Results tagged ‘ Gabe Gross ’

Yesterday’s Frustrations… Today’s Joys

  • Wintry weather gone… nice weather on the way (and my sump pump has not run in hours).
  • I just checked the scheduled and the Milwaukee Bucks only have two games left on FSN Wisconsin, with one tomorrow on a Brewers’ day off and the other Wednesday when the Brewers play St. Louis. I can deal with one more night of Bucks over Brewers. I realized how fortunate I am to have the ability to see 145+ games, so I will deal with one more missed game.
  • Ned Yost. Well, Gabe Kapler sure looked good yesterday, and it sounds like Ned may pull the trigger on flipping Braun and Fielder in the lineup. A step in the right direction… until Gabe Gross is back starting today.
  • Coverage of the Red Sox-Yankees, coverage of Tiger Woods, new Brewers fans, and Favre talk will never stop… I guess I can try to tune these things out!

Also, I am not ready to make a public apology for my continued criticism and doubts of Ben Sheets. He is off to a great start… but pitch all season and into October and then I may ease up on my opinion. I hope he keeps it up, but can not help being pessimistic… sorry, Ben!

Frustrated By…

  • The wintry weather we are getting here in Wisconsin… after a ton of rain which has caused my sump pump to run every 45 seconds. How about 65 and sunny?
  • The Milwaukee Bucks being on instead of the Brewers (at least up here in the Fox Valley). Granted, the Bucks have saved me from seeing Eric Gagne blow his second save, and the Mets beat the Crew last night, but I would have rather seen those two games than any NBA game.
  • Ned Yost. Where do I start? Gabe Gross over Gabe Kapler… keeping Hardy stuck in front of the pitcher, preventing him from seeing many good pitches… leaving the lineup with a struggling Fielder hitting third and a struggling Braun fourth, rather than flipping them back to last season. Yost was too quick to pull the trigger last year and is too slow on that trigger this year.
  • Coverage of the Yankees-Red Sox series. Few outside of the upper east coast care about the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, yet it is jammed down our throat every time the match up happens.
  • Coverage of Tiger Woods While always amazing to see, Tiger is struggling, many others are having great rounds, but we
    are stuck with a 2:1 “Tiger to the rest of the field” ratio of highlights
    on ESPN.
  • New Brewers fans. Defined as those who ragged on the Brewers (and me for sticking with them) for years, because of their less than desirable play, but are now “die-hards” with a more competitive team on the field. I can already feel them jumping off the bandwagon after a three game losing streak. To quote Mel Gibson in Ransom, “Give me back my team!”
  • The non stop, “Will Brett come back?” conversations. At work, on the radio, at the grocery store… c’mon people! Maybe he will, but he probably won’t, so how about we move on instead of staying in a state of denial?

A Few Observations and Opinions

  1. There is no question Dave Bush pitched his way out of the rotation. If Ned and Doug do anything but move him to the bullpen or attempt to get him through waivers and to Nashville, they will be making a mistake. Villanueva and Parra have erned their spots and should not be “punished” because they have options.
  2. The wrong Gabe is playing center field. Kapler, not Gross, should maintain a hold on that position until Tony Gwynn is healthy, or Mike Cameron comes off of suspension. I have never understood Ned’s decision to usually play players based on matchup and not based on who is hot.
  3. Although I am getting less patient with each appearance, I still think Eric Gagne deserves a chance to right the ship. It will not take much for me to change that opinion and believe the reigns should be given to David Riske instead.
  4. Jason Kendall will prove to be the best acquisition by the Brewers during the last offseason, but more for his catching than his hitting. He is off to a tremendous start at the plate, but behind it he is leading the pitching staff to a handful of outstanding starts. If he can get the bullpen under control, the Brewers’ pitching staff will be in tremendous shape as the year progresses and we will have him to thank.
  5. The Milwaukee Bucks need to go away. I will complain every season when I am unable to watch Brewers games because they have been preempted by a terrible Bucks team. Rather than see the Brewers play the Mets tomorrow night, I will be stuck with Bucks-Celtics. What a waste!
  6. People who say it stinks that Johan Santana is in the National League because the Brewers will play him more need to realize they will play him about the same as previous seasons. The Brewers play the Mets six times. The Brewers play the Twins six times. We should just be fortunate he did not go to another NL Central team.

Back From a Weekend Away

I spent the weekend with the Brewers and was away from a computer (for the most part) until today. I figured that, rather than posting something about each game, I would just make some bullet pointed observations from the weekend that was. I will be back in the saddle for daily posts all week and over the weekend.

  • What a great problem the Brewers have with Gabe Kapler and Tony Gwynn each getting off to such great starts. When Gwynn is healthy, the problem will be between those two, but then Mike Cameron will return and it will be a problem between three… and don’t foget about Gabe Gross.
  • How about the other problem of having one too many starters when Yovani Gallardo returns in a week or so? After one start apiece, it appears as though Dave Bush may be the odd man out. Hopefully Bushy recovers from his rough outing and makes Ned’s
    decision more difficult on Wednesday night.

  • What did i say about Jason Kendall and his eye surgery? Looks like he’s seeing the ball much better this season than any of the last couple. his mid .400 average will not continue, but it is a good sign that he will be better offensively than expected.
  • Is it just me, or are the Brewers running a lot more than last year? I love having a running
    game, and with their combined speed and pop, it will be a huge factor in winning the division.
  • Not to jinx anything, but Ben “Soft” Sheets has been anything but soft. His stuff has been
    just plain nasty. According to ESPN.com’s “Best Games”, he owns two of the top five, and according to their “Cy Predictor” he is ranked third.
  • Miller Park trails only Wrigley Field and Nationals Park in attendance percentage

    (attendance divided by capacity) and is sixth in average attendance. What a great start in those
    categories, too!

  • As far as Opening Day, it was my last attended in person. I can drink with the best of ‘em, but at least I am not as obnoxious as the vast majority of the people in
    attendance Friday. I am there for the baseball, they are there for the drinking… it is just not a good mix for me. Sunday’s game was so much more relaxing and fun without the added stress of feeling like I was going to either get puked non, or get hit in the head with a thrown bottle.

  • One cool thing from Friday’s opener was getting my picture taken with Mark Attanaaio and Gorman Thomas (see below). Milwaukee is very lucky to have Mark owning the team. He was a classy guy in person and has run the team with that class and passion in mind. Gorman was equally as nice. It is great to have a legend like that still hanging around with the club at the ballpark. Guys like that make it easy to cheer for the Brewers.
Me (looking the wrong way) and Mark Attanasio


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Gorman Thomas and Me

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