We're Back, Bitches!

After an exhausting west coast journey examining 'talented' baseball teams, contributors BCB, Condescendy, $lash, and E are back to drop some knowledge on the rest of you. Much like Marco Polo's journeys to Asia, we come bearing many intellectual and cultural gifts from far off lands, including how to win baseball game, how to hit with runners in scoring position (not just for average or power), and how to properly prepare a $6 stadium nacho dish - a west coast delicacy. You may ask why our recent findings failed the Brew City Nine this afternoon. Our answer? We were on the plane and Skipper Yost wouldn't field our calls, bitch. We are left with some burning cultural questions, most importantly: why the fuck don't more milwaukee women have fake breasts? And . . . if four dudes from Milwaukee show up during the sixth inning of your local team's baseball game, and they are not the last fans to arrive at said game, why the fuck do you have a baseball team?

It appears as though our foe to the south is struggling to win games every bit as much as the local team. This is most assuredly good news, as the Brewers appear prime for a complete bullpen meltdown culminating in a firesale of offensive depth in hopes of receiving competent bullpen arms in return. Likely near the valley of the seasons first slump and still sporting a 5.5 game lead, things are looking up for the Brewers. But don't look now, the Pirates, winners of 3 of 5 and favorite team of baseball expert John Kruk, are hot on the division trail.

On an unrelated note, the URL IngleMartinRules.blogspot.com appears to be available. Those interested in contributing to such a forum are encouraged to respond in the comments of this post.

It begins

Elmer Dessens was sent to the DL today. His replacement on the 25 man roster? Nashville 3B Ryan Braun.

Brewers at Dodgers May 21 - 23

Monday May 21, J. Suppan vs. B. Tomko
Tuesday May 22, B. Sheets vs. R. Wolf
Wednesday May 23, C. Capuano vs. B. Penny

After a long absence from the blog, I will again begin my contributions (at least until friday). Both the Brewers and Dodgers come into the series scuffling a little bit. The pitching matchups again certainly favor the Brewers, but the Dodgers baserunning game could give the poor defensive Brewers catchers fits.

Brewers vs. Twins 5/18-5/20

Friday, May 18, 7:05 PM - Chris Capuano vs. Boof Bonser
Saturday, May 19, 6:05 PM- Dave Buu vs. Scott Baker
Sunday, May 20, 1:05 PM - Claudio Vargas vs. Ramon Ortiz

Brewers @ Phillies, May 14-17

• Monday, 6:05 CT: Dave Bush vs. Jamie Moyer
  
  
• Tuesday, 6:05 CT: Claudio Vargas vs. Adam Eaton
  
  
• Wednesday, 6:05 CT: Jeff Suppan vs. Cole Hamels
  
  
• Thursday, 2:05 CT: Ben Sheets vs. Freddy Garcia

Griffey strikes back!

This is too funny:

Link

I also love his quote after yesterday's typical meltdown: "We are in baseball hell."

The Future Mrs. Bru

Mike Tyson

Special Thanks to The Moy.

Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies

Friday May 11th, Dick Hill (Cubs) vs. Cole Hamels
Saturday May 12th, Angel Guzman vs. Fred Garcia
Sunday May 13th, Ted Theodore Lilly vs. Jon Lieber

Expect the Phillies to win 2 out of 3 with the superior offense and a few Cubs pitchers whose ERAs are due to rise.

Milwaukee Brewers at New York Mets

Friday May 11, 6:10 PM - Cy Suppan v. Jorge Sosa
Saturday May 12, 12:10 PM - Ben Sheets v. Mike Pelfrey
Sunday, May 13, 12:10 PM- Chris Capuano v. Oliver Perez

The pitching matchups appear to be in our favor, but the Mets pitching staff has surprised this season, posting an MLB best 2.90 ERA (due mostly to their top 4 relievers allowing just 3 earned runs in 58 innings this year). Thank goodness the Brewers won't be facing Maine or Glavine, easily the Mets 2 best starters this season. The Mets have the best lineup in the NL - 174 runs scored, .356 team OBP, and Jose "I'm so much faster than every major leaguer it's not even funny" Reyes (.352 /.423 /.559, 19 SBs). If Delgado ever heats up to a shell of his former self, they have 4 legitimate 30+ HR guys in the middle of their lineup with Beltran, Delgado, Wright, and Alou (22 HR in 345 AB last season). Let's hope Cy Suppan and the Crew can somehow escape Shea with 2 of 3.

Most overrated players in baseball

I'm supposed to be studying, so obviously I'm spending as much time reading about baseball as I am reading about cost accounting. Plus also, it's an off day and there's no Brewers game to talk about, just our Pirates. So . . . who do you feel are the most overrated players in baseball? The reason I ask is because for about the fourth time today, somebody referred to Ervin Santana as though he's supposed to be some kind of uber-valuable wonderkind of a pitcher, yet he's had one year with an ERA+ over 100, and it was only 102. He reeks of league average and nothing more. Off the cuff, here are a few others I find overrated:
Carlos Lee
Ichiro
Miguel Tejada (now)
Rocco Baldelli
Nick Markakis
Carl Crawford
Carlos Zambrano
Chris Young
Josh Beckett
Mike Mussina (now)
Barry Zito
Brad Penny
Chien Ming-Wang

Obviously, I've omitted the traditional Eckstein and Erstad type players from the conversation and tried to find players undeserving of their relatively lofty 'big name' status. Of those listed, I find Baldelli the most overrated ofensive player and Santana the most overrated pitcher. Your thoughts?

Can Clemens Really Save the Yankees' Sinking Ship?

It's an honest question, because, on the one hand, if anyone can still pitch solidly at the age of 44, it's Jesse Orosco Clemens. He had a 42.1 VORP in a partial season in the Juice Box last year. He's kept himself in good shape throughout his career, sustaining a solid workout regimen (and perhaps a few 'roids?), and it's paid off as he's reached and passed 40 years of age like it was 30.

On the other hand, will he really be the saviour the current media circle jerk is making him out to be? He hasn't pitched in the AL East since 2003, and that year he was good, but not dominant (112 adjusted ERA -- not close to being on the leaderboard). And he was "only" 40 that year.

Secondly, the Yankees can't count on him to be a workhorse innings-wise. In his nonetheless-very-impressive 2006 (half) season, the Rocket only went 7 innings in 4 of his 19 starts. He had the same number of 5-inning starts in which he threw over 100 pitches (including a 118-pitch, 5-inning affair against -- unbelievably -- the Cubs). After hovering around 3.9 P/PA from 1997 (with the Blue Jays) to 2005, Clemens was at 4.05 P/PA last year. So it looks like Joe Torre will still need to exercise his adept skill of abusing his bullpen when the Rocket starts.

You can pretty much bet that Clemens won't pitch poorly, but I'll bet he won't make a huge difference in righting the Yankees' sinking ship. He's 44, still needs to get warmed up, and this year he won't be facing the Cubs or Pirates (the two lowest run-scoring teams in the NL in '06), as he did a combined 5 times last season.

Crean to Leave Marquette, Sign with TMJ

http://www.todaystmj4.com/sports/7286506.html


Heartbreaking loss for the Golden Eagles. I wish him the best.

Washington Nationals Series, May 7-9

Monday, May 7: Matt Chico vs. Chris Capuano 7:05
Tuesday, May 8: Jason Simontacci vs. Dave Bush 7:05
Wednesday, May 9: Jason Bergmann vs. Claudio Vargas 12:05

Washington's three pitchers were listed as M. Chico, J. Simontacci, and J. Bergmann. I had to look up two of their three first names. Who are these fuckin guys? Wins in 2 out of 3 is the bare minimum acceptable here. A few of us are planning on going to the game Wednesday afternoon if anybody else is interested.

The Right Stuff

Link

This is a link to an interesting list that ranks the top 9 NL right fielders between the ages of 23-28. I'm not sure who has seen this already but I was looking to get your thoughts on it. Mr. Hart is currently listed at #6.

Brewers vs. Butt Pirates May 3rd-6th.

Thu, May 3
7:05 pm
D. Bush vs. T. Gorzelanny

Fri, May 4
7:05 pm
C. Vargas vs. P. Maholm

Sat, May 5
6:05 pm
J. Suppan vs. Z. Duke

Sun, May 6
1:05 pm
B. Sheets vs. T. Armas

Nothing like a 4-game series against the Pirates to set a team into a tailspin, right? This series is going to be interesting. John Kruk has said that the Pirate will be in first place by the end of May. Even worse, Steve Phillips has said that Adam LaRoche is a force to be reckoned with because Chipper Jones taught him how to win. I'm a bit worried about the Pirates. You can forget about their 12-14 record and even worse -28 run differential. The Pirates have winners on the team. However, Fernando Vina has mentioned that Jeff Suppan, Ben Sheets and the young Brewers players are winners now, too. I don't know who's going to win the series, but I'm damn sure there's going to be some good baseball here.