4/19/05 - Dodgers(Cy Dessens) vs. Brewers(Glover) 12:05 CT

[crichar3]

Phelps is getting a lot of flak here -- and it would seem to be well-deserved. But JDLR seemed to be brutal as well. Fortunately, I was away from my computer during the seventh, but reading over the play-by-play it looks like he was the guy who really failed to perform today. I'm not giving Phelps a pass, but there was plenty of blame in the bullpen today (e.g. Adams failed to close the door in the ninth).

[squarepusher]

[ This team is heartless. I am at the point where I can't defend them anymore. I have been in countless arguments trying to convince people about the direction of this team but I can't do it anymore. If someone says "the brewers suck, why do you watch them?", I won't defend them. How could you? Right now this team is in danger of imploding and losing 110 games. ]

 

I guess I just don't get so emotionally invested in it. I guess I would tell them that I watch the Brewers because i'll be a Brewers fan until the day I die, and I just enjoy watching baseball in general.

 

The Brewers got beat by the Dodgers and the Cards, arguable two of the best teams in the NL. Yeah, i'm disappointed, but I also realize it's just been 13 games into the season. That's only 8% of the season for a team that I only expected to win a shade under half of their games. I guess i'm not running for that razor blade quite yet.

[Bruce Ciskie]

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So say Miller hits a single there instead of bunting. The fact is some part of the "bad part of the order" still needs to come up with a hit. So your point is moot. Bunting is a huge part of playing smart baseball. It helps manufacture runs, which is the whole goal of an offense.

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Wrong. If Miller loads the bases, a fielder's choice and a sac fly would be enough to tie the game. Heck, two groundouts would get the job done, and groundouts appear to be a specialty of this team.

 

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Ask any coach at any level about bunting, and I am willing to bet over 90% would bunt in a similar situation with what we had today.

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I don't know that it's 90%, but it's certainly a majority. That doesn't mean it's automatically the right thing to do.

 

(NOTE: If it were first and second with Brady Clark, Junior Spivey, and Lyle Overbay due up, I'd probably bunt Clark. Different situations require different analysis. Part of the reason I come across as so anti-bunt is that I can't stand managers or coaches who go strictly by the book. An example from a different sport would be a football coach who calls for a two-point attempt because "the card told me to". Think for yourself and analyze the situation...don't just do what everyone says you should do.)

 

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As for the "bad part of the order", these guys aren't little leaguers that are so terrible that they don't know how to swing at the ball. They are major league ball players who have made a living hitting baseballs. So obviously they are capable of doing just that.

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Well...clearly, judging by the facts so far this season, they're really not capable of it. That's why we're in the situation we're in. If these guys could hit, the Brewers wouldn't be 5-8 right now.

[CovingtonFan]

Right now your cause for optimism is rooted in the front office, and in the minors. Not on the playing field. The Brewers still have a lot of holes in the major league lineup. However, and this is just my opinion, but your GM and your new owner seem to be heading in a new direction and finally doing more of the right things. Sometimes little things, like changing the way they handle minor league pitchers so they don't blow their arms out. Sometimes bigger, more obvious things like bringing in Carlos Lee and signing Ben Sheets. Hang in there. The sun will shine upon Miller Park again.

 

SteveV http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/glasses.gif

[madtownbrew]

I can't imagine what Attanasio is thinking right now? It sounds like he gets emotionally charged for each game like us die-hards on this message board. I can't imagine he is liking what he saw this weekend. If this continues through this road trip, I have a feeling there is going to be a rather unhappy new owner.

[joepepsi]

So far, pitching hasn't been the problem. The pen is going to blow a few games every year. Entering today's game, team ERA was 2.87. That's great.

 

It's the hitting that positively stinks. 232/315/387 is going to lose 125 games. I'm tempted to say it can't stay that bad, but given the performance last year, it very well could.

 

Worst part is, with offense this bad they can't afford to keep playing Hardy. They'll have to find some piece of crap short timer that can hit .250, just to give the offense a "boost".

 

The last 3 games have been pathetic......it's the kind of bumbling play that makes them look ill prepared. That's a look that does get managers fired. Even Ned Yost.

[UeckerAddict]

Wrong. If Miller loads the bases, a fielder's choice and a sac fly would be enough to tie the game. Heck, two groundouts would get the job done, and groundouts appear to be a specialty of this team.

 

YES. Groundouts are a specialty of this team. Overbay, Lee, and Miller are not fast (Lee is marginal). Groundballs plus lack of speed equals double play.

[JohnBriggs12]

It wouldn't be so bad, but the three hottest hitters at AAA are Kevin Orie, Trent Durrington, and Steve Scarborough and not Weeks, Fielder or Hart.

[ThePurpleStorm]

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Well boys....

 

I am just about done with this team. I can't take it anymore. I am have never such a bunch of ineptitude. Yost has to go. Melvin hasn't fielded this bad a team. Something is wrong with the way these guys are preparing. Yost needs to be the guy to go.

 

There is no reason this team should suck this bad.

 

I might have to make a conscious effort to jump off this bandwagon and get a new hobby because this is pointless with this crew.

 

With Prince and Rickie each hitting about .200 in Nashville, god only knows when the sun will shine on this team again. For now, my condolences to Mark Attanasio who just wasted his money on a bunch of slugs.

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I'm almost to that point. You'd have to think that if are "great" prospects were so great, they'd be doing alot better than hitting .200. This is just terrible. If these guys don't pan out like we've been told they will for years, this franchise is totally screwed.

[UeckerAddict]

I might have to make a conscious effort to jump off this bandwagon and get a new hobby because this is pointless with this crew.

 

I hate to beat a dead horse, but I have never been part of any Brewer bandwagon (I live in Wisconsin and see Cubs fans all over the place). I've loved this team as an individual (one who got made fun of for liking them while growing up). If it's the winning "bandwagon" people want, go to the Packer fan page. There will be plenty of room on a "bandwagon" when the Crew starts winning. But us diehards will have the best seats because we built it.

[clancyphile]

And at 75%, they're still staying in most of these games.

 

The real problem is that flu bug that has swept through, and a bit of bad luck. It's going to put the Crew in the hole, but it ain't the lost cause 2002 became yet.

[strawbossisevil]

I have two words for you Bruce, about the "bad part of the order", SMALL SAMPLE.

 

You talk about them being unable to get a hit, because they are hitting .200 or less after 13 games. J.D. Drew was hitting below .200 to start the game off, does that mean you can't count on him for a hit either? Please.

 

These are major league players who go through ups and downs. Plus you seem to automatically assume that Miller would get a hit, which would happen only 1/3 of the time (based on his current stats). He is just as likely to have hit into a double play which would have killed any rally.

 

Coaches often "play by the book" because that has proven affective in countless circumstances before this one.

 

Granted, I do agree that you would not bunt in this circumstance if you had Carlos Lee up. But based on who we had batting, (a carrer .250 hitter w/ 0 power) it made a lot of sense. That's my $.02.

[ThePurpleStorm]

In years past, when we sucked so terrible, nothing was really ever done. Is it going to be the same way this year? When the Brewers play more and more like the team they truly are, is management going to sit back and do nothing? I agree with that thread about putting the team on notice. Some action needs to be taken. We put up with that crap during the past 12 years. I hope now that we have a new owner, something will actually be done.

[crichar3]

I haven't bailed on this team over the past 12 years, so I don't know why I would do so now. I've loved this team since they were pasted 12-0 by CA in April 1970, so I am not walking away now. Hell, I don't expect to walk away as long as they continue to play baseball in MKE -- even if it is losing baseball.

 

Yeah, today's loss was kick-me-in-the-nads bad. But we go on from here. There will be better days.

[cooprules]

There were so many reasons to hate this game, I don't even want to talk about it.

 

I, along with Scoop, am just plain getting sick of this. Me and a bud at work were listening to the game, via headphones, and another coworker kept asking what the score was. The whole time he kept saying, "Don't worry, they'll lose." I've heard this from so many people the last few years it's sickening. And then, when they lose, they just start laughing.

 

Anyone remember "Revenge of the Nerds" when the jocks destroyed the house and the "nerds" finally realize that they're "nerds". Until that point, they went blindly through life not realizing how "nerdy" they were.

 

That's about the point I'm at right now. The Brewers have been losers for the last 12 years but I've followed them blindly, not caring what other people have said.

 

Well, today's the day. I've realized that we're losers and we may well be losers forever.

 

If only the huge guys from Lamda Lamda Lamda could help protect me.

[Bruce Ciskie]

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I have two words for you Bruce, about the "bad part of the order", SMALL SAMPLE.

 

You talk about them being unable to get a hit, because they are hitting .200 or less after 13 games. J.D. Drew was hitting below .200 to start the game off, does that mean you can't count on him for a hit either? Please.

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You're comparing J.D. Drew to Jeff Cirillo, Chris Magruder, and JJ Hardy? Puh-leez.

 

Drew has proven himself at the major league level. Cirillo hasn't hit outside of Coors Field this century. Magruder and Hardy haven't shown any hitting prowess at the major-league level. The odds of two of those three reaching base to give this team a chance to tie the game were so ridiculously slim that they aren't worth calculating.

[Shampoo4U]

Everything on this board is a small sample. Well here is a big sample for everybody-- the Brewers have stunk for years and will continue to stink over and over. There.

I am happy someone else also pointed out that the "stars" in the minors that should be playing in the majors according to some seem to be having trouble with minor pitching. General rule is that you don't get better by seeing major league pitching if you can't hit minor pitching.

? Will your small sample of this year actually be a sample when May 12th rolls around and the Brewers will again be trolling the basement of the NL Central and one of the 3 worst teams in the NL.

Enough of your Brewers fantasyland. Time to smell the coffee and see what the Brewers for what they are really worth.

[UeckerAddict]

How about we put the fans on notice. The Brewers always have had the handicap of not having that Fenway, Wrigley, or Yankees vibe behind them; but now it's getting pathetic. Didn't Attanasio say he would make the commitment if fans showed that they would too? With even the people who are supposedly the Biggest Brewer fans (people on this sight) giving up on them; they might as well give up too. It seems that you can fit in one section at Miller Park, the fans who still want to see the Crew. I'M ONE OF THEM.

 

The Brewer's filled their obligation to me a number of years ago when they agreed to stay in Milwaukee. They also agreed to give me 162 games to watch/listen to each year. Including 81 in my own backyard.

 

So here's my notice to them. Stay right here. I'll still watch you.

Even at 0-162.

[homer]

It's April 19th - not July 19th. I'm not giving up on this team. Call me a glutton for punishment, but I can handle the disappointment. Was I PO'd today? Yeah, but I'm not going to kick my dog over it and I'm certainly not going to 'quit' rooting for the Brewers. Bring on Houston, I say.

[Bruce Ciskie]

BTW...count me in with those not giving up on this team. I've been around too long and worn out too many hats to give up now.

[UeckerAddict]

Bruce, You haven't responded to any of my 3 or 4 posts about the bunting situation, so I guess I'll stop posting them.

 

I will point out, though, that your original comment:

 

Bunting when down by two? Who's the moron that thought of that?

 

It kind of gets contradicted later when you admit that most managers would agree with bunting,

[rwa12]

Agree with Homer...a little too early to give up hope. They should have won today, but that happens...oh well. I am looking forward to some weaker competition eventually, not looking to good for the near future

[batman]

I picked the Dodgers to win the World Series, and I'm going to be right.

 

That's all I got.

 

Keep your chins up,

~Bill

[endaround]

The bunt was a bad idea. You need a hit. If Miller gets it, you then can have Cirllo bunt for the one run game. Or maybe Lee makes it to third. Even if Miller gets the bunt down, the play is to walk Cirillo and wait for a DP ground ball.

[Bruce Ciskie]

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Bruce, You haven't responded to any of my 3 or 4 posts about the bunting situation, so I guess I'll stop posting them.

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I thought I'd responded sufficiently to all the arguments I saw with the stuff I posted, even if it wasn't directed at what you were saying.

 

As far as contradicting myself...that's hardly the crux of my argument (the moron part...I just needed to take a shot at Ned to start it all off http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif ), but if you want to split hairs, I'll gladly take that part back and simply say that I completely disagree with the strategy that was employed in that situation.