I will be coming up to the Cities from Madison, WI for the Autograph Party and the Braves game next weekend. I was wondering if any of you know how far in advance someone should line up to get Harmon Killebrew's autograph at the AP. Last year my girlfriend and I attempted to get Killebrew but abandoned his line when it was pretty obvious we wouldn't get to him.

Also, this will be my first game at Target Field and I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions to make my Target Field experience more enjoyable. I'm really looking forward to it, our tickets are in Section 111. Are there any special ballpark foods around that seating section that people recommend?

Thanks,

Adrian

I'm a horrible evaluator of NFL talent and don't follow the Arizona Cardinals all that closely(I'm a Packers fan, see you guys later in the season). I watched Beanie play in college when he was playing my Wisconsin Badgers with the Ohio State Buckeyes but college success doesn't equal NFL success(Ron Dayne, Michael Bennett, Brian Calhoun, etc). I've noticed that he has had a couple of good games these last two weeks and could be emerging as a starter. Any thoughts on what his NFL potential is?

So I'm doing a project on the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers and Doug Jones pitched in 4 games during that season. In those 4 games, he had two different uniform numbers: 45 and 54. Does anyone know if he played in more games with one of those numbers? When he resurfaced with the Brewers in 96-98 he appeared as #43 so that didn't give any hints. I realize this is an odd question but figured it was worth a try asking.

Some pictures from the Brewers Block Party. My camera wasn't focusing real well so some of them are kinda blurry.

Trevor Hoffman arrived early to sign. 

Ryan Braun arrived late to sign.

Alcides Escobar arrived late w/Braun.

Mitch Stetter signing.

Mitch Stetter not signing.

Alcides Escobar signing.

Sausage Mobile!

My signed Willie Randolph baseball.

And a signed Willie Randolph helmet too. Willie said he's enjoyed his time here in Milwaukee and is happy he's coming back for one more year barring a managerial offer. Nice guy.

Overall, a good time. People in lines were given wristbands corresponding to the players so you didn't have to stand in line the whole time but you could only get one wristband. The Brewers personnel handing out the wristbands said they arrived around 9 o'clock and heard people starting lining up for Braun at midnight.

I will be coming up to the Cities from Madison, WI  for the June 20th Astros game and attending the Autograph Party beforehand. I was wondering if any of you have been to the AP before and how long I should expect to wait in line for the big names like Mauer, Morneau, Killebrew and Carew?

Both my girlfriend and I will be going through the lines and I was wondering how many of them I can reasonable expect to get in the time allotted? Outside of the AP, are there any other suggestions you can give me to make my first Twins game a pleasurable one?

Thanks,

Adrian

In all honesty before this last week I had never heard of Scott Thorman and with good reason. At age 27, Thorman has 2 seasons in the Bigs under his belt posting a line of  .222/.260/.407 in 415 AB.

So far the former 1st Round Pick has had a pretty good spring training. Granted its still way early and having 11 AB is not anywhere close to being a good sample, but he has posted a line of .636/.636/.818 including 2 doubles. 


Looking at the number of At-Bats being given to certain players in spring training, Macha's been giving a lot of ABs to players who are on the bubble as far as making the team.

And right now Thorman has the upper hand when it comes to stats.  Things in Thorman's favor is that he is left handed hitter and he can play the outfield, although he's primarily a First Baseman. I'm guessing his fielding in the OF isn't pretty and will hold him back. My question is what does Thorman need to do or continue to do to make this team?

A little humor from the Onion:

NEW YORK—After the records of players who used performance-enhancing drugs are carefully removed, statistics provided by the Elias Sports Bureau indicate that lifetime .255 hitter Craig Counsell was the best player of the past 15 years. "If you judge them on the basis of pure physical ability, you're left with Craig Counsell," said ESB representative Patrick Wondolowski, adding that Counsell's 35 career home runs narrowly beat out Quinton McCracken's 21 and pitcher Glendon Rusch's three. Upon hearing the news, broadcaster Bob Uecker lauded the Brewers utilityman as "one of the best I ever saw, if we're talking about those who I can say without a doubt never took steroids. He came this close to stealing a base off of Ivan Rodriguez, and I swear I heard him foul tip a Roger Clemens fastball. The kid could flat-out steroid-free play. One time he was playing third base and he caught a Rafael Palmeiro line drive—just caught it, right in his mitt." When asked about his Hall of Fame chances, Counsell dodged the question by asking if anyone had a few bucks so he could go buy a sandwich.

This is only vaguely related to the Brewers but...

On this day, back in 1933, the 21st Amendment was passed which repealed the 18th Amendment, effectively ending Prohibition.

Its text reads as follows:

    Section 1.
    The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

    Section 2.
    The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use there in of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

    Section 3.
    This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.