First Ejection in MLB's War on Foreign Substances

Ten-year veteran pitcher Hector Santiago of the Seattle Mariners became the first victim of MLB's renewed enforcement crackdown on pitching foreign substances.  The umpiring crew checked Santiago's glove, hat, and belt in the 5th inning of their game against the White Sox (as is customary - starters are being checked minimum twice a game under the "new" rule) and discovered what they deemed to be an excessively sticky substance on the inside of his glove, and he was promptly ejected.  Santiago and the team contends that the substance is just a mixture of rosen (which is still allowed) and sweat, which does make a sticky paste when enough sweat is mixed in, but the umpire's main contention was the quantity and that it is on the glove hand which is not allowed.  The glove was subsequently handled like evidence in a crime scene, being gently touched and placed in a white garbage bag, where it will be sent to the MLB's "CSI" office or whatever investigates this sort of thing, to test what the substance truly is.  If it is determined to be anything more than rosen and sweat, Santiago will receive a 10-game suspension to be served immediately (with pay) and the Mariners will be down one man on the roster during that time.

I've been hesitant to write about this topic until we have seen how this plays out a little bit as I have a lot of differing opinions on it.  I can certainly understand both sides of the issue.  From the pitchers' perspective, the balls are constantly being manipulated and changed - which has been well documented the last few seasons - and for the most part, most of them are just trying to get a grip on the baseball.  In fact, because a baseball is naturally slippery out of the box, for years baseballs have been getting "pre-rubbed" with a special mud from the Carolinas.  Any baseball that is not rubbed or manually manipulated in some way to a pitcher's liking just becomes a speeding projectile death wish in today's game of high velocity, where under 95 mph is now considered "slow."  A mix of sunblock and rosen has been the go-to substance of choice for pitchers for many decades, and umpires and the league have always turned a blind eye to it until now.  Even many hitters have gone on record saying that pitchers should be allowed to use any substance they want that allows them to grip better and not have a baseball slip out of their hand towards their head - within reason.  And it's this "within reason" caveat that brings in the league's perspective.  Their stance is that the outliers that are not only looking to get a grip, but to increase spin rate - the stat du jour of pitching savants today - and thus the break on a pitch, or velocity of a 4-seam fastball, is getting out of control.  There have been grumblings that super glue-type substances have infiltrated the game and are now giving a bad name to those just looking to grip the ball better, so the league has no choice but to crack down on everything until this is studied further.  I heard a great comparison a few weeks ago, which likened sunblock and rosen to marijuana (not great for you, and technically illegal, but not harming anyone and pretty low level) and likening Spider-Tack/super glue to heroin.

I understand that the league's hands are tied, and that the playing field needs to be leveled, but my issue with this is primarily that this has happened so quickly and half-assed in the middle of a season, and the optics on it are that it is in response to the drastically below-average offensive numbers around the league.  Tyler Glasnow gave the best honest interview on this subject after he hurt his elbow following his 2nd start going "cold turkey" with no substances.  Whether or not that caused the injury is debatable, but his point about pitchers being creatures of habit and doing things a certain way their entire careers and told to stop on a dime is unrealistic.  MLB should have done their due diligence on this to come up with an acceptable substance to all parties, and started enforcement in the off-season to give everybody a spring training to adjust, instead of putting this rule in place haphazardly.  I hope that will still be the case in the next CBA this off-season.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 6/28/21:

Brewers 45-33 +3.0; 3 v. Cubs, 4 @ Pirates

Twins 33-43, -11.5; 4 @ White Sox, 3 @ Royals

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 5

Return to Kenosha

All photos of Simmons Field available on Flickr.

Another first for the year for me as I made it to my first Northwoods League game of the season, and in nearly two full calendar years.  My wife and son were in Minnesota for the weekend visiting family, so I had an early Father's Day weekend of sorts, going on all sorts of adventures with my daughter Molly.  One stop was her first Kingfish experience this past Saturday.  We did take Molly along to a game in Eau Claire about 3 years ago, but this was definitely her first Northwoods League game that she could actually do things at and enjoy.  We took the long way down to Kenosha on Hwy 32 along the lake and through Racine, and got inside just in time for first pitch.

Molly did remarkably well at what was really her first ballgame that she was fully interactive and wasn't just strapped to me in a Baby Bjorn.  We were in our seats probably for a total of 5 innings or so, and that's more than a lot of people much older could probably say.  Granted, she spent about 4 of those 5 innings eating and saying hi to every person that walked by, but it's a start.  The remainder of our time there we spent exploring outside of the seating bowl, and there was a fair amount new since my last trip in 2018.  The kids area in right field was a bit revamped - or it may always have been that way but I never noticed without ever taking a kid here before.  We enjoyed the Kingfish bounce house, the sand box, and the speed pitch for a bit before walking down to the 3rd base side to see the brand new and much-anticipated bowling lane that was recently installed.  In true Northwoods League and Kingfish fashion, it was unapologetically rinky-dink and made of repurposed materials, in this case plywood.  It's a 100% charitable endeavor with no money going to the team, and it was fun to share my two major sports passions with Molly in one night - bowling and baseball.  The lane was part of a completely redone communal gathering area including bars, picnic tables, and bags sets.  This used to be the area where the pre-game season seat holder buffet was spread out over used football field turf, but this is a much better use of prime space - although gladly the field turf remains.  The other noticeable addition to the park was a "Grab-n'Go" area.  It was a great use of what looked to be a storage area under the bleachers as a place to grab pre-packaged snacks and drinks and pay for them yourselves rather than waiting in line, sort of like a self-checkout at a grocery store.  It was part of the Kingfish's 100% cashless policy in response to Covid, which I found interesting since they still use paper tickets for some reason.

The game itself pitted the Kingfish against the visiting Battle Creek Bombers (despite the scoreboard thinking it was Rockford).  And oh yeah, that was another new thing - the jumbotron.  Only Big Top Baseball would spend the money on a jumbotron at a summer collegiate ballpark.  Anyways, Brock Weirather pitched for K-Hole the entire duration of time we were there (7 innings) and gave up only 2 runs.  He was not missing a lot of bats, but induced a lot of ground balls.  Looking at the stats it looked like the bullpen threw up all over themselves after we left, but still managed to hang on for the 9-5 win.  Justin Janas had the big hit in the game with a 2-run double to put the game out of reach in the 6th.  There was not much worth mentioning for the Bombers despite them crawling back in the game.  The staff dished out a total of 15 free bases in the form of walks and hit batsmen and just overall looked horrible.  The offensive silver lining for BC was #3 hitter Miguel Larreal who had 2 hits on the night and was hitting over .400 as of Saturday's game.

I'm really excited that the pandemic is slowly ending at a time when Molly is getting old enough to have fun at a ballgame.  I look forward to sharing my love of the game with her as she grows older, and am already looking forward to a trip to Green Bay with her next month to see the Booyah.

updated park rankings and statistics (see original post from 7/9/14):
aesthetics - 5
views from park – 1
view to field - 7
surrounding area – 2
food variety - 9
nachos - 4
beer - 9
vendor price - 7
ticket price - 6
atmosphere - 9
walk to park – 1
parking price/proximity - decreases to 4 (free, but very convoluted...the team uses adjacent unmarked lots from other businesses)
concourses - improves to 5
team shop - 9

best food – Foot-long King Dog
most unique stadium feature – only ballpark in North America with a bowling lane
best jumbotron feature – best feature is they have one now!
best between-inning feature – kids toilet race

field dimensions – 314/410/330
starters – David Williams (BC) v. Brock Weirather (KEN)
opponent – Battle Creek Bombers
time of game – 3:28
attendance – 2112
score – 9-5 W
Brewers score that day – 7-4 W

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 6/18/21:

Brewers 38-31, -1.0; 4 @ Rockies, 3 @ Diamondbacks, 3 v. Rockies

Twins 27-41, -15.5; 3 @ Rangers, 2 v. Reds, 4 v. Indians

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 3

American Family Field

All photos of American Family Field available on Flickr.

After 1 year, 9 months, and 4 days (but who's counting) since attending my last baseball game in person, I finally made it to American Family Field this past Sunday!  I was offered a free 10th row seat from a friend with very short notice, and after my wife happily and jealously gave me the thumbs up, I jumped at the opportunity.  This was amazingly my first Brewer game since we moved within walking distance of the ballpark in September 2019, so it was the first time I got to test a new "secret route" to the ballpark.  There is a large cemetery that separates our house from the ballpark which would require going about a half-mile out of the way to walk around it, but I found on Google Maps what looked like only a moderately nefarious route under some power lines and through the cemetery that was more of a beeline walk.  After "negotiating" a few fences and gates, it was only a 20 minute walk to the front door, thankfully a lot of which was under shade on the 90+ degree day.  The walk made me think of all the times that Erik and I pioneered our "secret route" many years ago, from 56th & Walker to the ballpark through the VA hospital grounds, which is now part of the Hank Aaron Trail, and it made me especially miss my fellow baseball-loving friend.

Another first for me on this day was my first Brewer game since the stadium name changed from Miller Park.  Much has been made from disgruntled fans bashing the change (particularly the city of West Milwaukee that refuses to change its "Miller Park Way" street name), but it's hard not to admit objectively that the new logo and colors are so much better than the old Miller Park signage.  I am the type of person that gets incredible anxiety from change, but once the change is over, I move past it quickly and have never been one for nostalgia.  And that's how everybody should approach this name change.  At the end of the day it is just a corporate sponsorship, and it will probably change again, as do all of the other sponsorships throughout the ballpark.  The memories are what are most important.  I think everybody should save their strong feelings for when the Brewers inevitably require a new ballpark sometime in my lifespan.

As for other changes throughout the ballpark, we got there right at first pitch, and it was very hot, so I did not move much from our seat and see a lot of the stadium.  From what I did see, most of the major change has occurred in left field.  The Brewers added yet another private group area in the outfield, much to my dismay.  They took out two of the few public bleacher sections to add the Miller Lite Deck above the Brewers bullpen.  I've said this on this blog many times before, but lack of bleachers close to the field and lack of public social space have always been and will forever be my (and Erik's) main beefs with AmFam Field, and the addition of this party deck made both of those even worse.  But, I do understand that as a team with their limited financial resources, that they have to squeeze as much money out of attendance as they can, and those party decks are cash cows.  Bernie's Chalet got an update and a fresh coat of paint on the slide, and going to the playoffs each of the last 3 years finally necessitated moving the pennants to somewhere with more space (they are now below the press boxes).  Lastly, TGIFriday's has finally moved out of the left field restaurant after being the original tenant since the park opened in 2001.  It is now called "Restaurant to be Named Later."  Don't let the stupid name or the complete lack of aesthetic updating on the inside fool you - I went there for lunch with Megan a few weeks ago and it is 10x better than Friday's ever was.

The old saying in baseball is "as the weather heats up, so do the bats," and that could not be more true for the Brewers right now.  Backed by two homeruns and Corbin Burnes' most impressive start of the season - 13 Ks, no runs, and no walks over 7 innings - the Brewers completed the 4-game sweep of the lowly Diamondbacks.  It completed a 5-1 homestand and puts them at 13-3 in their last 16 games since trading for Willy Adames on May 21st, propelling them to 1st place in the NL Central as of this post.  Pitching continues to carry this team as you could make a strong case that 3/5ths of our rotation deserves both all-star bids and Cy Young votes right now (Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta), not to mention the perennially dominant Josh Hader.  We're also well past the point of "small sample size" and will likely have to live with the fact that we are not going to hit much better than the .211 team average we currently have, barring any major trades or Keston Hiura becoming Ted Williams incarnate.  I can't remember a Brewers team since I've been an active fan where we have been such a pitching-heavy and hitting-weak team like we've had the past couple of years, and I think that partially speaks to some shady things happening (or supposedly happening) with doctored baseballs - but that's a story for another time.

It felt so good to finally a notch a game under my belt and it really invigorated me for the rest of the season.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 6/8/21:

Brewers 33-26, +0.5; 3 @ Reds, 3 v. Pirates, 3 v. Reds

Twins 24-35, -12.0; 3 v. Yankees, 3 v. Astros, 3 @ Mariners

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 1

Southeastern Wisconsin Lands Another Baseball Team

(rendering from Ballpark Digest)

It seems like ancient history, but there was a time when Milwaukee almost lost the Brewers - again.  County Stadium was crumbling and the team and city were in dire need of a new stadium, and coming off of the 1994 strike was not exactly an ideal time to be walking into the state Capitol with your hand out.  In fact, the fate of the team came down to the vote of just one state senator.  But here we are 30 years and a tenth-cent sales tax later, and and American Family Field is still one of the gems of Major League Baseball hosting an perennially competitive team.  The reason I mention this is that it's outlandish to think a city with that volatile history and the smallest media market in MLB could support another team, let alone multiple teams, but as it stands, the city of Oconomowoc was just announced as a new member of the independent American Association for the 2022 season.

I think if you asked Milwaukeeans if they considered Oconomowoc, a small pastoral lake town that is over 30 miles west of the CBD, to be a part of their metropolitan area, most would scoff at that - at least after these last two elections.  But for sake of my argument let's say that it is (and technically the U.S. Census Bureau does consider Waukesha County as part of Milwaukee's statistical area).  That will make this now the 4th team in Milwaukee's metro area: the Milkmen and aforementioned O-Town team of the indy American Association, obviously the Brewers, and the summer-collegiate Chinooks up in Mequon.  If you want to stretch that even further down to Kenosha and include the Kingfish, that makes 5.  However you slice it, it's a lot of baseball that has come to southeastern Wisconsin in the last decade.  Oconomowoc's team is not new news - a ballpark was already under construction - but the shift from the Northwoods League to a semi-pro league is big news.  Summer Collegiate teams have little to no overhead with a lot of unpaid players and summer interns and exist primarily for purposes of player development, but in the professional American Association, you're actually looking to build a product that is successful on and off the field.  

It's great news for baseball fans like me and it shows that perhaps more goes into these decisions than just market size.  The Brewers have, against all odds, consistently drawn around 3M fans the last 15 years and been in the top half of the league in attendance, and have proven to investors that there is an appetite for more ball in the area.  The Milkmen and Chinooks have both won championships since their inception, and now I just hope the Brewers can reach the apex before this other new team does.  I look forward to having another new close-by ballpark option, and for the sake of broadcasters and PA announcers, I hope "Oconomowoc" is not in the team name.  PS - fun little tidbit about the team - one of the investors is Jarred Kelenic's dad, who all baseball fans will recognize as the highest drafted player ever from the state of Wisconsin and who recently made his MLB debut for the Mariners.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 5/24/21:

Brewers 23-23, -3.0; 4 v. Padres, 3 @ Nationals, 2 v. Tigers, 4 v. Diamondbacks

Twins 17-29, -9.5; 3 v. Orioles, 3 v. Royals, 3 @ Orioles, 4 @ Royals

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 0

Athletics Threaten to Leave Oakland if City Does Not Approve Howard Terminal Plan

I was planning on writing a post today about the first minor league games played last week in 20 months, but breaking news just now is that MLB is "suggesting" (pressuring) the A's to explore relocating their team if Oakland does not approve their latest ballpark proposal.  I say "breaking news," but any ballpark or baseball enthusiast knows the saga of the Athletics by now and their never-ending quest to get out of the Coliseum.  Their original Cisco Field plans in nearby Fremont date all the way back to 2006, which pre-dates even The Tour.  The latest site - Howard Terminal - has had some preliminary environmental studies commissioned and reviewed and has been the most promising to date, but even that site is on its 3rd iteration in 4 years.  This just continues to drag on as the city refuses to vote or commit to funding any sort of infrastructure improvements, despite the fact that the A's are footing the entire stadium bill.

This certainly isn't the first team to blackmail their municipality into approving a new stadium, nor will it be the last, but this is definitely a unique situation compared to most.  Most teams that do this (including my hometown Brewers and NBA Bucks) are after some sort of stadium financial or tax incentive, but in the case of the A's, the heart of the issue is whether Oakland wants to take on the massive project of converting an active industrial seaport that is difficult to access into a live/work entertainment hub like so many other contemporary stadiums have.  I understand that there are going to be environmental and logistical challenges with this site, but given the relatively low amount of money involved with this compared to most stadium deals, and the fact that the city has already lost an NBA and NFL franchise in the last few years, it really seems like a no-brainer to approve this.  However, there are some advocates, the most vocal of which being the East Oakland Stadium Alliance, that want to see the A's just build in the parking lot next door to their current stadium (similar to what the Brewers and Mets did), which does make some sense given the site is already set up for transit and the team owns half of the land.  But the A's are getting to the point where the Coliseum is so bad and so beyond its functional life that they simply do not have the time to explore even one more site - simply put, it's Howard Terminal, or they move.

Today's announcement represents a last-ditch effort by A's to rectify this situation before their latest lease ends in 2024 and before MLB starts to take a more active hand in coercing the situation.  Rob Manfred has made it well known that he plans to expand the league to 32 teams but will not do so until the Oakland and Tampa stadium situations are resolved, so this has been sort of an irritating rash during his entire tenure as commissioner.  I know I speak for Erik when I say that we are rooting for this project to move forward...but also would not be sad if we got to go to maybe Portland or Las Vegas instead of Oakland.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 5/11/21:

Brewers 19-16, -2.0; 3 v. Cardinals, 3 v. Braves, 2 @ Royals, 3 @ Reds

Twins 12-20, -7.0; 3 @ White Sox, 3 v. Athletics, 3 v. White Sox, 2 @ Angels, 3 @ Indians

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 0

The Bally Sports Experience (or lack thereof)

At this point, the news of Fox Sports rebranding as Bally Sports and subsequently dropping all streaming services is pretty old news, so I don't think I need to hash out all the details here.  I myself have YouTube TV, so I have been following a lot of games on the radio and the MLB App this year.  But honestly, that is how I have followed most Brewers games since I've become a dad, so it hasn't been a major tragedy for me yet.  I might get more bang for the buck from the $20 MLB Radio subscription than any non-media member in America.  For a standard 7:10 start time, I'll have the game on the radio as we're getting my daughter ready for bed, and then continue following on the app as the wife and I watch TV, and as soon as I notice her drift off to sleep on the couch, I switch back to the radio.  So in reality, not having the games on TV really just deprives me out of a couple innings a night.  The bigger void for me still remains the lack of physically attending games, and I'm hoping to get to some once the baby is a few months old and virus immunity rates are higher later in the summer.

The dropping of the RSN's from streaming services has brought to the forefront an overarching pricing and structural issue with these providers, and it will be interesting to see how Bally's either re-introduces itself to that platform in 2022, or just in general what the TV and live sports experience looks like in the future.  It was only a matter of time before the streaming service model started to become unsustainable, and this is only the first drop in the bucket.  The draw for Bally's to get into this space was to create an all-inclusive experience that includes in-game betting and being able to stream sports anywhere through their own proprietary app, and it sounds like that is the direction they are still moving.  Anyone who subscribes to a streaming service has already noticed the glut of networks introducing their own apps and services - NBC Peacock, Paramount, HBO, etc. - and Bally's will just be one more player in this.  The pandemic has certainly accelerated a lot of technological and customer experiences changes in this past year, including this move to "a la carte" viewing.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 4/26/21:

Brewers 13-8; 3 v. Marlins, 4 v. Dodgers, 4 @ Phillies, 3 @ Marlins

Twins 7-13; 3 @ Indians, 3 v. Royals, 4 v. Rangers, 3 @ Tigers

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 0

Way-Too-Soon Reactions to Brewers Start to Season

Now is generally the time of year where I post something outlandish about how the Brewers season will go based on only a couple weeks worth of games, not unlike just about other member of the baseball media.  There is always a year where a guy like Jason Kendall hits over .400 in the first month and you wonder if he could be an all-star or MVP, and there are years like this year where arguably our most promising hitter, Keston Hiura, is hitting barely over .100 and people are ready to write him off for dead.  With that spirit of early-season excitement and hyperbole in mind, here are my immediate reactions to how the season is going to play out for the Brewers based on the first 10% of their schedule:

1.  Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes will both be Top-10 in Cy Young voting.

This might not seem too radical or a stretch based on what these two have done not only this year, but going back all the way back to 2018 (save for a blip for Burnes in 2019 that we won't talk about).  They've just continued to improve and now headline a rotation the likes of which I have not seen in my lifetime - a largely homegrown rotation, developed by the Brewers, that is leading the National League in most major pitching categories.  Our last great rotation was 2011, but was comprised almost entirely of free agents and trades.  Recently the Brewers ended a turn through the rotation where the five starters yielded only 1 earned run in over 28 innings pitched.  At some point all five of these starters will hiccup, but the more interesting part to me will be if we are still hot in August, are players going to start being shut down or limited due to the shortened season last year?

2.  Keston Hiura will return to form, but not this year.  He will end up splitting time with Kolten Wong, Daniel Vogelbach, and others for the rest of the season.

Let me just start by saying I am a huge Keston Hiura fan and I wish him the best.  When Ryan Braun quasi-retired, he was the guy whose jersey I bought to replace his.  He's got some of the quickest hands I've seen and when he's right, he takes the ball the other way like a 10-year veteran.  That being said, I think even the casual fan can see the gaping hole in his swing.  Simple geometry and physics will tell you that swinging 45 degrees up at a ball that is coming in downward at 95 miles per hour, while also trying to time a leg kick that comes up to your chest is extremely difficult to get right.  He is second only to Javier Baez for swing-and-miss rate at pitches in the strike zone dating back to the start of 2020.  I think he will have no choice but to overhaul his swing and his timing mechanisms, and maybe sacrifice a little bit on the power and launch angle to help him become the complete hitter he was a couple of years ago as a rookie.  But that is incredibly difficult to do during a season unless he is sent down to AAA.  So I see this year being another "3 true outcomes" year for Hiura - walk, strikeout, or homerun - but he will be back with a vengeance in 2022.  The Brewers are not a team that can afford to give up on a top prospect until they have exhausted all avenues.  You need look no further than Lucas Erceg converting to a 2-way player to believe that.

3.  Jackie Bradley, Jr. will have the most games played in the outfield this season.

Stop if you've heard this before: David Stearns signs a player that seems to make no sense or may not have a fit on the team at the time, and ends up being a key contributor.  Stearns and Manager Craig Counsell have always had the philosophy of signing the best available players and worrying about position and playing time later.  Jackie Bradley Jr. definitely fits into that category.  While most Brewers fans reacted sharply to "why are we spending all that money on a 4th outfielder," I think most baseball pundits outside of the Brewers saw this as a steal.  With Lorenzo Cain now 35 years old and coming back to baseball after 18 months off, and Christian Yelich's balking back, we are now seeing the value of having a gold-glove outfielder available to rotate in.  He's seen the lion share of the playing time so far this year along with Avisail Garcia, and although he probably has the least productive bat on paper than any of our outfield options - including Tyrone Taylor who deserves a shot as well - his defense, speed, and reliability are going to keep him in the lineup consistently, especially in the late innings.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 4/19/21:

Brewers 8-7; 3 @ Padres, 3 @ Cubs

Twins 6-8; 3 @ Athletics, 3 v. Pirates

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 0

Brewers Opening Weekend 2021

The Brewers attempted with Opening Day 2021 to turn the page from a year we'd like to all soon move past, as the home ballpark was open to fans this past Thursday for the first time in over 18 months.  Besides fans being allowed into the ballpark (albeit at 25% capacity), the other noticeable change from last year was the elephant in the room that I have not yet addressed on this blog - the ballpark name change.  As of January 1st 2021, the ballpark that I grew up in and have known intimately for 20 years is now knows as American Family Field.  I live not too far from the ballpark now and have noticed the the signage getting replaced here and there over the last few months in preparation for Opening Day, and honestly I'm a big fan of the logo.  People can say "It will always be Miller Park to me" all they want, but I don't think anybody can objectively deny that the old logo and graphics were horribly outdated.  The new refresh using the American Family Insurance logo blended with Brewers colors and an outline of the roof looks stunning on top of the ballpark driving past on I-94, especially at night when it's lit.  American Family even went so far as to update Bernie's Chalet as they are really trying to ingratiate themselves to the Milwaukee community.  Like I mentioned, the name change has been a polarizing issue in town, and I get it that people hate change and getting rid of tradition, especially in baseball - and I would be the first to admit that I'm generally in that category.  But we're not exactly talking about Wrigley Field becoming Caterpillar Field.  This is a relatively young park that simply had a corporate naming rights deal expire that I think people will get used to in a year or two, just like every other stadium name change.  "AmFam Field" even rolls off the tongue.  If 87-year-old and 50-year veteran of the Brewers, Bob Uecker, can get through an entire broadcast without slipping up on the name change, I think we can all manage just fine.  If it is still too much to handle, feel free to move to West Milwaukee where the entire city refuses to accept the change and is not changing the name of "Miller Park Way."

Another change for this year that was not insignificant to me is that I was not there!  2021 marked my first Opening Day I did not attend (in which fans were allowed) since 2007, and that year I was finishing my Masters' Thesis en route to the summer ball tour, so I think I had a good excuse that year.  It was a really difficult decision for me to not to go this year, much harder than I thought it would be.  As Spring Training rolled along I thought I would be fine with it, but when the day actually got here, it really hit me hard that I would not get to be at the ballpark, missing that familiar waft of sausage smoke as you enter the parking lot at 9 AM.  Instead, I smelled coffee and tacos as I went to a little taqueria near my house to watch the game.  On the bright side, I will say that I feel much better now about attending a game in 2021 than I did 3 months ago.  My wife and I have each already received one dose of the vaccine, and I think by mid-summer we will be itching to get out of the house with our newborn so long as virus and vaccine protocols continue improving.  So, I am going to return to keeping my "ballgames attended" tally on the blog after a one-year hiatus, but don't expect that number to even creep into double digits this year.

As for the on the field product, it was a pretty disappointing showing all around.  I wasn't expecting the team to hit that much as I don't think anybody is.  They made the playoffs last year despite their worst team batting average in franchise history, and this year's success is predicated on comeback seasons of about half of the roster, including Travis Shaw who is back now at third base.  But what was surprising was the pitching.  By and large the pitching is expected to carry us this year, but outside of the masterful performances of Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader, even that was a little shaky.  Keston Hiura is also still adjusting to moving to first base, and Lorenzo Cain is still getting his nearly 35-year-old body back into playing shape after opting out last season.  It's hard to gauge a season after 3 games against a really good interleague opponent, but it's hard not to have at least a knee-jerk reaction knowing how poorly things went last year.  Hopefully 9 games against the Cubs and 3 against the Pirates in the month of April will right the ship.  This weekend definitely made me yearn a little bit for the teams of the 1990s and 2000s of my childhood, who might have been horrible but at least they could rake.  It's a lot harder to listen to a 2-0 loss than it is a 10-8 loss.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 4/5/21:

Brewers 1-2; 3 @ Cubs, 3 @ Cardinals, 3 v. Cubs, 3 v. Pirates

Twins 2-1; 3 @ Tigers, 3 v. Mariners, 4 v. Red Sox, 3 @ Angels

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 0

MiLB to Become Testing Ground for Experimental Rule Changes

(image courtesy of Fox Sports)

As if Rob Manfred hasn't done enough damage to baseball and the minor leagues this year, a new set of experimental rule changes is being implemented across various minor league levels this year as a test if these can eventually be applicable to the Major Leagues.  We have seen this to a lesser extent in the past and this is not uncommon for various rules here and there to be tested in this fashion, for instance the introduction of pitch clocks in the minor leagues.  The Atlantic League has also historically served as a partner league with MLB to test new ideas, mostly notably robo-umps and defensive positioning requirements.  For the most part these ideas are either so minor that they don't make much of an impact, or they are so wacky that they never get implemented.  This time, however, it's different.  With the impending expiration of the current CBA and all sides looking to stake their footing for what by all indications will be a brutal negotiation process, throwing the wrench of a new set of rules into the mix will almost certainly complicate matters even further by adding more bargaining chips.  My sense is that Manfred and MLB will be pushing for these rules to become permanent at the big league level, in some form, during the next CBA agreement.  And this doesn't even include the Universal DH, which could be a whole other post in itself.

The rule changes include:

1. Bases growing from 15x15 to 18x18 inches at AAA level.  The thought is that wider bases reduces the risk of injury and shortens the distances between bases just enough to increase steal attempts and infield hits.

2. All infielders are required to keep both feet within the infield dirt boundaries when the pitch is thrown at AA level, with a potential for expanding this to include a provision for two infielders to be planted on each side of 2nd base in the second half of the season.  This is part of Manfred's long-standing desire to eliminate shifts to increase batting averages.

3. Pitchers will be required to step off the rubber to attempt a pick-off and are limited to two pickoff attempts per plate appearance at all A levels.  Again, similar to increasing base sizes, the thought is this will increase action and improve stolen base chances.

4. A 15-second pitch clock will be implemented at Low-A West only.

5. An automatic strike zone or "robo-ump" will be implemented at Low-A Southeast only.

The rules are purposely scattered throughout the various levels so that there is only one "variable" in a controlled setting to get a better understanding of the rule changes by itself.

I'm having a hard time with these rules changes and to be honest I'm not sure what I think.  And it'll be hard to really get a grasp on how these really impact the game until they are at the major league level - I don't really foresee myself seeing a lot of games this year, particularly not minor league games.  The one I have the most problem with is dictating where a player can stand on the field.  I firmly believe there shouldn't be any rules that affect strategy and that should be up to the individual teams.  If they have data that says all 7 fielders should stand in center field, then they should have the right to do that, and hitters can adjust.  It don't view it as any differently than having a player cherry pick or bolt towards the opposing basket once a shot is thrown in basketball.  If you want to keep a guy under the opposing hoop to get easy baskets and forfeit that defender, that's not necessarily an unfair advantage to either team and it's your choice to have that strategy no matter how weird it looks.  It's easy for me to say this as someone who peaked at riding the pine in JV baseball, but learning to hit the ball to all fields solves the defensive positioning problem more than a rule should dictate.  I also worry about the robo-ump coupled with the bases increasing in size really de-values the catching position.  A stricter enforcement of the current strike zone I think is a more reasonable solution than just getting rid of the umpire entirely.  Human error and interaction is what makes sports fun, if I want to watch robots play a sport then I will watch BattleBots.

It's a major understatement to say it will be interesting what baseball looks like in a couple of years.  Anything and everything we know about the game will be on the table in the labor negotiations and its future is certainly at a crossroads.  At the end of the day, if it brings more fans to the sport and increases in-game action as is supposedly intended, then I will try my best to get on board and stop acting like an old man about all the change.  But as my wife and Erik can tell you, I do not handle change very well.

2 days until Opening Day!

UPCOMING SERIES:

Brewers - 3 v. Twins

Twins - 3 @ Brewers

MiLB Overhaul Complete

The year-long saga of overhauling the entire minor league baseball system officially came to a head last week as the new league structures and "improvements" were released by Major League Baseball.  All of the historical league names that have decades, and in some cases more than a century, of history, have been replaced with unimaginative geographic names and divisions.  For instance, the Pacific Coast League and International League have been replaced with Triple-A West and Triple-A East respectively, but within those leagues, there are further geographic subdivisions that further convolute and confuse things.  An example of this is the Albuquerque Isotopes play in the eastern division of the Triple-A West league.  I give this about 2 years before leagues and divisions either change to something generically patriotic or naming rights are sold, sort of like the NBA G-League.  This is all done under the guise of reducing travel time for affiliates and having affiliates be on average much closer to the parent clubs, but in reality there is a lot more to unpack from this process and what MLB's true motivations are.

Like most everything else with Commissioner Manfred and the owners, this reorganization is almost entirely about money and control.  There are definitely some nice side effects to this realignment, such as mandated improved player facilities, increased player salaries, stability in local communities, and the aforementioned geographic reasons, but the true driving factor for these changes is to give MLB complete ownership and operation of the minor leagues.  The business model of MiLB and MLB operating as two separate entities for over 100 years has given way to MLB controlling and owning every aspect of the minor leagues, and thus managing the minor leagues as they would any other for-profit business.  This was done almost completely unilaterally by MLB; they simply waited out the clock for their latest professional agreement to expire on September 30th of last year, and then proceeded to set their own terms.  The teams that MLB wanted to retain were offered new "licensing agreements" and if those teams didn't like it, then they would just find somebody else who did.  In the end, most teams didn't have a lot of choice.  It was either agree to MLB's terms and have a "partner" that would now control every aspect of their club, or struggle to make it financially in a competitive and cutthroat summer collegiate or independent league market, during a pandemic no less.  Many clubs were not even given that choice, and there are some teams like the Burlington Bees or Clinton Lumberkings that were left scrambling to find new leagues after 100+ years as a minor league affiliate, with little to no warning.  Two of the teams that Erik and I visited on our Appy League trip in 2019 are now playing in an MLB-sponsored summer collegiate league under different names, and many of the teams I have seen over the years no longer exist.  This reorganization may be a huge relief to the teams that made the cut, but for the 40+ teams left out in the cold, it was a huge blow to their local communities and economies.  I title this article as an MiLB "overhaul," but "takeover" is probably a more appropriate word.

I think this is something we will look back on in 10 years and realize it was the right move.  The geographic alignments make sense and it also makes sense to cut out a lot of the unnecessary rounds of the draft and levels of development.  Besides that, I think some of these teams will be invited back when the league expands to 32 teams anyways.  But that doesn't mean that the way this was handled was the right way.  Rob Manfred has a long standing reputation of operating baseball as any other business and has no regard for maintaining any aspect of tradition in lieu of efficiency and profitability.  He knows that making the 30 MLB owners money hand over fist is going to keep him in power for years to come, but at some point he will have to come to reckon with and understand the long-term effects his assault on the game will have on fans and its popularity, which ultimately effects what he holds most dear - the bottom line.

PS - Happy Pitchers & Catchers Day!

Tour 2021

This is normally the time of year when I am the most excited for the baseball season.  Winter is in its coldest and darkest days and I'm eager to be outside.  Spring training schedules are typically set by now and reporting dates are right around the corner.  And in most years by this time, Erik and I have a framework for our trip for the year.  But we are now 10 months into a pandemic that seems to be plateauing but still with no end in sight.  Commissioner Manfred and the 30 MLB teams might be saying all the right things and planning on playing a full season, but even if by some miracle that ends up being true, a day at the ballpark in 2021 still stands to be far from what we would consider "normal."  I recently heard somebody put this into words perfectly: 2021 will be the same as 2020, only with hope.  Not to diminish the excitement or significance of this in any way, but on top of all that, my wife and I are expecting our second child in May.  So for all of these reasons, I can't say with any certainty what Erik and I will be doing this year, if anything.

We remain committed to attempting some sort of trip as we have not seen each other in person in over a year, but we might have to get creative on what it actually is and it's all going to depend on the vaccination rollouts.  I can't imagine going two entire seasons without baseball, but we both have to be safe about it as well.  The absolute best case scenario and #1 goal is to do our planned trip from last year which was the new Rangers ballpark, and if that happened it would probably be late summer when we are both hopefully immunized.  If the vaccinations for us slide out into fall, our backup plans we have discussed could be going back to Cooperstown, or to the Arizona Fall League to actually watch live baseball!

I've come to terms with the fact that attending a game at what will soon be known as American Family Field is increasingly unlikely for me this year.  It's really sad, both because I love the Brewers, and because we bought a house literally within walking distance of the ballpark in Fall 2019.  It's depressing that we could be potentially spending two full summers in this house without going to the ballpark.  But I do feel confident that I will get to a ballgame in some form somewhere this year.  I would feel comfortable in the open air berms of a Northwoods League or minor league game, or the aforementioned AFL late in the year.  So I do still hope to add some new ballparks to my list in some capacity.  It will be weird being in a crowd again whenever that is, but I also didn't realize how much I missed human interaction until this all started.

Stay tuned, but until then, 69 days to [maybe] Opening Day!

MLB Elevates Negro Leagues to Major League status

It would be a gross understatement to say that 2020 has been a year we'd all like to soon forget, and for purposes of this blog, the sport of baseball is not exempt from that.  First and foremost, Erik and I had our Tour 2020 trip cancelled and I did not see a single game in person this year for maybe the first time since I was in kindergarten.  I would also argue that MLB and the players union handled the pandemic worse than any other sport.  Justin Turner showing zero regard for human life and running onto the field like an idiot to celebrate with teammates while knowingly being infected with Covid pretty much sums up the season in one moment.  The long-rumored MiLB overhaul and trimming was also finally announced a few weeks ago.  Even though this was anticipated, it was still a sting to over 40 minor league communities throughout the country, and I certainly plan on writing a post on it after all of the dust settles.  But to close out this disaster of a year, I choose to reflect on the one positive story to happen in baseball this year: Major League Baseball elevating the Negro Leagues to Major League status.

I will admit that my immediate reaction - and I'm sure a lot of baseball and statistics fans reacted the same way - was what will happen to all of our hallowed records?  Would Josh Gibson's fabled 800-homer career move him past Barry Bonds as the homerun king?  Would there be a player that would finally approach the long standing games played or single season batting average records?  Where would this put Satchel Page among the all-time greatest pitchers?  Selfishly my first reaction was to yet again be angry with Rob Manfred unnecessarily throwing a wrench in baseball tradition.  But after I thought about it some more, it is so clear and obvious that this is not only the right thing to do, but long overdue, and I was more than a little ashamed with myself.  If MLB can include statistics from the Federal League and several other 19th century leagues, then there is no reason that the Negro Leagues should not be included.  It was not any of these players fault that they were relegated to the Negro Leagues instead of deservedly playing in the "major leagues."  Simply because of the color of their skin, we will never know where some of the all-time great Negro Leaguers would stack up against their white peers had they played together, but they can now at least be compared statistically.

As a part of this announcement, all of the stats from what historians have determined to be the major-league Negro equivalent leagues and games, which amounts to a total of six leagues between the years of 1920-1948, will now be included with MLB historical statistics.  This announcement also coincides with MLB's planned 100th Anniversary celebration and recognition of the Negro Leagues, which is probably not a coincidence.  For those of you hoping that Hank Aaron or Josh Gibson would now surpass Barry Bonds as the career homerun leader, Aaron played for the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952 which is after the 1948 cutoff date, and only 238 of Gibson's homeruns were deemed to be "official."  The vast majority of his homeruns, which some legends put at over 800 or even 1,000 in total, were hit in exhibition or "barnstorming" type games.  The Negro Leagues were also considerably shorter seasons than Major League seasons, which has a dramatic effect on career total accumulations and is just another unfortunate reality of all this.

As Buster Olney says to close out every Baseball Tonight podcast, "hate and inequality based on skin color is something we must fight against every day."  Nothing can ever undo the injustices of a century ago, 50 years ago, or even today, but there are always steps we can take in the right direction towards a positive change, and this move by MLB is one of them.

2020 MLB Postseason

When the 2020 season schedule was finally announced and along with it an expansion to 16 of 30 teams advancing to the playoffs, I remember my immediate reaction was that it was likely a sub-.500 team would make the postseason this year.  Sure enough, the Astros and Brewers both made the field of 16 with 29-31 records, and in this oddest of years they will always be remembered as the worst teams to make the playoffs of all-time.  That being said, it is 2020 and anything can happen.  Even a team like the Brewers - who had one of their 5 worst offensive seasons in club history, did not have a winning record for one day all season, and who has one healthy competent starter remaining - has a chance to win in a 3-game Wild Card series.  It will basically be Brandon Woodruff and Devon Williams against one of the greatest teams ever assembled starting on Wednesday night, when they fly to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers.

It also seems only fitting that in a year where almost nothing is predictable, that I had my most successful year of preseason playoff picks by guessing 14 of the 16 teams correctly.

PLAYOFFS START 9/29/2020

NL Wild Card Round:

#8 Brewers v. #1 Dodgers

#7 Reds v. #2 Braves

#6 Marlins v. #3 Cubs

#5 Cardinals v. #4 Padres

AL Wild Card Round:

#8 Blue Jays v. #1 Rays

#7 White Sox v. #2 Athletics

#6 Astros v. # 3 Twins

#5 Yankees v. #4 Indians

World Series Prediction:  Twins defeat Padres in 7

Rooting for:  Twins v. Brewers

Preseason Predictions:

#1 Dodgers

#2 Braves

#3 Cubs

#4 Mets

#5 Reds

#6 Padres

#7 Nationals

#8 Brewers

#1 Yankees

#2 Twins

#3 Athletics

#4 Rays

#5 White Sox

#6 Astros

#7 Indians

#8 Blue Jays

Dodgers over Athletics

Usually this is one of my final posts of the year in which I also report how many total ballgames Erik and I attended.  Sadly, that number is a big fat zero for both of us this year.  We are both really hoping that fans are allowed into stadiums next year, and particularly that we can make it to Texas next year to see the new Rangers park.  But we are now 6 months into this pandemic with things seemingly getting worse and not better, so who knows where our country will be next April.  In fact, even as I write this, I learned today that my daughter may have been exposed to Covid and we will all have to get tested.  There are still things more important than baseball, but if this weird season has taught me anything, it's that I needed the distraction far more than I realized.