Part of what makes this Brewers team so exciting to watch this year is that even when they loose, they are still a good team.

They lost to the Braves last night, and after they lost I kept thinking, "Ahh, they should have won that game." It seems like most of their losses this year have been like that, bad play or errors get them the loss, not getting overpowered by an opponent.

The only team that really looked like they were just better on the field were the Twins, and the Twins were just playing great baseball at the time.

The only thing that sucks more than my damn taxes is Jeff Suppan. SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

I'm just getting my tubed meats par-boiled and Bloody Mary fixings together. Gotta get the grill in the truck (charcoal this year, and I will remember all the parts). Three layers of Brewer shirts laundered and ready to accept whatever I can dish out.. All portable tables and chairs were dusted off yesterday as I cracked a bottle of Lite in anticipation of this great day. Plates, forks, knives, napkins, beer, onions, mustard, ketchup, beer, utensils, scooter, beer, helmet, garbage bags, and band-aids. All check. Oh yeah and Kraut, can't forget the Kraut. It's going to be a bit chilly, but a few years back I went to an opening day when it was snowing sideways, so this should feel like Miami. Sunglasses, check. Tunes, check. Bad Truck stereo, check. Oh, and we get to see a baseball game too.........cool.

 

No Cubs fans were harmed in the making of this entry.

Brewers new ace Gallardo got the win last night, including a 3 run home run in the 5th to put the Brewers up for good.

Don't expect it to last, but Gallardo currently leads the Brewers in RBI and is tied with Cameron in home runs.

Jeff Suppan sucks. He really sucks. He sucks really a lot. He sucks hard. His pitching is like a vacuum constantly sucking. He sucks in ways I can't explain. He sucks. Suck.

 

Cubs suck.

Tom Haudricourt said today on 540 that Ricky Weeks had a great spring training and Haudricourt expects him to have a much better year.

Haudricourt said Weeks had only 1 error in spring training and looked very good in the field. He also mentioned he was swinging the bat better, literally. He said his "waggle" is much less pronounced and he is on the ball better.

Edit: In his first game Weeks scored a run, drove one in, had 2 hits and a walk. Pretty good start. If he can bat .280 for the year, that would be a Godsend.

   The Brewers finally made some noise this off-season by signing future HOFer Trevor Hoffman to a one year $6 million dollar incentive laden contract. Hoffman will prove to be more than a stopgap at a position the Brewers have had a wicked time filling since the downfall of Derrick Turnbow. Hoffman may no longer have the stuff he once had, but his experience and knowledge can only help to bolster a bullpen that was slammed in the off season. Obviously Gagne is gone, Torres reitred, Mota will go elsewhere and Shouse is still unsigned. When the crew picked up Jorge Julio I was starting to get nervous that they were just going to fill up the pen with a bunch of other team's refuse. So seeing Melvin step up and get it done with Hoffman was huge.

   Now the Brewers need to work on the rest of the pitching staff and fill a bunch of holes. Resigning Shouse would be a good start. They probably can a dn should get Sheets back for a decent price. While Ben will probably see a raise from his previous contract don't expect Band-Aid Benny to break the bank this year. His contract should be full of incentives though, in case he really puts it out there and gives the fans the full season we and he deserves.

   I'm not sure what more the Brewers can do to bolster the pitching staff. They need one more starter, but who? Free agent wise what's really out there? We don't need another overpriced Suppan type. So we try getting someone under contract via trade? Well who do we trade. A Lot of people always throw out Weeks and Hall when talking about trades. But realistically what can we expect to get for these guys? Probably nothing better than the aformentioned Suppan types (at best). Anyway I think the only way Weeks can do anything for the Brewers is to play well, or be released outright. Bill Hall actually had Lasik surgery in the off season (which I was calling for all last year), so I honestly fell if he can see the ball better he will put up huge numbers.

So that's all I have to say, and since I haven't typed anything in like 5 months my fingers are crampimg up.

Peace out Brewer Freaks!

Milton Bradley is a Cub.

Matt LaPorta, who went to the Indians as part of the Brewers trade for C.C. Sabathia, was beaned in the head yesterday during the US vs. China baseball game.

It was a wild game in general, with 5 US players hit by pitches, and 3 Chinese players ejected, along with their manager Jim Lefebvre, also formally of the Brewers.

It all started when LaPorta took out the Chinese catcher and star player with a very hard play at the plate, a play LaPorta scored on.

In the next inning, Schierholtz made a similar play on backup catcher Yang, hitting him hard and high. The next time LaPorta was up, he was hit on the left ear. He was treated for a concussion and should be fine.

The US team won, 9-1