My Summer of Baseball

On Booing and Rivalry

The last road game for a while, and a tough loss. I'm sure I shouldn't admit this...but I guess the Reds deserved the win. Sorry. We played well; they played better.

What really struck me today, though, was the Reds fans booing Encarnacion. I get it that he made a critical error, but he also hit the home run that put the Reds in the game. And, oh by the way, his 10th inning homer started the streak that won them the game.

So what's with the booing? Are Milwaukee fans just nicer? It's pretty rare to hear a Brewer booed at home, except maybe Turnbow. Maybe we're just more supportive of our team. Or, maybe I haven't been to enough games yet. We'll see.

I've also been thinking about rivals thanks to a post from "Ernie Banks" last week. He asked who Brewers fans consider to be our biggest rival. I guess it's the Cubs, but open for opinions.

I see what "Ernie" is getting at. Who thinks the Brewers are their biggest rival? We may hate the Cubs, but Cubs fans hate the Cardinals. So does anybody think we're a threat? Or in keeping with my opinion of Wisconsin in general, are we just too darn nice to make anybody's hit list?

Mr. Cub and I would both love to hear your thoughts.

And the Crew Delivers

During today's game - when I wasn't jumping up and down or biting my fingernails - my mind wandered around a bunch of baseball subjects.

* Umpires. The Thinking Fan's Guide to Baseball says about them: "A pugnacious personality, needed to do the job, is going to lead a man into the types of trouble pugnacious personalities get into." I kind of like that umps have bad days and everybody has to adjust. It seems to be a measure of the team if they suck it up and play through, or whine a lot like the Reds did today.

* Pitching. This year, for the first time, I'm really getting the huge strategy that goes into pitching. When to throw a strike, when to throw outside, etc. It's quickly becoming my favorite part of the game...watching the interplay between the pitcher and Kendall as they work to psych out the poor guy at the plate.

* TV. There are pluses and minuses to watching the away games on TV. I like the commentary and the stats the announcers rattle off to fill the quiet moments. But I'm not sure I really enjoy the close-up view of the game. I don't really want to see the players' facial expressions. And I don't really want to hear them interviewed after the games since they often a) don't sound like I imagined they would, b) don't say what I'd like to hear, c) continue with all the ridiculous spitting that I can ignore from a distance.

* Gagne. The above aside, though, the one person I AM glad to get to know on TV is Gagne. First, there's all the recent saves, which I love of course. But I also really liked his interview after Friday night's game. Asked about himself, he spent the whole time talking about the team's other players and how great they are. And not in a smarmy way, but like he really meant it. I think I might be a fan.

Looking forward to tomorrow's game.

Go Brewers

Yea for Friday's game vs. the Reds! But that's all I'm saying this morning. I'm as superstitious as the next guy. So I'm just going to sit here with my fingers crossed until we see what happens today. Go Brewers.

22 More Reasons to Love Baseball

Among the many things I think are great about baseball is that somebody always wins and somebody always loses.

None of that "it's a tie" silliness - baseball is like life and unfortunately there's always somebody who comes out a little better and somebody who goes home disappointed.

Just ask San Diego, who lost after 22 innings last night...six hours and 16 minutes after the first pitch.

659 pitches by 15 pitchers.
13 scoreless innings.
3 "seventh-inning" stretches.

There's a great article here from the AP. I love baseball.

The Thing about Work

Much as I'd like it to, the world doesn't stop for baseball.

So when Hernan Iribarren had his first run-scoring hit of his career today, I was in a meeting.

When Prince hit his RBI double in the 8th to tie up the game, I was in a meeting.

And yes, when Prince smashed his first home run of the season to give us the winning lead...I was still in a meeting.

But no matter: He did it. The Crew did it. All is right with the world again. And, for a little while now while I watch the TIVO'd final inning, the work can wait.

p.s. Talk about bringing the fun back: I loved to see Prince skipping back to the dugout. FUN.

Bring Back the Fun

Last night while the Brewers were losing, but then almost coming back, but then losing anyway, I was at Next Act's The Mystery of Irma Vep.

It had vampires and werewolves and mummies. It also had surprise gunshots, a mad gothic organist, hot toddies and the most costume changes I've ever seen in a show, since 2 people played 6 characters. Just the thing to take your mind off a couple tough days of baseball.

It also had John McGivern and Christopher Tarjan, the only people who have ever made me literally laugh myself onto the floor. Particularly because I've never seen John in a show where he didn't, at some point, fall out of character because he was giggling. Including last night.

In other words, it was FUN. That's what I wish baseball would be right now. It seemed like it was, in the first few series. But while I'm still having fun, it doesn't seem like the team is anymore.

Maybe if they were - if they had to stop and turn away for a second to hide the smile - maybe they'd be winning again, too.

Game One vs. St. Louis = Yuck

The game was too depressing to talk about, so instead I'll focus on other baseball news...

First, the Jackie Robinson festivities today were a good history lesson. I liked that a lot of teams all wore Jackie's retired number 42 - though it was a bit confusing watching the game. Anyway, here's the article from the Journal Sentinel reflecting on the Brewers and Robinson.

Second, if you haven't seen the Beat the Streak game, check it out. It's pretty fun...and you could win a million dollars, which would be fun, too. Of course, my money is on Corey Hart.

Third, I said I was too depressed, but I have to go back to the game. Remember the optimism about the bullpen in the early days? Silly me. Today's pitchers were about as strong as wet bread. All 25 of them.

I suspect we can say goodbye to Bush. And, uh, Turnbow? Gone. Please.

Monday Morning News

KL Snow over at Brew Crew Ball posted today's Frosty Mug with interesting fan poll results.

Example: 77% of voters thought Yovanni Gallardo should replace Dave Bush in the rotation when he returns from the DL. I'm in...what do you think?

Also covered the infamous Red Sox jersey recovery in NYC, which frankly cracked me up. It took FIVE hours of drilling to find the shirt under two feet of concrete. That's serious superstition. Here's the AP story on it.

Snow has a new opinion poll posted here. Hope you'll visit and add your two cents. 

And come on...didn't anybody read my ditty down below? I was proud of that puppy.

A Day-Off Ditty

My sister gave me a great book called Baseball Haiku, full of gems like:

"Intentional walk -
each fan winding up
his own boo"

I'd like to be that clever. But let's face it: Haiku's a little high-falutin' for this Milwaukee girl. I'm more of a limerick lady...in fact they were my grandfather's specialty.

So here's a little day-off ditty to start the week:

At home runs, the Crew's quite a master,
At base running, not many faster,
Whether home or away,
Wrigley Field or at Shea,
The pitching's the most likely disaster.

Quick Post-Game Notes

What a weekend.

Incredibly stressful, but all's well that ends well. In fact, the Brewers are now two-for-two in road series...versus last year when they won only nine total. It's also the first time they've won their first two road series since 1995.

So it's a solid, happy start. Especially loved all the double plays today, though wish they hadn't each been desperately needed.

Kapler is a king! And we all know I like Corey Hart. Weeks, Hall...there's lots to love.