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knetzke11:

QUOTE(Stranger N A Strange Land)

Cool! I'm a sports fanatic (Member of Red Sox Nation Baby!). A Sports Forum should lead to some lively banter ... wait a minute ... isn't this a Triumph discussion board? .... oh yeah ... bands been defunct for nearly 15 years ... sometimes I forget ...

Too bad the Blue Jays are going to take the divison this year SNASL lol, big offseason improvements for them this year, pitching and batting, getting BJ Ryan for their closer, and AJ Burnett(throws high 90's with a hard curve) as their ace(?) maybe, they still have Roy Halladay who won a Cy Young award already, then they aquired Troy Glaus to play third-big time power out of him, and Lyle OOOOOOverybay! from Milwaukee in a trade. I have to say that they'll be the top team in that division this year...Sox had a crappy offseason, didnt do much to help the gaps they had last year, and they lost the caveman-Johnny Damon to the Yanks(I hate that team), I guess the Red Sox did get Josh Beckett(World Series MVP when the Marlins beat the Yanks) and Juilian Tavarez(relief pitcher for the Cards)..but still didnt plug up their starting pitching problems, and Beckett has been shaky ever since the Marlins won the WS, he always is missing games with blisters or something, he's been very unreliable.

Red Sox have 7 starters (Beckett, Shilling, Wells, Arroyo, Wakefield, Clement and Papelbon). No one in the league has nearly that much depth . Josh Beckett, by the way is much better and more proven then AJ Burnett. BJ Ryan has had 1 good year and at times looked a little shaky. Didn't Papi hit about a 500 foot homerun off of him in the bottem of the 9th???? So you take those 7 starters, drop two of them in bullpen (paplebon and arroyo) and all of the sudden the bullpen is really deep as well. The key is if Keith Foulke can stay healthy, if not it will have to be Craig Hanson, who has untouchable stuff, but just may no be ready yet. Coco Crisp basically had the same year as Damon did last year. He is 26 so he will continue to get better while Damon will level off or start to drop off.

Stranger N A Strange Land:

Drew:

(In The Voice Of Bugs Bunny)

"You Know Of Course This Means War"

This is gonna be fun

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Gearpedia.net Woodworkingforum.net

knetzke11:

QUOTE(Stranger N A Strange Land)

Cool! I'm a sports fanatic (Member of Red Sox Nation Baby!). A Sports Forum should lead to some lively banter ... wait a minute ... isn't this a Triumph discussion board? .... oh yeah ... bands been defunct for nearly 15 years ... sometimes I forget ...

Too bad the Blue Jays are going to take the divison this year SNASL lol, big offseason improvements for them this year, pitching and batting, getting BJ Ryan for their closer, and AJ Burnett(throws high 90's with a hard curve) as their ace(?) maybe, they still have Roy Halladay who won a Cy Young award already, then they aquired Troy Glaus to play third-big time power out of him, and Lyle OOOOOOverybay! from Milwaukee in a trade. I have to say that they'll be the top team in that division this year...Sox had a crappy offseason, didnt do much to help the gaps they had last year, and they lost the caveman-Johnny Damon to the Yanks(I hate that team), I guess the Red Sox did get Josh Beckett(World Series MVP when the Marlins beat the Yanks) and Juilian Tavarez(relief pitcher for the Cards)..but still didnt plug up their starting pitching problems, and Beckett has been shaky ever since the Marlins won the WS, he always is missing games with blisters or something, he's been very unreliable.

Well stated Cool Down! 100% Agree. I would have thought I had made this post ...

Hey Knetzke - do you follow the major leagues (you know ... the AL) or are you all hung up in that junior division (what's it called? ... the DL ... DNF ... DNS ... OH YEAH! ... NL)

Drew - Oh yeah! This'll be fun ... we need to get that sports forum up and running ...

Stranger N A Strange Land:

knetzke11:

QUOTE(Stranger N A Strange Land)

Cool! I'm a sports fanatic (Member of Red Sox Nation Baby!). A Sports Forum should lead to some lively banter ... wait a minute ... isn't this a Triumph discussion board? .... oh yeah ... bands been defunct for nearly 15 years ... sometimes I forget ...

Too bad the Blue Jays are going to take the divison this year SNASL lol, big offseason improvements for them this year, pitching and batting, getting BJ Ryan for their closer, and AJ Burnett(throws high 90's with a hard curve) as their ace(?) maybe, they still have Roy Halladay who won a Cy Young award already, then they aquired Troy Glaus to play third-big time power out of him, and Lyle OOOOOOverybay! from Milwaukee in a trade. I have to say that they'll be the top team in that division this year...Sox had a crappy offseason, didnt do much to help the gaps they had last year, and they lost the caveman-Johnny Damon to the Yanks(I hate that team), I guess the Red Sox did get Josh Beckett(World Series MVP when the Marlins beat the Yanks) and Juilian Tavarez(relief pitcher for the Cards)..but still didnt plug up their starting pitching problems, and Beckett has been shaky ever since the Marlins won the WS, he always is missing games with blisters or something, he's been very unreliable.

Well stated Cool Down! 100% Agree. I would have thought I had made this post ...

Hey Knetzke - do you follow the major leagues (you know ... the AL) or are you all hung up in that junior division (what's it called? ... the DL ... DNF ... DNS ... OH YEAH! ... NL)

Drew - Oh yeah! This'll be fun ... we need to get that sports forum up and running ...

Im trying to refrain from posting until the forum is up. Then I can push the agenda of the evil empire that is my yankees. I need to paint my Roger Clemens bobble head to look like jeter

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Gearpedia.net Woodworkingforum.net

Stranger N A Strange Land:

knetzke11:

QUOTE(Stranger N A Strange Land)

Cool! I'm a sports fanatic (Member of Red Sox Nation Baby!). A Sports Forum should lead to some lively banter ... wait a minute ... isn't this a Triumph discussion board? .... oh yeah ... bands been defunct for nearly 15 years ... sometimes I forget ...

Too bad the Blue Jays are going to take the divison this year SNASL lol, big offseason improvements for them this year, pitching and batting, getting BJ Ryan for their closer, and AJ Burnett(throws high 90's with a hard curve) as their ace(?) maybe, they still have Roy Halladay who won a Cy Young award already, then they aquired Troy Glaus to play third-big time power out of him, and Lyle OOOOOOverybay! from Milwaukee in a trade. I have to say that they'll be the top team in that division this year...Sox had a crappy offseason, didnt do much to help the gaps they had last year, and they lost the caveman-Johnny Damon to the Yanks(I hate that team), I guess the Red Sox did get Josh Beckett(World Series MVP when the Marlins beat the Yanks) and Juilian Tavarez(relief pitcher for the Cards)..but still didnt plug up their starting pitching problems, and Beckett has been shaky ever since the Marlins won the WS, he always is missing games with blisters or something, he's been very unreliable.

Well stated Cool Down! 100% Agree. I would have thought I had made this post ...

Hey Knetzke - do you follow the major leagues (you know ... the AL) or are you all hung up in that junior division (what's it called? ... the DL ... DNF ... DNS ... OH YEAH! ... NL)

Drew - Oh yeah! This'll be fun ... we need to get that sports forum up and running ...

NL is real baseball, and thats hardly 7 starters, wells is getting really old, his stuff is not that great, arroyo has nothing other than some lazy breaking stuff, clement is decent, still had an era over 4, and took a line drive right of the melon last year, schilling didnt do squat last year, just gave up a bunch of dingers and had a non-existent splitter, beckett had his poor hand covered with blisters, for the 2nd year in a row-and missed a lot of time for it, and had shortened outings from having...soft hands, honestly how can you pitch your way to the majors and end up getting blisters constantly, his hands should have toughened up by now..poor guy, Burnett throws harder and has a better breaking ball, beckett just has a better change-up, wakefield is also a decent pitcher, but he's getting old too, and had an era over 4 last year, with many inconsistent outings-I throw harder than him hah...but his fastball isnt him trying to throw it hard, its trying to keep the same motion so the batter doesnt know whats coming..so I'm sure he could throw a bit harder than he does when he trys to sneak a 75 mph heater by the batter, coco crisp is good, and has a much better arm than damon(his is just pathetic), but you still arent going to have the same type of leadoff man as damon is(hopefully damon will end up playing horribly for New York--hah Drew!!) and it doesnt matter how far Ortiz hit the ball off of BJ Ryan, everyone gives up a dinger here or there, and it doesnt matter how far it goes, just has to leave the yard--oh, Keith Foulke-give up on him, he's never going to be a closer, when the guy you have coming in to nail down the game in the 9th has his fastball top out at 92(absolute tops) which I can practially throw as hard as, and its flat...fastball doesnt move at all, and a decent change-up, thats not closer material, watch Derrick Turnbow from the crew-thats a real closer, 96+mph heater-with movement, then a just insane slider, he buckled a lot of knees last year, throws it 86-88 mph...oh, and a change-up that looks like a splitter because he throws it about 86 mph...foulke isnt ever going to be effective in the closer spot again, especially not after the knee problem

and the NL is a much more exciting game to watch, so much more strategy comes into play, as far as switching pitchers and such-the double switch is an example, that doesnt exist in the AL since there is the DH, oh, depth of rotation-the brewers have better depth than that, Sheets, Davis, Capuano, Ohka, Bush, Helling

Ben Sheets (RHP)-had a crappy inner ear infection last year, kept him out, then went on a roll, throwing 9 innings in 4 of 5 outings, then while working a gem against the Atlanta Braves, pulls his lat..and hes done for the year, two years ago had 264 k's-3rd in the league, and the best strikeout to walk ratio since the early 1900's, era of 3.33 last year

Doug Davis (DD) (LHP)-era of 3.84 last year with 208 k's, 3rd most by a lefty in the majors last year, nasty cutter, mixes hitters up with a bender, not a great pitch, just throws them off, and has been working on a change up to throw to lefties

Chris Capuano (LHP)-won 18 games for the crew last year, held lefty hitters to a very low average, era of 3.99, struck out 176 batters last year, good change up, and good slider, very deceptive-makes it very hard on lefties from the arm angle he throws from, little lower than a 3/4 delivery

Tomo Ohka (RHP)-brewers got him from the Junior Spivey trade with the washington nationals last year, didnt strike anyone out there, had more walks than k's, then Mike Maddux gets ahold of him, and the k's to walk ratio goes up about 4:1 rather then the 1:2 it was almost at before he was traded for, finished with a 4.04 era

Rick Helling (RHP)-he's an older guy, but pitched phenomonal for the brewers last year when called up because of the Ben Sheets injury, era of 2.39 in 49 innings of work at the show, some relief work, some starting, as a starter his era was even better, under 2

Dave Bush (RHP)-aquired from Overbay trade, has good stuff, young guy, a lot of potential, era was 4.49 last year, could have won a lot more games with run support, good k/bb ratio, 75 k's to only 29 walks(nothing compared to sheets I think 264k's to 32bb in 2004) but still good

I'd rather have that lineup than what the red sox have, oh, plus, the brewers have probably the best pitching coach in the league, Mike Maddux, pitching coach god! Turned Derrick Turnbow into one of the leagues best closers

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Can't you feel the magic, feel it everywhere, Can't you hear the music, there's something in the air, There's a celebration, deep within a song, Celebrate this feeling, you know it can't be wrong

knetzke11:

Stranger N A Strange Land:

knetzke11:

QUOTE(Stranger N A Strange Land)

Cool! I'm a sports fanatic (Member of Red Sox Nation Baby!). A Sports Forum should lead to some lively banter ... wait a minute ... isn't this a Triumph discussion board? .... oh yeah ... bands been defunct for nearly 15 years ... sometimes I forget ...

Too bad the Blue Jays are going to take the divison this year SNASL lol, big offseason improvements for them this year, pitching and batting, getting BJ Ryan for their closer, and AJ Burnett(throws high 90's with a hard curve) as their ace(?) maybe, they still have Roy Halladay who won a Cy Young award already, then they aquired Troy Glaus to play third-big time power out of him, and Lyle OOOOOOverybay! from Milwaukee in a trade. I have to say that they'll be the top team in that division this year...Sox had a crappy offseason, didnt do much to help the gaps they had last year, and they lost the caveman-Johnny Damon to the Yanks(I hate that team), I guess the Red Sox did get Josh Beckett(World Series MVP when the Marlins beat the Yanks) and Juilian Tavarez(relief pitcher for the Cards)..but still didnt plug up their starting pitching problems, and Beckett has been shaky ever since the Marlins won the WS, he always is missing games with blisters or something, he's been very unreliable.

Well stated Cool Down! 100% Agree. I would have thought I had made this post ...

Hey Knetzke - do you follow the major leagues (you know ... the AL) or are you all hung up in that junior division (what's it called? ... the DL ... DNF ... DNS ... OH YEAH! ... NL)

Drew - Oh yeah! This'll be fun ... we need to get that sports forum up and running ...

NL is real baseball, and thats hardly 7 starters, wells is getting really old, his stuff is not that great, arroyo has nothing other than some lazy breaking stuff, clement is decent, still had an era over 4, and took a line drive right of the melon last year, schilling didnt do squat last year, just gave up a bunch of dingers and had a non-existent splitter, beckett had his poor hand covered with blisters, for the 2nd year in a row-and missed a lot of time for it, and had shortened outings from having...soft hands, honestly how can you pitch your way to the majors and end up getting blisters constantly, his hands should have toughened up by now..poor guy, Burnett throws harder and has a better breaking ball, beckett just has a better change-up, wakefield is also a decent pitcher, but he's getting old too, and had an era over 4 last year, with many inconsistent outings-I throw harder than him hah...but his fastball isnt him trying to throw it hard, its trying to keep the same motion so the batter doesnt know whats coming..so I'm sure he could throw a bit harder than he does when he trys to sneak a 75 mph heater by the batter, coco crisp is good, and has a much better arm than damon(his is just pathetic), but you still arent going to have the same type of leadoff man as damon is(hopefully damon will end up playing horribly for New York--hah Drew!!) and it doesnt matter how far Ortiz hit the ball off of BJ Ryan, everyone gives up a dinger here or there, and it doesnt matter how far it goes, just has to leave the yard--oh, Keith Foulke-give up on him, he's never going to be a closer, when the guy you have coming in to nail down the game in the 9th has his fastball top out at 92(absolute tops) which I can practially throw as hard as, and its flat...fastball doesnt move at all, and a decent change-up, thats not closer material, watch Derrick Turnbow from the crew-thats a real closer, 96+mph heater-with movement, then a just insane slider, he buckled a lot of knees last year, throws it 86-88 mph...oh, and a change-up that looks like a splitter because he throws it about 86 mph...foulke isnt ever going to be effective in the closer spot again, especially not after the knee problem

and the NL is a much more exciting game to watch, so much more strategy comes into play, as far as switching pitchers and such-the double switch is an example, that doesnt exist in the AL since there is the DH, oh, depth of rotation-the brewers have better depth than that, Sheets, Davis, Capuano, Ohka, Bush, Helling

Ben Sheets (RHP)-had a crappy inner ear infection last year, kept him out, then went on a roll, throwing 9 innings in 4 of 5 outings, then while working a gem against the Atlanta Braves, pulls his lat..and hes done for the year, two years ago had 264 k's-3rd in the league, and the best strikeout to walk ratio since the early 1900's, era of 3.33 last year

Doug Davis (DD) (LHP)-era of 3.84 last year with 208 k's, 3rd most by a lefty in the majors last year, nasty cutter, mixes hitters up with a bender, not a great pitch, just throws them off, and has been working on a change up to throw to lefties

Chris Capuano (LHP)-won 18 games for the crew last year, held lefty hitters to a very low average, era of 3.99, struck out 176 batters last year, good change up, and good slider, very deceptive-makes it very hard on lefties from the arm angle he throws from, little lower than a 3/4 delivery

Tomo Ohka (RHP)-brewers got him from the Junior Spivey trade with the washington nationals last year, didnt strike anyone out there, had more walks than k's, then Mike Maddux gets ahold of him, and the k's to walk ratio goes up about 4:1 rather then the 1:2 it was almost at before he was traded for, finished with a 4.04 era

Rick Helling (RHP)-he's an older guy, but pitched phenomonal for the brewers last year when called up because of the Ben Sheets injury, era of 2.39 in 49 innings of work at the show, some relief work, some starting, as a starter his era was even better, under 2

Dave Bush (RHP)-aquired from Overbay trade, has good stuff, young guy, a lot of potential, era was 4.49 last year, could have won a lot more games with run support, good k/bb ratio, 75 k's to only 29 walks(nothing compared to sheets I think 264k's to 32bb in 2004) but still good

I'd rather have that lineup than what the red sox have, oh, plus, the brewers have probably the best pitching coach in the league, Mike Maddux, pitching coach god! Turned Derrick Turnbow into one of the leagues best closers

This is a baseball conversation, how on earth can you mention the brewers? No playoffs this year or any time in the near future until they suck it up and spend some money.

The Sox starters are inning eaters with respectable eras. When you have the offense that the Sox have you can deal with that. As for fragile pitchers, you dare mention Ben Sheets??? Now I am a big Sheets fan, but that guy can't stay healthy at all!

Also about Foulke, I don't think he ever hit 90 two years ago when he should have one the World Series MVP. he is a change of speed pitcher and relies on the change up. Now granted last year when his fastball was 84 and his change up was 80, that's not going to work. Have you ever heard of Trevor hoffman and Gagne......not fastball pitchers either and they are two of the greatest stoppers ever. And for Wakefield, I doubt you could touch his knucklebull and after you watch a couple of those 62 mile an hour knucklers float by, his 75 mile an hour fast ball looks a lot faster. Pitching is not about throwing hard, unless you throw 99. Greg Maddux and Glavine are/were perfect examples.

Burnett is not and never will be better then Beckett. He just doesn't have the make up and hasn't proven to be a winner.

This is a baseball conversation, how on earth can you mention the brewers? No playoffs this year or any time in the near future until they suck it up and spend some money.

Brewers finished a whole 8 games out of the wild card last year..whew, oh no! never going to get to the playoffs, if sheets was healthy last year they win 5 more games, and finish 3 games out...they dont need to spend more money to win, look at when the marlins won the WS, they werent paying jack squat out, its about using what you have, the brewers coaches and managers get the most out of the players...dont have to believe me, but they'll be in the mix this year

The Sox starters are inning eaters with respectable eras. When you have the offense that the Sox have you can deal with that. As for fragile pitchers, you dare mention Ben Sheets??? Now I am a big Sheets fan, but that guy can't stay healthy at all!

last year was the first of his 5 seasons in the MLB that he ever missed because of injury, he threw over 200 innings the previous 3 seasons...and you dont think that what the crew has is something more than inning eaters with more than respectible ear's, I'd have to say they are

Have you ever heard of Trevor hoffman and Gagne......not fastball pitchers either and they are two of the greatest stoppers ever

Gagne not a fastball pitcher?!?!, what!, yeah I spose, only has a 98 mph fastball, heh, wouldnt call him a fastball pitcher though...or wait, yeah, I would, just has an incredible change up and curve to compliment the 98 mph heater

Hoffman on the other hand, just has a change-up with incredible movement on it, and throws 88 tops

QUOTE

Pitching is not about throwing hard, unless you throw 99. Greg Maddux and Glavine are/were perfect examples.

I know its not about throwing hard, its about location and mixing speeds, the only guy that I know of that didnt have to change speeds was the greatest pitcher of all time, Nolan Ryan, nothing but 100mph+ gas all game long, easily has the most k's all time, lifetime era of 3.19 I think..better than clemens, most k's in a single season-384 topping sandy koufax by 1...but got screwed because he played for crappy teams, and still won 324(I think) games, but there was only one Nolan Ryan, pitching is about making the strikes look like balls and the balls look like strikes...get a lot of outs that way

QUOTE

Burnett is not and never will be better then Beckett. He just doesn't have the make up and hasn't proven to be a winner.

We'll see about that, Beckett sure hasnt looked like a winner the last couple of seasons, while Burnett last year had a very fine year, without getting any blisters on his hand

---

Can't you feel the magic, feel it everywhere, Can't you hear the music, there's something in the air, There's a celebration, deep within a song, Celebrate this feeling, you know it can't be wrong

knetzke11:

This is a baseball conversation, how on earth can you mention the brewers? No playoffs this year or any time in the near future until they suck it up and spend some money.

Brewers finished a whole 8 games out of the wild card last year..whew, oh no! never going to get to the playoffs, if sheets was healthy last year they win 5 more games, and finish 3 games out...they dont need to spend more money to win, look at when the marlins won the WS, they werent paying jack squat out, its about using what you have, the brewers coaches and managers get the most out of the players...dont have to believe me, but they'll be in the mix this year

The Sox starters are inning eaters with respectable eras. When you have the offense that the Sox have you can deal with that. As for fragile pitchers, you dare mention Ben Sheets??? Now I am a big Sheets fan, but that guy can't stay healthy at all!

last year was the first of his 5 seasons in the MLB that he ever missed because of injury, he threw over 200 innings the previous 3 seasons...and you dont think that what the crew has is something more than inning eaters with more than respectible ear's, I'd have to say they are

Have you ever heard of Trevor hoffman and Gagne......not fastball pitchers either and they are two of the greatest stoppers ever

Gagne not a fastball pitcher?!?!, what!, yeah I spose, only has a 98 mph fastball, heh, wouldnt call him a fastball pitcher though...or wait, yeah, I would, just has an incredible change up and curve to compliment the 98 mph heater

Hoffman on the other hand, just has a change-up with incredible movement on it, and throws 88 tops

QUOTE

Pitching is not about throwing hard, unless you throw 99. Greg Maddux and Glavine are/were perfect examples.

I know its not about throwing hard, its about location and mixing speeds, the only guy that I know of that didnt have to change speeds was the greatest pitcher of all time, Nolan Ryan, nothing but 100mph+ gas all game long, easily has the most k's all time, lifetime era of 3.19 I think..better than clemens, most k's in a single season-384 topping sandy koufax by 1...but got screwed because he played for crappy teams, and still won 324(I think) games, but there was only one Nolan Ryan, pitching is about making the strikes look like balls and the balls look like strikes...get a lot of outs that way

QUOTE

Burnett is not and never will be better then Beckett. He just doesn't have the make up and hasn't proven to be a winner.

We'll see about that, Beckett sure hasnt looked like a winner the last couple of seasons, while Burnett last year had a very fine year, without getting any blisters on his hand

wow, somebody just spent a lot of time searching espn.com for some stats

For Brewers fans everywhere, I really wish MLB would introduce a salary cap and a salary minumum. The Brewers are down on the list, it's like they are basically playing from behind and that is a shame because I remember the early 80's when they put out great teams and Milwaukee was a great baseball town. The ownership doesn't appear to be all that committed to winning. And apparently the lure of the new park has already worn out. They may have a chance to inch up in that division because the Cards look like the only great team. I think Houston will be down and the Reds/Brewers/Pirates are all in the same boat with the money. If Wood and Prior can stay healthy the Cubs have a chance. Wild Card may be a stretch because you still have to deal with 3 potentially very good teams in the east (braves/mets/phillies) and the west, which was pretty bad last year have some teams that could be decent (dodgers/padres/diamondbacks)

The Marlins won the world series a few years ago, you're correct. Who was that pitcher that dominated the Cubs and Yanks??? Ah Yes, I believe it was a young Josh Beckett. Believe, I'm worried about the blisters, especially in April and Sept/Oct when it gets a little cooler.

And I have to comment about Nolan Ryan being the greatest pitcher of all time.........Greatest strikeout pitcher, yes. Of all time...wow that's bold especially since he won how many cy youngs??? Winning % of about .525? Greg Maddux has nearly as many wins in a lot less season and 4 cy youngs. Check out his seasons in 94 and 95, I watch almost everyone of his starts those years and you could almost guarantee the game would be 2 hours and the braves would win. Ryan couldn't touch those seasons. And his winning % is about .630. And then there's Clemens, Steve Carlton, Bob Gibson, Koufax. I don't by your crappy team arguement because Carlton won 27 games for a team that won a total of 54. Great pitchers win and longevity is great, but I think in the end they may puff up a players stats and legacy...Cal Ripken is another example of that.

Actually, I didnt look any of those numbers up, I had them all in my head from remembering them when I saw them a while ago, I watched pretty much all of the brewer games last year, and they werent on tv, I listened on the radio, so yeah, espn.com wasnt used once, it was all my own brain

as for greatest pitcher of all time, I'm sticking by Nolan Ryan, 7 no-no's...thats incredible, he threw his last no hitter when he was 43 years old, he played for horrible teams all through his career-which lasted through 4 decades, you cant win games if your team doesnt score, hell one year Ryan went 8-16 and had an era of 2.70 I believe, and led the league in strikeouts....yeah that has something to do with the pitching...doubt it, thats just a bad team that isnt scoring for him, winning percentage of .333% and he had a better year than pretty much every pitcher in the league

Its not how much you spend, its who you have, what you get from the farm system, Brew Crew has the best farm system in the majors, thats where they're getting their talent from, they're not buying the old washed up players like the yanks and red sox to some extent...brewers have a very young team-much like the braves from last year, but all the guys playing this year are in their 2nd year of MLB experience, going to make a big difference, and if Rickie Weeks thumb was the problem last year(I hope it was) he'll hit .280ish, JJ Hardy will hit right around that .280 mark if he continues from where he left off last year, and Prince Fielder has incredible power and a very quick bat, so I can see him hitting .275+ with 25 dingers...then Billy Hall, finished last year with a .291 average, while playing 3rd base, shortstop, and 2nd base, great utitlity guy-wish they'd just give him the starting 3rd base spot instead of Corey Koskie, but oh well, as long as he gets his at bats I guess, then Jenkins, big 2nd half last year..hit .330 after the break and finished with a .292 average, Carlos Lee in left, got him from the Scott Podsednik trade with the White Sox last year, hit .267 or so, with 32 dingers and 114 rbi's, he'll only do better after seeing all the NL pitchers last year and getting a feel for them, and Brady Clark, leadoff man-finished with a .306 average last year, decent power out of a leadoff guy, 12 dingers, and between 40 and 50 rbi's I think...gets on base, then Carlos drives him in...brewers have a great lineup this year, lots of depth everywhere, not to mention one of the MLB's best bullpens, Matt Wise the set-up guy for D-Bow held hitters to like a .156 average with that nasty change up, he pitches off his change up and fools guys with fastballs, so you'll see more change ups than fastballs-I remember when the brewers beat the yanks in 2 of 3 at Miller Park(which by the way had the most tickets sold last year other than the year it opened, not losing anything from having a new stadium, brewers have already sold over 1 million tickets this year, so fans are coming) and Matty Wise made Gary(big crybaby in milwaukee) Sheffield whiff on a big change at a pivital point in the game

and once again, all of these numbers are coming from my head, no other resources are involved in the gathering of them, I have a good memory, thats how I get good grades on tests without every studying

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Can't you feel the magic, feel it everywhere, Can't you hear the music, there's something in the air, There's a celebration, deep within a song, Celebrate this feeling, you know it can't be wrong

knetzke11:

Actually, I didnt look any of those numbers up, I had them all in my head from remembering them when I saw them a while ago, I watched pretty much all of the brewer games last year, and they werent on tv, I listened on the radio, so yeah, espn.com wasnt used once, it was all my own brain

as for greatest pitcher of all time, I'm sticking by Nolan Ryan, 7 no-no's...thats incredible, he threw his last no hitter when he was 43 years old, he played for horrible teams all through his career-which lasted through 4 decades, you cant win games if your team doesnt score, hell one year Ryan went 8-16 and had an era of 2.70 I believe, and led the league in strikeouts....yeah that has something to do with the pitching...doubt it, thats just a bad team that isnt scoring for him, winning percentage of .333% and he had a better year than pretty much every pitcher in the league

Its not how much you spend, its who you have, what you get from the farm system, Brew Crew has the best farm system in the majors, thats where they're getting their talent from, they're not buying the old washed up players like the yanks and red sox to some extent...brewers have a very young team-much like the braves from last year, but all the guys playing this year are in their 2nd year of MLB experience, going to make a big difference, and if Rickie Weeks thumb was the problem last year(I hope it was) he'll hit .280ish, JJ Hardy will hit right around that .280 mark if he continues from where he left off last year, and Prince Fielder has incredible power and a very quick bat, so I can see him hitting .275+ with 25 dingers...then Billy Hall, finished last year with a .291 average, while playing 3rd base, shortstop, and 2nd base, great utitlity guy-wish they'd just give him the starting 3rd base spot instead of Corey Koskie, but oh well, as long as he gets his at bats I guess, then Jenkins, big 2nd half last year..hit .330 after the break and finished with a .292 average, Carlos Lee in left, got him from the Scott Podsednik trade with the White Sox last year, hit .267 or so, with 32 dingers and 114 rbi's, he'll only do better after seeing all the NL pitchers last year and getting a feel for them, and Brady Clark, leadoff man-finished with a .306 average last year, decent power out of a leadoff guy, 12 dingers, and between 40 and 50 rbi's I think...gets on base, then Carlos drives him in...brewers have a great lineup this year, lots of depth everywhere, not to mention one of the MLB's best bullpens, Matt Wise the set-up guy for D-Bow held hitters to like a .156 average with that nasty change up, he pitches off his change up and fools guys with fastballs, so you'll see more change ups than fastballs-I remember when the brewers beat the yanks in 2 of 3 at Miller Park(which by the way had the most tickets sold last year other than the year it opened, not losing anything from having a new stadium, brewers have already sold over 1 million tickets this year, so fans are coming) and Matty Wise made Gary(big crybaby in milwaukee) Sheffield whiff on a big change at a pivital point in the game

and once again, all of these numbers are coming from my head, no other resources are involved in the gathering of them, I have a good memory, thats how I get good grades on tests without every studying

It's great that you have a nice memory and get grades on your tests. I hope you get into a great college. But considering I'm twice your age and have watched and studied baseball (including a 50 page term paper in college) for more years than you've been a alive, I'm going to rely on feel and what I've seen more then reciting off stats. Carlos Lee is an offensive force and Ben Sheets is a really good pitcher. Fielder has great potential, and the Brewers appear to be heading in a positive direction, but so were the 02 Royals. If you remember, they were a team loaded with young talent especially pitching...and were supposed to make a move, and then the wheels fell off. Carlos Beltran might be the only one of those touted players to do anything.

It's so difficult to make that leap to the majors, that you can't pin your hopes on too many young players too soon. That's probably why the Devil Rays will be perpetually bad, they keep getting younger.

By the way, one of the sales teams that I work with is in Milwaukee and they've told me it's never an issue to show up at the stadium and get tickets, unless the Yankees are in town.

of course every game isnt sold out, but if you get there just before a game, you wont always get the seats you want, the terrace level seats arent exactally the place you want to be, and considering most of the games that I went to last year were during the week and during the middle of the day, most people are working then, the cards series for the middle of the day had a crowd of 33,000, that was impressive, a lot of people come to see big ben throw, but the brewers have a lot more than just Lee and Sheets, and I thought Beltran came from the Colorado Rockies?? maybe it was the Royals, not sure

and you can do all the research you want, but I highly doubt you watched for the most part every brewer game last year to see what kind of potential the team has, Fielder in very limited at bats, like one ever week it seemed, hit .288 with 2 dingers and 10 rbi's, thats tough to do coming of the bench in a clutch situation without warming up and being in the game at all, one of those dingers was a walk off bomb

and the hype for the brewers in wisconsin is getting much higher, last year no one was walking around with brewer shirts on in school(I have 4 brewers shirts, one jersey, then two t-shirts, one with Sheets on the back and one with Cirillo, and then just one plain brewers shirt) but now everyday you see at least 2 or 3 people with a brewer shirt on, break out year for the crew just watch

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Can't you feel the magic, feel it everywhere, Can't you hear the music, there's something in the air, There's a celebration, deep within a song, Celebrate this feeling, you know it can't be wrong

alright, well we have different opinions on how the Brewers will do this year Cool Down, but still glad to be having a nice baseball debate with someone that seems to love the sport as much as I do, so, curious, do you have msn messenger?? if you do and you'd like to chat--ben_konetzke@hotmail.com

And, wondering, what do you think is the best two pitch combination in baseball?? I'd have to say fastball/change up

I'm sure that arguements could be made against that though, change up is such an effective pitch though because its the same arm motion and same rotation on the ball(probably a little faster, well depending on how you grip it, circle change probably has more rotation, a strait change I think probably has a little less), just a different grip, much harder to pick up, unlike a slider or a curveball

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Can't you feel the magic, feel it everywhere, Can't you hear the music, there's something in the air, There's a celebration, deep within a song, Celebrate this feeling, you know it can't be wrong

Fatsball up and in, curve on the outside corner, knee high. If you can do that, you'll win a lot of games. Not many can, though.

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The time has come to face the music again...Back them up against the wall and bring the hammer down...

knetzke11:

alright, well we have different opinions on how the Brewers will do this year Cool Down, but still glad to be having a nice baseball debate with someone that seems to love the sport as much as I do, so, curious, do you have msn messenger?? if you do and you'd like to chat--ben_konetzke@hotmail.com

And, wondering, what do you think is the best two pitch combination in baseball?? I'd have to say fastball/change up

I'm sure that arguements could be made against that though, change up is such an effective pitch though because its the same arm motion and same rotation on the ball(probably a little faster, well depending on how you grip it, circle change probably has more rotation, a strait change I think probably has a little less), just a different grip, much harder to pick up, unlike a slider or a curveball

I would take a 4 seam fastball with movement and anything offspeed, whether it be a slow curve/slider or a nice changeup that is about 7 to 8 miles less. basically I'll take Greg Maddux from the 90's

...if only the young brewers could pick up sal bando, larry hisle, and gorman thomas this year...watch out, there would be no stopping this brew crew!