Milwaukee Brewers

  Eugenio Velez drilled the first pitch of the game of Pedro Martinez for a home run and a 1-0 Giants' lead.  Too bad that was the end of the scoring for the rest of the game in a 2-1 loss to the Phillies Thursday.  Martinez looked really good with 9 strike outs over seven innings. No, his fastball is not what it once was, but he knows how to pitch, and still features a deceptive delivery with his arm angle. Philadelphia is hoping THIS will be the same Pedro they can take with them into the post season. Giants' fans may remember when Pedro came off the DL in May of '08 as a New York Met, and beat San Francisco at A.T.& T. Park. He also had two hits in that game, and Barry Zito was awful - I remember because I was there!  Now Zito has regained his form, and apparently, so has Pedro, because he was Way better today then he was at anytime last year with the Mets.

Continue reading ""Giants Can't Score Off Pedro Martinez; ..."

  Hopefully for Giants' fans, Brad Penny can find his groove back in the National League.  In his three inter-league starts against national league teams this year, Penny posted a

Continue reading ""Brad Penny on the Bump for the Giants""

  

  How cool is this Eli Whiteside story?  The Giants' rookie back-up catcher, who plays sparingly behind Bengie Molina, has had some big moments in recent weeks.  After catching the Jonathan Sanchez no-hitter last month, Whiteside launched a grand slam today -- his first career home run -- helping the Giants to a 10-6 victory over the Astros.  San Francisco improves to 60-and-48, taking two of three games ON THE ROAD, and now return home to open a weekend set against Dusty Baker's Cincinnati Reds.  Thursday's off-day, by the way, is the first for the team since the all-star break in mid-July.

Continue reading ""The Giants Get it Done in Houston""

named Yovani Gallardo spoiled the Giants attempt to become the first team to ever go 162-0, as his Milwaukee Brewers downed the Giants 4-2 in Wednesday's contest.  Gallardo smacked a 3 ru

Continue reading "NO 162-0 RECORD FOR GIANTS THIS YEAR"

Brewers up, facing Alex Hinshaw who kind of looks like Lincecum.

This should be the last half inning though Hinshaw has thrown only balls so far, getting the bullpen going.

Hardy whiffs big time through a curve ball for strike two (Fielder on first). Guess he thought he could make a 5-run home run if he hit it far enough. Gives up a double play instead.

Continue reading "Brewers at Giants, Top of the Ninth"

Giants up, facing Jorge Julio.

Winn homered and I missed it.

Renteria walks and Lewis ropes one to right for a line out.

Molina pops out for the third time.

Sondoval hits it hard, straight up the middle, on the ground, for a hit. It's about time the Giants had a good young grown hitter.

Continue reading "Brewers at Giants, Bottom of the Eighth"

Brewers up, facing Bob Howry

Kendall is out before I even knew what happened.

Craig Counsell pinch hits and earns a walk.

Sandoval is showing that he's not that great throwing on the run; Weeks beat his two-hop throw by a mile.

Continue reading "Brewers at Giants, Top of the Eighth"

Brewers up, facing Jeremy Affeldt

Fielder knocks it into the opposite field gap. Stand up, lead off double.

Hardy's grounder moves Fielder to third.

But Cameron draws a walk, which leads to

Continue reading "Brewers at Giants, Top of the Seventh"

Giants up, facing McClung

Winn - takes ball one in the dirt almost 10 feet from the plate.  McClung still gets the out on a comebacker.

Renteria and Lewis both make easy outs.

End of six

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Brewers up, facing Brandon Medders

Weeks and Hart both fly out to center. And Braun strikes out. Good inning to start a season on for Medders.

Continue reading "Brewers at Giants, Top of the Sixth"

Giants up, facing Seth McClung who replaced Suppan

Fred Lewis - Walks.

Molina - Off the wall in left! That puts runners at the corners. That was one long single.

Sandoval - Chases a high, high, high fast ball, strike three.

Continue reading "Brewers at Giants, Bottom of the Fifth"

Brewers up, facing Martinez

Cameron - Base hit. Steals second on the second pitch.

Hall - Strikes out and is none too happy about it. He gave the ump a piece of his mind.

Kendall - Martinez makes an always risky pick off throw to second and just missed getting Cameron out. Grounder to third and Sandoval tags Cameron instead of throwing to first. Great heads up play by Sandoval, but a bad mistake by Cameron.

Continue reading "Brewers at Giants, Top of the Fifth"

Giants up, facing Suppan

Ishikawa - Hard groundball bounces off the glove of third baseman Hall.

Rowand - He hits it high, he hits it deep... 2-run homer to left. He knew it was game the moment it cracked his bat, and we're back on top!

Continue reading "Brewers at Giants, Bottom of the Fourth"

Brewers up, facing rookie Joe Martinez

Lincecum is out after throwing about 90 pitches in three innings

Suppan - Ground ball down the third baseline again, this time for an out.

Weeks - Martinez drills him in the arm/armpit.

Continue reading "Brewers at Giants, Top of the Fourth"

Giants up, facing Suppan

Lewis - Ropes it straight to 2B Weeks. 1 out.

Molina - Pops up again. 2 away on 3 pitches. This is looking more like the Giants I know.

Sandoval - Went digging for a curve ball. Short fly out to center.

Continue reading "Brewers at Giants, Bottom of the Third"

Brewers up, facing Tim Lincecum

Braun - Bloop single to left.  I'd like to see Lincecum shut the Brewers down right about now.

Fielder - Crowding the plate, he jumps back on a fast ball that catches the black of the plate. Next pitch, Fielder's standing several inches farther back. Swing and a WHIFF for strike three on a change up low and outside. Second big strike three whiff for Fielder.

Continue reading "Brewers at Giants, Top of the Third"

Giants up, facing Jeff Suppan

Emmanuel Burriss - Hit on the first pitch. Suppan must be trying to make up for that unearned double and following run.

Tim Lincecum - Bunts foul. Takes a ball. Notices that 3B Hall is cheating too far in, pulls back that bunt and smacks the ball to left on a high chopping grounder over Hall's head. Burriss was going and makes to third standing up. Excellent play all around. I like the way these Giants are swinging!

Continue reading "Brewers at Giants, Bottom of the Second"

Mike Cameron - Four pitch walk. I think Timmy's feeling the opening day jitters.

Bill Hall - Strikes out on a high 3-2 fastball. Cameron steals second, beating a decent throw from Molina.

Jason Kendall - Excellent change up brings the count to 2-2. Grounder to 2B. 2 outs, runner on third. Pitcher's up.

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Opening game. Brewers at Giants. Bring it.

Starters: Tim Lincecum vs. Jeff Suppan

Line ups:

BREWERS

1. Rickie Weeks 2B

2. Corey Hart RF

3. Ryan Braun LF

4. Prince Fielder 1B

Continue reading "Milwaukee Brewers at San Francisco Giants"

So I normally title my Monday blog: Monday Mourning due to being hungover from a full day of drinking and watching sports, hence the “mourning” because I have to get up, go to work, puke in the bathroom, and subsequently fall asleep in all of my meetings and get absolutely no work done. But today is different, mainly due to the fact that CBS’s and Fox’s regional coverage of NFL games in my area was HORRIBLE. Games that had a spread of +11 with no fantasy implications at all were being aired, so I went and watched polo (you know, the sport where guys on horses trot around and whack a ball with mallets). I had never been to a polo game before but we decided to go due to the possibility of attractive females (there are always beautiful women at horse events). We mingled with a few and made up some elaborate lies that we were just checking out the competition and had our horses stabled a few miles away. We were obviously out of place, with our cheers of “nice pass man!” and “shoooooot it!” but we wholeheartedly plan on attending it every Sunday for the rest of the season – pending what NFL games are on of course. 

Continue reading "Monday Mourning"

With the MLB playoffs set to begin, there is a subtle difference in the air compared to start of any other postseason. In the NHL, fans can potentially look forward to a great Canadians/Bruins series that is not only exciting, but has a historical kick to it. Likewise basketball fans always have the chance to see if the Suns can finally get past the Spurs and football fans love seeing the rivalry of the Eagles Vs the City of Philadelphia when the Eagles so much as get tackled for a loss.

Continue reading "The Ups and Downs of the MLB Playoffs"

I'm sorry I haven't been on here rigorously for some time. Life has caught up with me so to speak. I got a job at the local office supply store, I'm back in school, and so it pains me that my love affair with the Chicago National League Ballclub has been almost on hold.

Continue reading "No, not again. Please tell me I'm ..."

If ever there was a sign that the Brewers’ future is now, it’s in their recent acquisition of veteran Ray Durham, who should shore up their leadoff spot, as well as allow Rickie Weeks the time off he sometimes needs when mired in a slump. Since they’ve already gambled their future on C.C. Sabathia—who’s looked amazing so far, winning all three starts and throwing complete games in two of them—it only makes sense for them to do whatever they can to push for the pennant this year.

Continue reading "Brewers Grab Durham"

It’s the annual midpoint of the baseball season, and for the brief span that is the All-Star break, all eyes are upon the Bronx. As everyone is well aware of, this campaign is the last go around for the world’s most famous, largest, and most prominent ballpark, Yankee Stadium. It seems hard to believe, and even more sacrilegious that this living legend’s days are numbered. Built in 1923 and christened by the greatest ballplayer to ever live, Babe Ruth, the cathedral of baseball will never truly be replaced. Although the Bombers will move a block to Yankee Stadium’s heir, the Mecca of America’s Pastime will still live on in our hearts. Whether you’re a diehard Yankee fan, or Yankee-hater, you still can respect the history and awe that the stadium brings. So when the All-Stars take the field Tuesday night, sit back on your couch, crack open a cold one and soak up the history of Yankee Stadium, as its final chapter is unveiled to all of us.

Continue reading "National League Looks to End Rut"

One of the All-Star Break traditions: Reassessing our predictions from the first half of the season. Some of mine have changed, some have stayed the same—and some were just damn wrong. Living in the West, I will take the contrarian position and roll from west to east in my choices.

Continue reading "Second Half Predictions"

The other big trade that happened recently was the Cubs’ acquisition of the oft-injured Rich Harden from Oakland. This move is typical of Oakland’s business model, which involves shedding young stars before they get too expensive, often in exchange for other young or undervalued stars. In this way, they’re similar to the Florida Marlins, except that the Marlins tend to load up for concentrated runs at the championship (they have as many championships in the last decade as big-market Boston, and more than the Cubs have in the past hundred years), while the A’s tend towards consistent competitiveness.

Continue reading "NL Central Trade Analysis, Part Two"

Still playing ketchup here, trying to make up for a four-day absence from the blog, so I want to start with the big trade of last week, the CC Sabathia swap. The usefulness of this deal to the Brewers is a little dubious, as CC is likely to be a half-season rental, but let’s break it down:

Continue reading "NL Central Trade Analysis, Part One"

And probably not your own Braves, either. I watched them boot the ball around last night with a long-time Braves fan; three first-inning errors led to three runs, and they never recovered, losing 4-3, in a game without Chipper and a host of others.

Continue reading "Not Your Daddy's Braves"

For many baseball fans, last night wasn't a great night to watch baseball, as blowouts predominated early on. But, because of the beautiful game that is baseball, only three of them continued in their lopsided fashion, with the best of them highlighted by a homer from Micah Owings, the best-hitting pitcher in baseball, whom teammate Conor Jackson said had the "best pop" of anyone on the team. And all of them showed something about the winning and losing teams, proving that any baseball game is worth watching, even when it doesn't seem exciting.

Continue reading "The Night of the Blowouts"

ng his green card in light of the federal investigation, will probably lead to another down year.

Milwaukee Brewers

Can Ben Sheets stay healthy?

Sheets always seems on the verge of becoming one of the best young pitchers in the game when he is healthy, but his seasons always end up broken up by frequent stints on the DL for one thing after another. The Brewers have some young pitchers with tons of potential in Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra as well as some serviceable veterans, but they really need Sheets to become the ace of the rotation and innings eater that he is capable of. Unfortunately it is tough to predict if he is past his injuries as they have so often been the unforeseen and freak variety. With him in the rotation, a middle of the road staff becomes one in the top third of the league, something Milwaukee will need in order to compete with the Cubs.

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Season Preview: NL Central"

I am thoroughly looking forward to the Hank Steinbrenner Era. It seems he is hell-bent on replacing his father as the most obnoxious loudmouth, know-nothing owner in baseball. After watching the display he put on this winter in the Johan Santana Sweepstakes and his recent comments about the existence of Red Sox Nation, I don’t believe there is a bigger blowhard in sports today. All we need is for him to revive the Billy Martin routine with Joe Girardi, a possibility that may not be that farfetched as it appears Girardi not necessarily that easy to get along with. Little Stein seems to be unpredictable and impatient and not only expects the team to win now, but to do so in spectacular fashion. Earlier this year, Hank implied that general manager Brian Cashman would be on the hot seat if the plan to hold on to their young pitching instead of going all in for Santana didn’t pan out. If Steinbrenner allows his arrogance and impetuousness to take over the organization, I envision a return of the Yankees to the "glory" years of the 1980's when George was the show.

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