The Brewers have published their 2009 promotional schedule and over at Home Run Derby they decided to take a look at what the bobblehead giveaways. Let's just say the players that are being honored with bobbleheads share a common characteristic with every Brewers fan (including our very own Real Stadiums Have Roofs). They are all white. Even the sausage race contestant selected was Western European, they couldn't even give Chorizo a break? Ouch:
May 3 - Ryan Braun
May 31 - Trevor Hoffman
Jun 28 - Jason Kendall
Aug 30 - Jeff Suppan
Jul 26 - Bratwurst (Racing Sausage!!)
Sep 20 - Doug Melvin, Brewers GM
Really? Jeff Suppan? Jason Kendall? Don't they have Prince Fielder? And what kind of franchise gives a bobblehead doll for their GM? I don't know about you, but I haven't many kids walking around in Doug Melvin jerseys. Boom roasted.
They are pretty confident the Sox will win in 5 over at the Dong. Not sure why...
I am obviously not in the mood to talk about the Cubs right now. Al over at BCB wrote a sad but accurate Elegy To The 2008 Cubs. Read that if you want. Whatever.
2 PM Milwaukee (Gallardo) at Philadelphia (Hamels)
The Brewers are riding some serious momentum into the playoffs this season. After a few years of frustration they are finally in. However, the Phillies will be too good today with Hamels on the mound. Gallardo is an X factor (Y factor?) today in just his second start since missing five months hibernating...er, with an injury. He was good in his first start, but that was against the Pirates. Big deal. Phillies win today 6-2.
5:30 PM Los Angeles (Lowe) at Chicago (Dempster)
The first game in a five game series is the most important. No, it's not. I don't know why people say that in series. They're all important. Don't lose them. After this game, game two will be the most important. I like the Cubs here because of Dempster. I like the Dodgers because of Lowe. That makes for a nail-biting pitching duel and I think at home in the first game of the playoffs, day will turn to night and the magic will take over as the Cubbies win 4-1.
9:00 PM Boston (Lester) at Los Angeles (Lackey)
The Angels have lost nine straight postseason games to the Red Sox. Will the streak end tonight? One streak will end, that much is certain. The other streak in jeopardy is the Angels' eight game run beating the Red Sox this season. The Angels go with the experience of John Lackey tonight and he'll need it, because he is coming off his worst start of the year giving up 10 runs in two and a third against Texas last Friday. Still, I like the Angels to win this one 10-6.
I'm not sure to what extent this story is reliable, but in light of the debate here on NQTC about the way the Brewers organization treats its employees, I am reprinting the whole thing from Wrigleyville23:
WASHINGTON - Federal officials confirmed late Wednesday that the Occupation Safety & Health Administration is launching an investigation into a Milwaukee-area employer - believed to be the Milwaukee Brewers - for "willful disregard for employees' health and safety."
OSHA did not disclose the name of the company, but two sources at the Department of Labor who spoke on the condition their names not be used said the employer under investigation is the Milwaukee Brewers. "We have received repeated complaints from employees about unsafe working conditions," one source said. "I don't want to pre-judge the case, but it's pretty clear there are some issues with this employer."
One of the employees at the center of the probe is believed to be Yovanni Gallardo, who was involved in a violent collision at a facility in Chicago in early May. Mr. Gallardo was clearly injured but was forced to continue to work that afternoon by his supervisor, according to the incident report. Mr. Gallardo later had surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Mr. Gallardo reports being "surprised" to learn he is being asked to report to work Thursday, less than five months after the incident in Chicago. He told local media that he is trying to make the best of it.
"After I saw the doctor and we had a conversation with Dale (Sveum), like I said earlier, wherever they want to use me, whatever the opportunity is. If they want me to start, I'll be able to start. If they want me to come out of the bullpen, whatever it might be," he said Wednesday.
Mr. Gallardo's difficulties are far from the only only incidents involving the Milwaukee Brewers. Three ironworkers were killed during construction of the company's headquarters in 1999, a leaky roof repeatedly created unsafe working conditions in 2002, and a malfunctioning fryer at a concession stand outside Section 427 burned three employees earlier this season.
Additionally, the investigation also will focus on the handling of CC Sabathia, an overweight employee who has been asked to work extremely long working hours in recent months - leading to fatigue and diminished effectiveness. Mr. Sabathia's former supervisor, Ned Yost, was fired last week. It is not known if the dismissal was related to the pending investigation.
The Department of Labor officials said the investigation likely would take several months.
A Brewers spokesperson did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
According to the guys at Wrigleyville23, the anonymous Department of Labor people told them this story. Interesting. I wouldn't want to work for an organization that did those things, whether OSHA is investigating or not. Good luck tonight Yovanni, though I would recommend seeing your own doctor next time.
Do you sense the sarcasm in this little post from a Brewers blog?
I don't think we should let CC Sabathia pitch anymore guys. He's really throwing way to many pitches. I mean...it's just not that nice. You guys should really think about his future...I mean...we are MAIMING him. The Brewers should be ashamed of themselves.
So in his best interests...we should give him a box of popsicles, and tell him to sit down the rest of the year. We don't need him. We'll thank him for all he's done, and we'll throw Mark DeFilice out there instead.
Because throwing those extra 120 or perhaps 210 pitches to help Milwaukee get to the Playoffs just doesn't seem right. We're overusing him guys. Really. We should be more sympathetic to the big fella. Can you imagine the emotional and physical strain being put on him right now to succeed? I mean...these next couple of starts could make the difference between him getting a guaranteed 136 Million next year instead of just a paltry 122 million.
So for the sake of him...and the sake of his Mother (who I'm sure is thinking her little boy is pitching too much), no more CC Sabathia this year.
If I was a Brewers fan I would want to throw him out there too, but that doesn't mean its not dangerous and foolish.
The Brewers might have to go to a 5-sausage rotation if they keep over- working their pitchers
Well some discussion in the War Room of late has been about whether the Brewers use of C.C. Sabathia this year has been ethical. They are purposely making him pitch extremely high pitch counts in their push for the playoffs, at the possible expense of his future career and health, because they know they will not be able to re-sign him next year. Some stupid shitty Brewers fan (goes by "Deez Nuts" or "Real Stadiums Have Roofs", really clever names jackass) thinks that it is not unethical because "Bob Gibson used to pitch 275 innings a year" back in 1963. Not to say that this is a different era (it is), but that comparison is extremely flawed. On top of that, there is further proof that the Brewers do not give two shits about their players health in their push for a chance to be swept in the first round of the playoffs; from Wrigleyville23:
The Milwaukee Brewers, fresh off working to maim CC Sabathia, have activated Yovani Gallardo. This comes less than five months after he had what was thought to be season-ending knee surgery, which came after being sent back out to pitch by Ned Yost with a torn ACL at Wrigley Field.
Brewers assistant GM Gord Ash says Gallardo is cleared to pitch and there is speculation he could start one of the team's upcoming games. But Gallardo doesn't sound so sure. For example, Brewers.com notes:
Gallardo said his status would hinge on a visit with a team doctor Tuesday evening, but (Ash) said Gallardo was cleared to pitch.
In other words, "Get out there, dammit."
And:
"It's not up to me," Gallardo said. "I just want to be here and help the team out any way that I can. It's going to depend on what the doctor and the trainer say [Tuesday]. ... I haven't swung the bat, I haven't ran the bases, so starting is kind of 'out there.' We'll see. I just hopefully want to go out there and hopefully get a couple innings and help them out."
In other words, "Um, are you sure about this? Did you see what happened to my knee? Maybe we should wait until next year. I'd like to get paid some day."
And:
"As far as pitching, my arm is in shape, so I guess that's pretty good," Gallardo said. "Fielding your position, covering first base, that's the way that [the injury] happened, so that was going to be a little bit of a challenge for me to get over it. I feel confident. It was a main focus to take more [fielding practice] and cover first base."
In other words, "Um, REALLY, ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THIS???!?? WTF!?? I'D REALLY LIKE TO WAIT!!! THIS FREAKIN' HURTS!!! Really. Ouch."
We'll leave it to Ned Lite to get the last word:
"[Gallardo] is built up enough to do whatever we want from him," Sveum said. "We'll make those decisions as the next few days unfold.
In other words, "Get out there, dammit."
There you have it. Now they are rushing Gallardo back. Bring on the rebuttal Mr. Stadiums Have Roofs. On the other hand, maybe you should wait. You will have a lot of time to think about your response in October while the rest of us are watching playoff baseball.
***UPDATE: Read the comments from Brewers fans on this story about whether they should pitch C.C. on three days rest twice this week. Here's a little taste:
"Pitch CC twice to finish you have to do it, no quesito what do we care if his arm falls off."
"Run CC in to the ground. If the Brewers make the playoffs, anything can happen. Seriously, 2 CC starts, 2 Bush starts, 1 Gallardo start, and 1 McClung start with the expectation of a bunch of guys throwing 2 innings."
Top ten Chicago sports movie moments. This list is hilarious. Personally I think the Blue Chips scene on the South Side should be first.
Northwestern is deep at multiple positions. I don't think they will win more than 2 Big Ten games, but we'll see.
While we are doing lists, might as well throw this in there. Ty Cobb definitely deserves the award for most legendary baseball asshole.
Cubs lost last night to keep the magic number at 4. It sort of feels like no big deal, considering any combination of 2 Cubs wins and 2 Brewers losses clinches for the Cubbies.
Real Stadiums Have Roofs is chiming in today with his take on the firing of Ned Yost and other Milwaukee Brewers news. Nothing posted in this space reflects my opinions in any way. Go Cubs!
Former Batting Champion's Cousin To Lead Brewers
The roar you heard from Milwaukee today was not the sound of the droves of Cubs fans cheering on the most overrated and overpriced team in the nicest ballpark on Earth (miller) . Instead, that roar was in response to the only decent news Brewers fans have had in two weeks.In a move that should be surprising only in that it came 385 days too late, the axe finally fell on Brewers manager Ned Yost.
After going 20-7 in August and starting September with a 5 ½ game lead in the wild card, Yost who just so happens to share three letters of his last name with ‘lost,’ flubbed and tinkered with lineups and relievers until the Brewers’ miserable 3-11 start to September completely erased their sizeable wild card lead.This September debacle comes on the heels of a similar collapse last year, when the Brewers blew an 8 ½ game division lead and finished two games in back of the Cubs.
While there is plenty of blame to be passed around, see e.g., Ben Sheets and his injury which is seemingly obvious to everyone but him and Yost, Hall’s and Weeks’ inability to hit and field, Doug Melvin inking Jeff Suppan’s fat contract, Craig Counsell’s roster spot, and mostly Prince Fielder’s failure to maintain a decent weight or field his position resulting in losing Gallardo for the season as well as the former MVP’s inability to hit with men in scoring position, as the manager of a young and indisputably talented team that folded down the stretch in what could be two consecutive seasons, Yost deserves the lion share of the blame.Whether it was leaving relievers in too long, pitching Brian Shouse against Pat Burrell, pitching Gagne at all, promoting Craig Counsell from batboy to everyday player, or batting the best hitter in the league in the five hole, Yost often refuses to put his team in the best position to win games and that becomes especially apparent when they need wins the most.
The only non-bright spot from Yost’s firing is that he didn’t take Doug Melvin with him.Whether this move is enough for the Brewers to turn their September around and make the playoffs remains to be seen, the firing does, however, virtually guarantee six wins against the Cubs down the stretch and makes the Crew National League front-runners for years to come.
Sports news, rumors, videos, stories and other tidbits with a Chicago slant. Please email any stories, links, pictures, videos or advertising inquiries to Stormin Norman or Steviey19.
.jpg)
