The opening of the Major League Baseball season is about five weeks away and Brewers closer John Axford has yet to choose his entrance music for the ninth inning at Miller Park.
Well, to be clear, he has narrowed it down to 15 songs and left the rest up to the fans to help him pick the one he will use as early as April 4 at Miller Park.
He made the announcement on his Twitter and Facebook pages and posted a poll, equipped with links to all 15 songs on his Facebook page. Be sure to check out all 15 of the choices and vote for yourself. This is a full democracy!
I went through all 15 songs and tried to imagine them raining over Miller Park for the ninth inning with the game on the line and came down to my Top 5. I weighed song title and open of the song as to how it would be received by the fans when the mustached man makes his entrance from the bullpen. I'll start you down from No. 5 to the one I voted for.
5. Rush "Working Man" The title says it all and I like the guitar riff at the start. Rush is always a good choice.
4. Audioslave "Cochise" This one starts out so strong and would be an absolute banger at the Cathedral. Pretty badass for a closer because of how it builds up to the open.
3. Omen "The Axeman" Umm, doesn't the title say enough? He IS the Axeman. I wouldn't be upset if this won.
2. Metallica "For Whom the Bell Tolls" Pretty sure this is an obvious choice given what Trevor meant to the development to John last year when he took over the roll. The only thing I could see against this would be that he wouldn't want to ride Trevor's coat tails and would want to move on to something fresh.
**My Pick**
1. Linkin Park "No More Sorrow" I love the buildup this song has and can totally see John trotting in from the pen and the place absolutely going nuts. And of course, he has no sorrow for those left in his path in earning save after save as the team rolls.
Going to move right into the Nussie Hunter portion of the broadcast and introduce you to Gemma Merna. I've never heard of the show Hollyoaks, but I guess she's good in it. Well, the one thing I do know is she looks damn good in her underwear in the latest Loaded Magazine. Take a look for yourself with these and the sample below.
Finally! Trevor Hoffman, you, your uncle, your brother, your father and me both figured we'd be talking about this so much sooner in the season than Sept. 7, but that's how it works sometimes. And to be honest, that made the story leading up to this - the 600th save for the man that is already the all-time saves leader - that much sweeter.
Who would have thought after the year he had last year that Trevor Hoffman would falter like he did at the beginning of the season and lose the closer role. The wrinkle in the whole story is something I heard in listening to the post game show on 620 WTMJ that Hoffman, while taking a backseat to the man who became the closer, John Axford, became one of the mustached man's biggest fans and friends. If that's not the class that makes the celebration on the field and the photo above that much sweeter, I don't know what is.
There is a line in sports between cocky and confident and in baseball confidence is something that is more evident and comes and goes more than any other sport. Hoffman lost his at the beginning of the year when he could not save a game for the life of him and he was big enough to give up the role, but not give up on the team and himself to get back to where he was. Let's be real here and say Trevor's pitches are not the best, not the fastest and everyone knows what they are going to see from him. That doesn't make it any easier to hit off him, though, because he is that smart and is at the ballpark at 2 in the afternoon on the day of a 7 p.m. gamenight. Yes, at 41 Hoffman is the epitome of hard work and every player on that team respects the hell out him. To be honest it's hard being as big of a fan as I am of that team to not get goosebumps and not get a little misty eyed watching the final out and the celebration that follows with the team and Hoffman's family. You could see how much he wanted to get there and how much the guys were pulling for him to get back into the ninth inning and to 600.
That video is one I watched a bit when word came down from a certain friend of mine (We'll call him The Rog for this episode of The Way). Save 478 tied the record back in 2007 and just three seasons later he's up to 600 and at 41 has shown in recent weeks he's able to be smart enough to step back and figure things out.
Alright, time to finish off this blog because it's late. The other big sports news of the day was that Reggie Bush is likely to have his Heisman Trophy taken away. For some reason, the first thing I thought of was "I wonder how Kim Kardashian is doing." Yeah, strange I know. So I hit up a couple dude blogs and I'd say she's doing quite fine. What do you think?
The Brewers losing streak reached nine games tonight as the bullpen gave up three runs in the final three innings and let the Pirates beat them for the third straight time.
It's a wonder how things can change from the last time the team was in Pittsburgh, which was after that 20-0 win.
Well, that seems forever ago as this team can't really seem to find a way to close out games. The last two days have seen late leads only to have the washed away by an imploding Trevor Hoffman and tonight Todd Coffey couldn't get Randy Wolf out of a jam.
Hoffman has been put on the shelf while he works on his mechanics, which is fine, I guess, but doesn't really solve a lot of problems because there is so much more.
The title of the blog is The Good. The Bad. The Ugly. and I'm going to start with the Ugly.
There is so much wrong with this team one can only point the finger in one direction, the manager.
Whatever buttons Ken Macha is pushing haven't been the right ones. What he's working with the pitchers on with Rick Peterson isn't working either. That's been the biggest problem. Ups and downs are expected, but consistently repeating the mistakes points the finger only at the manager.
Will the pitchers magically turn it around if a move is made, probably not, but whatever personality is with the team needs to be changed. Whether they stay in house with Willie Randolph or Dale Svuem is up in the air. I'd go with Randolph because I think he could really work well with the guys in that clubhouse. But that's just me.
If the ugly is Ken Macha and what he's doing (or not doing) with the pitching staff, namely the starters, then the Bad has to be the trickle down effect that has had on everything else.
Tonight Ryan Braun made one of the dumbest decision I have ever seen him or anyone make on the field. I know third base wasn't covered, but really? La Roche was right behind you. Stay at second and let Prince try to get something going.
The guys are pressing and when you press in the game of baseball, you don't perform. It's weird that way, but that's how it is. Ryan hasn't been awful at the plate, but tonight showed he's trying to make thing happen. Prince has just 18 RBIs right now and can't seem to get going.
Prince had a line after Friday night's loss where he said all the offense can do is hope to outscore the other team. That's basically what it's come to. With that kind of pressure the guys are almost guaranteed to not come through with enough runs to hold up and get wins on a consistent basis.
The uncharacteristic Braun baserunning blunder is just the latest in the guys trying to do too much and falling short. You're saying "It's part of losing." OK, sure. But I'm saying, this team is better than this and shouldn't be losing like this. Yes, good teams have had bad years before, but I'm not sold that the season is already done for my Milwaukee Brewers just yet. I'm hoping before everyone starts seriously clamoring to trade Prince, other moves are made before they send up the white flag of surrender.
There has been one player that has been the good in this sea of awful and his name is Casey McGehee. He had another home run tonight and two more RBIs. His numbers are off the charts this year as he's settling into the No. 5 spot in the lineup behind Prince. Which, before I get into my main point, is pressure in itself. Had he not been producing, Prince's lack of production would be on Casey for not giving the proper "protection" to the slugger.
But Casey has been producing and has he ever. Take a look at how his numbers rank among NL third baseman. He is No. 1 with 37 RBIs, tops in average (.324), second in hits (48, which is one off the lead), second in slugging percentage (.574), second in home runs (9, again, just one off the lead) and second in on-base percentage at .393 which is just one measily point behind Chipper Jones' .394.
That's off-the charts right there folks. And those 37 RBIs has him ranked second in the entire National League to only Adam Ethier's 38 and he's on the DL. So expect Casey to take the lead sooner rather than later.
Now, if you know me, you know where Casey ranks on my personal list of fave players. But, did I see this coming? No. To be honest, I don't even bet Casey himself saw this type of production coming. He is the only guy on the team hitting the ball all over the yard. With the average up to .324, he and Braun are the two best hitters on the team. Now if only Prince can get it going. Maybe the three of them can carry the team to a few wins and maybe start saving the season.
Finally, be sure to get the vote out so Casey is on that NL All-Star team.
Now to some stuff that hopefully lifts yours (and my) spirits. Did you see this video of some guys that went to the New York Public Library and recreated the scene from Ghostbusters? They were on point with this. Take a look. Damn funny and creative.
Not sure how many follow the NBA playoffs intently, but we are in the conference finals and there was a pretty odd occurance that went down at the Celtics/Magic game the other night. Here's a ref throwing a ball at a fan, then the fan throws it back. The ref then has him removed from the game. Makes absolutely no sense. Take a look for yourself.
It was a sad day for the Nussie Hunter today. Word is out that Megan Fox, one of our faves here at The Way, will not be in Transformers 3. Here's the story, where she says the decision was hers. A bit of a sad turn of events. I know Shia is one of my mancrushes, but they had better find a love interest worthy for the new movie. You hear me Michael Bay?!
In the meantime, this looks like an opportunity to mourn while looking at Megan and her hotness.
Another loss today by the Brewers has Wilber's Way making its May debut. Being shutout for the third time in four games has me changing a bit of what I was going to write here.
Regardless, the Brewers have now lost 8 of their last 10 games and were outscored by the Padres 21-2 in four games. So while pitching was a question mark coming in, the offense made sure to not let us forget about it having problems and being inconsistent.
Doug Davis, who has had his problems, was not so reliable in Game 1 of the series and the guy that came on in "relief" of that one was Jeff Suppan. When all was said and done, the Padres won 9-0.
Dave Bush did pitch pretty good in Game 2 of the series, giving up just three runs in seven innings of work. But the offense couldn't get anything going and fell 5-0.
It marked the first time since 2005 the Brewers had been shut out in back to back games.
It was the best starting pitching showing since Yovanni Gallardo was solid against the Pirates on Monday night at Miller Park, but this time the offense did not back the up. Just the bad luck of baseball.
The Brewers did get a win Saturday night behind Gallardo. But even that was a chore. Yo went seven innings and struck out 11 on 118 pitches and had to hit a home run, his fifth of his career.
Hawkins, who has seen his share of troubles came on in the eighth and Trevor Hoffman, who you all know about his struggles, returned to the city where he saved 552 games, and closed the game out.
That sets the table. Now I have to ask the question. Who do you trust on the mound for this team? The problem has been mainly the starting rotation. Here are the lines (From Baseball-reference.com):
Yovanni Gallardo: 3-2, 36 IP, 40 K, 16 BB, 32 H, 15 R, 12 ER, 3.00 ERA
Randy Wolf: 2-2, 37.1 IP, 27 K, 16 BB, 41 H, 18 R, 16 ER, 3.86 ERA
Dave Bush: 1-2, 29.1 IP, 15 K, 12 BB, 30 H, 17 R, 15 ER, 4.60 ERA
Doug Davis: 0-3, 22.1 IP, 24 K, 10 BB, 38 H, 23 R, 22 ER, 8.87 ERA
Jeff Suppan: 0-1, 14.1 IP, 11 K, 3 BB, 22 H, 14 R, 13 ER, 8.16 ERA
Chris Narveson: 1-0, 15 IP, 12 K, 9 BB, 22 H, 12 R, 11 ER, 6.6 ERA
Now you can't take everything by those numbers, but know this. The team ERA ranks 13th of 16 teams in the NL. The staff has given up the second-most hits in the National League. That heps rank them 14th in the NL in home runs allowed (33).
Where was the help Doug Melvin was supposed to bring in? Nothing has changed from last year, at all. Now people claiming Doug Davis should be taken out of the rotation, are crazy. Who are you going to put in that spot? They made the one move with Narveson going in. I'm sure we'll see Manny Parra starting at some point this year, but not in place of a healthy but struggling Davis.
Like I said, this isn't going to be all about the pitching. The last three series' dating back to getting swept by the Cubs, then dropping two of three to the Pirates has worn on this team, which has lost 8 of 10.
The offense, up until this point, was one of the best in baseball. The numbers show that.
After checking Baseball-Reference.com, I found some pretty interesting numbers that I didn't realize (maybe because the pitching was so awful).
The Brewers are second in the NL in runs scored (128), first in doubles (56), fourth in homers (28), first in on-base percentage (.355), third in batting average (.273), second in slugging percentage (.452) and second in OPS (.807).
Those are some pretty staggering figures. To me, that says this 10-14 start is something that is on the pitching. Yes the last week has been rough for the hitters. I'm not going to put it on all of them, but I am going to single out one guy, Rickie Weeks Now I'm not coming down on Rickie, just pointing out some numbers.
Since the Brewers drilled the Pirates for that 20-0 win on April 22, Weeks' average has dropped from .344 to .258.
It's been seven games since then and during that time Rickie is 4 for 34 (.118 AVG), with 17 strikeouts, just one RBI (which came on his home run) and he's taken only five walks. Here's the link, again on Baseball-Reference.com. For a team built around Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, having guys on base in front of them makes them dangerous. That makes Rickie getting on base imparative to the success of the team. It doesn't help that Macha is still struggling to find a suitable guy to put in the No. 2 spot. With Carlos Gomez and Jim Edmonds hurt, that has made things a struggle and put guys you wouldn't necessarily want in front of Ryan and Prince.
Ok, enough on the Brewers for now. That will resonate throughout Monday for me. We need some funny to lighten the mood. Leave it to Jimmy Kimmel and his unnecessary censorship. Damn funny!
I'm pretty sure these next two ladies are Brewers fans and would be very interested by the success of the team. Yep, the Maxim Hometown Hotties Contest is in full swing and we got a double feature of Nussies for you.
First is Franklin's Andrea. She likes Wii (take a look! Haha.) And Susana is from Richfield, which is like 15 minutes from me. The links take you to their profiles. There were a handful of other Wisconsin girls that made the initial cut. Be sure to check out the rest of the Hometown Hotties.
Here's Andrea.
Apologies for the lack of blogs this week, but I'm back and I got some big things to talk about on this Friday. Watching postseason baseball without the boys from the Brew City has me contemplating what they should do, so we'll start there.
It wasn't 24 hours from the last game of the season and the Brewers had already made a splash by resigning the all-time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman, to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2011. (You can watch this to get your Trevor Time fix until April 5) That was a move that solidifies the back end of the bullpen and could help open some guys up for moves the team seems poised to make this offseason and I must say Milwaukee is happy to see it.
Per GM Doug Melvin's and Assisitant GM Gord Ash's end of season press conference the team looks set to do some dealing this offseason with the intention of shoring up the starting rotation. Here's Tom Haudricourt's story from the Journal-Sentinel in which Tom asks flat out if that means trading either Ryan Braun or Prince Fielder. The answer: "Almost anything." Yeah, good move. They know it was a problem and here's how I see it shaking down. Let's start with that starting rotation. It looks like Braden Looper is not going to be back (he had a team option for 2010). Sorry, you set a team record for home runs allowed in a season and things must change. And it sounds like Jeff Suppan and his $12.5 million salary is going to have to compete to be the No. 5 starter. The fact that he's not cemented into the rotation shows the team realizes the window is closing and has to shore things up. That leaves Yovanni Gallardo, Manny Parra and Dave Bush and I'd have to say they should be in the rotation. The team does need to find a No. 2 and push Manny to the No. 3 and maybe find a No. 5 to keep Dave in as the No. 4 pitcher. I'd be comfortable with that. Got a great list on MLBTradeRumors.com on the full free agent class this year (They list by each position, so scroll down and you'll see it) and it's not that impressive. But take a look and let me know what you think is out there. I'm guessing they sign one of those guys for sure to be the No. 5 and try to get a No. 2 via trade. Can't go too crazy on who is acquired, but I'm going to make a safe guess that J.J. Hardy is on the trading list for sure and Corey Hart might be expendable. Ash and Melvin both made it clear at the press conference Wednesday they are going to have to entertain the idea of dealing some of the prospects which includes Mat Gamel and Angel Solome. If Game stays, great, but he might be learning a new position in the spring since mighty Casey McGehee has third base covered. To position players, Braun and Fielder and definitely staying. It's been made clear that Alcides Escobar will be the shortstop to start the season and Rickie Weeks will be at second base. The rest of the lineup is in a bit of limbo. Corey Hart struggled this year and Mike Cameron is a free agent. While he said he would take a pay cut to stay in town, the Brewers have not voiced one way or another an intent there. They did look into trading him last year to the Yankees for Melky Cabrera. I'd say if they can get him for $7.5 million, DO IT. He's a clubhouse guy and keeps everything together, plays stellar defense and you know what you are getting with him in center. Corey looks like he's going to be bunched in with J.J. and used for trade bait. Let's hope it's for the best because he's looked lost at times at the plate. I'm not sure what you do for right field. I liked what I saw out of Frank Catalanotto at the end of the season and Jason Bourgeouis is a guy with amazing speed that can be trouble on the bases. Not to mention Section 223 does a damn good "BOOOG" ... "WAHHHH" chant every time he comes to the plate! The infield is set except for catcher and I would like to see them do a couple of things there. I like Mike Rivera, but am not sure he's an everyday player. Why not bring in a guy, maybe a lefty to give you some diversity, and have them compete in the spring and maybe platoon them to start the year and when one gets hot, ride him for as long as you can before giving guys personal catchers. Could work and keeps both guys healthy. I don't have all the answers. What do you guys think?
OK, moving onto my NFL picks. I was made aware my links did nothing for you guys on Fridays, so changing the format a bit. Here we go. Plain and simple, winner is in bold. These are all straight up. Browns @ Bills Steelers @ Lions Cowboys @Chiefs Vikings @ Rams Raiders @ Giants Bucs @ Eagles Redskins @ Panthers Bengals @ Ravens Falcons @ 49ers Jaguars @ Seahawks Texans @ Cardinals Patriots @ Broncos Colts @ Titans Jets (24) @ Dolphins (13)
Next I got a couple of videos. My boss really liked this one and the kid was on "Ellen" talking about it. He's 4 years old and was awesome with the Herb Brooks speech from the movie "Miracle."
Next up is nothing sports related, but still pretty sweet. Just watch and think, yeah, I would!
Ok boys and girls, it's time for the Nussie Hunter. Complex.com did is doing an assortment of lists recounting the "Best of the 2000s" and they just published their "Women" Top 100. The list is pretty good. But I've been looking for a reason to have Scarlett Johansson grace this space and when she ranks among the reader's Top 5, that's good enough for me. Take a look at her page, then check this! Beyonce was No. 1 on their list while Scar Jo was at No. 3. Hmmm....
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