Baseball and Togor

[JB White]

I moved this to its own thread. Hope you don't mind?

Hey JB, quite the game. I see the CHC bullpen can also ruin an otherwise solid outing from a starting pitcher. Playoff intensity.

It was quite the game until a certain Chicago reliever couldn't throw a strike on 3-0 with a batter taking all the way. I won't mention his name but it begins with Carl and ends with Jr. He's been a real suck job of late.
Tonights game was even worse. It's one thing to lose a game against a tough team. It's another when a team beats themselves. WTF? Walking Miley with bases loaded? Miley pitched well enough to win on his own but that was downright embarrassing.

Speaking of embarrassing....where were all the Brewers Fans??? The park was a sea of wall-to-wall Cubbie blue! I listened to the ball talk on WTMJ-Milwaukee this morning and it seems to be a local problem. A real problem when Ryan Braun is nearly booed off of his home field. I was almost booed out of the section when I rose to lean over the wall and applauded that fantastic catch he made to rob the Cubs from scoring early. Screw that. The man deserved a tip of the cap.
That's when I noticed there were only two Brewers jerseys in the entire section. Good thing for that airport type security or I might have gone down in a hail of Chicago bullets! LOL
Speaking of security, I was turned away from the gates initially. Had to walk back a quarter mile to drop my pocket knife in the parking lot. By the time I got back in the lines were long and it was raining.


That leaves me with criticizing Miller Park. Absolutely a beautiful ballpark staffed by great people but it still leaves a lot to be desired for me. No voice from the Heavens saying "THIS is Baseball". Minor league parks and Little League fields say it louder than Miller does. More on that later if you wish.

[togor]

Hi JB,

The Brewers have drawn over 2 million this year, and that's not shabby at all.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/attendance

They're in the top ten and have one of the smaller markets. Cubs fans do try to buy up these games, but that sort of thing happened even back in the AL days with the Sox. (Worst fans ever, BTW.)

Basically the rule is...when hordes of Chicagoans cross the border and demand that you take their money, you find a way to oblige them. Anyone who thinks a $10 beer is a bargain, sell them as much as they want (providing they're not the driver of course).

Regarding Miller Park: Doesn't matter what the weather is, the Brewers will play. That means you can sell tickets in January across the state for bus trips into Milwaukee, and the fans know the game is on. Not Wrigley Field, but so what. Do try to avoid the third base side in afternoon games if at all possible. Like a solar cooker in the sun over there.

One would think the Cubs have enough firepower to take the division, but the race might get interesting this year. I just hope someone takes out the Red Sox. Last thing the country needs is another pro sports championship for the New England market.

[JB White]

I saw the annual attendance to date posted on the jumbotron. We spoke of it at the time. The paid attendance on day 1 of the series was 39k+. Not quite a standing room sellout but surely close enough for a stadium claiming a 41k max capacity. As I recall the Brewers fans used to fill up the Milwaukee County Stadium quite well back then. Smaller market but a baseball market nonetheless.
Old MCS___Now that was a ballpark! Used to drive up for twi-night double headers but never against the Sox. Although, I would go to Comiskey to watch the Tigers play.

If they charge you $10 a beer then they saw you coming. We only paid $9.25. Bought a Miller, a brat, and some cheese curds just because I was in Beer Town, in the Land of Flannel and Cheese. (Couldn't find flannel. WTF?) Try not to be overly impressed. I forced down a Bud when in St. Louis.

It's been a short track race all season with teams banging bumpers and rubbing fenders in the NLC. Close enough to be on the edge of the seat all season. We'll see what happens with the Bo'Sox. Looks like they have the ALE pretty well sewn up. Yankees will be around though so you'll have to pull for them. If you do, then you and I will be on the same side for once!
Disclaimer: All bets are off where the Astros are concerned. A Chicago-Houston World Series....gawd...the very thought of it is killing me! LOL

[togor]

Naturally I think Milwaukee would be the best story coming out of the NL. This team has shown a bunch of flaws, but also a bunch of ways to win. I don't think Counsell gets credit for the little things he'll do over the course of a game. Take Cory Knebel for example. Trying to mentally rehab a hard thrower, former closer, who was getting lit up by guys sitting on his fastball. Counsell gives him the inning immediately after the junkballer Miley. That velocity difference works to his advantage and improves his chances of getting another clean inning under his belt. The Brewers GM takes a fantasy-league approach to assembling a roster which I'm not sure I like, but Counsell has done a good job of spreading at bats and innings around so that everyone is getting a chance to contribute.

All in all I'd rather see the Astros in the series than other major market collosus from the AL East. Obviously for the Brewers to get in much less go anywhere in the playoffs, they'll have to get hot as a club in one of those ways that becomes the stuff of legends. So one shouldn't bet the farm on them, but they're still fun to watch.

If you like Wisconsin stadiums, check out Lambeau Field sometime. Another place for expensive beer. Odd fact: I've never seen Milwaukee win at Miller Park, and I've never seen Green Bay lose at Lambeau field.

[JB White]

I've been to Lambeau before. In fact I still have my Packers World Champions pennant from what we now call Super Bowl I. A likeness of Bart Starr silkscreened on the large end.
My son bleeds Cubbie blue but is a Packer Backer. People around here say I did a lousy job of raising him but all I had to work with were the Bears. He makes the pilgrimage to GB every year. Now he's dressing my grand daughter in Green Bay apparel. Rotten kid.... LOL

Craig Counsell surprised me as a manager. He's doing very well with the tools he was issued. I'm still having a tough time getting the image of his goofy batting stance out my head though. He played the game well against Maddon and it worked out for him. Joe Maddon is tough because he's so unpredictable and usually has an ace up his sleeve. Almost crazy at times but look at how many consecutive times the Cubs are at the top on his watch. He may be a little crazy but he's in the dugout and I'm sitting here at a keyboard.
Maddon has a deeper bench to work with. So many players filling multiple positions with equal skills. If the pitching is OK and the bats are what they're supposed to be the Cubs can't be beat. They have the talent and the ability is there. Getting that engine to hit on all eight all the time....that's been a problem.

The next few weeks is going to boil down to who's hot and the Cards still have plenty of time. Reds will play spoiler and expect the Pirates to do the same as they make their final push. Damn! I love this game!

[togor]

Cards.....boooooo!

[JB White]

I guarantee you that either the Brewers or the Cubs will not be in the play offs.

Red, those are some pretty heavy words in a race this close. We'll have to bookmark this thread to see if you're right three weeks from now. I know it's tough to be a Cards fan lately. You guys are so spoiled...but on the bright side you'd all make great Yankees fans!

[JB White]

Yes please do. Unfortunately the Brewers beat the Cubs tonight. That is a huge win. The Cardinals probably cannot catch the Cubs but maybe they can beat the Brewers into the wildcard game. That would be a huge win for the Cards that were pronounced dead in July. In any event the Cards are getting Bader and Bader.

Um...Red? Which game were you watching? Not a rebroadcast? Tonight (actually 9/5/18) the Cubs beat the Brewers 6-4. Milwaukee is still 4 games out after gaining one in the 3 game series.

Announcers on TV tonight were talking about jerseys in the crowd and mentioned they saw someone wearing a Rich Harden / Cubs jersey around there the other day. People were telling me that I was probably the only one wearing an old Rich Harden jersey in Milwaukee County. Had two people offer to buy it. I wonder who else that might have been?