It's over, it's finally over

Send off the streamers, drop the balloons, light the fireworks, Ned Yost has been fired! Sweet zombie Jesus, I thought this day would never come. I think it is too little too late however. They only have 12 games left, 6 against the first place Cubs, whom would love to destroy our playoff chance. The Brewers have to go 8-4 to have a chance, and even then it might not happen.

We all wish Ned Yost good luck on his next career, and here are a few tips for him.

The only down side to all this is, what will the site Firenedyost.com do now? Change to hirenedyost.com

DONE

I am officially done with the Brewers in their 2008 season. By the end of the day they will have lost the Wild Card spot. A spot the had a 5 1/2 game lead in a week ago. They have won 3 games this month and have not scored more than 3 runs in a game. Sad. This will be my last blog about them until after the season when I post a blog about changes that need to be made and when I start a pool about when Ned Yost will be fired.

UPDATE: Yost was just "relieved of his managerial" powers. I will fully process this and blog about this once I come back down to earth.

Random Thoughts

Yesterday I went to my last Brewers baseball game of the season, and it left with a weird feeling in my stomach, and a few thoughts in my head.

• I am worried for the Brewers this year. THey have lost 6 of 8. They only scored 6 total runs in 4 games against the Padres (one of the worst teams). The Phillies are now only 3 1/2 back and we have to play them 3 times this coming week, and they have an easier schedule than us the rest of the way. Also, the team looks as if they are hardly trying, and they don't care. They were getting no-hit against a terrible pitcher going into the 8th inning, and no one seemed to care or to adjust themselves at the plate.
• Ned Yost really is god-awful. he has no idea what he is doing within a game. I am also pretty sure that the players no he is a joke, and they don't follow his lead at all.
• The Brewers really need to do everything in the power to resign CC. They are just a mediocre team without their pitching staff. However, next year with a rotation as CC, Gallardo, Parra, Bush, Suppan; they look pretty good. They need some changes in their everyday lineup, and their batting order. Order should be HArt, Hardy, Braun, Fielder, Cameron, Hall, Weeks, Kendall.
  
• I really think they should NOT resign Cameron. He is doing jsut fine, despite his BA being a bit low. However, they really need that $10 million. I say Gapler or Gwynn can everyday play Center field, that or move Hart over to center, and bring up an outfielder.
• They need to bring up Gamel to play third next year.
• Kendall needs to rest more, you can see it in his game that he is tired. Plus Rivera does great every time he goes in randomly, imagine if he played everyday
• I think they should move FIelder and Weeks this offseason. THen move Hardy to second, bring up Escobar, and my crazy proposal is play RIvera as your everyday 1st baseman. Then this off season resign CC and go after another bat that plays outfield, first base, or third base (in that order).
  

Scared straight

So at this point I believe that our beloved manager Ned Yost is just afraid to even approach CC Sabathia on the mound when he is pitching. Otherwise there is no reason to leave him in the game last night with the score 9-2 and CC well over 100 pitches (unless you subscribe to the idea that Ned Yost has no idea what he is doing).

There was literally no reason to leave him in the game last night. We were up 9-2, CC had over 100 pitches, the bullpen was rested, and Sheets pitches tonight. This is the second game in a row that CC pitched a complete game and the Brewers had a 5 or more run lead. There is no reason for this. I know we have no chance of keeping CC next year so we don't have to worry about long-term fatigue, but we may need him to pitch extra at the end of the year or in the playoffs.

Yost has said that he is not going to a four man rotation this year, even in a tight playoff run (and with Suppan sucking a**) . How about pitch CC and Sheets fewer pitches in a game so therefore you can pitch them more often and switch to a 4-man rotation and ditch Suppan? That might make too much sense.

As a text message I received after last night's game: "Ned Yost is the white Dusty Baker."

More evidence

If you ever needed more evidence that Ned Yost has no idea what he is doing, today's game showed us a few more reasons.

• Why does Weeks ever play, yesterday Durham had a home run and a double, today it's Weeks in there. Stupid.
• Why does Rivera never play. He got on base ever at bat until extra innings, and was the only reason the game made it into extras. I know Kendall is a gritty vet and calls a good game, but he can't hit fir s**t any more. Rivera should be in there at least once a week, if not more.
• I was shocked that Yost didn't try to have Parra pitch a complete game, I thought that was Yost's thing.
• Why is Gagne the first reliever in the game, him and Mota should be the last. Villeneuva is lights out, he should always be the first out of the pen.
• Also, why doesn't Kapler play more in replacement of Cameron?
• Also today in the paper they were talked Brewer's money that they will have to resign CC and Sheets (hint, hint they don't have enough money). However the paper said they will probably exercise Cameron's $10 million option because we have no other options, it also said the Brewer's SHOULD resign Counsell because he is so "useful." No other options beside Cameron, how about Gwynn or more Hart over to center. And Counsell as "useful" come on he is terrible. If they resign either of these players, I will personally punch Yost in the face.
  

Our fearless leader

By now you have all seen and read about the Brewers fight when Fielder snapped and pushed Parra. This is not a post about that. (No matter how you look at it it is stupid. You should never shove your #3 pitcher and probably your #1 next year. Yet at the same time who has never punched a coworker before?)

This is about our idiotic leader Ned Yost and his comments after the fight. Here are some of the gems.

“It’s a little bit rude when your neighbors are fighting next door for
you to go knock on the door and ask what happened.

Maybe Yost doesn't go investigate when he hears his neighbor yelling "Help, help, call the police." But any normal concerned neighbor would. Plus this was on national television and I buy Brewer tickets and pay their salaries, so it is my business.

It’s between us and it’s not a big deal. It’s not the first time it happened and it won’t be the last.

Sweat, Yost is admitting that he has no control and it is going to happen again. Awesome.

How about we have a leader who thinks before he speaks and has analogies that make sense.

Then on Sports Center John Kruk said it might be a good thing and might inspire the team. I doubt it. This same thing happened last year when Pudge Estrada ran at and yelled at Yost and after that all these analysts said it might inspire the team but the Brewers actually went into their worst slump of the year after that.

This is not good.

Managing for Dummies

Why on god's green earth did our loved "manager" leave Suppan in the game after giving up 3 runs, and by the end of the inning he gave up 7 runs? McClung and Villeneuva had not been in a game for over a week and with Sabathia and Sheets pitching the next 2 games, we don't need to rely on the bullpen until Wednesday. This was a game we needed to win, and I put the loss solely on Yost for keeping Suppan in the game. This time even the announcers of the game were questioning a Yost decision. During this melt down the showed Yost in the dug out. And what was he doing? Literally nothing. Just sitting there. Come on, do something. Go talk to your guy, get the bullpen warmed up, punch the wall, something.

Idiot.

Here is an article from the paper about the Brewers relying on home runs to win games. I have been saying all year that this is going to be a problem. It won't last. I can't remember the last team that won the World Series based on home runs. Most teams manufacture runs like Red Sox, Cardinals, and Marlins did the past 4 years. Yost does have a great comment when asked about this:
"Have you ever seen anybody try to turn a pig into a horse?" said Yost. "It is what it is.
What? That makes NO sense. I would love to see Yost raise kids. Little Timmy punched Martha in class today. It is what it is.

Idiot.

Writer's Block

I have long hated on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It is a "newspaper" written by idiots for idiots. They never really have anything of value to say, just a bunch of random words in a random order on the page. They also never have anything bad to say about any of the local sports teams, even when they suck. Today I picked up the paper and read this little nugget about the Brewers' victory last night.

"Starting to Turn Around" WTF? I would hardly say that the season was starting to turn around. They won one game against the terrible Nationals and 2 against the even worse Pirates. Big Deal. This is a long season and we still have only one decent starting pitcher, 2 batters actually hitting the ball, no closer, and a terrible manager. I would not say that things are turning around. It would be okay if our local paper wrote a real story that said the team sucked, was under-performing, and changes need to be made. That I might actually read.

Side-note 1: Look at the lineup for today's game. Why is Braun not playing in every game? I agree that Hall should be sat occasionally because his bat is useless right now. They do need to find more ways to get Kapler and Gwynn into games, but put them in for Cameron or move Braun to 3rd, don't sit Braun. Stupid. And then put in Counsell. What? Hey while we're at it, let's sit Kendall, the third best bat in the lineup. It's almost as if Yost has no idea what he is doing.

Side-note 2: To further prove that the newspaper is written by idiots, here is an article from today's paper saying baseball SHOULD use instant replay. Instant replay will ruin the game. That is what is beautiful about baseball, it is not tainted like other sports by technology and one player stealing all the highlights. So what, A-Rod got robbed of a home run the other night. That was a horrible call, but s**t happens. I even have him in my Fantasy League, and the bad call really hurt me, but such is life. Baseball needs to stay away from Instant Replay. Think about terrible managers like Dusty Baker or Ned Yost, they will run out there for an instant replay after every call to try to save face. The game will last 6 hours.

Side-note 3: Brewers.com has a weekly poll question and this week it was:

"Who should fill in as closer while Gagne is on the DL?"

What kind of question is that, it should have been:

"Who should be the new closer because Gagne couldn't close with a drunk 16 year old on prom night?"

Here's a question for next week:

"Who will be the new sausage in the Sausage Race after Chorizo takes over as manager after Yost is fired?" I'm voting for the Corn Dog.

Problem Solved.....

I was getting worried about the Brewers' spiraling season and thought there was no solution in sight. Then man-genius Ned Yost came up with this brilliant solution. Now I have been a fan of VIllaneuva since he came up, and I understand he is struggling, but take him out of starting for McCLung. Look at Villaneuva's stats and then McClung. Okay, nothing special there. If anything remove Bush from the rotation. Makes no sense. Plus we have problems that extend a lot farther than the games that Villaneuva pitches.

After watching tonight's game it came to be that the Brewer's need to resign Sheets at ANY COST. With Villaneuva sent to the pen, Suppan getting old, Cappy is done, Bush sucks, and Gallardo is a question mark, they have no starting pitching now, and the outlook is even worse next year. Gallardo is probably the long term #1, and I still believe Villaneuva is still the long term #2, but Gallardo is out for the year and there is no chance he steps into the #1 next year. So who is left to be the #1 next year? Good question. They must resign Sheets. Don't pull a COrdero and have him sign with another team for $1 million more. Even with his injuries, Sheets is worth $10-$12 million a year for the next four. In the words of Yost's best friend Larry the Cable Guy: "Get 'er done!"

The Assistant Principal came into my room today to talk Brewers and he put the Brewers' problems into perspective. He said, "The Brewers really only have 4 problems, hitting, pitching, defense, and management." Perfectly said. Too bad the management problem could be fixed with one phone call to Chorizo. (He'll work for salsa).

From Bad to Worse to WORST

The downward spiral that is the Milwaukee Brewers have gone from a team that missed the playoffs by 2 games, to a team that is in last place in the National League Central. How is this happening and nothing is being done to the team to shake things up. The only player doing anything worth while is Ryan Braun (2 homeruns again today) and to a lesser extent Corey Hart and Jason Kendall. Everyone else is useless.

How can the manager Ned Yost still have a job on that team. He is making some of the most assine lineup decisions. A) Why is Weeks still leading off? Hart excelled there last year and is actually hitting .300. I know Hart is batting after Fielder to protect Fielder in the lineup but Fielder isn't the same threat at the plate as he was last year. Why not have Kendall bat 5 behind Fielder to protect him. B) Why did they put Joe Dillon at first with the extra player in the AL in Saturday's game? He sucks. Why not put in Kappler or Gwynn, two guys who are actually hitting the ball. Why not take Braun out of left field for a few games since Yost thinks he is such a defensive liability? Makes no sense.

To get a better idea of how bad things have gotten, there was an article in today's paper about bring up Russel Branyan to help at the plate. How bad have things gotten that we would need his lame duck bat in the lineup?

Things need to change really quickly with this team. Since they are currently on an extended road trip, I fear things might get really really bad quickly. Pretty soon it is going to be embarrassing to walk around town wearing my Brewers baseball cap.

Changes are Due

I told myself I was going to give fan-favorite Ned Yost a break for awhile. We all know my thoughts on him. I have definitely blogged enough about the guy. However I was looking at box scores today and noticed really how bad the Brewer's batting averages are horrible. Only Corey Hart and Tony Gwynn are batting above 300, that is horrible. Why is Weeks still leading off? Corey Hart did awesome there last year, and he is actually hitting the ball this year. Why hasn't Kappler gone back as the center fielder, outside of 3 home runs Cameron only has 6 other hits. (Yes I said six) That team needs a shake up. It starts with Yost getting a pink slip, but they also need to play their best players. Weeks is useless, Cameron is useless, Hardy is struggling, Fielder is struggling. I still think Fielder and Hardy have a place on the team, but they should be batting 6 and 7 respectively or 7, 8. Then again if Yost can't read it in managing for dummies, he won't do it.

Update: I just witnessed Hart hitting a double and and then Yost had him steal third, he was picked off, and then Hall hit a home run. Why steal third?

Update: The Brewer announcers use the stupid phrase "dialed in" way too much. Count how many times they say "Ryan Braun is really dialed in at the plate today." or "Be careful if Prince gets dialed in, this game could be tied quickly." Moments ago one announcer told they other that he (the announcer) was really "dialed in" because he was having so many great jokes. Lame.

I am officially putting that phrase On Notice.

It happened again.

Big surprise; Gagne had yet another blown save for the Brewers today. He gave up 2 runs in the 9th to allow the game to become tied. At one point he even walked in a run. WTF? This guy now has more blown saves than he has actual saves. For some reason I am still watching the game, even though I know how it will end. During the 10th inning the Commentators had this line "Gagne had a rough 9th to lead us into the 10th." A rough 9th? This is usual for him. They should have said "Gagne had his usual 9th inning, and therefore once again Sheets did not get a victory he deserves, the Brewers will lose this game, the Brewers will regret ever signing Gagne, and they would be better off having the Bratwurst as the closer and the Chirizo as the manager."



I fear this is going to be a long and frustrating year. Something needs to be done soon.

"Birds of Feather....

.......Flock Together"

Here is a quick blurb in today's paper about our fan-favorite NEd Yost and his best friend:

Designated hitter

Comedian Larry the Cable Guy, otherwise known as Dan Whitney, took part in pre-game batting practice with the Brewers. A friend of Yost's, Whitney dressed out in a sleeveless Brewers jersey with "Larry" on the back, with one leg of his pants down and the other hitched up.

After watching the left-hander take several swings in the cage, Yost announced, "He swings the bat better than any celebrity I've ever seen."

Whitney has lost some 50 pounds while participating in a well-chronicled diet plan, but Yost said, "I think you can still sneak a pitch under his belt."

Do we need any more evidence that Yost should be fired? He is best friends with a no-talent, idiotic, ass-clown. He is bringing this guy in to make a joke of batting practice. The way the Brewers are batting, they need to take batting practice very seriously. And why would Yost be best friends with someone from Chicago who is a huge Cubs Fan (see picture).
Even if Yost were the greatest manager in the game (hint, hint, he isn't) he should be fired on simple principle. Birds of feather, flock together.

Yosted

We went through another weekend of Brewer's baseball and Ned Yost tried his best to get the Brewer's "Yosted" again. Once he was successful with his attempts.

On Saturday Yost took Suppan out of the game in the 7th even though he had given up only 1 run and like 3-4 hits and his pitch count was under 90. The next batter hit a 2 run home run to tie the game. He then took Ryan Braun out in a tie game yet left Gross in the game. Why do all this to put Braun in the outfield if Yost is going to do the same thing as last year and take him out of the game for "defensive" purposes. Also, why is Gross even starting over the hot-hitting Kapler? Luckily the Brewers pulled through and still won the game in the 10th despite Yost.

Sunday however we were not so lucky. We luckily got the lead in the 10th inning and for some reason Yost decided to put Gagne in. This was the 4th game in a row that Gagne had pitched. Closers are not suppossed to pitch 4 days in a row. If I had my way no one would ever work 4 days in a row, regardless of the job. Not suprising, 5 pitches later the game was tied. Why didn't Yost put Torres or Riske in? They both were just sitting there waiting for some action. Instead Yost went witht the over-worked and over-rated, non-juiced Gagne.

FIRE HIM!

It Begins.......

We may have a new member of the Brewers that will make our friend Derrick TurnBlow look like an All*Star Again.

Eric Gagne pitched a "gem" of a ninth inning. This really has me quite scarred. What ever happened to this Gagne:

Oh yeah steroids....
Lets see who the boy-genius himself, Ned Yost, puts in the game tomorrow to close it. Sadly, it may not matter now that we have two guys who couldn't close the deal with a drunk, depressed, emo girl with low self-esteem.

Can I get a recount?

Yesterday they announced Bob Melvin of the Arizona Diamondbacks won NL Manager of the Year. What? No Ned Yost? Someone must have miscounted the votes, that or there was a problem of hanging chad. How could he not win after what he did with that team. He has the 2 best young players in the league but he had the courage to rest them once a week and take them out of close games. He had the knowldge to know to keep his starting pitchers in too long and put in bullpen pitchers that couldn't hit the blind side of a barn.

On a related note I think an inanimate carbon rod won AL Manager of the Year seeing that anyone could manage in the NL, maybe even Yost.

When it's over...

With the Brew Crew winning and the Cubbies win, it's offically over for the Brewer's. It was a hell of a run but I guess a complete idiot of a manager can't manage a good team to a winning season. If the Brewer's lose these last two games against the Padres which is very likely because the Padres are fighting for their playoff lives, the Brewers will finish at exactly .500, which is exactly where they finished 2 years ago without Fielder, Braun, or Hart. After two years with better players, old Yosty-boy is no better than he was two years ago without the talent. Come on, thats sad. 99% of the league with kill to have Fielder or Braun or Gallardo, and we have all of them. Most teams would also love to have Hart, Villeneuva, Hardy, and even Weeks. How are we crawling to .500. Lets just hope that not only is this the end of the season, but hopefully the end of Yost era, and beginning of the Chorizo era.

Untouchable

I am a fan of saying that no one is untouchable, everyone is replaceable, especially in the world of sports. Even at his heyday the Bulls said Jordan wasn't untouchable, if they got the right offer or he asked for too much money they would trade him. Shaq, Kevin Garnett, Terrell Owens, and others have all been traded.

The theory going on in my head is that if the Brewers fail to make the playoffs after having such a lead and having the best record in baseball, surely Yost would be fired but after yesterday's game the owner Mark Attanasio said that “Ned is fine,” indicating that his job was not in jeopardy. WTF? He has no idea what he is doing, leaves pitchers in too long, takes out his bets hitter for his worst hitter, and his players hate him and aren't afraid to tell him that. No one listens to this clown, for crying out loud he scratches a mosquito and someone steals third. Even if the Brewers won the world series, he should be fired. Look at Marty Shottenheimer of the Chargers; last year they were 14-2 and he still got canned. Yost needs to be out of there as fast as my ex-wife left me after she popped out her second kid.

Yosted

The game isn't even over yet but I'm calling this game is all on Yost's head. AFter Corey Hart hits a home run to give the Crew the lead. The Brewers then get a man on third with 1 out, cool we can expand our lead. What does Yost do? He pinch hits Counsell and has him bunt. What? A pop up gives you another run. Even after Counsell gets 2 strikes against him, he stays bunting and bunts out. Then he keeps Counsell in the game and takes out Braun, our best hitter. In the bottom 11 with Braves having 2 runners on, they just showed Yost shaking his head. He realizes he has only 8 more games to coach the Brewers then unemployment here we come.


They just lost. YOSTED!!

An excuse I have never heard before

Now "Coach" Yost has sunk to new lows to make excuses for the fact that he has no idea on how to manage a team. After last night's loss (specifically having Gross steal 3rd base with Fielder coming to bat) Yost is blaming a mosquito. Come on, this is sad even for Yost. Why is the "steal third" signal a scratch on the neck?

Did the mosquito tell him to keep Bush in after giving up 6 in the 1st inning? Did the mosquito tell him to not bring up Gwynn? But in Ray King? Trade for Linebrink and King? Sign Counsell and Grafinno but not Cirillo? Put Aquino in with bases loaded on his first night on the team? Allow Turnblow to walk the bases loaded?

I dare Yost to come out after a game and say "My bad. I really did a poor job managing out there today." Then I might actually believe him. The beautiful thing is that if Chorizo was coaching the team, this would not have happened. Chorizo's don't get mosquito bites.