Who's your scapegoat?

[Bucky Rules]

I think if the division plays the season over again tomorrow (with the same organizational rosters) that the Brewers would win it comfortably. Maybe that's me seeing things thru my Brew-goggles, but I believe that.

Of course, I could be underestimating the impact of a really bad defense. That's the one area that I can't get a grasp on. Is the defense bad enough to outweigh my perceived advantage over the rest of the division in the other categories? I've always pooh-poohed the importance of a good defense (relative to good hitting/pitching). This team causes me to question whether I've underestimated that aspect.

[Ennder]

Capuano has pitched as well or better this year than either of the prior two

 

He actually was much better in 2006 than in 2007 and he was a little better in 2007 than in 2005... yes he was better in 2007 than 2005, ERA is a horrible stat for judging pitchers.

 

Anyway one silver lining to add here, our defense improved in the last month from a range standpoint. Our plus/minus actually moved from somewhere around -53 to -48 over the last month of the season which is a small positive. Pretty sure we made more errors that last month though. Maybe a healthy Weeks and a more confident Hall combined with Braun improving a tad will turn us into a slightly below average defense instead of one of the worst in the leagues.

[Fatter than Joey]

I've always pooh-poohed the importance of a good defense (relative to good hitting/pitching).

 

You can't have "good pitching" w/o good defense -- what I mean, is that guys like Cappy and Suppan are going to induce GBs, and are never going to strike out a lot of guys -- they are pretty reliant on good defense to produce good results.

[lukevan]

Due to a post by logan, my scapegoat is now Jose Capellan.

[NeedMoreFans]

The 6th inning. Think how often the Brewers had a nice lead and the starter was on cruise control until the 6th inning. Bush, Vargas, Capuano...none of them could get through 6. The inability for the starting pitching to get past the 6th led to an increased use of the bullpen, which then suffered from over use.

 

I also blame the offense that scored a ton of runs in the first inning, then failed to score the rest of the game. How many games did the Brewers score more than 2 runs (even 3 for that matter), and didn't score another run for the rest of the game, and even struggled to get base runners?

 

Also, after Louis's post...The Young and the Restless.

[hawing]

I think I wondered aloud (virtually, at least) back when the Y/R appearance was announced whether it might lead to trouble on the field. Hmph.

[Time for a Miller]

Most people want to blame Yost for some reason. Good manager that man (I would say great, but a manager can never be great, no manager ever took a team to the world series, they just go along for the ride) and one of the least condenscending people in the game. Youtube some other press conferences.

 

Starting pitching is mostly to blame with Caupuano being the main culprit. After an Allstar first half last year he did not preform to expectations. I would also like to lay some blame on Estrada's poor defense and horrendous OBP. Someone with that awful of numbers should at least work the count. That is the one area where I would critisize Yost. Batting Estrada so high in the order for so long during the season. All that "mis-management" of the bull pen is complete and utter hogwash in my opinion. I look forward to many more years of Yost's tolerance of the same questions night after night and hope some of the fans who have jumped on the popular anti-Yost bandwagon to consider the nice job he did this year with a youthful team.

 

Kudos to Attanasio and Doug Melvin recognizing a managing talent and choosing to stick with him.

 

Don't hate Yost because it's trendy, parachute pants and the macarana were also trendy at one point.

[TooLiveBrew]

Don't hate Yost because it's trendy, parachute pants and the macarana were also trendy at one point.

 

I dislike Yost for legitimate reasons - namely his terrible in-game decision making (read: creating favorable matchups). Don't tell me what I think, please.

 

To highlight Capuano as the scapegoat is off-base, and if you go back and read some on page 4, you can see what was discussed, namely Ennder's post (#76).

[DougJones43]

Don't hate Yost because it's trendy, parachute pants and the macarana were also trendy at one point.

 

I dislike Yost for legitimate reasons - namely his terrible in-game decision making (read: creating favorable matchups).

Reasoning based on statistical analysis obviously doesn't carry nearly as much merit as totally witty 90's pop-culture references. You need to step up your game if you expect to be taken seriously, TLB.

[Fatter than Joey]

Parachute pants were in the 80s. I think I just pwned someone.

[DougJones43]

Parachute pants were in the 80s.

 

I must have been thinking of "Hammer" pants.

 

http://files.myopera.com/velmu/blog/MCHammer.jpg

[TooLiveBrew]

You need to step up your game if you expect to be taken seriously, TLB.

 

http://www.ospreydesign.com/foreword/archives/my-bad.jpg

 

Parachute pants were in the 80s. I think I just pwned someone.

 

http://mishilo.image.pbase.com/u13/cmnoa/upload/42525711.pwned.jpg

[windiv07]

Most people want to blame Yost for some reason. ...

Don't hate Yost because it's trendy, parachute pants and the macarana were also trendy at one point.

Most Yost huggers blame a young roster (which to me is like blaming a brand new high-performance car, not the driver, for spinning out of control and causing an accident).

[sheetswannabe]

Away games, and the bullpen.

[Postseason2006]

Melvin. Our bullpen stunk last year and he did NOTHING to fix it. The starters didn't help but last year's BP ERA and pitching was atrocious. Then he traded 3 younger pitchers for a guy that had a shot arm.

[brewers4eric]

The Chicago Cubs are my scapegoat, because they won more games than the Brewers. Plus, they are an easy target.

[logan82]

Most Yost huggers blame a young roster (which to me is like blaming a brand new high-performance car, not the driver, for spinning out of control and causing an accident).

I am very dissapointed you stooped to his level and name calling. I don't believe most people who support Yost could blame the youth. They were what kept the team going.

[Brawndo the Thirst Mutilat]

I've been thinking about this a lot today, and while I'm no Yost fan, if I had to pick a scapegoat, I'd cheat and go with "all the vets" as a group.

 

Honestly, with the exception of Shouse, was there a single veteran player that exceeded reasonable expectations based on his established performance level this year? I'm not sure how many I would be willing to say even met reasonable expectations.

 

It sure was fun watching the kids this year though. They're even better than I thought, and that's saying a lot. If I hear/read one more lazy or dimwitted mainstream sportswriter chalk the Brewers' failure to win the division up to a "lack of experience..."