Milwaukee Brewers

The Cardinals' magic number has dipped all the way to 21. The Cardinals have 29 games remaining, 14 of which are at home. The 15 road contests left consist of games in each NL Central city except for Chicago and three in Denver with the Rockies. The Cardinals should probably win eight or nine of those, as the Rockies are the only decent team between them. St. Louis could be tested a bit in their next home stand when the Marlins, Braves, and Cubs come to town, but they're on such a roll right now that it may not matter. The Brewers got spotted a 3-0 lead in the first inning of last night's game, but after that Joel Pineiro kept them in check for just one more run over the next six innings. The offense came to life for the second time in three games, scoring in three separate innings including a couple of crooked numbers in the fourth and seventh. Last night's game showcased the reality of the Cardinals' revamped lineup. Albert Pujols is clearly starting to heat up again, as he hit his second bomb in four games. But Matt Holliday has remained hot for the birds. He took out the "A" in Big Mac Land during batting practice, tying the score between him and Pujols in letters for the year.

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1. Well, the Cardinals' recent road trip didn't go according to plan by any stretch of the imagination. They had to salvage a win at the end of each series after dropping the first two. Coming home to play the Brewers didn’t improve things. The only lead the Cards had against Milwaukee in the entire series got washed out by a monster of a storm on Friday. Colby Rasmus, who hit the two-run homer in the bottom of the second of Friday’s rainout, managed to get it back by hitting another two-run bomb in the bottom of the seventh of Monday’s makeup. However, it wasn’t enough as the Cards were held to just six runs over the three-game series, none of which came during Adam Wainwright’s two-hit, one run performance on Saturday. The Cards managed to get back on track a bit on Tuesday, thanks to a three-hit complete game shutout by stopper Joel Pineiro (Did I really just say that?). Rasmus’ bat stayed live with yet another two-run bomb off of lefty Ted Lilly in the fifth. The Cards also managed to manufacture a run in the first with a leadoff walk to Brendan Ryan, a sacrifice by Rasmus, and a stolen base by Ryan off of Lilly whose ignorance of the situation led to there not even being a throw down to third. This set up Yadier Molina for a two-out RBI single to put St. Louis on top after one inning. Molina also helped the Cards get back some of their defensive prowess in the top half of the opening frame, picking off Alfonso Soriano off of first, the 29th time Molina has done so in his career.

Continue reading "The Cards' Cavalry is on its way"

Jolly good to see you! My name is Daniel, and thank you for viewing my page. I'm pretty new to this blogging stuff, but i'm to give ol' Clayface a new body. <_< Anyway, Expect an analys

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With the MLB playoffs set to begin, there is a subtle difference in the air compared to start of any other postseason. In the NHL, fans can potentially look forward to a great Canadians/Bruins series that is not only exciting, but has a historical kick to it. Likewise basketball fans always have the chance to see if the Suns can finally get past the Spurs and football fans love seeing the rivalry of the Eagles Vs the City of Philadelphia when the Eagles so much as get tackled for a loss.

Continue reading "The Ups and Downs of the MLB Playoffs"

I'm sorry I haven't been on here rigorously for some time. Life has caught up with me so to speak. I got a job at the local office supply store, I'm back in school, and so it pains me that my love affair with the Chicago National League Ballclub has been almost on hold.

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If ever there was a sign that the Brewers’ future is now, it’s in their recent acquisition of veteran Ray Durham, who should shore up their leadoff spot, as well as allow Rickie Weeks the time off he sometimes needs when mired in a slump. Since they’ve already gambled their future on C.C. Sabathia—who’s looked amazing so far, winning all three starts and throwing complete games in two of them—it only makes sense for them to do whatever they can to push for the pennant this year.

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It’s the annual midpoint of the baseball season, and for the brief span that is the All-Star break, all eyes are upon the Bronx. As everyone is well aware of, this campaign is the last go around for the world’s most famous, largest, and most prominent ballpark, Yankee Stadium. It seems hard to believe, and even more sacrilegious that this living legend’s days are numbered. Built in 1923 and christened by the greatest ballplayer to ever live, Babe Ruth, the cathedral of baseball will never truly be replaced. Although the Bombers will move a block to Yankee Stadium’s heir, the Mecca of America’s Pastime will still live on in our hearts. Whether you’re a diehard Yankee fan, or Yankee-hater, you still can respect the history and awe that the stadium brings. So when the All-Stars take the field Tuesday night, sit back on your couch, crack open a cold one and soak up the history of Yankee Stadium, as its final chapter is unveiled to all of us.

Continue reading "National League Looks to End Rut"

One of the All-Star Break traditions: Reassessing our predictions from the first half of the season. Some of mine have changed, some have stayed the same—and some were just damn wrong. Living in the West, I will take the contrarian position and roll from west to east in my choices.

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The other big trade that happened recently was the Cubs’ acquisition of the oft-injured Rich Harden from Oakland. This move is typical of Oakland’s business model, which involves shedding young stars before they get too expensive, often in exchange for other young or undervalued stars. In this way, they’re similar to the Florida Marlins, except that the Marlins tend to load up for concentrated runs at the championship (they have as many championships in the last decade as big-market Boston, and more than the Cubs have in the past hundred years), while the A’s tend towards consistent competitiveness.

Continue reading "NL Central Trade Analysis, Part Two"

Still playing ketchup here, trying to make up for a four-day absence from the blog, so I want to start with the big trade of last week, the CC Sabathia swap. The usefulness of this deal to the Brewers is a little dubious, as CC is likely to be a half-season rental, but let’s break it down:

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And probably not your own Braves, either. I watched them boot the ball around last night with a long-time Braves fan; three first-inning errors led to three runs, and they never recovered, losing 4-3, in a game without Chipper and a host of others.

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For many baseball fans, last night wasn't a great night to watch baseball, as blowouts predominated early on. But, because of the beautiful game that is baseball, only three of them continued in their lopsided fashion, with the best of them highlighted by a homer from Micah Owings, the best-hitting pitcher in baseball, whom teammate Conor Jackson said had the "best pop" of anyone on the team. And all of them showed something about the winning and losing teams, proving that any baseball game is worth watching, even when it doesn't seem exciting.

Continue reading "The Night of the Blowouts"

ng his green card in light of the federal investigation, will probably lead to another down year.

Milwaukee Brewers

Can Ben Sheets stay healthy?

Sheets always seems on the verge of becoming one of the best young pitchers in the game when he is healthy, but his seasons always end up broken up by frequent stints on the DL for one thing after another. The Brewers have some young pitchers with tons of potential in Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra as well as some serviceable veterans, but they really need Sheets to become the ace of the rotation and innings eater that he is capable of. Unfortunately it is tough to predict if he is past his injuries as they have so often been the unforeseen and freak variety. With him in the rotation, a middle of the road staff becomes one in the top third of the league, something Milwaukee will need in order to compete with the Cubs.

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Season Preview: NL Central"

I am thoroughly looking forward to the Hank Steinbrenner Era. It seems he is hell-bent on replacing his father as the most obnoxious loudmouth, know-nothing owner in baseball. After watching the display he put on this winter in the Johan Santana Sweepstakes and his recent comments about the existence of Red Sox Nation, I don’t believe there is a bigger blowhard in sports today. All we need is for him to revive the Billy Martin routine with Joe Girardi, a possibility that may not be that farfetched as it appears Girardi not necessarily that easy to get along with. Little Stein seems to be unpredictable and impatient and not only expects the team to win now, but to do so in spectacular fashion. Earlier this year, Hank implied that general manager Brian Cashman would be on the hot seat if the plan to hold on to their young pitching instead of going all in for Santana didn’t pan out. If Steinbrenner allows his arrogance and impetuousness to take over the organization, I envision a return of the Yankees to the "glory" years of the 1980's when George was the show.

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