Baseball Anyone?

[newkris]

Milwaukee 23 10 .697
Chicago 15 14 .517 6.0
Houston 15 17 .469 7.5
Pittsburgh 13 17 .433 8.5
St. Louis 13 18 .419 9.0

um yeah, can someone tell me what that means? 

does that really mean that the MILWAUKEE BREWERS are really 9.0 games ahead of St. Louis?  hhhhmmmm . . 
i know.  i know.  it's early and a lot can happen.  we have seen this streaking before, but . . .i just wanted it to be preserved for posterity so i can prove to my grandchildren someday that yes, indeed, mavrik, milwaukee WAS better than everybody else once! 

  GO BREW CREW!!      

[bishopnl]

I knew going into this season that Milwaukee was going to be vastly improved.  The addition of Jeff Suppan made an already improving team that much better.  Plus, the Cardinals did zip in the offseason to really be competitive...they did sign Adam Kennedy, which so far hasn't really panned out.  Kip Wells started hot, but he's been disastrous lately.

Overall, though, the Cardinals pitching hasn't been what has killed them.  Braden Looper has been spectacular, Adam Wainwright has had some good starts, and even Anthony Reyes hasn't been completely awful...he's had high pitch counts, but doesn't usually give up more than 3 or 4 runs...it's just that he never lasts pasts 5 innings.

It's been the Cardinals offense.  It has been horrendous.

Their standard starting lineup is something like this:

David Eckstein SS - .221
Chris Duncan LF - .311
Albert Pujols 1B - .252
Jim Edmonds CF - .209
Scott Rolen 3B - .200
(RF Encarnacion is injured)
Adam Kennedy 2B .238
Yadier Moline C - .266

Only one player is batting over .300...the next closest playeris Molina, 34 points BELOW .300...that's just pathetic.  And Pujols' numbers are WAY down over what they were last year at this time.

[newkris]

so i bet you can identify the real improved factor for the Brewers in the last five years, hey?

can anyone say . . . Thanks Mark? 

if it wasn't for an owner willing to spend a little and make some real changes, the Brewers would still be where they were five years ago.  i like the seligs for a bunch of reasons, but . . . they didn't do well as owners.  more nostalgia than business-sense - in my milw-bred opinion.

so, can you show me the stat/lineup for the brewers?  i'm much too lazy to find it myself.  i just know that they are doing well, but since i have jumped the river to  MN, i don't get to hear the games and the hype i grew up with. 

[bishopnl]

I'm not sure what the Brewers standard lineup is...here are there starting position players:

Prince Fielder 1B - .287
JJ Hardy SS - .341
Geoff Jenkins OF - .333
Johnny Estrada C - .314
Kevin Mench OF - .308
Bill Hall OF - .267
Rickie Weeks 2B - .248
Tony Graffanino 3B - .219

So there you have it.  The Brewers have 4 players hitting over .300, and Prince Fielder is only 13 points under .300.  Plus the Brewers have three starters, Suppan, Capuano, and Claudio Vargas, with sub-3.00 ERA's....The Cardinals have ONE.  And their other pitchers ALL have ERA's over 5...except Brad Thompson, who started his first game yesterday, replacing the injured Chris Carpenter, who's out for three months.

The only bright spot has been the Cardinals bullpen.  It has been very efficient.

[newkris]

wow . .  go geoff!  he's the kind of player who is VERY on or VERY off.  i love it when he's on!!  and to think the Prince isn't quite where he's expected to be and still doing that well.  hhhmmm . . . could be a very good year for the Brewers.

although . . .  .they have started strong the last couple of years and then taken nose dives after the All Star Break.  time will tell. 

i like billy hall, too.  do you know the mother's day story from last year?  he had a big hit (for the cycle?  big home run?)  with a pink bat (breast cancer donation thing) that he wrote his mom's name on.  Mark A. gave the bat to Billy's mom as a gift after the game.  *smile*  feel-good-baseball.  that's what i like! 

[newkris]

so, here it is august and we haven't talked baseball for awhile.

any thoughts from the peanut gallery?

looks to me like the brewers are maintaining first place in their division.  i haven't heard many games (bummer for me) but i can see by their record that they are doing well.  and how about the Prince?  *whoosh*  he's still hot. 

any thoughts about barry bonds and the big hit?

and who is the other one from NY that hit a milestone?

[bishopnl]

Well, baseball is done now, after seeing another big market team buy themselves a World Series. 

No question Boston was the better team...but with that big of a payroll difference, how could they not be?  My brother calls Boston "the Yankees North"...lol...

[JakeLeonard]

Most of the AL teams like the Red Sox and Yankees are monopolies....split them all into expansion teams (maybe three or four)

[bishopnl]

I'm not in favor of splitting them...and it's not as if small market teams can't win the World Series...actually, all things considered, smaller payroll teams have done remarkably well for themselves (Minnesota, Cleveland, etc.).  But the fact is that the Yankees and Boston put themselves in a position to win every year by just outbidding for the good players. 

[JakeLeonard]

OK, but (going into football) we know the Patriots are about as much as a monopoly as baseball teams like Boston and New York

[bishopnl]

Well, I hate the Patriots as much as anyone...but due to the salary cap, NFL teams are able to acheive parity much more easily than MLB teams...it takes some really creative general managers to keep small market teams competitive, but the NFL has a dearth of small market competitive teams.  The Patriots dominance is due primarily to good drafting, good coaching, and crafty planning (well...and Tom Brady). 

And of course, when you win, teams are much more likely to want to go to your city--sometimes even if it means less money.

And it doesn't hurt that the Patriots were willing to lower *snicker* their standards (as if they had any to begin with) and pick up troubled vets like Corey Dillon and Randy Moss...and their propensity to cheat.