The Brewers were officially mathematically eliminated from playoff contention last week, but continue to make headlines off the field. The big story to come out late last night was that the team had finally found a new general manager: David Stearns, who is currently the assistant GM of the Houston Astros. I should specify that this was the big Brewers story last night, as it has largely been overlooked in the local media thus far thanks to the Packers' handling of the Sea Pigeons. At age 30, Stearns becomes the youngest active GM in all of baseball - and judging by the few photos I've seen of him, he is probably going to be the richest guy in town who still gets carded at bars. He's even younger than arguably the team's most recognizable star, Ryan Braun. In a week where the team narrowly escaped a winless homestand and saw two players sent to the hospital, it was a welcome bit of good news.
Given his age and relative obscurity in the game so far, there isn't much more that I can add to the story that what is already out there. He's a 2007 Harvard graduate that follows the mold of the many younger, analytical-driven front office folk that the game has seen in the last decade. He has seen time with the Mets and Indians organization, the Arizona Fall League, and even the MLB front office before holding his most recent position with the Astros the past 3 years. It's no coincidence that the Astros have experienced an organizational rebirth during his tenure there. From what I can tell he is very smart, a good leader, and seems to have a lot of experience on the scouting side of the game. I'm very excited to see what this guy brings to the table, and I am glad the Brewers went with a younger "sabermetric" GM to lead the Brewers through their rebuild and into competitive baseball again, hopefully now sooner rather than later. You can say what you want about owner Mark Attanasio, but one thing he is first and foremost is a savvy businessman. I have no doubt in my mind that this GM search was exhaustive and that he hand-picked that absolute best possible candidate to right the ship in Milwaukee.
STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 09.21:
Brewers 63-86 , -30.0, eliminated (3 @ Cubs, 4 @ Cardinals)
Reds 63-85, -29.5, eliminated (3 @ Cardinals, 4 v. Mets)
Twins 73-73, -11.0, -2.5 WC (3 v. Indians, 3 @ Tigers)
2015 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 16 (+23 worked)
Peter - 41
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.
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