Does Anyone Know How Many Grand Slams Prince Fielder Has Hit In His Big League Career?

Even more important than giving Milwaukee the lead in that ridiculous game, Prince's grand slam tonight will mean that we never have to hear Brian Anderson tell us that Prince has no career grand slams every time he comes up with the bases loaded.

Only one word to describe tonight's game...

Game of the year. Hell of a display for Braun and Fielder in front of a national audience.

2 random points of awesomeness from watching the ESPN telecast:

-Phillips and Schulman were calling the game and had Uecker on in the 4th inning, mainly to talk about the 20th anniversary of "Major League." I'm paraphrasing what was said exactly but at one point Uecker was just thanking the guys for letting him be there and he says "Thanks Stevie and...(pause) you too (in reference to Schulman)." Now, I can't be sure...but that sounded like he forgot Schulman's name. It's just like Harry Doyle in Major League...
"Hello Tribe fans, Harry Doyle here along with Monty...uhh...what's his name."

-Later that game they had Peter Pascarelli on the broadcast. His very first words were "I just miss Oral." Needless to say, from his outside appearance, I bet Peter has "missed Oral" for quite a long period of time. Zing!

That’s a lot of Cheeseburgers

Prince Fielder finally got around to paying off his $409,149 tax lien…from 2003. I guess Scott “Evil Empire” Boras was all bent out of shape that this became a public issue. Whatever. Tell your client to pay his taxes and it wouldn’t be an issue. And tell him to lay off the bacon burgers.

Fielder and his agent, Scott Boras, were none too happy that I wrote a story about the tax lien, claiming it was a private matter. I won't get into that debate but it's only fair when you make that situation public that you also report the matter has been resolved.

Prince For Putz?

ESPN donkey Steve Phillips mentions rumblings of a Prince Fielder to Seattle (Jack Z connection) for JJ Putz and others. Re-read the first five words of this post and draw your own conclusions of the validity of this rumor.

This just in : Prince Fielder is Fat

Over the last 3 years, I have heard rumors about it. People were talking about it at water coolers, but then whenever it got to crowded they all scattered. Guys that called into talk radio stations eluded to it, but never said it directly. Brian Anderson almost said in once in July, but his partner Bill stopped him before he had the chance.

Well people, the rumors are true. There's a new sheriff in town by the name of Ken, and doggone it, he is going to tell you what we've all been dancing around the last 3+seasons: THAT PRINCE FIELDER IS OVERWEIGHT. Thank you Mike Hunt.

And Macha's fresh eyes might be revelatory. A lot of the same coaches and front-office personnel have seen these players for a long time. As GM Doug Melvin noted, sometimes that dulls the perception.
Maybe, for example, Macha could actually convince Corey Hart that he need not swing at the first pitch. Or, provided the Brewers don't trade Prince Fielder, Macha could tell him what everyone's been dancing around, that Fielder's gotten way too heavy.

Oh thank God Macha is here! He's going to tell everyone the truth! There will be no more lies! Prince Fielder is too fat now! We can all talk about it now with no shame!

Everybody please just hear me out for a second. This has been a long time coming from me. I know that Prince Fielder is fat. You know it. He knows it. He's been a tubby bitch his whole life. He may actually have silverfish nesting in his rolls. But you know what else he does? He hits bombs. He gets on base. He can (sometimes) catch a baseball that is thrown to him from the other infielders.

I'm reminded of a good story that was told in "Moneyball," the book about the Oakland A's, Billy Beane, and how they've succeed in a small market blah blah blah. I'm paraphrasing from memory here, but I believe the story took place during the Amateur draft when there were a dozen scouts and Beane in his war room during the draft. Beane and his smart stat driven men were selecting a overweight catcher, based on his performance in college (This could have been Jeremy Brown, feel free to correct any details if I'm wrong). One of the old scouts snorted and remarked something to the effect of, "Don't like him. He doesn't look good. Too fat." Beane or one his cronies responded with a great line like: "Christ, we're playing baseball here...not modeling jeans."

That's my point here people. WHO CARES if Prince Fielder is fat? I sure as hell don't. You shouldn't either. Does it seriously bother you? He's our first baseman, not our CF or SS. He doesn't have to be nimble. His job is to hit bombs. I'm talking about value here people. I'm talking about "what is his job?" What is Prince Fielder here to do? Here are Prince Fielder's 3 years as a pro for the Brewers:

2006: 157 games, .271/.347/.483, 28HR's with 81 rbi
2007: 158 games, .288/.395/.618, 50HR's with 119 rbi
2008: 159 games, .276/.372/.507, 34HR's with 102 rbi

Oh and guess what, he's 24 freaking years old!!!

I'm sorry, I guess I don't get it. I don't get the fascination about this. I would argue that with perhaps a couple exceptions, there isn't a team in MLB who wouldn't take Prince Fielder right now, "weight" and all. With those numbers, they'll find a spot for him either at 1B or as a DH.

Since Prince denied his long-term contract and decided to play it out year by year, we have heard trade rumors and fans sticking it to him because of his weight. Once again, just look at the numbers. Look at what he has done here.

We've got control over Prince for 3 more years. I'm one guy that hopes he's here for at least 2-3 of them. Now, I've talked with Matt about this, and I am also definitely not against trading Fielder now. It just better be a damn good trade. Unless it's right before the deadline in his 3rd arby year and the Brewers suck, I want valuable major league talent in return. Because you know what? That is what Prince Fielder is: valuable major league talent. All 347 pounds of him.

Ain't Talking, Ain't Estranged

Cecil Fielder contends that he and son Prince aren't "estranged" - they "just ain't talking".

That sounds a lot like estrangement, Cecil. But I'm no wordsmith, so let's go to Webster's to get a ruling on this. Estrange means:

to arouse especially mutual enmity or indifference in where there had formerly been love, affection, or friendliness

Well hell. Now we have to look up "enmity." Back to Webster's. Enmity means:

positive, active, and typically mutual hatred or ill will

I guess Webster's is telling us that estrange means to arouse positive, active and typically mutual hatred or ill will or indifference where there had formerly been love, affection, or friendliness.

I guess Cecil has a point, sort of. Since it seems like Prince has enmity towards Cecil, and Cecil professes no enmity towards Prince, it is not mutual enmity. There is no indifference - Prince hates his daddy. So this is an atypical estrangement?

That's what I'm going with - it's an atypical estrangement.

Prince's Underwear

Look closely. YOUR NL Player of the Week is such a Brewer at heart that he even wears Brewer boxers. Or maybe they're briefs. Or maybe it's the top of his jockstrap. Whatev.

Nice look Prince. Photo pulled from JSONLINE.

Prince Wins It

Big jack from Big Prince! He's carrying the Brewers right now.

Prince Needs to Go in Time Out For a Day

I think it's time for Prince to sit out today's game, to think about what he's done. Or hasn't done.

He's just brutal right now. He is slugging .223 (!) with 20 Ks in his last 67 at bats over the past 3 weeks. Batting .179. Those are Craig Counsell numbers. Actually, Craig Counsell scoffs at those numbers.

I like Prince, I really do. But he needs a day off, especially given that the Mets are throwing another lefty out there today.

Give Rivera a start at 1B. Just don't bat him cleanup.

UPDATE:

In today's lineup Rivera is playing 1B and is not batting cleanup. Thanks for reading, Ned.

Random Thought

Mike Cameron's recent offensive surge has given him a stat line that is quite similar to that of a certain rotund first baseman on the Brewers, in significantly less at bats.

Add in Cameron's baserunning and defense, and he's arguably been more valuable to the team this year than Prince has, at least in my opinion.

Cameron:

.257/.345/.528, 23 HR, 58 RBI in 339 at bats

Prince:

.270/.369/.501, 28 HR, 78 RBI in 471 at bats

Time to pick it up, big fella. It would be nice if Prince got hot for a couple of weeks in September...

Prince Fielder needs professional help

Wow...all I can say is that Prince Fielder needs some serious Anger Management.

Everyone take another close look at the clip.

The guy effing snapped. SNAPPED. He not only pushed Parra once, but then went after him AGAIN when the guy was up against the dugout seats. Could you imagine if he would have gotten another shove or punch in? He wasn't stopping with that second shove.

Speculation about what let to the altercation...is well...speculation. But you can gather from various reports how it basically went down. Parra came back into the dugout furious about his performance. He was going to head up into the clubhouse. He was probably going to calm down a little. I don't know. Prince got in his face for not staying out there to watch the top of the next inning. Maybe he even said: "We stayed out there and watched your (bleep). You can stay out here and watch our (bleep)."

So Parra stays in the dugout and walks away, angrily picking up/throwing down his jacket/cap. So this necessitates being violently attacked by the supposed "leader" of this team? I don't think so. Prince was completely in the wrong here. He should be ashamed of himself.

I have been a huge Prince Fielder supporter this year as many people have called for him to be traded or made fun of him for having bitch tits. There aren't many guys that OPS .900...I think the guy is a damn good hitter and very valuable to this team. That being said, I was absolutely shocked when I saw him get physical last night, UNPROVOKED. It would have been one thing to get in Parra's face and tell him to sit down and watch the rest of the game. Hell, I wouldn't have even minded him grabbing his shirt or something. But he attacked Parra and then when he was being restrained he looked like a freaking lunatic. Dude...calm the F down!

The immediate damage control that was done by Brewers management was laughable. Cirillo, Sveum, Bill Schroeder, Ned Yost...all chalked it up to the "dog days" of August...that the whole team was "frustrated." "Sometimes this stuff happens." You know what...fine. I agree with that (somewhat). But you have to call out Fielder. This is what I CAN'T STAND about Ned Yost. Why couldn't he say something like, "You know what...we're all struggling here. But that type of behavior won't be tolerated. Prince is going to have to stand up for what he did. We're going to move on and try to play better ball...blah blah blah." But no...he throws out some ridiculous line of "It's not a big deal," said Yost. "For eight months a year, we're a family. At times things happen, flare up, but it's between the family. It's in the family.

In the short term, I don't think this will affect the team in any particular direction. But long term, this may have some affect on Prince Fielder himself. The players can say all they want about how they are going to "move on" and "forget," but the bottom line is that Prince has lost all credibility. Whatever "leadership" role he had gained in the clubhouse is now gone. He was never a vocal leader, he "led by example." Well...your leading by example powers go out the window when you are the most standoffish player in the clubhouse that attacks fellow team members unprovoked.

All that being said...can we beat the Reds tonight? Christ...

Trade Prince Fielder!

It's time to trade Prince Fielder! It really is! Right now we can get a lot of value for him! Maybe a starting pitcher! He's having a disappointing year! No way is he going to hit 50 home runs again! He topped out last year!

Wait? What are you saying? Oh please...don't talk to me about stats. Fine...you want to look at them...ok.

So what if he is LEADING the team in BA? So what if he is LEADING the team in OBP? So what that he is 2nd in home runs and in slugging percentage? So freaking what that he has the NUMBER 1 offensive VORP on the team? Or the highest EQA? So what?

Trade him for more prospects. Maybe a double A 20 year old pitcher with potential. It's what we do as the Brewers. It's obvious that Prince wants to leave after this year...he hates his contract! We can't pay him. What's that you say? Ohhhh...we own him for 3 more years after this one? Really? Oh well...I say trade him anyway.

Look at his breasts! He's got bitch tits! Do you think a guy like that can play 10 years down the road? Come on! Let's trade him for another guy that looks like Gabe Kapler! Have you seen pictures of Gabe with his shirt off? He's hot! What's that? You're looking to win now with him at the height of his career and then maybe dump in off a few years down the road? Screw that! I hear he sucks in the clubhouse! I hear he's not vocal! He's not a team player!

Trade him! We've got two guys in Double A that are tearing the shit out of the ball! Plus they're white guys (wink wink nudge nudge)! We don't need Prince! What's that? Yeah I know Double A is not the same as the majors, but these guys are hitting bombs! What? Prince is hitting bombs too? F that! He hasn't passed Braun yet! Ryan Braun is awesome! He signed a long-term contract!

Wait...those two guys in the minors...can they play RF or 3B? They can? Oh...well I SUPPOSE next year after they play a full year in double A and then the Arizona Fall League they can be given opportunities to win the starting jobs and RF and 3B...I suppose we can do that. We can trade Bill Hall or Rickie Weeks I suppose to make room for them. Corey Hart could probably play center field I suppose. I suppose in 2009 we could have Braun, Hart, & LaPorta in the OF and Gamel & Prince in the infield. I suppose.

But screw it. Trade Prince now. Trade his jiggly breasts. We're only 2 games out of the wild card and 7 games over. We need a pitcher. Trade him.

Come on Prince...

All you astute readers of the JSOnline Brewer Blog saw this lovely little post today...

Prince Fielder owes the IRS over $400K.

Yet again, everybody just shake their heads. Go ahead. Just ponder how it can happen. This isn't like writing in the wrong number of dependents by mistake. This isn't like forgetting to record the $82.46 in interest he earned on his checking account that he still jointly keeps with his Mom. This is $400K people. That's flat out NOT recording your effing salary. Being an accountant by trade, I find this type of shit fascinating.

Now...to be fair to Prince, let's take a closer look at this thing. Look at the blog that broke the "story." Read the actual lien that was filed by the IRS. The actual lien was filed back in 2005. NOWHERE...I repeat...NOWHERE in this blog does it mention if Prince paid off the lien. Conceivably, Prince took care of this thing back in 2005. The fact that this blog just posted this today and everybody is running stories with headlines like "Prince owes the IRS X amount of dollars" is jumping the gun in my opinion.

That blog could have just came across the old lien and posted it. What is known right now, was that in 2005, Prince Fielder DID owe the IRS that money. We don't know what happened since then. Everybody is assuming that lien isn't paid.

But you know what...THIS is the bigger question/point of this whole thing: HOW THE F DOES PRINCE FIELDER GET TO THE POINT WHERE THIS TYPE OF STUFF EVEN HAPPENS? Who is his tax accountant? Who is his lawyer? Who is accountable for effing up so bad? There is no way Prince Fielder does his own taxes. When Prince found out about the lien, did he go to his CPA's office and break down the door demanding answers? So many questions!

When asked to comment, Ryan Braun said he would have no problem loaning Prince the money. True story.

Eat a cheeseburger Fella!

Here's a interesting little article written on Deadspin about Prince Fielder's Vegetarian lifestyle.

I don't feel like writing much about it...cause what the F do I know about this type of shit?

Judge for yourself. Look at his career numbers and compare the last 3 years. The guy is playing pretty similar to his rookie year. His BA & OBP are pretty similar and are right at his career numbers.

However, slugging is way down. It's 150 points less then last year. Can all of this be attributed to the lack of Popeye's Chicken and Kopp's jumbo burgers?

Screw it...I say yes. You just know there has to be times when it's like 1:30 in the afternoon and Prince is on his way to the ballpark. Maybe the wife and kids were bitchin at him all morning around the house. Maybe he went 0-4 the night before. Maybe he read online another freaking idiot on the JSOnline blog saying he's a disappointment. Like you don't think the Big Fella wouldn't feel a hell of a lot better if he rolled through McDonald's drive thru and pounded 3 double cheeseburgers and a McChicken? Dude would take a greasy dump by 4:00 and would have two HR's by the 5th inning.

Have some meat Prince...you've earned it.

Time to Look at Dealing the Prince?

This might not be a popular post with many Brewers fans. Especially after Prince has finally started to break out of his power funk.

However, I think it is an issue worth raising...

Should the Brewers be exploring their options in preparation for a possible trade of Prince Fielder?

I'm not saying trade him right now - but after next season? Maybe. At next year's trade deadline? Maybe. I think you have to judge to see when his value is at its absolute highest, and then seriously think about pulling the trigger on a trade.

I know that the Brewers control his rights for three more seasons after this year. I know that, in the baseball world that we've been living in, it would be extremely unusual to trade a player of Prince's caliber before his final arbitration year. But as we have seen with the spate of long-term deals handed out to young ballplayers this season (the "sea change" in baseball, as Attanasio put it) things are changing in baseball. The Rockies are rumored to be exploring trading Matt Holliday (another Boras client, by the way) even though he isn't a free agent until after the 2009 season.

Arguments for trading Prince before his final arbitration season?

1. Trading Prince at the trade deadline prior to his free agent year would seem to limit the Brewers trade partners. At that point, the teams who would look at Prince would have to fit within fairly narrow criteria - (a) a team that needs a player to play 1B or DH, (b) a team that is either in, or within shouting distance of, first place, such that trading for a guy like Prince would make sense for their club, and (c) a team that is willing to risk "renting" Prince for a few months until he hits free agency. If you trade Prince when the team still controls him for a few years, this would open up trading partners who wouldn't typically go after a guy like Prince in his contract year. (I'm thinking smaller market teams who think they're a 1B away from taking a shot at the playoffs for the next year or two). As we saw with the Carlos Lee deal, you're not going to get top value for your star player when he's in his walk year. Which leads me to...

2. Trading Prince at the trade deadline prior to his free agent year would seem to limit the compensation that the Brewers would get in return. Prince is much more valuable to a team if they know that they control him for another year or two after making the deal. Therefore, teams would theoretically be much more likely to give up more in order to get Prince - including more prospects who are closer to the majors.

3. The Brewers have organizational depth at first base, and could fill holes in other areas (see: starting pitching) by trading Prince. The Brewers have both Matt LaPorta and Mat Gamel mashing in the minor leagues right now. LaPorta was a 1B in college; Gamel plays 3B rather poorly for Huntsville right now. Either one would likely be able to handle 1B - Gamel's fielding problems are mostly related to the accuracy of his throwing arm, which clearly isn't an issue at 1B. It is true that LaPorta is another righthanded bat (Gamel is a lefty) which could be a bit of a problem, since Prince is currently the only lefty regular in the Brewers lineup. Now am I saying that either one of these guys is going to hit 50 home runs? No. But to me, the Brewers don't need to replace all of Prince's offensive numbers - if they could get some quality starting pitching back for him and/or a stopper for the bullpen, that would more than make up for any drop in offensive production at the 1B spot in my mind. Coming in to this season, only 10 of the Brewers' top 30 prospects (according to Baseball America) are pitchers, and one of those 10 (Manny Parra) is already pitching for Milwaukee in the bigs. And the only pitcher other than Parra in the top 10 has a drug problem. With Ben Sheets' impending free agency, they need pitching.

4. I think we all agree that the Brewers have not shot at retaining Fielder once he hits free agency. If I thought there was a chance to lock up Prince for a Braun-type deal, I'd never suggest this. But I think it's pretty clear that as long as Scott Boras is Prince's agent, that isn't going to happen.

What do people think? I know Woz thinks this is crazy to suggest, but I think it might just be crazy enough to work for the Brewers long term...although I'm no GM. Don't forget, even though Prince is only arbitration eligible starting next year, he's going to be pulling down at least $10 million next year thanks to Ryan Howard's arbitration win prior to this year.

Witrado Mailbag - Shorty...

You can zip through this one is like 7 minutes....there's actually some decent questions in there...go ahead.

But there are a few head shakers...mainly morons complaining about various topics related to Prince Fielder...so without further adieu:

Q: Jake of Atlanta, GA Via Burlington, WI - I have been struggling to get anyone to give me legitimate answer about the Brewers approach coming into the season. My first question is why would they risk upsetting Prince over a couple hundred thousand when he is the clubhouse leader, backbone of the lineup and CLEARLY the current face of the franchise. Not only does he have a difficult agent to work with but he also seems to have a lot of influence on the personality of a young team.

MY REACT: This question went on longer...and Witrado answered it very well. Go ahead and read the whole thing. Jake of Atlanta just can't understand the big picture. First of all, I wouldn't say he is CLEARLY the current face of the franchise. I would have to say reigning ROTY & 45 Million dollar man Ryan Braun might have something to say about that. The whole "risk of upsetting" Prince thing is idiotic. This type of shit happens ALL THE TIME. The Brewers (and all other teams) have some sort of formula which they renew their players year by year with. Going off of that formula and dumping a "couple hundred thousand" extra to Prince would be unfair to other players in the same situation. As a matter of fact, it would make said formula worthless. Jake mentions that he has a difficult agent. Well...that's Prince's fault. If you don't think the Brewers have offered a respectable long term deal to Fielder through his agent you're stupid. There is nothing the Brewers can do at this time regarding Prince. They are going to take him year by year because that is what his agent wants to do.

Q: Eric of Albany Wi. - Its obvious Fielder isnt happy in Milwaukee under his current contract.Whats the chance of us trading Fielder in the near future? So at least we can get something substantial for him.

A: Anthony Witrado - Not much of a chance. The team still has him for a while with some arbitration years.

MY REACT: For christ's sake...he signed the damn contract. He doesn't want a long term one. He and his agent are taking it year by year. THAT is what is obvious Eric. Look what happened with Braun. His agent didn't want him to sign long term, but he did it to lock in the money. He made a choice. Prince could have locked in too...but he CHOSE to go year by year. Stop with this nonsense about him not being happy.

Q: Jason of West Allis - I was at the game on Tuesday and my girlfriend asked, "How do they clean up the stand?" So now I ask you, How do they clean up after all us filthy fans? I think sweeping would be too inefficient. We settled on high pressure hoses.

A: Anthony Witrado - If this is the kind of conversations happening during games, this team must really be bad.

MY REACT: Jason of West Allis is Billups of the week, of this mailbag, and is a pussy.

Q: Jake of Milwaukee - Is there any chance that the Brewers would be willing to look into Jeff Cirillo curing their third base ills?

A: Anthony Witrado - Nope.

MY REACT: Not So Anonymous Jake...is this you?

Biggest Disappointment

JSOnline has a very scientific poll up on their brewer page right now (click here and look halfway down the right side).

There were only 700 votes when I did it, but I'm guessing the numbers won't fluctuate more when it's all said and done. Some of the numbers shocked me a little...

43% Prince Fielder
35% Eric Gagne
11% Bill Hall
10% Dick Weeks
1% JJ Hardy

First of all...Gagne has to be #1. There is no debate. He has been a complete bust. There is no defending him. He is the highest paid player (I think he makes more than Soup) on the team. He's freaking sucked and now he is hurt. HE HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT.

I'm surprised by the Prince Fielder number. I can see him getting some votes...but come on...43% of people think he's the biggest bust? Sigh...let's go to the stats again. He has the highest OBP on the entire team. HIGHEST. Better than Hart...better than Kendall. Prince Fielder currently gets on base more than any other Brewer. He's got the 3rd highest VORP behind Braun and Hart.

I'm not giving him a pass. His power numbers are down. There is no denying that. But that will come. All it's gonna take is a little 3-4 homer week and he'll be back on pace. It happened to Braun. You gotta think it's gonna happen to Prince as well.

I guess my main point is that people are funny. It appears that if Prince doesn't hit 50 homers this year he's a disappointment to almost a majority of Brewer fans based on this very scientific poll.

For the record, Bill Hall is the biggest disappointment for me personally. Gagne is on another level...let's not even talk about him.

Unofficial Chuckie Hacks poll...who has been the biggest bust so far??? Go on record.

Don't Hold Your Breath on a Fielder Long Term Deal

Interesting story in the LA Times about the wave of young players signing long term deals (a la Ryan Braun).

Brewers owner Mark Attanasio is quoted in the story, talking about how it is to the advantage of the big market clubs to not sign their young players to long term deals, as opposed to what Milwaukee did with Braun.

"You have a lot of advantages when you're a bigger-revenue club," said Mark Attanasio, the Brewers' owner. "You can afford to wait."

Here's why: Teams control a player for six years, with salaries determined solely by the club for the first three years and subject to salary arbitration for the final three. Then a player can try free agency.

"You have to get to them early," Attanasio said. "The sooner you can get to them, the more you can keep the contract at a manageable level."Once the players get a smell of free agency, it's very hard to do anything. At that point, the Yankees and Red Sox can afford it, and clubs like ours can't."

And it sounds like you can forget about Prince Fielder signing a similar deal, at least while he's represented by Scott Boras, who thinks that clubs who offer these long-term deals aren't really taking much risk:

"You see those contracts, and to me the risk is substantially rewarded," said agent Scott Boras. "They may be paying 30 cents on the dollar."

Boras says he has been approached by players years after they signed such a deal, regretting how many millions they might have lost. He said teams generally limit such offers to premium players.

"The teams are not usually wrong about their talent assessment," he said. "If the teams aren't wrong about their talent assessment, then someone is wrong for taking it."

Basically, Boras is calling any agent an idiot for taking the Braun-type deal for their client rather than letting them hit arbitration and then free agency. This statement makes it rather unlikely he'll be advocating this position for Fielder, his client. If you hear that Fielder has fired Boras, however, that could be a pretty clear indication that he wants to do a Braun-type deal.

Finally, Pat Gillick, the Phillies GM, didn't think that the Braun signing was a good idea...for the Brewers:

"If the guy goes in the tank, they're sitting on a contract they can't move," he told reporters in Philadelphia.

Saturday's Game

Big Rig me!

Took in a great game Saturday night which featured Prince:

• Hitting the go ahead home run in the 8th (did not see him mouthing "No Meat!")
• Scoring from 3rd on a squeeze
• looking to demolish the Fish's catcher on a sac fly, but the throw was off line.

More importantly:

• I saw a guy sporting a real-deal, authentic, stitched on lettering "Paul Rigdon" jersey. It might have been Rigdon's uncle. I hope it was.
• Pregame, had the best burger ever created. Mushroom and Swiss from Sobelmans. Apologize for sounding like Peter King talking about his favorite coffee.

Welcome Back...

Good lord.

There were several homecomings tonight at Miller Park....

1. The Brewers welcomed back Geoff Jenkins - and he didn't disappoint, striking out once and doing one of his patented I-don't-have-to-dive-for-this-ball-but-I-want-to-get-on-Sportscenter plays in right field.

2. The Brewers welcomed back Prince Fielder - a couple of 2-run bombs for the big fella. The best part was him mouthing "No Meat" to the camera after the second dinger.

3. The Brewers welcomed back...Derrick Turnbow? Although I was ready to reach through the TV screen to wring Ned's neck on that decision, Turnbow did the job in the 9th for the save. Yost said after the game that he had made his mind up before the game, that depending upon where the Phillies were in the lineup, if there was a save situation it would be Turnbow or Shouse to close. Nothing if not decisive...

Everyone will be second-guessing a couple of Yost decisions in this game, but how about how Charlie Manuel handled Cole Hamels? Hamels was well over 100 pitches to start the 8th, and the Phillies have the best bullpen in the league. After Braun doubled, I'm really surprised that Hamels stayed in the game to face Prince. That turned out to be a mistake.

Well, any time you can have Dave Bush, Mitch Stetter and Derrick Turnbow pitch in a game against Cole Hamels and you come out with a victory, it's a good day. But I could really use an 8-2 game one of these days...oh, and Trenni was out with guns blazing tonight...

Oh, and there was sort of a Steve Bartman moment in the early going, when Greg Dobbs hit a foul ball down the third base line and some yahoo stuck his glove over the railing and stole the ball from Bill Hall. Except this yahoo was wearing a Packers T-shirt, and Hall (who doesn't pee on his hands) didn't jump up and down and throw a hissy, and Bush got Dobbs to fly out to right so it didn't matter, and the game was in April. So I guess it wasn't all that similar to the Bartman play.

Quite a bit going on for a Wednesday night game in April, actually.