Daily Brew 8/9

Legendary manager Gene Mauch passed away last night. Mauch managed four teams to a combined 1,901 wins, 11th most all time, but Mauch will probably be most remembered for his losses. The monumental collapse his Phillies had in 1964, the ALCS loss to the Red Sox in 1986 after Dave Henderson's infamous homer off Donny Moore, and of course the collapse in 1982 when leading the series 2-0, the Brewers take the next 3 to advance to the World Series. His 3,938 games coached are sixth most in major league history, but unfortunately Mauch will always be remembered as a guy who never won the big games.

The Brewers dropped a big one last night to the Cardinals, what d'ya know Victor Santos was on the mound. Was he the pitcher of record, no, but again when he takes the mound the team seems to lose. Am I the only one seeing this? The bullpen failed them for the first time in a while by giving up 4 runs in 2 innings allowing the Cardinals to pick up the 8-4 win. Doug Davis takes the mound tonight, he'll be opposed by Anthony Reyes who is making his major league debut.

The Cubs got shelled by the Reds, the freaking Reds, 9-0. Get on the phone, call Kerry Wood, and tell him to shut 'er down, it's over. The Cubs also announced that they traded Mike Remlinger to the Red Sox for a minor leaguer.

In news I neglected to touch on upon my return from vacation, the Bucks announced over the weekend that they have resigned Toni Kukoc for one more year. The move however, as Larry Harris officially announced today, means they cannot resign Zaza Pachulia, who has since joined the Hawks. I am absolutely ecstatic that Special K is back, he is going to do wonders with Andrew Bogut and help him out immensely. The team also made the signing of Bobby Simmons official, and has said they will do the same with Redd and Gadzuric later in the week. I'm telling you, this team could win 45+ games. Look at the projected rotation:

C Bogut B Gadzuric, Santiago (FA, probably gone)
F Smith B Kukoc, Fizer (FA, may resign)
F Simmons B Mason, Ersan Ilyasova (2nd round pick,might play overseas)
G Redd B Welsch, Gaines
G Ford B Williams, Strickland (FA, probably gone), Goldwire (FA maybe back)

I'm guessing Simmons will start ahead of Mason and Bogut ahead of Gadzuric as both guys are energy guys better suited to come off the bench and add a spark. There have been talks of a Ford, Redd, Mason, Simmons and Bogut lineup much like the Suns use, but if used at all, it will be used for in game situations. The talent is there, and they are relatively deep with three starters from a year ago (Williams, Mason, Gadzuric) coming off the bench along with Kukoc.

N'ail Diggs twisted his knee at practive yesterday and will reportedly miss 3-6 weeks. While a big blow, it is better than the early speculation that he could be lost for the season. Look for Ray Thompson to start on the strong side once Diggs returns giving the Packers are linebacking corp or Diggs, Barnett and Thompson, all quick athletic guys.

One thing I definitely want to see is the "Four Horsemen Super Heel" group angle played on the upcoming episode of the OC. Don't know what I'm talking about? Ask Gaddis or check out the comments on Nate's 8/4/05 of the day post. More to come later...

Madden '06 today. I'm going to pick it up during lunch in about an hour. Hopefully I make it back to work today.

Pancakes bitches.