SB Nation User Blog: Saberilliterate

Danielle Lawrie

Saberilliterate — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:15:23 -0000

Congrats to Bretts big sister for winning the ASA National player of the year honors earlier in the week.

But the only reason that I even looked her up is that she is currently pitching (ESPiN right now) and see that she dyed her hair Corey Hart Jet Black and I must say that she looks much better as a blonde.

via media.canada.com

Danielle on the right with the blonde hair

via grfx.cstv.com

Danielle with dark hair - but not the Jet Black that she has on the mound right now.

I never realized how talentless Denise Richards was. Thanks the baseball Gods that we don't have...

Saberilliterate — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:06:17 -0000

I never realized how talentless Denise Richards was. Thanks the baseball Gods that we don't have 'celebrities' singing during the 7th inning stretch.

BTW this was from earlier this week.

Border Battle Game

Saberilliterate — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:59:35 -0000

I took the family out to Miller Park last night for the Border Battle - Timber Rattlers vs. Chiefs game. Thought that I would share some thoughts, observations and opinions.

First a note - it was my four year old son's first 'live' baseball game. 'He' got the tickets for his birthday last week and I knew that there was no way that we would make it to the end of the game so we left after 6 innings. Anything after the 6th, I can't comment on.

We sat in section 115 just to the left of the first base dugout. Great tickets and worth every penny of the $10 admission to a game at Miller Park.

Robin Yount showed up at the game last night. Don't know why. But he spent a fair amount of time in front of the Brewers dugout which was being used by the Peoria Chiefs. The funny thing is that Robin was there for quite some time before anyone in the stands recognized him. Then the ushers went to work for crowd control.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

The person that he is talking to is Robin's old manager from Robin's days as a bench coach. No not Neddy or Dale - but Bob Brenly.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

Apparently Bob's kid Michael is a catcher in the Cubs organization so he was in town to watch his kid play ball.

Robin threw out the first pitch - and I need a new camera - it just can't reset fast enough...

via farm4.static.flickr.com

Then Willy Peralta got the game going for real.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

Willy had his crap together for the first two innings. Then hit a wall in the 3rd. He suffered from cantfindthestrikezoneitis and ended up grooving a few pitches that were hammered hard.

I love baseball - but I can't tell what pitchers throw. I am just not that good, knowledgeable or whatever but unless it shows up on the gun @ 95 mph I don't know what was thrown so I can't provide any insight as to what wasn't working for him. Sorry.

Up at the plate

Cutter Dykstra needs to hit the weight room and eat some protein... the boy is small.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

The picture doesn't convey how small he really is. The T-Rats site has him listed at 5'11" & 180 lbs. I think that he must have been wearing 2" platform shoes and 20 lbs of body weights when those measurements were taking. But his lightweight makes him fast. He can run. His skills in CF still need some work. On a few plays (line drives to be fair) he looked rather lost. His CF skills kind of reminded me of Billy Hall when he first went to the outfield. His speed really helped him make up for it though.

The player I went to go see the most was our first rounder - Mr. Brett Lawrie. He certainly didn't disappoint. Even to my untrained eye.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

His first hit of the night went all of 60 inches when he hit a little nibbler off of the end of the bat. His wheels let him beat it out. The next time that he came up, he hit a rocket that the Chief's SS made a great diving catch on to take a hit away from him.

He also showed some leather in the field. One play he ranged deep and far to his left and made a spinning throw in which the ump made a bad call - but like the players the umps in in Low A ball too. He still showed good range on the few balls hit his way.

A few other notes on the game.

Brett Lawrie wasn't the only one to flash some leather for the T-Rats. SS Michael Marseco made a great play ranging deep to his right on his knees to throw out Bob Brenly's kid. The T-Rats site has Michael listed at 5'9" & 145 lbs. He isn't that big. The boy is a stick. NO - I will take that back - he is a twig. If he tips the scales at more than 120 lbs, I would be shocked. But with small size comes speed. He is another fast kid.

Brock Kjeldgaard (1B T-Rats) hit a shot out to the second deck in RF. Otherwise his name was the coolest part of his game. It also confirmed the coolness of baseball names at the game. Cutter, Kjeldgaard and Rebel Ridling were all on the field last night.

Before the game during BP I overheard a conversation from a couple of ushers basically questioning how many of the players needed notes from their mommys to travel on the team bus. The maturity level between a 24 year old Ryan Braun and a 22 year old A Ball player really is amazing. The catcher Sean McCraw even has the 'my first peach fuzz mustache' growth on his upper lip.

The game was good. The kids had fun. It was minor league ball with mistakes and goofs. i.e. Sean McCraw appealed a swing to the first base umpire for a left handed hitter.

I am glad the Brewers did this and the wife and I agreed that we will go up to Appleton with the kids to watch a game there.

Props to Bill Hall?

Saberilliterate — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:31:51 -0000

In this very young season, is it too early to start giving props to Mr. Hall?

Throughout the offseason a lot of smack (on this site and others) was directed at Bill E. Hall and his contract. And given his offensive performance last year - some of it was deserved. But for the first time in his career he made it through an entire off season without a position switch and knowing the position that he was going to play. He is back in the infield and it is showing. Both in the field and at the plate.

His defense has been stellar to start the season. Some of the picks that he has made on the hot corner have been jaw dropping. Even in tonight's game against the Reds, some of the plays that he made from his knees on balls hit so hard that he camera guy couldn't keep up with them.

His offense (on the very young season) is nothing to gripe about either. He is OPS'ing .804 and has an OPS+ of 108

So the question(s) that I am posing is - Is it to early to start liking Bill Hall again and stop griping about his contract? After all, he has only had one bad year.

The WBC

Saberilliterate — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 03:20:29 -0000

I have to say that I am really enjoying the WBC. Not just because there is a Brewer on Team USA either. I don't know if it is just because I am Jonesing for baseball because spring training games are not shown on TV, or if it is the international aspect of baseball. I would suspect it is a bit of both, but more heavily leaning toward the international aspect with players that you don't see throughout the year.

Regardless of Bud Selig's negatives, credit must be given for the WBC and I hope that it continues.

About the only that could make it better would be a lack of Joe Morgan.

The Brewers and International Scouting

Saberilliterate — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 03:10:20 -0000

As I sit here watching the WBC, I have to ask - Do the Brewer's have any international scouts? Do they have any presence in Asia? I believe that they have a camp somewhere in the Caribbean. But I don't here anything about their scouts or I guess scouting successes from anywhere other than the US or if Brett Lawrie pans out, Canada.

There is some talent on these international rosters. I look at some of these players and think to myself that in some of our needier thinner years (think Brady Clark in CF, Royce Clayton at SS or Ruben Quevedo and his 1.781 WHIP) that it really could have been interesting and maybe even worthwhile to have some of thees players on the roster.

Wrong number on Braun Jersey

Saberilliterate — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:28:44 -0000

When I went to Miller Park to pick up some tickets today, I stopped in the pro shop and was going to buy a USA Braun Jersey... except that it had the wrong number. It had the number 8 on it and not Braun's WBC number of 18.

When the goof ball that worked there came by to see if he could help, I asked him if those Jerseys should be marked at half price (they were $150) since it had the wrong number on it. The guy looked at me like I was smoking crack. He told me that Brauns number is 8 and showed me a Brewer's jersey with #8 on it. So I grabbed a WBC Braun T-shirt with #18 on it and asked him which WBC item had the correct number... So I asked him which item was going to be half price since one of them was wrong - yes I am a cheap bastard.

The guy looks at me - he doesn't say anything - looks at his watch and tells me that the store closes @ 6 and that it was 6 oclock.

So if anyone wants a mistake jersey for $150 head on down to the Pro Shop at Miller park. But if you want one with the right number - you will have to order on line...

Got my Border battle Tickets

Saberilliterate — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:27:39 -0000

I just paid for my tickets to the 'A' ball Border Battle at Miller Park on April 24th. Even a week after the tickets went on sale, I was still able to get Section 115 Row 7 tickets for four people.

This will be my son's first game and for $10 a seat for that good of seats at Miller Park it should be a great experience without destroying the budget.

Here is the link to get your tickets if you haven't already. What else are you going to do on a Friday night?

Mark Cuban will NOT own the Cubs

Saberilliterate — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:06:01 -0000

From NBC Chicago

The billionaire Ricketts family has been selected by Tribune Co. as the winning bidder for the hard-luck Chicago Cubs.

The bid is worth about $900 million, according to the Web site of the Chicago Tribune, which also is owned by Tribune Co. The sale would include Wrigley Field and a 25 percent interest in a regional sports network...

Really - $900,000,000 for a 100 year losing franchise and a crappy stadium that is crumbling down and can only hold 41k fans.

Not a bad return for the Tribune who bought it for 20.5M in 1981 and still didn't win jack.

Irrationally Hated Poll

Saberilliterate — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:34:22 -0000

At rj’s suggestion I think that this is a great poll question….

Who will I irrationally hate this year?

I would like to highlight the word ‘Irrationally’

My vote is for Rickie Weeks because of the irrational aspect. He is average… I will concede that point. But every time he bounces a throw to Prince on a gimme 6-4-3 I want to burn one Rickie Weeks bobble head and send another to a voodoo black magic witch…

Poll

Who will you irrationally hate this year?

Rickie Weeks – Half a bat and no glove

12 votes

Mike Lamb – Umm… excuse me sir you are in Matt Gamel’s roster spot

10 votes

Prince Fielder – Dude, Bally’s is running a special on memberships

4 votes

Prince Fielder – Cows are better for you than Tofu

0 votes

Bill Hall – You swung at that crap…

17 votes

Corey Hart – The new Geoff Jenkins – crunch time crunches him

11 votes

Mike Cameron – You were supposed to bring CC back and you strike out too much

3 votes

Doug Melvin – The shine has worn off… Jack Z should be sitting at that desk

4 votes

The New York Yankees – Half a billion dollars better buy you a better team than the Rays and we want our 1st rounder back

20 votes

Jason Kendal – Can Manny Parra pinch hit for him in the late innings

11 votes

Someone else for some other irrational reason….

6 votes

98 votes | Poll has closed