Goldy's Weekly Thoughts

Chuckie Hacks has been around for about 3 months now and Matt and Chopp are doing a great job providing random content to the masses (ok, about 8 of us) that was previously only e-mailed amongst a select few. I was brought on as a guest commentator and feel I can best serve this role with a weekly post of my random thoughts and takes. I'll try to stick to this, but if any key stories pop up (i.e. LBs dogs eat miniature horse) I may have to post about that. Now, on to my random gibberish...

Last week I posted how this was the same Brew Crew of old and we are in store for another 75-win season of sloppy baseball. Since my "sky is falling" post last Wednesday, the Brewers are 4-1 and in first place in the muddled NL Central. Are they playing better baseball? Well, I really can't tell you. Due to several factors (going to Indians/Angles games, trips to the in-laws in Marinette and the f'd up fact that TimeWarner in Racine doesn't carry WMLW Ch. 41) I have not watched a Brewers game since the suspended game last Tuesday. I enjoy listening to Uecker on the radio, but he is not the most descriptive announcer ever.

I know it is early in the season, but winning the suspended game and taking the full game last Wednesday in front of 17 people in Miami was huge. If they some how dropped both of those, the team really would be pressing. The pitchers would try to pitch too perfect and every hitter would be trying to hit bombs. Things could have gone downhill fast. However, by winning both games, the got their confidence back after a little bit of a slide and got the Marlin's' monkey off their backs. This is also their first winning road trip of more than 3 games since August 2005. It is nice to get that road confidence right off the bat and not have to deal with the "here we go again" scenario.

As I said, not having watched any of the recent games and only listening to 2 of them on the radio, I am not sure if the fundamental aspect of the game has improved at all. It seems like they still have the RISP problems. I know they left 10 on last night. However, they did score 10 runs, so I don't have a problem with that. The D in the 6th sounded terrible. Can anybody explain to me what the heck Weeks did on that pop up? I like that he nailed a 1-2 pitch out of the park, but it sounded like he jumped for a ball he didn't have to jump for and just plain missed the ball. If he catches that ball, there is one out with the bases loaded and the grounder to Cappy is a DP and they are out of the inning with no runs scored, overcoming a rare error on J.J. on a routine grounder.

The one thing I like about this team is that there are no worthless players on the ML roster. I was wondering who would pitch the 9th and was thinking they would put in some scrub who only pitches in blowouts, like the druggie garbageman from last year, or Ben Hendrickson. If Dessens is our scrub for this year, I'm cool with that. He pitched like crap last night, but he is a good guy to have on the team and can fill that role of eating up some innings if a starter gets shelled out of the gate. Same with the position players. No Chad Moeller is an obvious up grade. However, I am surprised he did not hit a bomb in his plate appearance last night. Gross and Gywnn may not be the best, but they are solid reserve ML outfielders. Also, as much as I wish Mench would get that strain of Gonorrhea that cannot be treated by medicine, as reported in the Journal Sentinel yesterday, he is a great option to have off the bench when not starting. No more Chris Barnwell. Thank God.

So, it is 2 plus weeks into the season and the Crew is in first. Does this mean much? No. But unlike earlier in the decade when we were already out of the playoff hunt, there is hope and that is a great thing. Should be good times at the ballpark this summer.

On to some other thoughts:

• Let's hold off on that Zach Grienke being a top end starter talk. 2/3 of an inning, 3 hits, 3 walks and 4 earned runs. Ouch. Maybe it is time to up that Xanax dosage.
• If you have not watched the video of the Fenway pizza throwing incident, you have to check it out. Deadspin has some good coverage of this. http://deadspin.com/sports/baseball/some-morning-fun-time-at-fenway-park-252856.php Just hilarious. You can tell the guy who got pelted is a typical Boston jackass. The highlight for me is the fact that it was replayed about 8 times during the game broadcast. Good stuff. I think we should pelt somebody with a brat at Miller Park this summer. That or give a random person the Cobra.
• I don't normally like to rally people for a certain cause I believe in, unsolicited, because I believe people have the right to make up their own minds and what they think is right is their business. However, I am asking all 8 of you Chuckie Hacks readers to support Midwests' attempt to reject Air Trans' hostile take over attempts. I enjoy flying Midwest. I think their service is excellent. Yes, I have had some delays on Midwest flights, but it was nothing out of the ordinary and I thought I was treated fairly during those delays (or getting hammered). I think their prices are fair. For many routes, they are not that much different than Southwest out of Midway and I would rather pay a little more for Midwests' service and ease out of Mitchell. AirTran says they will add a bunch of flights from Milwaukee. That is great, but do we really need flights to some of these random destinations. If you really need to fly directly to someplace, you can drive 70 miles down the road and go to O'Hare. Anyhow, check out this web site and sign the petition voicing your support for Midwest. Thanks http://www.savethecookie.com/
• Marc Stein says the Bucks will take Al Horford if they don't get the # 1 or 2 pick. I like this pick better than Julian Wright. However, there is the whole Tito business to deal with.
• Tone-Loc's Eazy-E line of the week: "Snoop Dogg is only 50 pounds when he's wet and wearing boots"
• Had a great time at the Indians/Angles game last Wednesday. 13 rows behind 1st base. It was something interesting and I was glad I got tickets. However, there was a high percentage of people (i.e. fat women wearing Packers gear) spouting off baseball nonsense. Someday I will throw a brat at one of these beasts.
• My father-in-law gave me a Hooters mouse pad with a photo of a Hooters girl and the gel wrist support shaped in the form of two orbs right where the chicks hooters are. Wow, how do you respond to a gift like this. Good Times!
• McGinn's is so money before a game at Miller Park. They had the shuttle running last Wednesday. The lights went out for about a half hour due to the snow, but still, good times.
• If this Imus thing went down in August, I am pretty sure "Nappy Headed Ho's" would have been the most popular fantasy football name of all time.

'Til next time ... "Stomping your feet, clapping your hands, you're part of the team sitting in the stands!"