins game on the jumbotron after the Brewers game ended was somewhat anti-climactic, but it was all worth it after Matt Lindstrom closed the deal and showered Miller Park in confetti, giving everyone one big face full of celebration.

6. I woke up this morning hung over, and not from drinking. Just from...joy, maybe?

7. It must really suck to be Ned Yost today.

8. Videos and links of the good stuff:

Braun's HR on WGN

Brewers Clubhouse Goes Apeshit

Highlights of the Clincher, Including Uecker's Call of Braun's Bomb

9. Nobody, and I mean nobody cared that the Packers lost. Anyone who lives (or has lived) in Wisconsin will appreciate how weird that is.

10. I'll say this again: I don't care if the Brewers get swept in the first round. At all. We're in, baby. And I love it.

P.S. Please, let Bob Uecker break out that tuxedo he wore in Major League for the playoffs.

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Alright, You Assholes

You don't like me and I don't like you. Let's get that out in the open. But I need you. It's hard to admit, impossible for you to hear even, but it's true.

Just give me one more game. That's all I ask. Win one more fucking game (and only one more - then kindly lie down over the weekend vs. the Brewers).

I know I've said some awful, hurtful things about 'you people' in the past but, I can assure you, I didn't mean all of them. Sure, when I called your fanbase a "bunch of knownothing Wrigleyville cockhounds," it was probably a bit jarring. But, baby, I'd take it all back if you'd just keep beating the Mets (and then completely fold for the last three games in Milwaukee).

I know this may confuse you. When I said that Carlos Zambrano was a foolishly ill-tempered latin that brings to light the problems inherent in an integrated MLB, it may have struck you as offensive. For that, I sincerely apologize.

Sure, I may have ruffled some feathers when I said that "Go Cubs Go" is a gay pride anthem in a class with "YMCA" and Clay Aiken's entire catalogue, but I assure you I had nothing but good intentions and any hurt feelings on your part were purely the result of a misunderstanding of what I was trying to say.

And when, last week, I pulled the corners of my eyes back and said "I Cub Outfierdel. Ret's pray too!", I considered it more of an homage to Kosuke Fukudome than an ethnically insensitive caricature. But, if you were at all confused by my actions, I apologize.

I come before you today as a repentant man because doing so may briefly benefit my own self-interests. A man willing to admit past mistakes and move forward to a new era of peace and understanding between our two fanbases (for today, remember, and just for today).

So please, you stupid bunch of sons of bitches - win one for me. And your stupid Dave Matthews-listening, Old Style-drinking-because-it's-ironic, gentrifying and fairweather fanbase.

Sincerely,

Matt on behalf of Brewers fans everywhere

P.S. When you get to Milwaukee, why not think about giving Derek Lee, Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez some time off (but not tonight)? Better to have them rested for the big playoff push, I always say. Also, feel free to bat Mike Fontenot in the cleanup spot. He's a gamer!

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Dead Horse, Volume 300

The Brewers reacted to their apparent collapse today by firing Ned Yost. No doubt these guys are happy.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, I always kind of thought Yost was a pretty OK manager. He didn't run the team into a ton of stupid outs (although it seemed like this year he has put on more hit and runs, to my eternal frustration) and he always stuck up for his players in the media and seemed to be universally liked by the team.

That said, it's become pretty apparent over the last couple of seasons that he doesn't handle a bullpen all that well and has a nasty tendency to stick with the (in his mind) established heirarchy, especially in the cases of his stubborn refusals to see the writing on the wall with guys like Turnbow and Eric Gagne. Since managing the bullpen/pitching staff is the most important (and impactful) aspect of a manager's job, it makes sense for the Brewers to finally give him the axe.

It is, however, a little strange to see the move made now. I suppose that Doug Melvin thinks that a shake-up in the clubhouse will re-energize the team and get them back on track for the still very winnable Wild Card. I hope so, but I think it's a very real possibility that the opposite happens, and the team kind of continues the slump towards the end of the season. Hopefully I'm wrong, and Dale Sveum can get these guys out of their collective funk (a tough task, considering how many slumping hitters he's got right now, especially 3-5 in the lineup) and get them into the postseason.

One thing's for sure, though. If the Brewers hire a guy like Dusty Baker or one of his ilk, I'm quitting baseball forever.*



*Not really

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All You Need to Effing Know

People of Wisconsin wondering why the Brewers are going through a wicked late-season collapse: look no further than the following statistic.

Milwaukee Brewers Team OBP: .326

That's 19th in Major League Baseball. The old schoolers will tell you that speed never slumps, but I think the more appropriate adage for the modern era would be that discipline never slumps. This team, from top to bottom with the exception of the extremely unlucky Rickie Weeks and Jason Kendall (on occasion) does not take walks.

For comparison, the Brewers' main contenders for the WC and the NL Central:
Cubs: .359
Cardinals: .348
Phillies: .330 (I'm surprised by this, actually)
Astros: .324 (Not as surprised, but they've been ridiculously hot since the AS Break)

Add to this that the Brewers have actually outperformed their Pythagrean W-L by about 5 games (luck? Better bullpen performances than you'd think? Vinnie?) and you start to see how frustrating this actually is. If the Brewers had consistent OBP guys in the lineup, it's possible we wouldn't be seeing this September swoon.

Ok, I'm done ranting. Also, the Packers are 2-0.

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When is the Rickie Weeks experiment finally going to end?

Quick thoughts after attending tonight's game:

Is it safe to say that Rickie Weeks simply does not appear to be a promising ballplayer at this point? Or even a starter?

It seems like Rickie Weeks' career has resembled one of my other least favorite and most frustrating young talents of the last two decades: Corey Patterson. Is that a fair comparison?

How can a team put a guy with an OBP of .330 at the top of the line-up? Weeks must have lead off three innings tonight and was absolutely dismal.

He's fast, and he has a great baseball name. But name one more realm of baseball that Rickie Weeks is even adequate let alone above average. You can't.

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Yay! My daddy made the All Star team and here come the rest of the guys and oh, SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII.....

If you haven't seen this yet, it's worth your time. Corey Hart's postgame press conference from yesterday in which he (with his young daughter) get showered with beer in celebration of Hart's making the All Star team. Ryan Braun, et al enjoy it way more than Hart's daughter does.

Corey hart
by bsap11

Also, two things:

1. Nice Jesus t-shirt, Dave Bush. GAY!

2. Who else was waiting for Prince and Sabathia to come running in at the end and yell, "MONKEY PILE!"?

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Who Wants Cake?

Alternate Headline Ideas:

"Wisconsin food shortage to reach critical mass warns top expert"

"Hardy still missing: bloated Fielder, Sabathia brought in for questioning"

"Annual BBW conference to be held at Midwest Express Center"

"Fat jokes are lame and easy"

"Milwaukee now nation's fattest, drunkest, most tax evadingest city"

"The 2008 Milwaukee Brewers: Just More of Us to Love, Baby"

"Certain YCS writers shouldn't be throwing stones"

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Brewers Hot Stove Roundup

I have a few things rattling around in my head right now, so I thought I'd throw them together for a single post, since I doubt any are really relevant enough to warrant their own.

Brewers Close to Gagne Deal

As of writing this late Saturday, the Brewers have apparently come to terms for a one year deal with free agent reliever Eric Gagne, or as Massholes everywhere know him "That retahd pitchah!" Although Doug Melvin hasn't been able to explicitly disclose the intricacies of the deal per MLB regulations, he has confirmed the groundwork of the deal.

On its face, it looks like a good move for the Brewers, as they're taking advantage of a classic buy low situation for a guy who still may very well have some life in his arm. For those that point to his disastrous half season with the Red Sox last year, I recommend taking a peek at his game log from last year. His few really bad games were enough to really skew his numbers, and we've discussed ad nauseum before how people tend to focus on the negatives when recalling player experience. Also, to the asshole Brewers fans that think it's cool to boo one of your own - take a look at Turnbow's game log from 2007. Again, not as terrible as you'd like to remember.

My only concern about the deal comes from rumors that the Brewers went as high as $10 million for the one year deal to avoid having to commit to multiple years. While the financials haven't been confirmed, it's possible, since Scott Boras represents Gagne. To me, it just seems a little high to pay for any relief pitcher, but since it's a one year deal, it's not that terrible of a financial burden. I guess in the end it just boils down to how much faith you've got in the adage that it's fine to overpay for free agents because you're not forced to give up any players. Regardless, I think Gagne will turn out to be a really savvy signing by Doug Melvin. It gives Gagne a chance to claim a closer job in an environment significantly less intense than the pressure cooker of Boston and brings him back to his comfort zone of pitching in the National League.

State of the Bullpen

For those scoring at home, the Brewers have made four significant moves this off-season and three of them were focused on the bullpen with the trades for Guillermo Mota and Salomon Torres and the signings of free agents Gagne and David Riske. It's pretty clear now that Doug Melvin felt that poor performance in late inning situations played a large enough role in Milwaukee's collapse down the stretch last year to warrant a significant overhaul. While I'm not totally convinced that all of the blame should rest on the pen, (breakdowns in the rotation caused an overtaxing of the bullpen which led to its poor performance) I'm impressed with the way in which Melvin has aggressively moved to address a perceived weakness in last year's team.

I'm of the opinion that when constructing a bullpen, one should abide by the strategy of throwing a bunch of shit against the wall to see what sticks. It seems that with the moves he's made, Melvin has done exactly that in acquiring a bevy of relatively (a term used loosely here with the possibility of Gagne making $10 million) low cost options and allowing the wheat to separate from the chaff during the course of the season. For those interested, here's a list of pitchers that all have a legitimate shot of making the Brewers' opening day roster in the bullpen:

Derrick Turnbow
Eric Gagne
David Riske
Salomon Torres
Brian Shouse (LH)
Seth McClung
Matt Wise
Mitch Stetter (LH)
Manny Parra (LH)
Chris Capuano (LH)
David Bush
Guillermo Mota
Greg Aquino

A lot dependsv - specifically with Parra, Capuano and Bush - on who ends up taking the 5th spot in the rotation, but at first glance, it looks like the Brewers have a really solid amount of talent to choose from for the '08 bullpen.

Future Moves

Now the Melvin has got the Brewers' bullpen situation pretty well shored up with the acquisitions of Gagne, Salomon Torres, Guillermo Mota and David Riske, attention turns now to the everyday lineup, where the Brewers still must answer the question of what to do about Ryan Braun. Fans, I think, are still pretty split on what to do with him and there's at least some merit in both schools of thought. On the one hand, there's a chance he'll mature into at least a competent defender at third base, a la the progression of Rickie Weeks at second. However, there is legitimate concern about how many growing pains a contending team like Milwaukee can afford to suffer while competing for a division title.

I'm not totally sold either way. My opinion on the whole situation hinges on what kind of market's availble as a replacement. So, if presented with the opportunity to acquire a truly above-average third baseman, I think the Crew should jump on it. If they get a player who's just a guy, like the rumored possible acquisition of Tadihito Iguchi, I'm not a big fan. Alternately, if the Brewers can get their hands on a really plus outfielder, I have no issues with sticking with Ryan Braun at third, because I think he's showed enough flashes to think that he'll eventually be at least a passable defender at the hot corner (though I could be totally off base here - a lot of people with more scouting experience than I say he's got some natural inclinations that make success there a real unlikely scenario).

With that in mind, here's my opinion on some of the rumors floating around about what the Brewers will do for the 3B/LF vacancy:

Trade with the Dodgers for OF Andre Etheir/Matt Kemp
Rumors are that the Brewers could deal a starting pitcher (possibly even Ben Sheets) for one of the Dodgers' uber prospects in the outfield. The scenario got more likely this week with Los Angeles' signing of Andruw Jones, and it's true that LA needs starting pitching. With a right handed-heavy lineup, Ethier would seem to make more sense as a lefty, but I'm hoping that it wouldn't take either Sheets or Bill Hall to pry him loose. Were they able to get him without giving up any of the two I just mentioned, I'd be all for it.

Sign Free Agent Tadihito Iguchi
This one's a bit of risk, in that Iguchi's never played third in the majors. He did play some there in Japan, but it's been over three years since his last appearance there in a live game. Iguchi would be a fit because the Brewers have publicly stated a desire to improve their on-base percentage, but Iguchi, while a plus bat at second base, has power deficiencies that wouldn't make him an ideal player at third. It's worth noting, though, that the Brewers might be able to deal with those limitations more than most clubs because of their plus bats at premium positions up the middle with Bill Hall, JJ Hardy and Rickie Weeks.

Trade for Cardinals 3B Scott Rolen
Though the popular belief seems to be that this deal is dead, numerous outlets (specifically JS columnist Tom Haudricourt) think that the recent ugly display of the rift between Rolen and manager Tony LaRussa leaves the door open because St. Louis desperately needs to unload Rolen. Also, the Dodgers, long considered a leading contender for Rolen are probably now out of the running because of their signing of Andruw Jones. If the remaining teams rumored to have interest in Rolen (such as the Giants) pull back on the deal, St. Louis could be forced to come back to the Brewers with reduced demands (rumored to originally be both Chris Capuano and Bill Hall, a price Doug Melvin deemed too steep for the risk/price of Rolen). I'm not really qualified to offer an unbiased opinion on Rolen, since he's one of my favorite players, but I'll say this - if the Brewers can get him in a low ball deal where they only give up Capuano and the Cards pick up a good amount of his salary, I'd be all for it.

While there may be other rumors floating around, those are probably the only ones discussed enough to merit serious discussion. However, it's important to note that with a rare surplus in starting pitching (the rotation now has the following candidates: Ben Sheets, Yovani Gallardo, Jeff Suppan, Carlos Villanueva, Chris Capuano, Dave Bush, Manny Parra), there will be plenty of teams contacting the Brewers in the coming weeks looking to make a deal. It's a safe bet then that despite a flurry of action thus far, the Brewers aren't yet done.

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The Horse Died Long Ago, Yet I Keep Kickin'

If you haven't heard, former Brewers closer Francisco Cordero signed today with the Cincinnati Reds for 4 years/$46 million. Seriously, 11.5 mill/year for a reliever.

I said it at the beginning of the hot stove league, and I'll say it again - I'm really, really glad the Brewers didn't spend this kind of money on Cordero. Yes, it's really nice to have a reliable pitcher at the back end of your bullpen, but - as we've said many, many times - no relief pitcher is worth superstar money for pitching three (often meaningless) outs every few days.

Kudos to Doug Melvin for avoiding the pressure from the Milwaukee talk radio crowd to get Cordero back with the team, regardless of the cost. I'm confident, regardless of what the radio callers say, that the Brewers will find a 'closer' in either spring training or the first few weeks of the season. It's not like they haven't done it before. My dark horse pick - Seth McClung. Dude throws lighting and is going to be working with Mike Maddux to solidify his breaking ball throughout spring training. Remember his name, he just seems to me like the ideal candidate for the next Doug Melvin/Mike Maddux reclamation project.

One other note tangentally related to this topic - interesting talks of a deal floating around: rumors of a possible Ben Sheets and Bill Hall trade to Atlanta for Kelly Johnson, Rafael Soriano and Jeff Francouer (plus probably a prospect on both sides, a higher-level one from Milwaukee). I don't like the idea just because I'm staunchly opposed to trading Ben Sheets during the off-season and I honestly don't think Francouer is a significant upgrade from the Jenkins/Mench platoon from last year. Higher average, yes, but same generally lousy on-base percentage.

Also, I don't think it will happen because it doesn't make a ton of sense - the Brewers just signed Jason Kendall (with Kendall apparently under the assumption that he'll start) and Atlanta traded Jarrod Saltalamacchia and committed to Johnson duing this year's trade deadline. It doesn't make sense that they'd go from a really, really rare amount of depth at a premium position to next to none in the span of half a season, but that's just my thought. Their rumored abundant interest in Sheets might outweigh any catching complications (and Bobby Cox has always been really interested in Billy Hall), but I just don't think this trade makes much logistical sense.

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Comeuppance!

Son of a bitch. I hate it when stuff I do, say or write comes back to bit me in the ass. And boy, did it ever. Remember around the trading deadline when the Cubs traded for Jason Kendall, and I laughed haughtily - gregariously, even - at how stupid they were?

Well, fuck me, because the Brewers, if these sources are correct, are on the verge of feeding me my words in the form of a giant, Jason Kendall-sized middle finger.

Now, don't get me wrong. I've got nothing personally against Jason Kendall. Aside from being kind of a hothead, he seems like an alright guy that his teammates seem to like, or at least tolerate. But the guy is old and hasn't been a legitimately productive hitter since 2003, when he went .325/.399/.416 with 6 homers (seriously - six). On top of that, he's possibly the second-worst defensive catcher in the majors (in terms of throwing out runners), behind only the guy the Brewers are looking to replace, Johnny Estrada.

Believe me, I'm not upset that the Brewers got rid of Estrada. Johnny was terrible in 2007 and has an intolerable penchant for swinging at everything while displaying a Herculean aversion towards taking a walk. In that sole regard, yes, Kendall - and his .375 OBP - is an upgrade.

No, the trade doesn't make me mad because it's necessarily a step backwards, it makes me mad because it's such a deliberate and obvious step sideways. Replacing one no-hit/no-field catcher with an identical model just doesn't jive. It's not the kind of move we're accustomed to seeing from Doug Melvin, because at the end of the day it does little to nothing in terms of improving the Brewers for the future, or even the present.

I would have preferred to see the Brewers go out and spend bargain bin money on a plus defensive catcher, regardless of the offensive sacrifice. With a linup that features Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, Bill Hall, JJ Hardy and Rickie Weeks as legitimate 20+ HR threats, the Brewers can afford to take a hit at the plate, provided they're getting a meaningful defensive contribution behind the plate. With Kendall, they'll get neither the defensive boost they'd like over last year's performance nor the offensive upgrade they might expect from a new backstop.

The one caveat to the whole thing, of course, are the rumors that Estrada was dealt because of feuds with pitching coach Mike Maddux and some members of the pitching staff. If it's true, it might help, at least in part, to explain what appears to be a completely hollow move from the Brewers front office.

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Lament of an emotionally conflicted fan

Loyal readers, you're well aware that YCS is a house divided. In many ways, really--soccer-loving vs. soccer-indifferent, pro-Grossman vs. anti-Grossman, libertarian vs. socialist, Catholic vs. Jew vs. heathen vs. snake handler--but most of all in our fan allegiances. Aside from east-coast oddballs Danny and Gavin, we split pretty cleanly between Wisconsin-based teams and Chicago-based teams.

So needless to say, it's been a pretty strained summer around here, especially in recent weeks as the NL Central race tightened and the end of the season drew near. Pat hasn't answered Matt's phone calls since May; Nate sent Mike a letter bomb in July; and Paul--a raised Chicagoan, who's lived the last seven years in Wisconsin--spent the better part of August taunting the mirror and singeing himself as he struggled to pin down his allegiance.

All the while, I've been sort of in the middle. A raised Cub fan who became an obsessed Cub fan during childhood, I've since lost that blind fervor of the hometown zealot and have instead followed the game from more of a league-wide perspective, doling out allegiances to whichever teams, players, or non-human elements strike my fancy.

At the same time--as much as I feel I'm just playing the part--there's a remnant of true emotional investment in the Cubs, I think. Something beyond just the familiarity of TV-market exposure, beyond the appeal of the stadium or individual players, even beyond the circus spectacle of a Wrigley Field playoff crowd. Beyond all that, I don't think that rootless desire to watch men in blue in blue hats with red "C"s win baseball games is entirely dead to me.

But it can't be very alive either after I realized last night I was more excited to read the final scores of the Phillies and Mets than I was to watch the Brewers lose to the Padres Friday night. In fact, the latter found me more disappointed than anything for reasons entirely personal and selfish: 1) I wanted the NL Central to come down to a one-game playoff; 2) Matt and I were headed to the game Saturday, so I at least wanted the race in question going into that game; and 3) part of me really, really wanted to see the Brewers take the division.

It doesn't help that a few of my bestest friends in the whole wide world are huge Brewers supporters who've gifted me with some of my most memorable baseball-going memories of my life (one of which happened at the aforementioned Saturday game and must be shared for the audience in the comments).

But it's disappointing to see the Brewers 2007 season end at Game 162. It's been fantastic seeing up close a great baseball city gradually build to renewed relevance and popularity. But now that Milwaukee had a taste of soaring success, only to see it disintegrate, it may be easy for the fanbase to forget where they've come from to get where they are now and regress to the panic state typical of long-suffering fans of a chronic teaser. If the Brewers don't ever reach the postseason with the current core of stars, 2007 will be the one that got away, and it's come at the expense of a ramshackle behemoth created by the most exorbitant single-season free agent spending binge in MLB history. That's a little unsettling.

Would it be cathartic for me if this appearance led to the unspeakable Cubs World Series title? I don't know; maybe. Sure, if that did happen, the moment would make great theater, as they say, and it would be a joy to see close friends and family to take so much pleasure in it. But that would quickly give way to dread--first for fear of being hugged and high-fived more aggresively and repeatedly than my body can handle, then for fear that celebrations would never end, then for the weeks and months of schmaltz and rehash, and lastly for that December day when I walk into a bookstore to find an entire wall of paperbacks with names like, Slaughtering the Goat, The Death of the Curse, Leave Bartman Alone!, and Fighting to the Top: The Story of the 2007 Chicago Cubs. (Ok, so I don't ever read or go to bookstores, but I'd imagine that would happen and that it would terrify me.)

So yeah, I'm much happier than I'd be if, say, the Astros won the Central, but for someone who still grudgingly wears the label of "Cubs fan," I should probably be more convinced that the outcome made me happiest. To some, my feelings may be familiar and totally acceptable, but to most I'd imagine they're a sign of weakness and disingenuity.

For the Brewers, 2007 was still very special, and the future looks bright. At the same time, the not-so-distant past was pretty damned bright, and tomorrow is never a guarantee. This year was a genuine opportunity--not one of those phony, overachieving 6-games-back-in-August opportunities that teams often pursue to their unfortunate ruin--but shit happened, and the Cubs won a few more games. Godspeed to the Crew in '08, but it would've been nice to see it happen this year.

As for the Cubs, I'm still hoping for the best, but if the best comes, I'm not really sure my stomach can handle it.

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It all makes sense now

Ah, so this is what they were waiting for.

After the Brewers blew yet another lead (to the jerks from the Northside, nonetheless) Milwaukee had a plan to keep the shotguns out of Milwaukee sports fans' mouths.

That, and football season (at least the college version) officially begins tomorrow.

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This Could Very Well Be What The Kids Call "It"

If you read this blog with any sort of regularity (or are quick-witted enough to look at the top sidebar on the left), you know that baseball allegiances among the staff are pretty much split between the Brewers and the Cubs.

Paul, Vince, Pat and Mike bleed the proverbial Cubbie Blue, whilst Nate and I live and die (and, let's be honest, we're pretty much doing more dying right now than livin') with the Brew Crew. Additionally, Zuch backs the White Sox, so for the stretch run this year, he's one of ours.

As such, tonight, tomorrow and Thursday could very well tear this blog apart. In what has come down to an ugly-though-still-entertaining finish in the NL Central, the Brewers and the Cubs will square off for a three game set at Wrigley that will in all likelihood tell us a lot about the race over the next month. It's no understatement that the series is much, much more important for the Brewers - if they lose 2 of 3 or get swept, you can pretty much write them out of the division race. For the Cubs, losing would be a blow, but with a game and a half lead, they wouldn't be out of it just yet.

As if the series itself weren't big enough already, the three game set gets an extra boost with the return of two of the teams' most important players. The Cubs will get Alfonso Soriano back in the lineup tonight as he returns from a month-long layoff due to a leg injury. The Brewers got good news of their own recently when it was announced over the weekend that Ben Sheets would likely make a start either tomorrow or Thursday against the Cubs. Due to the recent woes from the starting pitching (Tuesday's starter Jeff Suppan has been horrible of late, Yovani Gallardo is clearly running out of gas, Claudio Vargas may be headed to the DL, Chris Capuano has been bafflingly bad after winning his first 5 starts), the Brewers desperately need a strong Sheets for any hope of a playoff berth.

More important for me (and therefore you) is the fact that win or lose, this three game series represents the first time in a long time that the Brewers have played a slate of games so meaningful this late in a season. Sure, in '05 they were fighting for a winning record, but that isn't the same. They weren't a headline on ESPN or a featured story on SportsCenter in 2005. This means more. It's an entirely different feel now, they've got a legit ROY candidate with Braun and an MVP hopeful in Prince Fielder, and for the first time in a long time, there's legitimate reason to believe that they will, in fact, come back better next year.

How fitting it is also that as the Brewers develop into a contender that they've finally also found themselves a meaningful rival. Sure, it'll never top Cubs-Cardinals for history's sake, but Brewers-Cubs ain't nothin' to sneeze at. There's some legitimate bad blood between the fan bases and an interesting dichotomy between big market and small market that casual fans can appreciate. It'll never be Yankees-Sox, but for now I'll take it.

Whether this is the last hurrah of the '07 Brewers or the beginning of a miracle stretch run, I guess my point is this: this year has proven to me that pennant-chase baseball is better that I could have imagined (despite the ups and downs) and that even though it's just three games at the end of August, this series is huge.

My homeriffic predictions:
Brewers win 2 of 3 behind Suppan and Sheets, with Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder having huge series to back the starters.

Your own predictions welcome in the comments.

Also - no matter what happens, let's just hope that one of these two teams goes on to win the division. If the Cards sneak past both teams...well, that would be lame and I, for some reason I can't really put my finger on, would feel a little cheated.

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Hahaha, Good One. Wait, You Were Serious?

Warning: Extremely long and not all that well done.

I don't really like to pick on other bloggers too much. After all, we're all in this new medium together, spreading rebellion and damning the man and whatnot, but sometimes, I just have to. While the blogosphere gives everyone a voice and often leads to really intelligent debate and commentary, it sometimes turns out like talk radio and reminds us of why we should be damn glad that only 40% of the country votes.

Today's late-term sports commentary abortion comes from the blog "I'm Writing Sports," which prior to today, I'd never heard of. I'm sure the dude that writes it has never heard of us either, so we're at least starting off on even ground.

It's clear that the article was written yesterday around the point that it looked like the Cubs had finally overtaken the Brewers in the NL Central race. Now, let's get one thing straight: I actually may agree with this guy on some aspects of what he's talking about. Overall, though, all he does is complain about how teams don't develop their own stars "anymore" and just buy championships. Surprisingly, this blog post was not dated August 3, 1979.

I'll do my best to take the best of this thing and look at it FJM...er...YCS style, but I encourage you to read the original post if you're a really hardcore masochist.

For a minute there I was starting to think that the Chicago Cubs weren’t going to be able to buy their coveted National League Central title. After an amazing stretch that saw them win 33 of 50, they’re right back in the thick of things. I just hope that the Wrigley faithful can enjoy this. I know they’ve been suffering for a long time, but going for a title this way is like being a 99-year-old virgin and finally getting “lucky” at your local bunny ranch.

See what he did there? He set up the post and further drew you in with a snappy one liner about old people sex. Bill Simmons would be proud.

Call me old fashioned, crazy, or out of touch if you wish, but I fail to find the honor in going out and literally buying yourself the title.

While out of touch is probably a good start, I think a better term would be revisionist. The fact that you don't see the honor in a team doing everything in its power to win a championship is kinda dumb. Sure, you hear this argument a lot in sports, people complain about how the Yankees win because they have the most money, but the truth is, every single team would do exactly the same thing if they had that kind of scratch. Also, little known fact - GM's refer to their payrolls as "scratch."

Also, as to your being revisionist - I'll address this further down the road.

Now-a-days having an owner with deep pockets that’s willing to spend is more important than a solid minor league system. What happened to the days of Bird Dogs trudging around towns that no one knew existed beating the bushes for the next Babe Ruth?

I find an endless amount of humor in the fact that he actually used the phrase "now-a-days" in this article. I think Garrison Keillor writes this blog.

Also, funny you should bring up Babe Ruth. Ruth himself basically disproves what you're saying here about this being anything close to a new phenomenon. See, the way Ruth became a Yankee is because the Sox were almost bankrupt and needed to get some quick cash, or "scratch." So, they sold their best player to the team with the most money, who then proceeded to parlay having "the best baseball player ever," whom they "bought," into four World Series and 2 American League pennants.

Side note: did you know that despite having a 207 career OPS+ (seriously, read that again, that's not a typo), Babe Ruth only won the MVP once? And it wasn't the year he hit 60 homers, either, Gehrig won it that year. That seems insane to me.

Speaking of Gehrig and those '20's Yankees teams, there's something else I should point out. While many think of "buying" a team only in today's context of paying a ton of money for free agents, this has been going on pretty much since baseball started. What used to happen is that those "Bird Dogs" would find the best players, but most of the time most teams would find them. What would then happen is that the teams with the most money would eventually sign the best players because, obviously, they had the most money. That's how Gehrig, Mantle, Maris and the rest of the plaques in monument park got there. Serious, no foolin'.

With the modern system of scouting clubs rely more on common services and computer printouts than guys with a brain and a nose for the game.

This sentence follows the previous paragraph. Seriously. It seems really out of place, and I think Joe Morgan and Bill Plaschke collaborated on this.

Also, in re: "computer printouts:"

GM: "Well, what do you think, should we sign this guy?"

Scout: "I don't know, let me check the computer printout."

Goes over to giant 60's style computer with a ton of flashing lights and shit on it

Scout: "Well computer, should we get this guy?"

Computer: "100111100010100100001001"

Scout: "Get him signed, pronto!"

You don’t need Branch Rickey to tell you that a kid with a 98 mph heater might be a good prospect, but what about the kid that gets guys out with a 12-6 curve ball that breaks knees? That’s the grey area that gets lost somewhere in the black ink and white paper. You have to get to know a kid to understand his game, especially if he beats people with brains, intangibles and sheer guts. There are just some things that can’t be read on a radar gun.

No, but most of those things can be told via the stat sheets and stuff. Presumably, the kid with the 12-6 curveball that "breaks knees" has a gigantic K/9IP ratio, which should tell you he's pretty good. Also, the pitchers who beat people with "brains, intangibles and sheer guts" are usually relying on "great control." It's not supernatural.

In re: the '04 Red Sox: Boston might be a prime example of capitalism in sports, and sure they bought a title, but at least they didn’t go about it as shamelessly as the Yankees.

Now, I assume he means that Boston didn't sign guys like A-Rod and shit who were just the most expensive, but just for fun, consider this:

2004 Red Sox Roster - How Acquired
C Jason Varitek - homegrown
1B David Ortiz - from Minnesota
2B Mark Bellhorn - from Colorado
3B Bill Mueller - from San Francisco
SS Orlando Cabrera - from Montreal
LF Manny Ramirez - from Cleveland
CF Johnny Damon - from Kansas City
RF Gabe Kaplar - from Detroit
SP Curt Schilling - from Arizona
SP Bronson Arroyo - from Pittsburgh
SP Pedro Martinez - from Montreal
SP Derek Lowe - from Seattle
SP Tim Wakefield - from Pittsburgh
CP Keith Foulke - from Oakland
SU Mike Timlin - from Philadelphia

Of all those players, the Red Sox scouted and developed exactly one of them. 1. Jason Varitek. The others, they bought or traded for.

The Brewers are the last of a dying breed and the Cubs are the present and the future of sports. The scouted versus the purchased. The entitled veterans against the naïve new jacks.

Not true. See, teams like Milwaukee, Oakland and Minnesota will never have the kind of money that the Yankees, Red Sox or Cubs do. So, what happens is that they're forced to get a little bit more creative with how they assemble a roster. Maybe it's a few more bargain basement trades or a better farm system, but this isn't likely to change, ever. They'll always be behind monetarily as long as baseball has no salary cap. So, the small-market team is not a dying breed. Trust me.

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