Work To Do...

by South Side Rob

I am currently enjoying a nice 10-day vacation from my day job. I enjoyed all 3 playoff games on Wednesday. Personally, the teams I wanted to win went 2-1 which isn't too bad. I have to give it up for Josh Beckett. He was awesome. A complete-game shutout in the playoffs. The complete game is becoming a dinosaur stat in the game of baseball.

With post-season baseball starting on Wednesday, the story which most fans were fearing was released. Here is the link to the story I am talking about.

In the story, Melvin voices his disappointment with the starting pitching saying that in 2006, 62 games the starting pitcher was able to go at least 7 innings and this year, we only had 33. I feel this comparison in unfair since it is not up to the starting pitcher to determine when he is going to be pulled for relief.

My question to the Brewer Nation is, how can I look at the numbers to determine if this is really on the starting pitchers or not? Is it pitch-count that determines when a starter should be pulled? Is it a game-situation e.g. tied or trailing by just a few runs at or around the 7th inning? Is it number of strikes? Is it number of base-runners? I don't know which analysis I should start with.

I know (In My Opinion) there were more than a few occasions where I felt the starter could continue to pitch when Ned Yost had made the decision to go to the bullpen. In those situations, I feel it is unfair to blame the rotation.

In the story, Melvin says that Yost will admit there are a number of places he (Ned Yost) made mistakes with the management of his bullpen. When will the fans get to read a quote from Yost or hear this in an interview?

I'm willing to believe that Yost is learning much like his players. He has a lot to learn. I'd be interested in hearing the conversations that will take place between season-ticket holders and the Brewer ticket office when those phone calls come asking Brewer customers to renew their season-ticket package(s).

The last time I owned season tickets was some time ago (1998). It was not a full season ticket, it was a 1/4 or 1/2 season pack. I can't remember. That season, the Brewers were 74-88, 5th place, and 28 games out of 1st place. That year had a 23 year old named Geoff Jenkins and a 31 year old named Marquis Grissom. All the other starters were pretty much at their peak age of between 26 and 28. We needed some fresh faces. Sal Bando's big free-agent splash heading into the 1999 season was utility infielder Sean Barry. When I got the call from the Brewer ticket office, they tried to convince me that Sean Barry was going to be our everyday 1st basemen and that he brings a legitimate 300 average to the Brewers. In 1998, Barry hit .314 in just 299 at-bats while playing for the Astros. I told them taking a part-time player and making him a full-time player does not guaranty those type of numbers. I asked them about what they did to shore up the starting rotation? I don't recall their answer but it did not matter. I refused to renew. In 1999, Sean Berry appeared as a Brewer in 106 games (64 of those at 1st base), he hit .228 with an on-base pct of .281. In 2000, Sean Berry appeared in just 32 games and hit .152 with an on-base pct of .220. On June 21st, 2000, the Brewers released him. On July 23rd, the Red Sox signed Barry but after 1 game of going 0-4 with two strikeouts, the Red Sox released Barry on August 10th of the same year. Cleveland then signed Barry on August 24th of the same year. He never played for the Indians that season as was again released on October 18th of 2000. He never played another game in the majors.

When season-ticket holders question why Yost was brought back, what will the ticket office say? Season-ticket holders, please share the conversations you have with them in the Nation. I'm interested in knowing what next year's sales pitch will be...