Hello all. I am sure all 8 of our readers were sorely disappointed with no Goldy's Weekly Takes column on Wednesday. (Note: Previous comment dripping with sarcasm) But do not fear. Order has been restored to the Chuckie Hacks world with the weekly takes showing up one day late. Now, on to the good stuff...
Since I last talked with you, the Brewers compiled a 7-1 record and a considerable buzz is surrounding the team as they head to the national hell hole known as New York. (Note: Garry Sheffield's national hell hole is Milwaukee, but I digress.) The team is playing very good, but I still get the impression they are not firing on all cylinders. I think the hitting was a little suspect during the Nationals series. A little too dependent on the long ball. I don't have a problem with the home runs, but I would have liked to see a more consistent offensive attack against the hapless Nationals. 9 of the 12 runs in the series came as a result of home runs. Honestly, I may be grasping at straws here. It's getting difficult to find things to knock about this team.
As was noted in any national article written about the Crew over the past few days, the meat of their schedule is the next three weeks. They did a great job going 9-1 at home against the dregs of the NL, but now they must go on the road and play some higher end teams. Do I expect more losses than we have seen over the past few weeks? Yes. Do I expect to see those 2-6 road trips of years past? No. As I mentioned last week, this team is set up to avoid the long losing streaks of the past. With 5 solid starters, any of the guys can be expected to pitch a great outing and stop any losing streak. I like that.
Yes, it is a heady time to be a Brewers fan. They are playing way better than I ever anticipated. Lets review a post I made when the Brewers were sitting at 3-4 and facing an abbreviated double header against the Marlins. http://wisconsinsportsblogs.blogspot.com/2007/04/this-brewers-season-will-not-go-well.html
Such great comments include:
-Well, 7 games and 10 innings into the season, I am here to say my predicted victory total for the Crew has dropped to the 68 - 72 win range.
-Their ability to get hits with runners in scoring position is just abysmal. That is not even the biggest problem with runners on. The team still is unable to advance runners with less than two outs. Strike outs and pop outs. Just some terrible looking at bats.
-At this point, I just don't see it with this team. It is the same fundamentally flawed brand of baseball the Brewers have trotted out the past few seasons and it is unacceptable.
Yah, I was wrong. I do think that taking both of those games against the Marlins was a huge turning point early in the season. The kids are playing well. The bullpen is way better than I would have ever imagined. Jenkins is holding his own. All sorts of good stuff. As I keep saying, its going to be a fun summer following the Brewers. Even better if I don't have to see Dessens or Spurling pitch at all. They are both turds.
On to some other thoughts:
Since I last talked with you, the Brewers compiled a 7-1 record and a considerable buzz is surrounding the team as they head to the national hell hole known as New York. (Note: Garry Sheffield's national hell hole is Milwaukee, but I digress.) The team is playing very good, but I still get the impression they are not firing on all cylinders. I think the hitting was a little suspect during the Nationals series. A little too dependent on the long ball. I don't have a problem with the home runs, but I would have liked to see a more consistent offensive attack against the hapless Nationals. 9 of the 12 runs in the series came as a result of home runs. Honestly, I may be grasping at straws here. It's getting difficult to find things to knock about this team.
As was noted in any national article written about the Crew over the past few days, the meat of their schedule is the next three weeks. They did a great job going 9-1 at home against the dregs of the NL, but now they must go on the road and play some higher end teams. Do I expect more losses than we have seen over the past few weeks? Yes. Do I expect to see those 2-6 road trips of years past? No. As I mentioned last week, this team is set up to avoid the long losing streaks of the past. With 5 solid starters, any of the guys can be expected to pitch a great outing and stop any losing streak. I like that.
Yes, it is a heady time to be a Brewers fan. They are playing way better than I ever anticipated. Lets review a post I made when the Brewers were sitting at 3-4 and facing an abbreviated double header against the Marlins. http://wisconsinsportsblogs.blogspot.com/2007/04/this-brewers-season-will-not-go-well.html
Such great comments include:
-Well, 7 games and 10 innings into the season, I am here to say my predicted victory total for the Crew has dropped to the 68 - 72 win range.
-Their ability to get hits with runners in scoring position is just abysmal. That is not even the biggest problem with runners on. The team still is unable to advance runners with less than two outs. Strike outs and pop outs. Just some terrible looking at bats.
-At this point, I just don't see it with this team. It is the same fundamentally flawed brand of baseball the Brewers have trotted out the past few seasons and it is unacceptable.
Yah, I was wrong. I do think that taking both of those games against the Marlins was a huge turning point early in the season. The kids are playing well. The bullpen is way better than I would have ever imagined. Jenkins is holding his own. All sorts of good stuff. As I keep saying, its going to be a fun summer following the Brewers. Even better if I don't have to see Dessens or Spurling pitch at all. They are both turds.
On to some other thoughts:
- I don't know if it is the winning or the new announcer, but I think Bill Schroeder has stepped up his game this year.I like Anderson, but I don't think he has a wealth of baseball knowledge, forcing Bill to have to focus on general baseball knowledge and not being the dipshit he was in the past.
- About a month ago, I stated that Zack Greinke was looking good and could be a solid top end starter. Well, Greinke is sitting at 1-4 with a 5.71 ERA and has been demoted to the Royals 'pen. Odds of Zack ending up back at the funny farm in a few years? High. I am pretty sure that having to play for the Royals drove this man crazy. Hell, having to watch the Royals for 4 years drove me crazy.
- As the J-S Online pointed out yesterday (along with Chuckie Hacks fan Woziszeus) Hardy, Cappy, and Hall will appear on a future episode of The Young and the Restless. That should be good times. Reading about this on brewerfan.net, it mentioned that this show takes place in Genoa City, WI. Genoa City? About the only thing I know about Genoa City is that I played in several Little League tournaments out there and there was nothing the city. They must glam it up for tv. On brewerfan, it also mentioned that Robert Brooks appeared on the show the year the Pack won the Super Bowl. Could be some good mojo.
- Also, be sure to check out Baseball Tonight on ESPN2 at 10 tonight as they interview Cappy and The Glue.
- If you are ever feeling down about yourself or unhappy with your lot in life, I suggest a trip to the downtown Waukesha Walgreens. I have never seen a larger collection of degenerates in my entire life. And that is saying something considering I grew up in Racine. Seriously, it's a great boost to the self-esteem.
- I have really tried to watch the NBA playoffs, but it just isn't working for me this year. Maybe because the HD tv is in mothballs until we move into our home at the end of the month, but I just don't care this year. From what I have seen, Carlos Boozer looks like a superstar. Must make the people of Cleveland thrilled.
- I think we are going to have to retire Tone's Eazy-E line of the week. He just isn't pumping out the goods like I had hoped, plus, most Eazy lines are not fit to print and i don't want to go too overboard in this forum. Might throw one in from time to time just for shits and giggles.
- Your Rick Rickert update: Rick (Aka Pepe the King Prawn) just finished up his first season with the Colorado 14'ers of the D-League. That's right, the 14'ers. The 14'ers lost in the title game. A game in which Pepe dropped 9 points in 30 minutes of action. For the season, Pepe averaged 23 minutes per game, mostly off the bench, scoring a respectable 10 points per game. Pepe also averaged 6 boards a game. Even though he is 6'11", I don't recall Pepe ever really mixing it up inside. Must be a lot of long rebounds in the D-League. I'll try to provide another Pepe update this summer.
- Mench is quicly workling his way back to least favorite player on a team I like.
- And finally, this from today's J-S Online: "With the Packers, (Brandon) Jackson is in a situation similar to the one in which he found himself in Lincoln. Green is gone to Houston. Vernand Morency, Noah Herron, P.J. Pope, Arliss Beach and fellow rookie draft pick DeShawn Wynn are all vying for the starting running back spot with Jackson. " Wow, that is an impressive collection of crap. Best of luck with that
'til next time, "The whistle tips go WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"
4 comments:
Looking at the old post, I was wrong too. But that's a very good point about the reliance on the long ball. Fielder, Glue, & Hardy are probably all ahead of whatever pace was predicted for them in HR's. If they cool off, there could be a sever scoring drought. This team is more like an AL team than a "small ball" NL team.
Ahh 14'ers. That is what Granola types in CO call the 52 or so 14,000 foot mountain peaks in the state. Quite possible the stupidest recreational activity is walking up one of those things. My wife has done a few and I just watch her in pain after the event. I much prefer slapping on some skis and flying down a mountain.
That being said a very dumb name for a D league team. Not many of the fans that frequent D leagues have climbed 14'ers.
sorry for the rant, sore subject with me.
Finally I had some time to sit and read an entire Goldy Take. It was too long for me to recall all the points I wanted to hit on but I do want to talk about the Crew's "soft Schedule" as some are calling it, say what you will one of the hardest things to watch about the crew in the past was they beat teams they shouldn't and then would lose to chump teams like the Nats and Pirates. If they can go 500 on this trip it is still reason to be VERY excited about this team.
You must read really slow...
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