05/25/2004 - Brewers (Santos) vs. Dodgers (Ishii)

[MassBrew]

Watched this one in its entirety while listening (thank God!) to Ueck and JP.

 

What is up with Fox Sports Net and their ridiculous obsession with fan shots? I think the Buckethead Brigade is great, and you know what, in a 9-2 game extra reaction from the Brigade would be fine.

 

But Mr. Producers, you just can't be switching to shots of freakin' haircuts in between every pitch of a nailbiter!

 

Spivey's up late, here's the game situation in the eighth, because Gagne's on in the 9th. And on a multi-pitch battle, they're nearly not getting back to the pitch on time because that boob of a "fan reaction announcer" is blow-drying some kid's hair!

 

I'm this close to just returning to audio only -- I don't know how you guys deal with that whole TV package. Top to bottom, soup to nuts, it's awful, just awful.

[batman]

I'm this close to just returning to audio only -- I don't know how you guys deal with that whole TV package. Top to bottom, soup to nuts, it's awful, just awful.

 

I've gone back and forth, and sometimes I still just listen. The radio and TV don't matchup for us in Milwaukee, so that becomes almost impossible to endure. We have to weigh the enjoyment we get from Uecker and JP against the need to /see/ the game.

 

I guess it's just part of the larger suffering we endure as Brewers' fans.

 

And "soup to nuts" is fantastic... I'm going to have to use that http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif .

 

~Bill

[Gormans Gofer]

I finally get to watch a game from start to finish (on the Dodger's network) and it's one of the most frustrating in recent memory.

Why Jenks wasn't taking a pitch with the bases loaded, after 2 previous walks that inning, is truly a mystery to me. You KNEW he was going to swing, whether it was a strike or if it was 10 feet over his head on the way to the backstop.

That AB was absolutely brutal.

As the previous poster said, he is killing the team.

 

And I don't care what the reason was, I would not have let Bennett hit with the bases jammed.

Sometimes Nedley manages as if the team isn't expected to win, so it's okay to screw around, and boneheaded, illogical decisions will go unpenalized.

 

This one should have gone in the W column.

[batman]

Here's something else I gotta get off my chest...

 

I'm sure this comes from Bobby Cox, but why does Nedley refuse to *ever* use his second catcher as a pinch-hitter? One of the biggest reasons Trent Durrington made the team, at least if you believe Nedley, was because of his ability to fill in at every position *including catcher*. So in an emergency, he can spend a few innings behind the plate. Moreover, Keith Ginter is also capable of catching in an emergency. That means we have four catchers, two of whom are kinda like third string quarterbacks... you wouldn't want to have to use them, but they're there if you need them.

 

So then, what is the risk of using Moeller off the bench as a pinch-hitter in games that Bennett catches? How many times have even one of our catchers been hurt this year? Zero. And I can't remember it happening last year, either... although Eddie Perez might have had to leave a game because he caught a foul tip, but my memory is foggy and I can't think of a way to verify my hunch. It is probably a very miniscule risk, regardless, and it's not like we'd have to use Matt Kinney at catcher if the unthinkable happened.

 

Nedley doesn't need to do it all the time, or even that often, but he should at least consider the Moeller-for-Bennett move as part of his managerial repertoire. Chad isn't exactly smoking the ball, but he's head and shoulders above Bennett as a hitter. In a late inning, game-on-the-line situation, who would you rather have get an AB? Moeller or Bennett?

 

And taken a step further, why not use *any* pinch hitter in these situations? Bat Grieve for Bennett and then bring Moeller in to play defense. Give Kieschnick a shot. Let Billy Hall bat. Or Counsell. Or anyone but Gary Bennett. It's not exactly a revolutionary concept, but it seems beyond Nedley's grasp.

 

Thoughts?

~Bill

[AJAY]

I just got home from the game too. I can't say anything new that hasn't been posted here already. But since I feel like venting, I am going to go ahead and repeat what everyone else has already stated.

 

* Brady Clark had two hits, but they were both ground balls that were lucky to find holes. Since the first week of the season, I don't recall seeing Clark hit a single line drive hard somewhere. I am getting really sick of him getting so much playing time. Enough already. We badly need a bopper out there in rightfield.

 

* Ginter batting behind Clark? Absolutely ridiculous.

 

* Bennet's error completely messed up Santos. He completely lost his composure after that. Just plain awful.

 

* Jenkins was awful. Striking out with nobody out and the bases loaded set up the failure of the inning. I don't think he took a pitch despite the walks. In another at-bat, he swung at the first ball and grounded out weekly to second.

 

* Can anyone get a clutch hit? Runnners on base all night and only three pathetic runs from all that.

 

* Corey Hart has a PRETTY swing. That foul ball was just unbelievable. He got a standing ovation for that. That was so cool. The ball just jumped off his bat.

 

* Gagne's stuff looks even nastier in person than on TV.

 

* It's amazing how much catchers rush their throws when Podsednik is stealing. So many of those balls end up in centerfield.

 

* Overall, a very very frustrating game. Poor management by Yost, poor clutch hitting, and poor plate discipline from Jenkins. Podsednik is really slumping too.

 

* Hey Ned, feel free to pinch hit for Gary Bennet in a very important situation. You should have learned something after not pinch-hitting for Royce Clayton all of last season. Get a frickin' clue.

 

* Why is Trent Durrington even on this team? ***?

 

* Another loss once we reach two games above .500. This is getting very upsetting.

[DHonks]

as much as we want to blame Ned, I think we can all agree that this game was about poorly timed hits

[Vgmastr]

Another complaint about Yost's managing:

 

In the top of the 9th, why not bring Kolb in? What are we saving him for? Extra innings? At that point, with the score 4-3, and Gagne in the bottom of the inning, we absolutely need a scoreless inning, so why not bring in your best reliever? Wise gives up a run, and turned a tough task of 4-3 vs. Gagne into a darn near impossible task of 5-3 vs. Gagne.

[danzig6767]

I fear we will struggle badly all year vs lefties.Jenkins is brutal against them,Pods is a bit worse against them,and Overbay while doing fine so far vs lefties,still looks ugly at times facing them.Those 3 are the main cogs of our lineup,plus a lefty puts Grieve on the bench in favor of Brady ground ball Clark.

[mothershipconnection]

WHAT THE

 

WHY IS DURRINGTON HITTING WITH GRIEVE AND KIESCH ON THE BENCH?!?!

That AB tonight looked like me when I go to the batting cage, he looks avsolutely clueless and outmatched at the plate and seems to really get fooled easily by breaking balls.

[endaround]

It could be worse, Durrington got over 120 ABs for the Angels in 1999. He only looks to get about 80 for the Brewers. Yep, Durrington has made an apparence in 19 games already. Maybe its that career OBP of 237 that is irresitible.

[igor67]

What about the travesty of roster management sending Hart down? How many pitcher we got in that bullpen now? When we were trotting out 2 black holes a couple of prayers and Sheets the extra pitchers were fine. But why not send down Wise or Adams (preferably Wise) and let Hart stay up atleast long enough for tommorrow's game when you can start him and Clark giving Jenkins the day off.

[clancyphile]

I wanted the Brewers to go for Ishii... too bad they didn't go for him.

 

I think it would have been a good pickup.

[JohnBriggs12]

Having just read the posts on this game, I have to say I concur with just about every comment made.

 

Shelmark was right on the button. Did Jenkins have something put in his contract that forces Yost to bat him cleanup even against lefties with sweeping curveballs?

 

Am I wrong that Moeller/Bennett is no upgrade over Perez/Osik?

 

Now they have 13 man staff, leaving just 4 pinch hitters available including Kieschnick. Two of those four are Durrington and the backup catcher of the day. Help!

 

Obermueller inactivity meter now at 13 days. Maybe he could pinch hit.

[endaround]

I don't mind sending Hart down since Yost would be unlikely to give him enough playing time (see Hall, Bill). No reason to loose a year sitting on the bench letting skills decay. Howeve, Liefler or McGruder should be on the team. Clark is a nice reserve outfielder for defensive purposes, but he doesn't have the bat to get great amounts of playing time in the corners. Now that it appears that Ford isn't coming off the DL anytime soon, should he be moved to the 60 day DL to open up a spot on the 40 man? He probably won't be out quite that long, so it would cost the Brewers money to do so.

[homer]

Oh my God the Brewers suck!!!!!!!! Fire Yost!!!!

[pogokat]

bill---Bobby Cox definitely pinch hits with the catchers on occasion...eddie perz was brought in to make the final out in Randy Johnson's perfect game...

 

perhaps ned believes that a night off for the catchers is genuinely a night off

[endaround]

What confuses me about Yost and his catchers is when he had Bennett go 14 and then 9 the next afternoon. You would think that he would take Bennett as soon as the starting pitcher is gone.

[tomwopat]

i was at the game. gagne is wicked, simply wicked. does the gun at miller park go over 99? it displayed three pitches in a row that were clocked at 99 mph.

 

the 8-9-1 slots for us have simply been murder. durrington didn't exactly help, either. even with moeller catching, there's no way he's going to see a good pitch with two black holes hitting behind him.

 

jenkins last two at bats were embarassing.