Game 31- Loss at Houston 16-15
Gagne walks in the tying run. Hunter Pence wins it with a HR in the 12th. That was the Astros first extra inning game. That was the Brewers bajillion. NO Brewer's runs scored after the 4th. Sheets outing wasted.

I keep telling myself to stay optimistic. That the talent will get this team over the hump, but 20 years of Brewer disappointment are hard to deny. I really don't know if Yost will still be managing this team when I visit Milwaukee this summer. If this play continues, Yost has to be fired, at least after the season. And Melvin may not be far behind. All that money in the bullpen could come back to bite him in the ass.

Game 30- L Houston 16-13

Listless. That is the best way I can describe the Brewers play lately. Rickie Weeks leadoff HR had all the spark of an Estelle Getty strip tease. I really think this team is so novice that they think losing Gallardo for the season is the end of any hope as they know it. Parra didn't pitch great, but once again, that lineup HAS to do better than 2 runs. Numerous scoring chances wasted. As I mentioned, the Weeks HR, which apparently almost took out the train at Minute Maid, should have been an offensive wakeup, but no. However, the Brandon Backe HR was apparently a wake up for the 'Stros. Good for Cecil Cooper I say. Yo or no Yo, Melvin and Attanasio need to start asking for better results. This team is uninspired and has never put together a consistent season where they met expectations. In 2005 they sort of overachieved, but since then, they have had a team good enough to win the division... and nothing. Am I pissed, hell yes! Offensively the Brewers are about as impressive as a "mountain" in Wisconsin. Pick it up Crew, if you care about Yost's job, pick it up.

Game 29- L Houston 16-13
I think the biggest hurt came today when, during a lull in REI's Anniversary Sale, I decided to check Brewers.com for a start time of tonights game. There was the headline I really didn't think I would see. Gallardo had a torn ACL. All I had to see was that all CAPS "ACL" and I knew the whole story from that. He would be gone the rest of the season and the Crew now has a major hole in it's rotation. Tonight's come from ahead loss almost seems a footnote to that news. From the way Gallardo's fall was described, I guess it should be no surprise it was is ACL. But obviously the fact that he pitched another inning on it led most Brewer fans to believe the Brewers dodged a bullet. I think what this means for the Brewers is they will have to make an acquisition at some point in the season for a top line pitcher. If Melvin has any brains, he's already got a list of young talent the Brewers would be willing to part at the trade deadline to get the Brewers over the hump... if they are still in the race.

Game 28- W Chicago (N) 16-12 1.4 GB
I had a feeling through most of this game that it wasn't going to happen. I listened to the entire game at home while dicking around on the new computer, but wasn't sure I could sit through another loss. Outs on the basepaths, Giovanni Soto killing the Crew and runners left on base were frustrating me. Then Gallardo went down in a collision near first base. I didn't see it, but it sounded bad. Yet another reason why I thought this team would be doomed to be the Brewers for the rest of my life. But Gallardo not only stayed in there, but pitched another inning. Zambrano and Marmol kept the lineup handcuffed for most of the day, but thankfully, Kerry Wood is still the Cubs closer. Braun was able to get things going with 3RBI and a HR. He palayed a critical part in the 9th with a 2 run double and Gagne, after walking the leadoff man, shut things down. Shouse apparently got the win for doing nothing more than picking a man off first. Crew has now won 4 of 6 at Wrigley.

Game 27- Milwaukee 5- Chicago (N) 19
15-12 2.0 GB
If there was one bright spot in this sound beatdown, it's that perhaps now, the Brewers can deffinitively say Turnbow is shot. 6 runs in 2/3 of mop up duty?! It's time for the Crew and Turnbow to part ways and use that roster spot for someone mildly effective. Yes, he wasn't the only pitcher that got rocked, but I can't deny now that he just isn't reliable and will probably never regain his '06 form.

This is one of those games where Suppan shouldn't feel to down about. I think all the pitchers deserve a mulligan after the way they have pitched. Yes the Cubs hung 8 earned over 3 1/3, but the offense has been letting this whole pitching staff down. Maybe the hitters were reminded that getting 6 runs in the first can go a long way towards getting even a half assed pitcher like Dempster a win.

Game 26- Milwaukee 10 Chicago (N) 7
15-11 1.0 GB

Yes, I went through a 7 game lay off. Apparently, so did the Brewers bats. Goose eggs, doughnuts, manholes. That's what Brewer line scores were reminding me of. The series against the Giants was the only one where the lineup really seemed to click. And the drain on the bullpen in all those close, extra inning games was really starting to show. I have to hand it to the bullpen, they kept the Crew around in those games. I don't know how a lineup like the Crew's can go so long without a nice 4 run win, apparently a while. Tonight wasn't a 4 run win, but it was a double digit run total, something this team needs to have more of.

On a night when Sheets was rusty after an 11 game layoff (7 walks), the bats, fired up by the return of Cameron, came alive and lit the Cubs up for 10 runs. Sheets got lit up like a Polish church, but a W is a W. Listened to the 3rd when the Brewers took a lead and then the Cubs came back to tie it up and the HP ump left for "sickness". Then got busy at work and turned on the bottom of the 8th on to hear Gagne make it interesting.

To follow up on something that happened on the "Work Imposed Hiatus", I was actually disappointed to see Bush go down. He still is a decent pitcher and Parra may not be as ready as everyone thought. It may not have hurt to send him down to Nashville to get some focus. While the Brewers are at it, they need to get the memo to Braun to focus. He looked a little better tonight, taking some pitches for once, but you can tell why there is such a phrase as "Sophomore Slump". He must be pressing.

Games 17 & 18: Milwaukee v Cincinnatti: OK, How Many Different Ways Can I Spell Cincinnati
The credit for this roadtrip has to go to the bullpen. Yes, I realized Gagne blew another one today, but I hang that on Yost. 4 straight appearances is too much for even a young stud. Gagne was bound to groove one.

Saturday's win was great because it sealed up a winning road trip (5-4) and was a needed boost for a team that was probably wondering what was going on with Sheets. Plus, I like it when Suppan puts in a good performance. My only request is that he could have gone a little deeper in the game to save the bullpen.

Another plus, the team is at 7 errors on the season. Happy with that defense. Encarnacion boots that ball in the 10th to open the door for the Crew. Last year the Crew is the team making that play. Although last year the crew has CoCo closing games.

Sunday should also be noted for the return of YO! He looked good, went 8 innings, which should have helped the bullpen out, except the game had to go to extra innings. So much for resting the bullpen.

I think the Crew have 5 days left before Cameron rejoins the club. The offense needs him. Gwynn feels good down in Nashville. With the way Weeks is whiffing away in the leadoff spot, I think Yost should try a combo of Gwynn or Cameron in the leadoff spot and send Weeks to watch some Jose Hernandez video. "See, that's what NOT to do!"

Game 16- Milwaukee v Cinncinnati: Hold Your Breath
I wake up from a nap that went excessively long and dial up brewers.com to catch the game. I see 5-0 after 5. "YEAH!" I see Torres pitcher "WA-WA-WHAT!". Oh no, here it goes, Sheets on the DL. I tune in the broadcast, which for some reason defaults to the Reds broadcast and I hear whoever the wisenheimer is on Reds radio blaming the Brewers for Sheets problems. "The Brewers need to be paying attention to more than pitch count when it comes to Sheets' health." Well what else are the Brewers supposed to do? You put a grown man out there to pitch, you try not to run him in the ground, you expect him to tell you when he's not right and you deal with it. Is Yost supposed to pitch him every 6 days? IDIOT. There were many good indicators that "tightness in the tricep" won't include a trip to the DL, but I can respect anyone who is frustrated that we had to blow up our bullpen to get this win tonight. And what a Spectacular win it was.

Game 15- Milwauke v St. Louis-- Happy Cows
Given Prince's lack of home runs this season, many fans were concerned that his vegetarianism was hindering is power. That's why I think cows everywhere were happy when Prince hit his 1st dinger of the season. In the 10th off Brad Thompson and FOLLOWING a legged out single by Ryan Braun. See Yost, maybe Braun 3, Fielder 4 works. Once again, the crew spent most of the day not hitting, and through sheer gutsy pitching, the bullpen kept them in this game. After Para left after 4, the bullpen kept the Cards off the board, McClung, Mota, Shouse and Gagne got it done. Although Gagne had to put a few guys on to keep me from feeling too good about him. To think, I almost turned this game off. Had I not been in the middle of mopping the kitchen, I may have gone to do something else. Shame on me.

Game 14- Milwaukee v St. Louis-- Maybe it was the Brewers playing over their heads?
When I saw the hot start St. Louis got off to, I took into consideration the teams the Cards were playing and thought, "The Crew will bring them back to earth." Hmm. I'd like to retract that statement.

I used to feel bad for Rick Ankiel. Now I just hate him for grinding out 18 pitches agains Villy last night in the 1st. Seriously, if you're pitcher is going to throw 45 in the first, the hitters have to give him some support. I don't know what the Brewer's strike out totals are, but I feel like I'm watching the '01 team. Can Jenkins come back? I was shocked to see they made a game out of it in the 9th, I guess that's good to see if you want one bright spot from the game. Last year they couldn't score after the 7th, and it seems like they're more able to do that now.

Lot of bloggers making an issue of Turnbow saying he is unhappy with his role. I wish I knew what his role is. Yost is only using him when the Crew is behind. To me that says mop up, but even the Turnbow of last season was better than a mop up man. Fact is, Turnbow has a right to be unhappy. He wasn't criticizing Yost's decision, in fact, he kind of defended it. All he said was, he felt he could still pitch effectively and was going to keep going out there until he proved to Yost he could do it.

I hardly put myself in the "Yost-basher" category, but I do have to question his attitude. He seems to have a little Bobby Valentine in him-- being stubborn and taking it personal when the press questions his decisions. If Jason Kendall is your best hitter right now, move him to the 2 spot. If JJ Hardy isn't hitting well, quit having the pitcher hit behind him. If Braun and Fielder worked well at 3 and 4 in the lineup last season, hit them that way. I'm all for trying unique strategy, but sometimes straight up common sense is your best friend.

Tough loss tonight, but not Bush's fault. The Brewer bats are struggling more than Joey Meyer in a phone booth. This funk of Prince's is compounded by the fact that Braun isn't hitting either. If those guys aren't hitting, the whole lineup seems to fall apart.

The Jeff Weaver signing is interesting. My first reaction was, "If we needed an arm, why did we let Vargas go?" But perhaps Weaver has something more left in him than Vargas, and apparently the contract the Brewers gave him was next to nothing considering it is all incentive laden.

Today is the anniversary of Juan Nieves' no-no. I'll never forget that night. I was doing my homework when my father came up from his workroom and told us the Brewers were throwing a no-hitter. I think when we turned it on, it was around the 7th inning. And to be honest, I didn't no the true deffinition of a no-hitter. To me a hit was any time you made contact with a ball. (Later on after the game, my father, using a chalkboard in the basement explained deffinitions of a base hit, error, no-hitter, perfect game and other baseball details.) But my brother and I watched that game, and when Robin caught the last out, I felt genuine excitement over a teams success. When you think about it, being a fan is a weird thing. You have, basically, no part in their success, yet seeing them succeed gives you great joy. I'll save the dynamics of "fan/team" relationships for later, but at that moment, I felt like I went from a casual Brewer fan, to a rabid, die-hard, sprinkle my ashes over County Stadium fan.

I hate starting posts when I may not be able to complete them, (I'm at work right now, an hour from show time) but, I don't feel like blogging at midnight tonight.

Game 11- Milwaukee v NY (N)
It's hard to write this post with my "Ben Sheets is Awesome" sandwich board on. I didn't get to listen to any of this game, just made occasional score checks from my register at REI customer service. The first check of Brewers.com was "Brewers back in game" which I figured meant, "They put a run on the board after the Mets hung 5 on Sheets." But I was glad to see that they had grabbed the lead and Sheets, while finally getting scored on shut it DOWN! 18 consecutive batters after the 2nd. And in consecutive starts, he has beaten Barry Zito (highest paid pitcher in baseball) and Johan Santana (2nd highest paid pitcher in baseball). There's a lot of talk about Kapler and Kendall, but I'm also very happy to see Weeks working out in the leadoff spot.

Game 12- Milwaukee v NY (N)
This game was so anxiety filled, that I wondered if I can take another competitive season. I'll take a season of games like this over a season like '02 any day. All in all, other than Mota's inability to throw strikes, I have to be happy with the bullpen. Gagne, other than making a "bad pitch" in two previous appearances, has been pretty solid. He throws strikes and he doesn't get rattled when he gets knocked around. I found it strange that after a mediocre rebirth in Texas last season, he was touted as the FINAL PIECE of the Red Sox bullpen. The player that would make Boston's bullpen's ubeatable... then he ended up being a bust as a setup man. In my opinion, the media and Red Sox fans overhyped him. But when the Brewers signed him this offseason, the media seemed to forget how wrong they were in July, and assumed he was done, ready for the trash heap, destined to pump gas in Montreal by June. But I figured he could still be effective enough to get the Brewers through this season until they could find a better long term option for the 9th inning. So far, (and it's early) he seems to be doing that. And as long as he doesn't give up 5 runs in the 9th to the Phillies, he may be an adequate replacement for CoCo.

Three game losing streak in which Josh Fogg, Aaron Harang and Nelson Figueroa all looked like Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz. The bats are silent, other than Kendall still gutting it out in the 9 spot like a champ while the 2 spot is stinking up the park, there has been little to look at as positives. Turnbow came in yesterday for mop up and promptly walked the leadoff man before retiring the side. Prince just missed a homer today, but considering he was 0 for Cincy, I'll take the long, loud double. Other than Bush on Wednesday (who was the victim of some poor breaks) the starters got jobbed. Villy did fall apart in the 7th yesterday, and Para got into some trouble in the 4th today, but they deserved better support. I spent Thursday on the JSO's Brewers Blog, and it was fun to be conversing with that many Brewer fans during a game, even if most of them were overly negative.

He teed off on that like he knew I was bringing the heat

I've figured out Doug Melvin's elaborate ruse. In order to take the pressure of Derrick Turnbow, he spent $10 million on Eric Gagne, knowing he would come to Milwaukee and serve up gopher ball after gopher ball, thereby giving the fans someone to hate and boo other than Turnbow. Do you think it's mere chance that Yost has yet to bring Turnbow into a game this season? Of course not, he needed Gagne to blow two of three save opportunities in just over a week so that when Turnbow does come into the game, the crowd will be elated and give him a hero's welcome. Seriously, could you really argue with giving Turnbow a shot at closing after what Gagne did tonight? I didn't expect Gagne to be Mr. bajillion consecutive saves again, but I figured he could at least keep the ball in the park!

Apparently Gagne shook off the change from Kendall on that dong pitch, saying he was caught up in the moment and wanted to throw the heat. Does anyone remember Nuke wanting to "announce his presence with authority" in Bull Durham? Yeah, I doubt it happened, but if Kendall did tip off Phillips, I couldn't blame him. Damn French (Canadian I know) always letting their emotion get in the way.

I'm not sure what bothered me more though, Gagne making 1 bad pitch that took a W away from a great pitching effort by Soup or Mota being absolutely unable to throw strikes. Let's hear it for Shousie and Weeks saving the day.

BROOM TIME
Had the Crew only taken 2 of 3 from the Giants, I still would have been disappointed. You have to get it done against the "lower depths", and the 2008 Giants very well qualify as the lower depths.

Sheets was Sheets today. A shutout, has yet to be scored on and reminding the pessimist Brewer fans that there is reason to re-sign this guy regardless of his freaky injury past. OK, I'll get off my "Re-sign Sheeter" soap box. Combined with Parra's performance yesterday, the only stinker after one lap through the rotation has been Bush. Bush, you have to learn to win on the road if you want to stay in the rotation when Gallardo comes back.

So what happened to Barry Zito? The guy is the most sought after free agent 2 years ago, linked to Alyssa Milano and known for having a nasty curve that makes grown men shudder. Now he's giving up 5 runs in 5 innings to the Brewers and even Tina Yothers won't return his calls.

I was happy to see Gagne look decent in earning his first save yesterday, but I'll be happier if Turnbow looks good whenever he makes his first appearance. I will say this, Gagne's "goggled, frat boy" look is a nice compliment to Turnbow's "80s high school dropout working in an auto shop" look. Throw in Riske's "pale, gringo gunslinger" look and the Brewers bullpen is enough to scare even the bravest barber.

SPORTS TV RANT/ FRIDAY GAME COMMENTS
While watching Friday's Brewer game, I realized just how ridiculous the sports media complex has become. On Hooter's 5 screen TV wall, there was fishing on VS. (which I had them change to Brewers/Giants), Cubs/Astros, the McDonald's girls high school all star game on ESPN2, Outside the Lines on ESPN and a UNLV/Wyoming football game from Oct. 27th on theMtn. Yes, I realize fans of Utah and BYU now have an outlet for seeing their teams play live, but in the big picture, doesn't an entire network for a conference seem like overkill? And who other than these girls parents are watching the basketball game. At first, I thought it was a collegiate all-star game, and found myself getting a little caught up in it (as I will admit to being attracted to female athletes), but when I realized these girls had yet to go to their senior prom, I felt a little confused and guilty, like I had just won home run derby only to find out I was competing against Jim Abbot and David Eckstein. Plus, Hooters chose to have Outside the Lines on the "big screen". I realize Hooter's waitresses have better things to worry about than monitor arrangement, but while I'm straining to see how many outs there are in my game, there is Bob Ley, in all his 16 by 9 glory, enlightening me for the umpteenth time on why Geno Auriema and Pat Summit hate eachother. I get ESPN, you don't have the men's final four, so you have to hype the women's final four-- greaaaaaat. I'll make an appointment to watch women's basketball when you finally convince me that the MLS is just as enjoyable as the NFL. Speaking of the NFL, ESPN seems to think that even though it's April, they will give me 30 minutes of NFL over-analysis every afternoon. Yes, I know the draft is coming up, but shouldn't sports that are actually playing take precedence over 4 guys talking about which QB from the '83 draft would they draft today. Hypotheticals like that should be saved for downtime at work, not put on a major TV network. You know what would be great ESPN, instead of 4 NFL geeks jawing about a season that is 6 months away, you put on a show that updated me on what happened in baseball last night. I think you have a show like that, it's called BASEBALL TONIGHT!

On to the game. Kendall is so far the signing of the off-season. This guy is a gamer and makes the bottom of the lineup awesome. Think about it, we have Bill Hall, JJ Hardy and Jason Kendall in our bottom 4. I know he doesn't have the arm you would want in a catcher, but he knows how to handle the pitchers, gets on base, and moves much better than Johnny Estrada, who only hustled when the Chorizo was heading his way. [Was that racist or a fat joke? Doesn't matter, he sucked and isn't on a active roster as far as I know.] Once again, Weeks showed some skill as a leadoff man. I know it helped that the Giants were putting it on a tee, but I believe it also helps that I've backed off calling him my favorite player, which has been a curse for every player since Yount retired. They either get dealt, get injured or drop off in production. Examples: Jeff Cirillo, Jeromy Burnitz, Ben Sheets, Geoff Jenkins, etc., etc. I think in 2002, I chose Brooks Kieschnick as my favorite just so I could protect the rest of the talent on the team.

Highlight of the game: Hall putting that second homer into the Summerfest grounds. Concern of the game: Villanueava's inability to get through 6. "Hit 'em where they ain't" of the game: Fielder once again making teams pay for putting the shift on him.

You know what that is, that's Bush!

My gut told me that letting Vargas go may have been uneccessary, and judging by how Bush pitched today, I might have preferred him getting a chance in the rotation. I've been pretty neutral on Bush in his career as a Brewer, but today was frightening. 5 walks! You have to do a better job of keeping us in the game Bushy. I believe he went hit batsmen, walk, walk, out, out, and walk. That's not my ideal number 3 starter. I thought Vargas put up good enough numbers in the spring to receive more consideration than he did. Ach! Let's hope Villy gets us back into the W column tomorrow. The Yost-Haters are going to not tolerate Bush in the rotation long if he keeps this up, and honestly, I'm not going to tolerate it either. I hate the bottom three of our rotation being as inexperienced as Gallardo, Villy and Parra, but that most likely will be the case.

Attaboy Rickie

What a game today! I tell myself that 2-0 is nothing to get excited about, but winning on the road, winning at Wrigley, winning against the pre-season pick to win the division, that gets me excited. Listened to the first inning before going to work and felt great about Ricky hitting that first pitch dinger. I'm worrying he's pressing to much as the lead off man, so hopefully he'll relax a little more.

Does anyone remember Uecker ripping LaRussa for doing the "pitcher batting 8th" thing a few years ago? I wonder how he feels about that now... especially when Kendall reached base 5 times today.

The Yost-haters were pissed on the JSO blog today about Kapler getting the start over Gwynn, but you can't argue with righty vs. lefty logic. My question is why trot Riske out for a second inning? I like the guy and all, (and I still think he could be our closer before the season is out), but isn't a 6 run lead a good time to get Turnbow in there for some work and confidence building?

Tomorrow don't have to go into REI until 3:30, so I should be able to listen to the whole game and take my stab at the running game blog on JSO. Some of the bloggers on there really need a reality check, and flame warring complete strangers seems like a great way to spend an afternoon.

I'm the last person to bitch that we need more holidays in this country. I think we have enough holidays in this country. I don't get holidays off with my job, so it pisses me off whenever I have to go the post office/ deposit a check/ buy scotch and the establishments that render these goods and services give their coddled employees the day off. Yeah, I'm sure the break neck pace of being a bank teller earns you the right to spend MLK Day carting your fat ass kids skiing-- I mean celebrating the civil rights struggle.

However, there is one day per year when I always feel a little cheated by work-- Opening Day. Sure, I could take the day off, but I'm usually 1,000 miles from the nearest Brewer game, and burning a vacation day to watch a game on TV seems like a waste. However, when I remember the feeling of driving into the Country Stadium parking lot while my friends were in school, smelling those grills, layering as much clothing under my Brewer jersey as possible, I get very nostalgic and lose any interest in working.

Today I was able to listen/watch the first 7 innings of the Brewers/Cubs game before I had to "focus on the 4" at work. It's probably good I missed the pivotal late innings where all the runs were scored, because watching Gagne choke away a 3 run lead in the 9th would have made me switch a newscast like the Incredible Hulk with jock itch. In the end, the Brewers won, and what I regret missing the most is not Gwynn's game winning sac fly or Riske's shutout 10th, it was how dejected those spoiled, whiny Cubs fans must have looked when Kerry Wood gave up those three runs and Bobby Howry blew it in the 10th. Carlos Marmol may have that closer job sooner than later.

Pitching, Pitching, IT'S PITCHING DAMMIT!

The starting rotation may have seen two more spots locked down yesterday. Dave Bush overcame a rocky first inning against the Cubbies to retire the last 11 in a row. Then Manny Para came in and shut the norththsiders out for 4 innings. This was Bush's first good outing of the spring, but Para has been lighting it up. It would be a shame not to give him a chance, especially if Capuano keeps struggling.

The other pitching note I haven't commented on is Sheet's pending departure after this season. The logic seems to be: If he pitches well, he'll be too expensive to resign and if he pitches poorly, the Brewers are better off without him." I think many in Crew-ville are WAY too concnerned about locking Prince Fielder down to a long term deal. I want to see Fielder as a lifelong Brewer as much as anyone, but the fact is, he's not elgible for Free Agency until 2011 and with Scott Boras as his agent, the odds are slim that he'll stay a Brewer no matter how much Attanasio ponies up. If the focus is to win NOW, let's keep a pitcher who is still, even amidst the bizarre injuries he has endured, the ace of this staff. No one is going to win a championship with a staff anchored by Jef Suppan and Yovani Gaillardo, who, as we learned from Chris Capuano, shouldn't be judged on 1 season.