NL Mid Season Awards

I am going to start this column by saying right off the bat, before you go any farther, read this column. It is by the man himself, Bill Simmons. He wrote his most recent column on awards for the American League since that is all he watches. Considering all I watch is the National League and have seen the Brewers, Cubs, Pirates, Astros, and Cardinals in person, I decided to throw out some NL awards. After you read the Sports Guy's column, you will see that I have used all of the same categories and have come up with NL awards for most of them. I was unable to think of anything for a few of them, and the last item was on its own, independent of league and it was just for Simmons to write, so I didn't even include it here. At any rate, without further ado:

The Brock Landers/Chest Rockwell Award for "Most Entertaining Subplot"

I have to say in the NL it is probably the continuing feud between Jose Guillen and Mike Scoscia, and the budding feud between Nationals manager Frank Robinson and the Angels manager. I know half of this is in the American League, but I just find it interesting that Guillen is still so upset with Scoscia that his new manager is now even upset with Scoscia. It’s great to see a manager stick up for his players like this, but I don’t understand Frank’s beef.

Part of what makes this feud so great is that at this point in the season, it isn’t too far out of the realm of possibility that these teams will be playing each other in October. Do I really think the Nationals are going to continue on this torrid pace and make it to the World Series? No, but it could happen. There would be nothing better than seeing the two managers go out to exchange line-up cards before game one and start a bench-clearing brawl. Can we put odds on this happening, by the way. Actually, scratch that, I forgot that Frank won’t take his card to Mike, so the point is moot, but it would be great entertainment.

The Doctor J Award for "Guy who should always be in the All-Star Game no matter what kind of season he's having."

After looking over the National League lineup, there really isn’t one person who stands out as someone who needs to be there every year and isn’t this year. Three guys who are out with injuries right now should be there every year, well two of them at least. Bonds and Nomar should be there every year they aren’t hurt and Gagne was getting to that point until his elbow finally blew up.

There are definitely guys who are headed in that direction though. Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Aramis Ramirez, Albert Pujols (very close), Scott Rolen, Andruw Jones (probably there already), and when you get down to it, that’s probably it. Other than those guys, there aren’t many young players who need to be all-stars every year to ensure the future of the game.

So for the purpose of this award, we are going to have to just say, “Amen” to what Simmons wrote.

The Shawn Bradley Award for "Most Damning Sign That Your Roto Team is Probably In Trouble This Season"

In the National League, there are really a few people who will have destroyed your team’s chances of winning the title. If you selected Carlos Beltran in the first two rounds, you’re probably not winning your league. .266, 9 HR, and only 4 SB was not what owner’s were expecting from the guy who became a post-season legend after two series.
If you took any Cubs other than Derek Lee and Carlos Zambrano. Everyone else, Prior, Wood, Patterson, Walker, and until recently, Ramirez have been underachieving. Heck, even Mr. 15 wins, Greg Maddux is struggling this season. Patterson is now in the minor leagues, and if you were excited about Prior’s return start against the White Sox and picked him up or put him back in your rotation, you probably want to dive head first off of your couch at this point.

The lesson as always, never trust the Cubs.

The Tony Saunders Memorial Award for "Best Homage to Rodney Dangerfield"

Since I can’t really think of anyone else, I have to go with Dontrelle Willis based on the following Dangerfield quote, “It’s lonely on the top when there’s no one on the bottom.” He is pitching so much better than anyone else in the NL right now, he kind of has to feel this way. Would he be pitching better if there were a few other pitchers going after 13 wins already?

Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens have probably had the best years so far by players not named Dontrelle, but they haven’t dominated like Willis in every game. If he had some people breathing down his neck for the Cy Young, he’d probably be pitching even better. He’s already proven he can pitch under pressure (see 2003 post season) so you know he’s up to it.

The James Baldwin Memorial Award for "Best Candidate For a Second-Half Collapse"

This goes to an entire team. Everyone say it with me, the Washington Nationals. It absolutely baffles me that this team is are 52-34 at this point in the season. This team was 67-94 last season in Montreal. They could have 54 wins by the all-star break! Not only that, but they are 24-8 in games decided by one run. 24-8! That’s incredible at this point in the season.

Now, nobody outside (and maybe inside) of Washington D.C. believes the Nationals are going to keep this up. Doesn’t everything end up deviating towards the mean during the season? A team can’t (at the current pace) go 48-16 in one runs games can it? I mean, Chad Cordero (who by the way is exactly one month younger than me) has a 1.17 ERA and has converted 31 of 34 save opportunities, but he has to flame out toward the end of the season right? The Braves always win the East, how can the former worst team in the Majors take over this division suddenly?

The team is getting a lot out of its pitching right now, and just enough out of its hitting. Everything that happens this season is just icing on the cake for all of the fans in Washington anyway, so it doesn’t really matter if they lose 15 of their next 23 games, people are still going to love them. I just don’t see them keeping up this pace all season.

The Robert Blake Award for "Manager Most Likely to Become the Next Robert Blake."

This is a tough choice for me. I easily would have decided on Frank Robinson due to his not even coming out of the dugout to give a line-up card to an opposing coach because he doesn’t like him, but after watching a few Marlins games and seeing some of the moves Jack McKeon has made, he gets the award hands down.

McKeon has (among other things) decided to let a pitcher hit in the Marlins half of an inning and then trot out a relief pitcher to start the next half and change pitchers in the middle of an at bat. The guy looks like is just content to sit in the dugout for an entire game and wait for the all-you-can-eat buffet in the clubhouse after the game is over.

He was the oldest coach to win a World Series and doesn’t really look like he does anything anymore. Whatever he decides to do in a game, regardless of situation, he does, and I think it’s because he doesn’t want to have to wait until the right time, because he might not remember the move, or once he gets off the bench, he doesn’t want to have to sit back down unless he’s done something. Case in point for this is the pitching changes on 2-0 counts.

Bobby Cox was close to snagging this one as well with the way he works umpires for ENTIRE games no matter what the score is or if his team is winning. He is relentless, but McKeon looks like Yoda waiting to get up enough energy to kick some serious tail if someone crosses him. Maybe that’s what he’s waiting for by just sitting there on the bench, not doing anything, a la Don Zimmer.

The Ralph Macchio in Entourage Award for "Most Jarring Cameo"

I have to go with the immortal Julio Franco on this one. Here I thought he died 4 years ago, but then I turn on the Cubs/ Braves game on Thursday, and who hits a three run homer off Prior? The same guy who I swear ESPN ran a memorial piece on. But no, he’s hitting .281 with 7 home runs and 28 RBI at the ripe old age of 46. At this point, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Cubs started Ryne Sandberg at second base next week.

The Freak Dance Award for "Goofiest Trend"

I honestly don’t know how much of a trend this is, or if any other teams have this, but it is goofy none the less. On Friday nights, the Milwaukee Brewers fans are treated to a 7th inning performance by the cheerleancers (cheerleader/dancers because I don’t really know what they’re called, but it’s not too far away from stripper, that all I do know) of the Milwaukee Bucks.

That’s right, during Take Me Out To The Ballgame and Roll Out The Barrel, there are about 20 scantily clad women dancing on top of the dugouts. I’m not saying I’m completely against this, but it is definitely a little jarring to see cheerleancers at a baseball game. Oh, and that’s all they do, just dance that inning and leave. Granted, these women do look better than the few caught on film in Major League, but still. Someone please let me know if this is happening at other parks.

The Brady Anderson Award for "Best Freddie Lynn Impersonation"

I am going to go with another homer pick here and say Rickie Weeks. I don’t know if this category is racially biased or not, but I am going to go with Weeks. He definitely looks like the coolest guy on the field, and is going to be a star, which is already evident. He plays the game with seemingly little effort, but is still excellent and will only get better. He always hustles, is showing pretty good pitch selection and patience for a young player, and seems to be an all around good guy.

If this has to be a white-guy, I am going to have to say J.J. Hardy then. Definitely number two on the Brewers in the coolest looking guy on the field contest. His hitting is improving and his defense is top notch.

Either way, it’s a Brewer.

The Mariah Carey Award for "Most Unexpected Career Resurgence"

Not to say the guy’s career was in a downturn, but nobody expected Pedro Martinez to be pitching this well for the Mets. He is 9-3 with a 2.80 ERA, 129 strikeouts, and already has twice as many complete games as last season with 2.

He is giving the Mets everything they hoped for and more. Like I said, he hadn’t exaclty disappeared, but I don’t think anyone expected him to be doing quite so well this season, the ace on a new team in a new league. Well done Pedro.

The Tom Cruise Needs to Be Taken Down With A Taser Award for "Most Startling Ongoing Story"

I agree completely with Bill Simmons on this award.

The Road House: The Musical Award for "Most Underreported Ongoing Story"

I guess I would have to go with Derek Lee being in contention for the triple cro… what? They talk about this everyday? Oh. Really? Well, in that case, I will have to say the fact that the Cardinals are up 12 games in the National Central. They have the best record in the League by only 2.5 games, but the second place Astros would be in a tie for last place in the East and in second place 3.5 games out in the West, respectively.

How has the Cardinals all but clinching the Nl Central already not been more of a story. Yes, I know there is half a season left, but no one is catching the Cardinals.

The Pat Sajak Award for "Least Ambitious Athlete"

I have no idea on this one, so again, there’s a reason Simmons is a professional and I am copying his idea.

The JD Drew Award for "Most Tantalizing Potential That Makes Roto Owners Somehow Think He's 10 times Better Than He Actually Is"

There is to be absolutely no discussion about this. One name and one name only, two words, five syllables, Co-rey Patt-er-son. Absolutely, unequivicably the Michael Vick or Carmelo Anthony of Fantasy MLB.

The Sofia Coppola in Godfather 3 Award for "Most Desperate Casting Move"

This is kind of weak, but it’s something which could win the award every year. Any pitcher willingly going to pitch for the Rockies. This is going to be the place where pitchers go to die and it seems like just now enough of them have tried and failed (Mike Hampton) that no more star pitchers in a contract year are going to say, “Hey, I’ll do well this year, and sign a huge deal with Colorado and feed my ego and prove how good I am by winning 10 games there”. It’s just not going to happen.

The "Napoleon Dynamite" Award for "Most Inexplicable Success Story"

There’s nothing really more I can say, but the Washington Nationals. On pace for 109 wins this season and stopping the Braves streak of owning the National League East Division. Absolutely unbelievable.

The Bobby Simmons Award for "Best Player That Nobody Realizes is Good Yet"

I am specifically trying not to make this whole thing about the Cubs and Brewers, but Rich Hill of the Cubs. This guy has Barry Zito like snap on his hook. Hopefully the Cubs will realize this soon and bring him up for good.

The Sean Penn Award for "Best Meltdown"

It hasn’t happened yet, but it’s coming. The moment Barry Bonds comes back or speaks with the media and someone brings up steroids or anything even remotely relating to or sounding like steroids, he is going to absolutely blow up.

This is like a volcano that has been simmering for 3 years and is now ready to explode. When this happens, I am ready for anything from punching a reporter in the face, to ripping off someone’s head on national television, to driving down the highway in a white Bronco. I am really preparing myself for anything with this one.

The Being Bobby Brown Award for "Best Show That Nobody Is Really Talking About For Whatever Reason"

Again, the St. Louis Cardinals. The second best team in baseball (well based on record anyway). I don’t understand why the talking heads aren’t going crazy about this team everyday. All they do is win. Doesn’t matter who they are playing, or who is pitching for or against them, they just win.

Maybe we are all just waiting for September and October when baseball gets great, but for whatever reason, no one is talking about this team which does everything well, and has one of the biggest stars in the game playing for it (Albert Pujols).

Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed that as much as the Bill Simmons original on the American League.

-Until next time...

The Keg

Alright, I know it's been a while, so here we go:

I had tickets to the Saturday game of the Twins series when Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder hit their first Major League home runs, but did not actually go into the game. I gave my ticket to a friend of ours whose boyfriend was in town for the weekend and it was his birthday, so we gave up our tickets. The main reason I went was the tailgating, which we had planned for a few weeks.

We got to the park at 3:20 and parked the cars, got the grill out of the truck, started it up and began playing cornhole. For those of you not privy, a description of the game will be coming soon. Anyway, it was quite an enjoyable time in the parking lot, truly one of the great atmosphere's I've been involved with in a while, at least since the Cubs/Red Sox series. Fans as far as the eye could see, everyone being friendly (the people a few stalls down from us who were also playing cornhole even lent us their flipper so Randy didn't have to burn his hands flipping our burgers, and treated us to some Jaeger), and people just there for a great baseball scene.

The Brewers of course ended up winning the game, so that was a plus. I don't know what won the weiner race, though.


This past Sunday, my brother and I were in attendance when the Pittsburgh Pirates came to town. It was an outstanding game and every fan was having a great time until the 7th inning. After the Brewers threw up a 5 spot on the board to take an 8-2 lead going into the 7th, the Pirates put up 5,2, and 2 runs in the final 3 innings to beat the Brewers 11-10.

When we saw Botalico running in from the bullpen in the 7th inning, I said to Ben, "This isn't going to be good", and I was actually right. He has not been doing well at all and Yost should seriously consider NEVER using him again.

The bottom of the ninth had the remaining fans on their collective feet as the Brewers were able to load the bases and be down only one run with two outs. Unfortunately, Damien Miller did not send us home happy as he struck out to end the game.

By far the best part of the game happened in the fourth inning and it had nothing to do with the play on the field. When Ben and I got to the game, there were two people sitting in the seats for which we had tickets, since the seats in front of ours were empty, we moved to them. This was the first row, which is great, because you can stretch out. Enough on that. By the fourth inning I was getting quite hungry as I hadn't eaten yet all game and desperately wanted a hot dog. No vendor was coming down by us, so I was getting upset. I was just about to get up and walk to the concession stand (who wants to do that?) when a lovely young blonde hot dog vendor caught my eye in the field level seats. She was right below us, so I yelled, "HOT DOG!" She looked up and started chuckling. I asked her if she would come up to our section and was greeted with an unfortunate no. Then the following happened:

"How about you throw 2 of them up here?"
"Yeah, I could do that"
"Alright"
"Really?"
"Yeah, give me two of 'em"
"Alright, ready"
"Yup"

The first she threw was pretty good. It came right over the railing to us. The second was a fastball which she almost threw over my head. The guys behind us would have had hot dog all over them save for a great lunging catch by me which was greeted with appreciated applause from sections 228 (my section) and 229. Too bad ESPN didn't have the cameras rolling, because it was a web gem.

The only question left was how the young lass was to be paid. I noticed the dogs were $2.50 each, so I ordered up another one, which she politely threw up to me (and a kid in 229 tried to catch from me) and it was the best throw yet. A crumpled up $10.00 bill thrown down to her and three hot dog throws later and I was quite satisfied. Plus, it gave everyone in 228 and 229 something to talk about and enjoy during a down time in the game.

Season record at The Keg: 6-3
Weiner race winner: The Bratwurst
Next game: Sunday July 17 vs. Washington

-Until next time...

85 Games In...

We're a little past the mid point of the season and the Brewers are currently 40-45, good enough for fourth place in the NL Central. This is about what I expected, give or take about 3 or 4 wins. They aren't going to catch the Cardinals and they aren't going to win the wild card, that being said here's what they should do.

Trade Brady Clark. Clark has been a good story this year, batting .310 with an on base percentage of .374, 7 home runs and 28 RBI's. His defense has been great, a major upgrade over Scott Podsednik, but Brady Clark can't create runs the way it seems like the Brewers want their leadoff hitter to.

He doesn't have the speed or instincts to be a base stealer, like Podsednik was. He draws walks, takes pitches, has good at bats, and ocassionally has pop. Perfect fit for the way the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Dodgers run their ship, not the Brewers.

We've already seen Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks get their callups, roll the dice on David Krynzel. Move Brady Clark for some prospects, most likely mid-level AA guys, and let Krynzel get the playing time and see what he can do. Clark is 32 years old, he has started to struggle lately and part of that reason may be he is already only five at bats away from tying his season high. Maybe he can't handle a full season, at any rate he has no place in the Brewers future.

Once again the Brewers will be watching the playoffs from thier living rooms, so why waste the second half of the season with Brady Clark when it could be a valuable experience for Krynzel.

Secondly, play JJ Hardy more. Seriously. His bat is heating up, and he is started to get comfortable at the plate after nearly a full year of no at bats. Why does he continue to sit on the bench seemingly every other day? Bill Hall is getting way too much playing time, as is or was Wes Helms. If you aren't going to play JJ everyday then why even bother keeping him on the major league club.

I can understand that Yost may feel he needs more offensive production at a time when the team is struggling in that department, but JJ will never heat up by sitting on the bench. Look at the afore mentioned Wes Helms, he heated up when he started getting regular at bats when Overbay was hurt.

Tell Ned Yost to stop managing like Phil Garner. Just because a lefty is pitching doesn't mean you have to sit Overbay and Jenkins. If you believe in this theory so much, then why don't you call upon de la Rosa or Phelps everytime there is a lefty at the plate? The whole lefty vs lefty matchup is the most overrated concept in baseball. Who is your best first baseman? Lyle Overbay, then play him. The worst case was when Yost sat Overbay and Prince for Wes because a lefty was pitching. What? Why sit your two best options? I don't get it.

Give Jorge de la Rosa more appearances and a few shots in the rotation. Lefties who can bring it in the 94-97mph range are too hard to find, see what he can do. He has had comand problems, but you would think more work with Mike Maddux would help, time I honestly don't think he gets now being the last option in the bullpen.

If you should happen to get an offer for him take it, but lets face it, Geoff Jenkins more than likely is not going anywhere Brewers fans. No one wants an $8 million dollar contract and a .250 batting average and 8 homers in return. The Yankees and other big market teams aren't looking to senselessly add payroll like they used to.

If you follow baseball, one thing you know to be true is that you get more value in trades for pitching during the season and positional players in the offseason. That being said, move some of this pitching like Botallico, Ohka and Turnbow. I have no doubt that Turnbow is just the next Dan Kolb, and you have Jose Capellan as your closer (and excelling in that role) in AAA, he'll be up next season. The guys you can get the best value for that you should look into moving are Ohka, Wise and Botallico. Again, we're not going anywhere, why let a veteran waste a year on our team when we could turn it into a prospect?

This is not so much a what they should do, but what we are noticing. Ned Yost is getting a free pass. He has not had a good year at all. Allowing Sheets to pitch too many innings fresh off of vertigo when you know full well he's not 100%, playing too aggressive on the bases with guys who can't steal, trying to steal with Overbay and Lee at the plate, letting JJ Hardy toil on the bench, the whole lefty lefty thing. It hasn't been a good year, and this stuff won't go over well in a year or two when they're in the wild card hunt.

Some of you may look at this and say if they start dumping players again it gets discouraging for the fans and you risk losing some, but that's not totally true. Fans like the see young guys play and get called up, look at the excitement for Weeks and Fielder. If you move a guy just to lose a contract then that's true, but if you do it as part of a plan for the future and make room for a young guy on the roster then the fans will stick with you. At least for a little while.

Heres to an exciting second half of the season, Carlos Lee belting out 50 and driving in 140, Rickie Weeks winning ROY and the Crew finishing .500. Go Crew.

Cubs vs. Braves

I figure that since the Cubs are playing so poorly right now, I may as well let all of you read about it and feel the pain of every Cubs fan in the country. That is why I am writting this running diary of the second game of the day-night double header against the Braves tonight. Since the Cubs are in quite a funk, I may just ignore the game at times and go into rants about other things going on. Oh yeah, one more thing before we get going, I will have an update on The Keg tomorrow, since I've been there twice since my last post about it and haven't written anything.

First Inning

Since this is my first post from my new place, welcome to Menomonee Falls everybody, we're coming to you live from the living room of the Filzen Compound here at N81 W13220 #18 Fond du Lac Ave. Hope you enjoy the stay.

What do you know, the Cubs lead-off hitter fails to reach base again. Memo to Jim Hendry: We aren't going to win a wild-card, much less a division without a lead-off hitter. Thank you. A tough at bat for Todd Walker (filling in for the injured Derrek Lee) but unfortunately it ends with a popout.



Jerome Williams has been a nice addition to the Cubs' staff, so let's see how he does against this potent Brave lineup. I hope the first batter won't be a sign of things to come as Furcal raps a single to right. Furcal gets a huge jump and swipes second easily. It's amazing to me that the Cubs have speed on the team (read Corey Patterson and Jerry Hariston) and still don't steal very many bases. Okay, good sign here, Williams strikes out the second batter he faces with Furcal on second, let's see more of this.

Since I hate Len Kasper and Bob Brenly so much, I will definitely be giving you some of thier highlights from the game.

Awesome move by Williams to pick Furcal off of second base, now 2 outs and nobody on. There we go, 1-2-3 and the Cubs are coming up to bat. End of 1: Cubs 0 Braves 0, more after the second.

Second Inning

We begin this inning with a moment of silence for those killed and injured in the London terroist attacks today.

Immediately after this, Bob Brenly proceeds to tell us that the fans who had tickets to last night's game which was rained out received vouchers for today's day game and if they couldn't make it, there was a hotline number to call in the paper. WHAT?!? You coached a team to the World Series and ended the Yankees dynasty, don't you have anything more insightful to say, like telling us what the players and coaches do during a rainout? Do they have meetings, stay in the clubhouse and receive treatment on things, or just go to the hotel and sit there? You can't tell us anything about that?

Well, after two outs, the perfect game is no more as Jeromy Burnitz (who has been showing great patience lately) draws a walk to give the Cubs their first baserunner of the game. Michael Barrett ends the inning with a flyout to right field. He has been one of the most disappointing Cubs to me personaly this season. He was supposed to be an offensive talent who was just coming into his own. All he's coming into this season is a .256 average and under .300 OBP. He is just on a long list of under-achieving Cubs this season.


Williams gets the very dangerous Andruw Jones to fly to Patterson to begin the bottom of the second, it's always nice to face him with no runners on and even nicer to get him to fly out on 1 pitch. Jerome ends the Braves' second inning by turning a double play. It has to be very difficult for a pitcher to field a ball and make a good throw to second base when they are used to always putting movement on the ball. I know it's only about 30 feet for them to throw it, but still, it has to be tough. Anyway, end of 2 Cubs 0 Braves 0, see you after the third.


Third Inning

"This Old Cub" will be aired on WGN Saturday, July 16th at 7:00. I highly recommend this watch to ANYONE, not just Cubs fans. Even if you aren't a Cub fan, you may be after you watch this, at least you'll know why we all LOVE Ron Santo.

Corey Patterson leads off the Cubs third by grounding out. Will this guy ever reach his potential, or was the bar set too high early in his career? When someone gets compared to Lou Brock, will they ever be that good? Wasn't he just doomed from the beginning? Perez hits it hard, but it is caught in left field, so the no-hitter is intact. Well, I need to go make my Hungry Man dinner, so I may miss a little action.


I decided to have left-over fish instead from Rich's Steaks and Cocktails which is .25 miles from my house. It is delicious. Thursday night is all-you-can-eat Spaghetti, so I will be there most Thursday nights. Jerome Williams meanwhile just missed facing the minimum amount of batters through the first inning, but Neifi Perez couldn't control the ball long enough to throw out John Smoltz. Instead of being killed, Jerome Williams catches the line drive at his head off the bat of Rafael Furcal to end the third inning. End of three Cubs 0 Braves 0, more after the fourth.



Fourth Inning

If I could pick a job to have in sports, which involved actually participating in the sport I think I would have to pick bullpen catcher. All this guy does is throw batting practice and warm-up pitchers. He's never going to get in a game because he is actually a staff member, like a coach, so you don't have to worry about actually getting in a game and having to do something. Even though you'll never play in a game, you get all the perks from actually being a member of the team. I used to want to be the third string quarterback on an NFL team, but you may actually play if weird things happen, and I'd much rather go to spring training than have to go to training camp for the NFL. That's just me, though.

Well, as I've been rambling, the Cubs broke Smoltz's no-hitter with back-to back-to back hits plating Jose Macias and Todd Hallandsworth had a productive out, driving in Todd Walker on a sacrifice fly. Up 2-0, the Cubs have their first lead since last week Wednesday when they beat the Brewers, hooray! Yeah, that's not a type-o. They haven't had a lead in over a week, that's how bad this 7 game losing streak has been. Burnitz ends the inning with a grounder to second for a double play, but the Cubs have a lead, so let's enjoy it while we can.


I'll be honest, "Ask This Old House" is on at 7:30 (about 5 minutes), so it's going to be tough to catch all of this action during that time, but I'll do my best. This is trouble, Johnson and Giles start the bottom of the fourth with singles, runners on 2nd and 1st with Andruw Jones at the dish. Let's all start praying. Interesting play, a grounder to first, which Walker bobbles, he tagged first for the force and then threw to second, but Jones slid under the tag, so a run is in and there is a runner on 2nd with two out. (Looks like Roger is digging up an entire front lawn and re-seeding it so the grass in this woman's lawn will grow more consistently. He always gets stuck doing these extrememly dificult projects.) Oh yeah, Williams walked a runner, but then strikes out Francouer to end the inning, not bad after allowing the first two runners on base. End of four Cubs 2 Braves 1, see you after the fifth.


Fifth Inning

(Roger is doing a number on this yard. Apparently, putting lime down on the top soil before the fertilizer and seed is good for keeping the acidity levels down, good to know.)

Patterson bunts safely, which is something he needs to do more of. In fact, let's just have him do that every time he goes to the plate from now on, he wouldn't do worse than he's doing right now. Jerome Williams moves Patterson to second with a sacrifice bunt, so let's see if the lead off hitter can do something for once this season. Nope, Perez fouls out to left field to end the inning, no real shocker there.

(Richard is going to be replacing a sink for some homeowners in Michigan right now. By the way, Roger is the landscaper, Richard is the plumber, and Tommy is the carpenter on the show, we'll see Tommy next. FYI, if buying a stainless steel sink, go for about 18 gauge steel.)

Williams walks the lead off batter, so we will see a sacrifice bunt by Smoltz, which he executes perfectly. My brother contends that a lead off walk scores more often than a lead off triple. I don't know if there is documentation on this, but statsinc may be able to get the answer for us. Well, the lead off walk is going to score as Rafael Furcal goes yard against Jerome. The Cubs are now in a familiar place, losing. (Richard is still working on this sink. Add this to my list of things I never want to do. He was installing this sink for so long that we aren't even going to be able to see Tommy tonight, oh well.) Still only one out and a runner on first. Williams needs to settle down and get out of this inning. Brenly just told us that short guys like Marcus Giles aren't usually noticed in tryout camps, that's interesting, is height that big of a factor in MLB?He just added that a fastball which almost hit Andruw Jones was a good pitch because Mark Prior struck out Jones twice in game 1 by throwing fastballs outside. Why would this be a good pitch then? Especially when the count was 1-1, he wasn't trying to strike him out and he almost hit him. I dislike these guys so much, I'm about to turn on the TBS broadcast. Alright, a double play, now we need three hits in a row again to score some runs. End of five Cubs 2 Braves 3, more after the sixth.


Sixth Inning

Hmm, there's one hit by Macias. Alright! Aramis Ramirez puts the Cubs back on top with a home run to left center, 4-3 Cubs. Len Kasper had a great call on that, (in normal voice) There's a hit to left center, hey it might go, and it does", with very little inflection or excitement in his voice. Okay, enough on the announcers, I don't like them and I'll leave it at that. Patterson had a pretty good at bat, but still ended the inning with a pop out. Oh well, Aramis put the Cubs on top, now Williams needs to have a better inning than the last two and hold it.


When the Cubs advertise things like, "the first 15,000 fans will receive a Cubs home game day hat" and then say, no purchase necessary, isn't that untrue? I'll bet if someone just walked to the park and was one of the first 15,000 people there and asked for a hat, the people at Wrigley would ask for a ticket, wouldn't they? Doesn't this mean that a purchase is in fact necessary? Is anyone still reading this? Wow, Williams goes 1-2-3 in the sixth and with only 102 pitches, you'd think he'll be back for more, which is great news for the bullpen. After six Cubs 4 Braves 3, see you after the seventh.


Seventh Inning

Once again we have proof that I know absolutely nothing as Ronny Cedeno pinch hits for Jerome Williams, ending his night. Three quick outs on only 7 pitches in that inning, nice job Cubs. Well, nothing to report from that inning really, so eveyone sing along:

Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the Cubbies,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.
Let's Get Some Runs! (in the eighth of course)

Will Ohman pitches a very good 7th inning. If he keeps pitching like that, people are going to stop saying, "Oh-Man!" when he comes into games. End of 7 Cubs 4 Braves 3. More after the 8th.


Eighth Inning

The Cubs go very quietly and it appears that Roberto Novoa is going to be coming in for the bottom of the 8th. I don't have a good feeling about this.


Yup, a lead off triple, and then an 0-2 home run to put the Braves up 5-4. Awesome, can we now officially end the Roberto Novoa experiment? How about he goes back to Iowa and Rich Hill comes up, how quickly can this happen? They just showed a replay of the home run, Barrett was calling for it up and Novoa threw a fastball down at the knees, and right over the plate, absolutely terrible. I want to throw my computer. Nothing like three hits to start the eighth inning of a game the Cubs desperately need. Although at this point in the season, the Cubs desperately need to win every game. At what point does the catcher say to the pitcher, "What the hell are you doing out here?" Novoa leaves after allowing two runs on three hits and not recording an out. I'm not sure how ERA is calculated, but I believe Novoa's is now at 317.24. Is there an unwritten rule in baseball which states that if your team allows a late inning lead change, every player has to make stupid plays and self-destruct? A bunt which was supposed to be a sacrifice down the third base line and Ramirez goes to second? I know it was a close play, but it was still stupid. Great a three run home run by the Braves (which should have been only 2 runs) and I'm about to turn the game off. By the way, one of those runs was charged to Novoa, so his ERA just jumped to 374.62.

Another memo to Jim Hendry: Buy a bullpen. Get at least one guy who can give us one inning who isn't named Ryan Dempster. Speaking of Dempster, he used to be a starter, why don't we see him for more two inning save opportunities? Oh yeah, the Cubs don't get many two inning save opportunities.

Glendon Rusch is now going to leave and the Cubs are going to run out their third pitcher in the inning (Dempster) who inherits a runner at second and still no outs.

Hey, did you guys know that "The Wedding Crashers" is in theaters on July 15th? I've only seen the commercial for it every other break on WGN.

I may not write anything else until the final score is posted. Okay, I lied, the Cubs finally got an out on a grounder to second, but the runner moved up to third, so not much help. Hey, Dempster struck out Furcal, maybe we'll get out of this inning only down 4! Nope, Giles knocks in a run and the Braves are up 9-4, this is great. Alright, the eigth is over, Cubs 4 Braves 9, maybe more after the game.


Ninth Inning

You know, I'm actually going to be surprised if the Cubs don't go 1-2-3 in this inning, because that would mean showing some heart and fight, which they haven't really shown since before the eighth inning of game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. Yup, 1-2-3 as Patterson strikes out to end the game.

Let's recap, 8 straight losses, two straight series being swept, 40-44 on the season, 8 games out of the wild card race. Hmm, exactly the kind of roll you want to be on when you are going into Florida to face Dontrelle Willis tomorrow night. Great baseball for the past week for the Cubs, I may not even watch tomorrow night's game, except I'm a Cubs fan, so hey, anyone want to come over and watch the game tomorrow night?!

-Until next time...

Breaking News

The Milwaukee Bucks are expected to hire former Bucks assistant Terry Stotts as their head coach tomorrow. Stotts is expected to sign a five year deal. The team is also expected to re-sign Michael Redd tomorrow. More on this later this afternoon.

This is Nate adding on here, Redd has signed a 6-year deal with the Bucks, read on.

Time for a Change

"I found baseball is a big number of small businesses. I'm worried about suites, the quality of our turf, which is not ideal, how we drive ticket sales, how we brand the team, better camera angles on television. I could go on and on. I think about it every day on what we need to do. I love the challenge of it."

-Mark Attanasio

If this statement is true, and I have no reason to believe it is not, he need look no further than the TV booth for improvements needed. The Milwaukee Brewers, hands down, have the worst broadcast team in the game today. They are annoying, incompetent, and talk way too much. How does Bill Schroeder know so little about baseball when HEY PLAYED THE GAME!? And Darron Sutton, I love when he gives insight into pitching or tries to tell you about what a pitcher is doing and why.

First of all he's usually wrong, and secondly why should I take pitching information from a guy who couldn't even hack it as a minor leaguer when he has the pitching gene is his blood?You aren't doing radio, you're doing TV, I can see what's going on so you don't need to narrate for me. I don't want to hear about all your old days in Anahiem, I don't care about your old car that you sold to Bill's son, I don't care to hear about things you would only know about. I tune in to watch a baseball game, not hear you. If I wanted to hear someone call the game I'd listen to it.

Bill Schroeder is completey wrong a lot of the time in his analysis, take last nights game for example, Brady Clark caught a sacrafice fly and had a play at the plate, so he threw it and it was a close play. Bill Schroeder said it was a bad play by Brady Clark because it allowed the runner on first to advance to second. "Lyle's gotta cut that ball off." Hmmm Bill, they narrowly missed getting the runner out at the plate, and Lyle can't cut the ball off because he's gaurding the bag at first incase there is a play there. If there was going to be a cut off it would be by Ricky Weeks, and the ball was way to high to cut off. Just try, TRY to watch a full game. You can't, those two will drive you insane.

The Dodgers have one of the best play-by-play men in the history of baseball, Vin Scully. Scully does the first three innings on the radio, and then heads to the TV booth, while Charlie Stiener does the first three on TV and then heads to the radio booth. Why can't we do this with Powell and Uecker? I would love that, because I usually just watch the game on mute and listen to Jim and Bob anyway, but the whole TV delay thing gets annoying at times.

The entire FSN crew, with the exception of Craig Coshun is horrible. Bob Brainerd is the worst TV personality I've have personally ever seen. If you disagree with any of this, tell me why. Maybe I'm being a little too hard because I expect more from broadcasters, being a former broadcaster and personality myself. I don't know, but I doubt it. Let's start a petition if you will. If you feel the same way I do, post a reply that states your distaste for the broadcast team and we will forward this onto Mr. Attanasio and the rest of the Brewers organization.