The NBA is a league centered around superstars.  The teams that win typically have one or two superstars and a good supporting cast like the Lakers (Kobe, Pau) and the Celtics (Pierce and Garnett).  Teams that have too many superstars (Mavericks or Barkley lead Rockets with Hakeem and Drexler) never seem to live up to the billing.   The Celtics hold true to this because Ray Allen has allowed the team to be guided by Pierce and Garnett while still making his presence felt – another reason to like the guy.     When you look at the Bucks, however, you don’t see the superstar power.  You have Bogut who has become a solid presence in the middle and appears to continually get better.  You have Yi, but the jury is still out on him.  Bogut and Yi are both bigger guys – 6’-11”+, and with Bogut especially, play positions that are harder to fill.   

You may know him better by Tony Graffanino, but according to Wikipedia, Graffanino drpped the ‘g’ after too many mispronunciations from minor league announcers.  He signed a minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians.  I wish him the best.  A part of me had hoped that he may come back to the Brewers to provide good clubhouse leadership, even though I know there was no room for him this year, Counsel, Kappler, and Dillon have all had there moments.

Tiger Woods is Bad Ass.  I thought he was having trouble because he previously had surgery, not because he had additional injuires? 

Nice article SI.com

Let me just throw this out there right away:  Fans deciding who is in the All-Star game is bullshit.  Fans voting for the All-Stars result in the same players getting to the game due in large part to name recognition.  If I was a player that would piss me off.  If I were having a killer season as a DH for Kansas City, it wouldn’t matter because the player from New York or Boston will be the starter.  Because really, nobody can get enough of the Yankees or Red Sox.

Another issue I have with this whole farce is that the main page for MLB.com right now has the headline “Brew Crew making its move in All-Star balloting”.  Well no shit Sherlock, they are finally getting some home games to get the home fans punching the paper ballots (they currently have played five fewer home games than the Cubs).  If anyone wants to point out that any fan can easily vote online, I would ask them if they have and how many times.  Because it sucks to vote online, because you can vote 25 times a freakin’ day, which in turn devalues anyone’s vote that can’t spend an hour glued to their pc voting for something that doesn’t matter – I don’t care what you say, the game doesn’t matter.

If it doesn’t matter, why do I care?  I care because I root for small market team and it’s nice if the hometown players get their due because it certainly won’t happen on the four-lettered’s coverage.

Let’s take this example – Ryan Braun vs. the other contenders.

Let’s get this straight. Of this five player group, Braun leads in the following stats: G, AB, H, 3B, HR, RBI, TB,  and SLUG. (Granted he also leads in SO and CS).  He’s second in R, 2B, SB, and AVG.  He also leads the group in OBPS.  Plus he has been the key offensive weapon for a team expected to have a big year.

How is he not the top vote getter?  Fan balloting.

I know he isn’t anybody’s favorite wide receiver here in Packerland, but I don’t think anyone would wish this on him.  Oddly, the fans in Oakland don’t seem to be taking a shine to Javon based on some of the comments. 

Seroiusly, I hope he gets better, but I have two questions:

1.  Who are you out partying with – with 15 bottles of champagne spraying the crowd?  That’s not going to piss anyone off. 

2.   Why are you out until 7:00 a.m.?  You always hear the line “Nothing good happens after midnight”, and while that may not always be true, these news stories like this generally don’t happen at 10 p.m.  Just sayin’.

Brewers off day today, does that mean I will get more stuff done after work………..I would say no.

Thanks to Chucky, the crew scratches out a win Sunday.  He has pitched great since joining the rotation (outside of the game against the Braves).  Who would have thought he’d be getting the Brewers quality starts and have an ERA under four?

I like Counsel, but I don’t like Counsel being an everyday shortstop for the Brewers.  Here’s to Hardy having a quick recovery and being back in short order, hopefully not to the detrement of the remainder of his season.

Remeber Lyle Overbay.  Remember doing the “OOOOOOO!” chant a few years ago.  How about Brewer’s fans bring that back for a few days this week.

If Gagne does regain his health, where do you slot him in the bullpen?  You can’t remove Torres, and until he proves capable of getting guys out he can’t, you can’t put him in a close game.  If/when he comes back, that will give Yost some headaches I’m sure.

U.S. Open playoff round has Woods (E) by a couple of strokes over Mediate (+2) at the turn.

Once again, our multi-talented player/manager/field reporter has the story….

Crushers Destroy Emmers I

SHEBOYGAN–Chad Schreiber looked like the type of pitcher that managers dream about. The right-hander has played a major role in helping the Crushers to the franchise’s best start. Schreiber stayed on Route 66 all night as he one-hit Emmers I in a demolishing 14-0 win. Included in his one-hit wonder in the fourth inning, Schreiber walked seven batters, struck out none but was clearly in control the entire evening. “That’s exactly why I signed him,” said Player-Manager Tim Romanello, “for the majority of the night, he made the other team look severely handicapped. Schreiber’s performance [on Thursday] was living proof that fat people cannot play dodgeball.”

Schreiber now has a 3-0 record, a league-high this season. “What a year he’s having,” said teammate Chris Thousand, “he’s pitched another great ballgame tonight for us. He throws hard with a good curveball and a good changeup, and on top of that is what a good competitor he is.”

“I wanted to keep things simple on a warm, humid evening,” later said Schreiber, “I was just trying to stay around the zone and try to make them make contact, and that’s kind of the way it worked out. I just can’t believe how many pitches they took.”

The Crushers gave Schreiber a big cushion early. Kerwin’s RBI sacrifice fly gave the Crushers a 1-0 lead and opened the way to an eight-run first inning before finally tacking on insurance runs with four runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth.

Daisuke Sugimoto–whom Romanello didn’t have in his original line-up due to concerns about absent substitutions–was 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored. “Dai did a FAN-tastic job tonight,” said a jubilant Romanello, “he came up real clutch.”

Despite the final outcome, the Crushers failed to put away Emmers I and end the game earlier. “You know, we didn’t score a single run in the second or third innings at all. That was a little disappointing to me in my eyes,” said a tempered Romanello following the game, “if that was a really good team, a team of our caliber, you can’t take them for granted. Score when you can. You gotta score early and you have to score often. I wanted to score 23 runs in the first inning to end it and head to Applebee’s immediately for all-you-can-eat riblets, but this is a learning process and a great experience to build on.”

From the sixth-spot down, the Crushers had plenty of support throughout their line-up. The bottom of the order was a combined 8-for-11 with eight RBI, including perfect production from Schreiber and Bruton at the plate. “These type of box scores just make a manager smile geniusly,” said Romanello. [Colin] Bruton specifically has been swinging a hot stick. I’ve been thinking about moving him up in the order, but he seems perfectly comfortable in the nine-spot.”

Buton later commented on his performance, “I just want to thank my unbelievable skill and talent. Those two attributes of mine have really helped me achieve some top-level accomplishments.”

O’Callahan’s Crushers will play Penn Ave Pub on Thursday, June 12 at Wildwood Complex. The game is scheduled for 5:40 p.m. CT. Chad Schreiber is once again the scheduled starter for the Crushers.

Game Report
O’Callahans’ 14, Emmers I 0

INSIDE PITCH
PLAYER OF THE GAME-Daisuke Sugimoto.Sugimoto was 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored following his 0-fer the previous week against Dent Wizard and his cursing-filled argument with home plate umpire.
TURNING POINT-after giving up at least four runs in the first inning the previous two games, O’Callahans’ scored eight in the top of the first and gave up zero the entire game.

BOX SCORE
O’Callahans’ AB R H BI BB SO
Romanello cf……2 2 2 2 0 0
Kerwin cf……….3 0 0 1 0 0
Scharinger lf…….3 1 1 0 0 0
Thousand 3b……3 1 2 2 0 0
Bachar ss……….3 1 1 1 0 0
Schreiber p……..2 2 2 2 1 0
Doherty rf………..3 2 2 1 0 0
Buchmann 1b……3 2 3 1 0 0
Bruton 2b………3 2 2 2 0 0
Sugimoto………….3 1 2 3 0 0

O’Callahans’ 8 0 0 4 2 x x -14 17 2
Emmers I 0 0 0 0 0 x x –0 1 3

E-Scharinger (2, 1 fielding, 1 throwing) 2B-Bachar (2) TB-Romanello (2); Scharinger; Thousand 2; Bachar 2; Schreiber 2; Doherty 2; Buchmann 2; Bruton 3 RBI-Romanello 2 (7); Thousand 2 (8); Bachar 2 (3); Doherty (6); Buchmann (3); Bruton 2 (2); Sugimoto 3 (4) 2-out RBI-Romanello 1 (7); Thousand 2 (8) LOB-6 WP-Schreiber (3-0) T-0:47 Attendance: 7

2008 Team Statistics
AVG OBP SLG G AB R H 1B 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO E TB SF LOB HBP XBH
Thousand 0.818 0.818 1.182 3 11 7 9 6 2 1 0 8 0 0 3 13 0 1 0 3
Romanello 0.700 0.583 1.300 3 10 6 7 4 1 1 1 7 0 0 0 13 2 1 0 3
Schreiber 0.667 0.727 0.667 3 9 5 6 6 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 6 0 3 0 0
Doherty 0.636 0.636 0.727 3 11 5 7 6 1 0 0 6 0 0 2 8 0 2 0 1
Dehne 0.625 0.625 0.625 2 8 3 5 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 2 0 0
Bruton 0.545 0.545 0.545 3 11 3 6 6 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 6 0 3 0 0
Bachar 0.500 0.500 0.833 2 6 1 3 1 2 0 0 3 0 1 1 5 0 3 0 2
Scharinger 0.455 0.455 0.818 3 11 5 5 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 4 9 0 2 0 2
Kerwin 0.333 0.417 0.556 3 9 4 3 2 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 5 1 1 0 1
Madsen 0.333 0.333 0.333 1 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Buchmann 0.300 0.364 0.300 3 10 3 3 3 0 0 0 3 1 0 2 3 0 2 0 0
Sugimoto 0.300 0.273 0.300 3 10 2 3 3 0 0 0 4 0 2 0 3 1 2 0 0

TOTALS 0.532 0.534 0.706 32 109 45 58 46 6 5 1 39 5 4 13 77 4 22 0 12

It’s getting frustrating. Sheets gives the team a good start. Nice. Offense provides some offense. Spectacular. Villanueva pitches a clean 7th. A 10 pitch clean inning. Decent. Ned Yost having to get his ass more involved than it needed to be. Typical.

Why do you remove a a pitcher who is getting outs and who is capable of multiple innings? Well, naturally because you have “an eighth inning pitcher“. Huh? Am I the only one that didn’t know the roles in the bullpen were that well defined. As far as I could tell, we’ve been doing a lot of hoping and praying this entire year as far as the bullpen is concerned.

Why remove someone if they are succeeding to bring in someone that may or may not be able to get outs? Villanueva would have pitched “if it wasn’t a save situation.” What?! I don’t give a rats ass about saves. If we’re up by three, I want outs and I don’t care who gets them.

Is that how you get to be a “players coach”, by getting your guys stats? That’s insane. This is the same guy who early in the year kept saying that things even out, blah, blah blah. If things even out, why do you care if it is a save situation or not. That stuff should even out, right?

Bottom line: Mota, sucked. It happens. Players have off nights. I do not fault Mota. Why in the eighth inning of a game do we allow a reliever to give up a single, a single and then a double? Wouldn’t that be a good time to decide that Mota wasn’t having a good night? One run in, three straight hits, but we’re still up by 2. Tying run on second. Nope, let’s let him work through it, and give up a triple to tie the game – without recording an out. Villanueva should have pitched at least until he gave up some baserunners, if that happened in the eighth fine, put someone else in, if he is able to finish the game without giving up the lead, great, less of a work load on the rest of the bullpen.

Hat tip to Tom Haudricourt for telling it like it is in his article linked above.

10-1 win over the D-Backs today! Hooray Win! 6th straight victory; winners of 9 out of their last 10; back to back sweeps. Now let’s keep this rolling.

So, let’s gaze into my crystal baseball and check my pre-game thoughts…

First thought was can Manny be Manny. Check. Here’s his line – 7 innings / 4 hits / 1 run / 1 earned / 2 walks / 8 SO / 4.33 ERA. Just a fantastic outing and has won 3 of his last 4.

Next was Prince, no homers but was 1 for 3 with a walk and an RBI. He also scored twice. I still think he’s seeing the ball better and is noticeably more loose in the dugout. That can only lead to a better clubhouse.

Last was the recently slumping Cory Hart. I take full credit and sources close to the lanky slugger have told me that compensation is forth coming. I mean come on! An inside the park’er! Not even I saw that one coming. 2 for 4 scoring once and driving in 4 runners. A double brat and a Summer Shandy for Cory…go ahead kid, you earned it.

Braun and Kapler also draw hat tips as each made solid contributions…oh and Russell the Muscle, yeah he hit another one out. Right now he’s hit 4 home runs in 8 games over 28 at bats. That’s 1 every other game or every 7 at bats. His average is at .321 and he’s slugging .821. Yes Bill Hall, please keep you mouth shut and go about your business like a professional ball player. Ricky gets sent down to the Minor’s…I didn’t hear him asking for a trade. Dave Bush to the Minor’s…let me check…nope, no wining there either. Gagne at least was man enough to admit that he was sucking and asked to be sat down. Just play better. That’s all I’m say’n.

The only sour note is that even with all this momentum and games won, we still lost a game to the Cubs.  Blech!

So an off day tomorrow…might actually get the garage cleaned up with no game to watch!