Road Guest Vol. IV, V, VI

Just a couple short weeks ago I embarked on an exploratory tour of the east coast that included visiting three different MLB stadiums.  Here are the accounts:

Score:  Chicago Cubs 12, Milwaukee Brewers 7

Venue:  Wrigley Field

Game Day:  June 16, 2011

Roadmates:  Ben (friend)

MVP:  Kosuke Fukudome 3-5, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R

Recap:  I hate when the wind blows out of Wrigley.  It takes a perfectly good baseball game and makes it in to a circus.  I had attended eight games at Wrigley prior to this game and never once was the wind blowing out.  It was every bit as awful as expected.  Everything was a home run.  The Brewers took advantage early hitting homers in the first and second innings, the Cubs followed suit hitting home runs in the third, sixth and seventh innings.  Brewers pitchers Zach Greinke, Daniel Ray Herrera and Sergio combined to suck.  Beautiful day, Ben's first game at Wrigley.....ruined by wind.

Score:  Milwaukee Brewers 4, Boston Red Sox 2

Venue:  Fenway Park

Game Day:  June 18, 2011

Roadmates:  Flying solo

MVP:  Randy Wolf 1-0, 7 IP, 2 ER, 3 K

Recap:  First things first, Fenway is baseball heaven.  Sorry St. Louis, sorry Chicago, but Fenway was like no other.  It has the historic charm of Wrigley, with out being an out dated pile of crap.  Due to the game time change to accommodate the Bruins Stanley Cup parade I had to leave after the third inning to catch my train to Providence, RI.  The three innings were highly entertaining as all six runs were scored in those frames.  I was seated next to a couple incredibly knowledgeable fans.....Brewers fans!  Boston was awesome, Fenway was awesome, Randy Wolf was awesome, I'll definitely come back, maybe for a whole game next time.

Score:  Washington Nationals 1, Seattle Mariners 0

Venue:  Nationals Park

Game Day:  June 23, 2011

Roadmates:  Katie (friend)

MVP:  Jason Marquis  8 IP, 0 ER, 4 K

Recap:  It had been quite a while since I had attended a baseball game in which I did not have a rooting interest and I was treated to a stress free experience of my favorite baseball score, one to nothing.  Both teams pitched very well led by starters Michael Pineda and Marquis.  I was more well wishing for Seattle, as the Brewers originally were a Seattle franchise.  A late pinch runner for Mariners first baseman Justin Smoak forced Adam Kennedy to play first in the ninth.  Kennedy's inexperience cost Seattle as he was unable to catch a playable foul ball and made a poor throwing decision resulting in a fielder's choice, no out that set up a bases loaded, one out situation for former Brewer Laynce Nix.  Nix delivered a sac fly and the Nats walked off winners.  Bizarrely Nats manager Jim Riggleman also walked off...off the job, following the game.  It was a well played game in the Nats generically new stadium.  I'll probably go back to see the Brewers play there, but other than that the Nats are not much of a draw.

Stars And Abrahams Forever

I forced myself to wait until June to fill out my first MLB All Star ballot.  The first list is my deserved All Star team.....hey, sometimes the Brewers are deserving, OK?  The second list is the All Abraham team, which is more a collection of guys I want to see play wiffle ball in the back yard.  Brewers and former Brewers very desrving here.  Since MLB sucks and doesn't let the fans vote pitchers, I picked a starter and closer for each team.  I'll probably fill out another serious ballot in July as some players had similar statistics.

AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL STARS

1B Adrian Gonzalez, Boston
2B Robinson Cano, New York
SS Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland
3B Adrain Beltre, Texas
C   Alex Avila, Detroit
OF Jose Bautista, Toronto
OF Curtis Granderson, New York
OF Matt Joyce, Tampa Bay
SP Josh Beckett, Boston
CP Kyle Farnsworth, Tampa Bay

NATIONAL LEAGUE ALL STARS

1B Prince Fielder, Milwaukee
2B Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati
SS Jose Reyes, New York
3B Chipper Jones, Atlanta
C   Jonathan Lucroy, Milwaukee
OF Lance Berkman, St. Louis
OF Ryan Braun, Milwaukee
OF Matt Kemp, Los Angeles
SP Jair Jurrjens, Atlanta
CP J.J. Putz, Arizona

AMERICAN LEAGUE ABRAHAMS

1B Matt LaPorta, Cleveland
2B Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay
SS Alexei Ramirez, Chicago
3B Kevin Youkillis, Boston
C   Jason Kendall, Kansas City
OF Shin-Soo Choo, Cleveland
OF Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston
OF Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle
SP CC Sabathia, New York
CP Kyle Farnsworth, Tampa Bay

NATIONAL LEAGUE ABRAHAMS

1B Lyle Overbay, Pittsburgh
2B Bill Hall, Houston
SS Craig Counsell, Milwaukee
3B Casey McGehee, Milwaukee
C   Jonathan Lucroy, Milwaukee
OF Ryan Braun, Milwaukee
OF Carlos Lee, Houston
OF Andrew, McCutchen, Pittsburgh
SP Shaun Marcum, Milwaukee
CP John Axford, Milwaukee

Road Guest Vol. III (The Revenge Of Steve Sparks)

Score:  Milwaukee Brewers 3, Colorado Rockies 1

Venue:  Miller Park

Roadmates:  Gary (dad), Carol (mom), Lauren (wife), Mia (daughter), Isabella (daughter), Solomon (son)

MVP:  Ryan Braun 1-4, 3B, 2 RBI, 1 R

Recap:  When I was fifteen years old I attended Brewers game on April 13th, 1996.  Brewers starting pitcher and knuckleballer Steve Sparks held the Kansas City Royals to just one hit over eight masterful innings of the greatest pitching performance I've seen live to this day.  One small problem.  The one hit was a home run to Michael Tucker following two walks.  The Brewers were only able to muster two runs of offense thanks in part to John Jaha's fat ass not being able to score from second on a ninth inning single, making Sparks a tough luck loser.  Coincidentally I attended a Brewers game in 2004 where Sparks ended up winning a 15 inning affair as a reliever for the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Thanks Steve.

I suppose that is either here nor there as May 22, 2011 was Rockies starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez's turn to suffer a Sparksesque indignation.  Jimenez coerced the Brewers offense into a series of weak ground balls, strike outs and feeble pop ups allowing just two hits through eight masterful innings.  But the first Brewers hit was a Braun two out, two strike, two RBI triple following Carlos Gomez and Rickie Weeks reaching base on a walk and hit by pitch respectively.  Braun also scored on a throwing error, providing the Brewers with all the runs they would need in sending Jimenez to the knuckleball circle of baseball hell.

It was beautiful day in Milwaukee, the Brewers stayed hot winning for the eleventh time in fifteen games, the Rockies were swept out of Milwaukee and we had a birthday celebration for grandpa Puder we will never forget.

The Infinite Sadness

The state of Wisconsin's embroiled political turmoil has taken another bizarre turn as Waukesha County clerk Kathy Nickolaus found over 14,000 eleventh hour unrecorded votes turning the state's Supreme Court election from the favor of challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg to incumbent David Prosser.  The official count is currently subject to canvassing and more than likely will be subject recounts.  To me the concern is not so much the election results (be they fraudulent or be they legit), it is once again with the douche bag voters.

Let's start with those who did not vote.  Of the voting age public of Wisconsin, 66% did not register a vote.  66%!  Two thirds of the states voters do not care about the tumultuous direction their government is headed.  Only 28% of the city of Milwaukee eligible voters voted.  Granted the norm for an April election in Wisconsin is a pathetic 20%, but the state teeters on a historically significant ledge.  To a certain extent I understand voter apathy, but now is not the time for sitting on one's hands.

Now on to those who did vote.  No matter which candidate emerges from the political muck, the voting results are a figurative 50/50.  I stop short of referring to this election as a referendum on Governor Scott Walker's neo-con thinking and policy, but it was a litmus test of how the state's voters feel about where Wisconsin is heading.  While 19 counties that voted for Walker were won by Kloppenburg, no sleeping giant arose.  At best a slacker on a couch got up and microwaved a burrito.

Road Guest Vol. II

Score:  White 2, Blue 0

Venue:  Miller Park

Game Day:  April 2, 2011

Roadmates:  Mike (friend)

MVP:  Taylor Green 1-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R  Also he signed autographs well past his time slot up until player introductions.  The guy was awesome.

Announced Attendance:  11,312

Recap:  The Brewers Rising Stars Game was an excellent opportunity to get out to Miller Park even before the opening day crowd.  Seats were just ten dollars and with an announced crowd of just over 11,000 great seats were there for the taking (we sat first row behind first base).  The new scoreboard was on display, but more importantly so was the Milwaukee Brewers top minor league talent, as both teams were made up of Brewers prospects.

Pitching prospects dominated the game with the eight pitchers giving up just two runs on five hits.  I'd love to say this is a great development for the Brewers, but really none of the hitters looked Major League caliber and while the pitchers looked much better none looked like more than fringe players, save for maybe Kyle Heckathorn.

The game experience was a blast.  You could tell the guys were excited to get a chance to play in Milwaukee and the fans were just thrilled to be there.  I won a Lee Haydel jersey in the jersey raffle which was pretty cool, but more importantly I tried a Four Loko for the first time.  My feelings on said semi-legal product are best described here.

Go Brewers!  Get it done now because the future looks, uh, bleak.

Road Guest Vol. I

Well here we go friends, our first live sporting event round up.

Score:  Milwaukee Bucks 110, Cleveland Cavaliers 90

Venue:  Bradley Center

Roadmates:  Gary (Dad) and Mia (daughter)

MVP:  Earl Boykins  18 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds

Recap:  After grabbing a bite to eat in Bayview it was off to the Bradley Center for some top flight NBA entertainment.  Who would have thought a guy like me could get 65 dollar tickets on the street for only 10 dollars.  Was it my good looks and Midwest charm?  Probably, but it also could have been the fact that there was probably fewer than 5,000 "Bucks fans" in attendance.

The Cavaliers boasted a veritable who's who? of NBA "talent".  This point was driven home when the fans chanted "Who are you?" while Cavs forward Alonzo Gee shot free throws.  Despite their lack of name players, the Cavs actually took a six point lead in the first quarter prompting Bucks coach Scott Skiles to pull all his starters and go to the bench.  The move worked swimmingly as Boykins lead the charge.  Boykins got the game back under control, but it was starting point guard Brandon Jennings hot start to the second half that put the Cavs in the rear view mirror and the Bucks bench finished the job with four bench players posting double digit point totals.

The game lacked drama, excitement (I go to the Badger games to see lay ups, I go to NBA games to see face shredding dunks....Keyon Dooling) and crowd enthusiasm.   It lacked a crowd for that matter, but all in all it was fun and the Bucks won, which is a good thing...I think.

 

Road Guest

For those of you that are sick of my socialistic rants and ramblings, good news this post is about sports (kind of) and for those of you enjoying my political posts don't worry there will be more. 

Those of you who know me know I love attending live sporting events.  Anytime I attend an event I intend to follow it up with a blog post and hopefully some pictures.  There are two avenues these posts can follow.  If I take my family the posts will be well thought out, measured accounts and assessments of the contests and its key players.  If I take any of my usual hooligan friends I probably won't remember much of the games and will regale you with torrid stories of tom foolery, near arrests and making out with your girlfriend.  Either way, should be a good time.

On Wednesday (3/9) I will be attending the NBA game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks (you know you are jealous) at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee and will have a full report for my legions.