With Braun out T Plush should steal show at Brewers On Deck

When Brewers owner Mark Attanasio announced Wednesday National League MVP Ryan Braun would not be at this weekend's Brewers On Deck event, many fans were upset. I can see a little disappointed, but upset? Come on folks. It only makes sense.

All is not lost in the event, which I have attended for the last three years, because the fun is still coming to the Midwest Airlines Center and his name is Nyjer Morgan. Yes, T. Plush will be the shining star of the day and was the guy I had circled even with Ryan Braun on the lineup almost because of the excitement that would surround the MVP. That would leave Nyj open to getting some love from the 223. Plus, I have to go meet another one of my Twitter followers (Yessir!).

Do I really need to make a case? I mean, there will be only one guy in the house that has a postseason series winning hit on his resume. Not even Robin Yount has that on his docket. And you know he will be the most fun. Yes, I am planning a photo throwing up the "T" with Nyjer that will be one of my favorite pics for ages.

Beyond checking in with one of my Twitter followers, I have a full gameplan of guys I want to check in with on the day. Doors open at 10 and the first autograph stage I am going to look for is the new guy in town, Aramis Ramirez on Stage 3. If that doesn't work out the new first baseman, Mat Gamel is on at 11 on Stage 4 for just $10 and I hear he shaved his head. Might be worth a look!

My man T Plush is on Stage 6 at noon. How does that work, you ask? I'll have to run to one and get my ticket in line, then run to the other, then run back say hi to Maty and run off for a Plushdamentals lesson. It can happen.

The big autograph of the day could be Robin Yount on Stage 1. He'll be the one guy I enter the lottery for. I didn't like how the process worked last year, but maybe the tweaked it this year and it will be more friendly.

Finally at 3:45 Taylor Green is on a free stage. Yes, free. The perfect price to see the minor league player of the year from last season. Interesting to see if he makes the team this year or if they'll have him play everyday in Nashville.

There are other things I'm looking forward to on the day. The main stage usually has some great things to check out throughout the day. One of the biggest things is Joe Block. He'll be hosting a couple events on the stage and will be the No. 2 guy next to Uecker in the radio booth this year. I listen to more games on radio than I see, so I'll have to put up with him a lot this season. I have heard nothing but good things, but have still yet to hear the guy's voice at length. I'll hear him for 162 days over a 180 day span this summer, so let's hope the first impression is a good one. I'm sure he'll do fine.

Second, the Meet the New Brewers segment on the main stage should be fun with Aramis Ramirez and Alex Gonzalez joining Craig Counsel and the Brewers front office on stage. I have to come around to A-Ram this season. This is the first time I'll see him in person wearing Brewers colors, so after this I should come around.

The final event on the main stage is the media roundtable. It's basically the talking heads that cover the team getting their time in the sun. They usually do a pretty good job and Mr. Sports writer of the Year Tom Haudricourt is one of my faves. Can't go wrong.

So yes, without Ryan Braun the star power will be a bit short, but the day should still be great. Can't wait to have a great day with RJ and April amongst our favorite boys of summer!

A devoted Brewers fan's goodbye to Prince Fielder

I knew this day would come at some point this winter. The longer the whole process of Prince Fielder signing with another team was one I had come to grips with dating back to the 2010 season when I gave him a standing O in what I thought was his final game at Miller Park then. The news today he has signed with the Detroit Tigers for $214 million over nine years made it real. He will not be climbing out of the dugout at Miller Park this season.

Was there a Brewers player in the last seven years more exciting to watch? It would be hard to argue against a guy that averaged 40 home runs and 113 RBIs while playing no less than 157 games per season while he was the every day first baseman over the last five years. In his somewhat short time here he at or among the team leaders in single season statistical categories that include extra-base hits (tied with Robin Yount with 87 in 2007), walks (114 in 2010), home runs (his 50 in 2007 in first and 46 in 2009 is second) and RBIs (141 in 2009). For his career, his 230 home runs ranks him second all-time behind just Robin Yount's 250. Take a look at the stats on MLB.com to remember Prince in a Brewers jersey for a little bit longer.

It has been a good ride Prince. I will miss you. The Beastmode this year was the funnest thing surrounding this team in a long time and you made the Keg jump and jive. All of us in Brewer Nation will miss you. But I'm not mad at you. As someone who is searching for a new job that pays more I respect you did it your way and got what you deserved. I'll always be cheering for you, except when you play against my beloved Brewers. When you make your first trip to Miller Park, I will lead the standing ovation. You were part of the revival of baseball in this town and as a fan I thank you for that.

To remember all of your greatness, let's take a trip down memory lane and check out some of your greatest moments as a Brewer. Oh what fun it has been.

The date was June 25, 2005. It will go down as a great day in Brewers history when the Prince made his debut and hit his first of 230 home runs as a member of the Brewers. Oh, Rickie Weeks hit his first career long ball that day, too. Check the vid, here.

On September 25, 2007 Prince showed what he was capable of by becoming the first Brewer and youngest player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs in a season. I have a bobblehead commemorating that moment.


One of those 50 was a bit unorthodox as it was of the inside-the-park variety at the Metrodome against the Twins. Yes, the big guy could move it around the bases when he had to. He has two inside-the-park homers for his career. Check it out, here.

Prince has hit his share of walkoff homers. I'm pretty sure few compare to the one that led to the "bomb celebration" at home plate. I was at this game. Yes, AWESOME is about the right word. Would have been better had I won the $50 or so in the pass the cap, but I'll take the moment.


He set the Brewers RBI record on Sept. 19, 2009. It came with a sacrifice fly, but helped him on his way to 141 RBIs that season. Still impressive.


The big guy was huge on the national stage. In 2010 he won the home run derby.


Then in 2011, he had the biggest shot in the actual All-Star Game. Yes our mighty Prince was showing he was ready for the big stage.



The three home runs you hit on Sept. 27 last season against the Pirates help lock up the NL Central crown. Yeah, he had to carry the team at times. But he was good for it.


For those that said the big guy couldn't do it in the playoffs, he made a difference in Game 1 of the NLCS. Possibly his biggest postseason performance.


One final look at Prince's final at-bat as a Brewer, as seen from Section 223, Row 6, Seat 7.

Could Braun be exonerated? Hope sweeps Brewer Nation!

 The day started off great for Brewers fans today when the team hoisted and bolted into place its 2011 NL Central Division pennant (or banner if you want to call it that. Then the media world gave us a gift I would have to say gave everyone in Brewer Nation hope.

That hope came from the Dan Patrick Show on DirecTV and Fox Sports Radio. It's known Ryan Braun had his hearing last week in his appeal for his positive drug test and DP had a chat with someone "close to the situation"

As Tom Haudricourt says on his blog on JS Online, Patrick says "Ryan Braun may be exonerated here. he may be found innocent. And judging from all the information I was told, there's a good chance that he should be."

Now this isn't set in stone, but the minute any one of us as Brewers fans gets any idea or hope he is going to beat this thing after believing what Braun has said about the test as "BS" someone comes along and says no one has every beaten a positive test with an appeal. Well, I cannot remember a time when a player's positive test was leaked before the appeal was heard. So, my answer to that is how do we know? Truth is, we don't.

I'm going to go along with what Dan Patrick said and use him for a minute as a spring board to show some validity in what he said. A guy of his profile taking what he has heard and was told in a discussion has to show that the chances of Braun beating this rap are greater than we could have thought. It would be unprecedented.

I have not written on the matter in this space before, but I've gone back and forth on the idea that Braun could win a libel suit with ESPN. I have not wavered on the idea that this should not have leaked. Especially if he beats it. Had it not been leaked, we would have never found out about it in the first place and wouldn't think anything of him being in New York other than to accept the MVP award.

A simple Google search shows a lot has been written about this today and rightfully so. Patrick saying this and making his case on why he believes it to be true is a large step in what was believed to be an open-and-shut case that would have seen Braun out for the first 50 games. I was coming to grips with that idea and ready to see the team struggle offensively without him in the lineup. But this could give us all hope.

Isn't that all we wanted anyway? Isn't that what we were looking for? It's like Steve Urkel when Laura Winslow told him his chances were 1 in a million his response, "So you're saying there's a chance?!" Well, consider me Urkel and consider this my chance.

Fate of Brewers season doesn't entirely lie with Braun

With Ryan Braun finally getting his day to appeal his positive test for a banned substance, the National League MVP and the Brewers can finally start to put the final pieces together for the 2012 season. Will the Brewers have their superstar left fielder or not though the first two months of the season? We will find out shortly.

Maybe it's the optimist in me and believer that this season will be just as special as the last, but part of me thinks the Brewers can hold the fort down while Braun is away and keep the National League Central crown within reach if he is out for the worst-case scenario of 50 games. Don't get me wrong, Brauns .332 batting average, 33 home runs, 111 RBIs and 33 stolen bases will be hard to replace in the top third of the lineup on top of the loss of Prince Fielder, but for 50 games and 57 days, the Brewers can weather the storm. Here's how.

When Rickie Weeks went out in August last year, fans, myself included, feared things could go south, but the pitching emerged to carry the team to the NL Central title. That will have to happen at the start of this season. All five starters return and all have something to prove.

Yovani Gallardo is ready to prove he is a true ace, even if he's not the pitcher on the staff with a Cy Young Trophy in his trophy case. As good as he was in the playoffs last year, is the level I expect to see Gallardo all season. He was inconsistent at times last year letting his pitch count get the best of him and force him out of games early. I'd expect to see that as a point of emphasis from the start of Spring Training.

Zack Greinke, you know the guy who does have a Cy Young, wants to put the rough spring from last year behind him and I expect him to come out of the gates strong. While Gallardo was shining in the postseason last year, Shaun Marcum was busy flipping his glove in disgust as he lost all three starts in awful fashion. (Can't forget the glove flip in Phoenix!). The kicker on top of it all for Greinke and Marcum is both are free agents after the season and are auditioning for big money elsewhere.

Randy Wolf is in a similar boat in the final year of his three-year deal. Last year he was the guy that was the most consistent pitcher during the season, but got little to no run support in some of his best outings. Finally Chris Narveson is back in the five-hole at the back of the rotation and has to prove himself to a point to maybe earn a chance top step up on the rotation with possibly two or three of the other guys leaving the rotation after the season.

As for the offense, the thought with filling the shoes of Prince was not to drop it all on one guy, but to spread the load throughout the lineup. That has to be the mindset of Corey Hart, Weeks (who should move up to the No. 3 spot in front of Aramis Ramirez) and everyone including the new guy Nori Aoki.

Only time will tell how things unfold, but the pieces are in place for the Brewers to be at least within shouting distance of the top of the division if Braun is out for 50 games at worst or (what I'm hoping for) a 25-game ban. The pitching is the key to the team, especially the starters out of the gate.

Brewers 2012 roster to be sorted out in spring training

It's only mid-January, but with the Nori Aoki (that's what we're going to call him this season) signing, things are starting to come together with the 25-man roster for the Brewers.

We are 31 days until pitchers and catchers report to Maryvale Baseball Park, so it's expected things would start clearing up by now, but it's just crazy to think about baseball with temperatures falling at or below zero this week. That said, I'd say about 20 of the 25 roster spots can be set in stone, leaving five open for discussion.

I'll start with the position players because of the two spots that could be open there, I'd say they are about locked up. Of course the starting eight (around the horn) should go Ryan Braun, Nyjer Morgan, Corey Hart, Aramis Ramirez, Alex Gonzalez, Rickie Weeks, Mat Gamel and Jonathan Lucroy. The bench should be Carlos Gomez and George Kotaras as the returners with Aoki as another outfielder and Brooks Conrad and Cesar Izturis as the nonroster invitees who have the inside track on making the team. Bopth Conrad and Izturis are switch-hitting infielders, that should help give the team some solid bats (and gloves) off the bench.

The pitching staff is a bit more wide open in the middle. Of course, all five starters return with Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, Randy Wolf and Chris Narveson back in the fold. In the bullpen John Axford anchors the back end and the surprise return of Francisco Rodriguez solidifies the eighth inning quite well. Also back is Marco Estrada and Kameron Loe who were both valuable in the sixth and seventh inning (and beyond) last season.

That leaves three roster spots if the team is going to go with 12 pitchers. That's where spring training will decide how things fall. Manny Parra, coming off a year where he spent more time on the operating table than the baseball diamond, can show if he's healthy and be a solid lefty in the bullpen. Also, Zach Braddock could show whether or not he will be Major League worthy this season. Wily Peralta is also an option to make the move from Nashville to Milwaukee. An outside shot to make the club on Opening Day is Jed Bradley and Taylor Jungman, last year's first-round picks.

Spring Training will give Ron Roenicke time to straighten things out, but there shouldn't be many surprises unless the team makes a couple moves. Those moves would be likely financially based to get the team closer to $90 million from the $100 million the payroll is at right now.



**On a programming note, I know haven't been blogging lately, but I am planning on amping things up a lot more as we had into On Deck on the 29th and down to Phoenix for Spring Training next month. It should be a fun and interesting spring with plenty of storylines that have to sort themselves out**