Results tagged ‘ Tony Gwynn ’
A Few Observations and Opinions
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
- 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.
3 Games, 1 Post
Yesterday’s Game – The Brewers lost their first game yesterday after a very rocky outing from Dave Bush. Games like yesterday’s make me hope Yovani Gallardo is able to get back in the rotation quickly. I did not expect the Brewers to sweep the series. I did not even expect them to win two of the three games. So a loss is not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. One of the Brewers’ weak points last season, and possibly the main reason they missed the playoffs, was their abysmal record on the road. Overall, they had a .395 winning percentage on the road, whereas this year it is already .666! Since I was was only able to hear a portion of the game, I do not have much more to add, other than how much I loved hearing Rickie Weeks barrel over Geovany Soto to score and allow Tony Gwynn to get home, too. I love the hard nosed attitude it seems this team has!
(Picture from JSOnline.com)
Today’s Game – We are heading down to Miller Park for today’s Home Opener against the San Francisco Giants. It is always an electric atmosphere from start to finish on Opening Day. For many, it is great to finally see their team at home. For others, it is a reason to get hammered and be obnoxious. Call me prude, but I fall into the first category. I just want to see baseball live and in person because I love the game and I love the Brewers. I actually get annoyed by the drunkards pretty quickly, so hopefully there are not any sitting around me today. Carlos Villanueva gets the start against an awful Giants squad. Hopefully they grab the opener and cruise to a sweep, or take at least two of the three games.
Sunday’s Game – I will also be at the game on Sunday, which looks to be a great pitchers duel between Ben Sheets and Barry Zito. Fortunately, Zito has looked terrible all spring and during his first start and Sheets has looked pretty good. If that trend continues, it may not be much of a pitching dual at all. Also on Sunday, the Brewers will be giving away a Prince Fielder Bobblehead doll. It looks pretty cheesy, with Prince wearing a crown, but I never pass up the opportunity to get a free bobblehead.
See you at the games!!
Winning Ugly
After one game, there is very little that a fan can gather from the Brewers performance today. You could conclude that Ben Sheets is going to have a great season. You could conclude that Eric Gagne will be terrible. You could even say that Tony Gwynn may be the better option in center field even after Mike Cameron returns. However, you can not come to any of those conclusions because it is way too early. The one thing that I think we can take out of the game is that the Brewers will be gritty all season long and fight their way back each and every game. It was an ugly win, but at least it was a win…. and you know that every win against the Cubs is worth more than a win against any other opponent… especially at Wrigley Field.
I would personally like to thank Mother Nature for raining at all the right times for me today. Starting the game late allowed me to take a late lunch and see the first few innings. The second delay came right as lunch was ending and lasted until about 45 minutes before I was able to leave. I got home in time to see the rest of the game, from the seventh inning on. If Mother Nature had kept the rain away I would have probably only seen about 40 minutes of the game…. so thanks to her for that.
Tonight I will try to catch a glimpse of some of the other action going on around MLB with the MLB Extra Innings free preview. I am debating whether or not to purchase it for all of the games outside the Milwaukee market in order to keep tabs on everyone else, especially the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. I think the only holdup is the fact that I may switch from Time Warner Cable to U-Verse sometime this summer, once it is available in Oshkosh.
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