Goat of the Game Blogs

I have to admit, that with a home-based business starting up, my attention has been split. Luckily for me, the Brewers haven’t lost games at a rate like they have in the past. I’ve been able keep up with the polls and blog updates though it hasn’t always been easy.

I went back and checked today and found that we’ve had over 1300 votes for Goat so far this season.  Traffic is up, even considering the long breaks between losses. -which, believe me, I consider a good thing. Although we focus on losses here, we still appreciate the wins. I’ve been searching for features to add to the site which would bring visitors win OR lose. The addition of Brewfn65’s  Hero of the Game blog will help in that regard.

The cartoons have also helped.

Between paintings I’m doing for others, I plan on doing cartoons for the rest of the Brewers’ TV crew, Bill, Brian, Jeff, etc and emailing them to the booth. Hopefully this will trigger some new visitors. I also thought it would be some good publicity to go to another game with a goat sign. Maybe a sign with a player’s cartoon and a mention of goatofthegame. If we make it on TV, we’d get a boost in traffic I’m sure.

Since I am way up in Oshkosh and not sure when I’ll get back to Milwaukee to take in another game, that seems like a great homework assignment for a regular here. If you’re willing to take the sign challenge on, Email me and let me know when you’re going. I can make up a sign and send it your way.

We’ll have to think up a prize for anyone who holds up a goat sign and makes it onto the FSN broadcast. Any ideas out there?

Free personalized cartoon? Free Goat T-Shirt?

If we can turn a profit with increased traffic and ad placement, I’m planning on returning the money to the website. One way to do that is to give out Goat T-shirts as contest prizes (as well as other prizes such as free Brewer tickets).

One other homework assignment for the fans is to send me ideas on winter content. With the off-season soming up fast, we’ll need something to pass the time until spring training.

I want to continue evolving goatofthegame to Brewer fans’ requests. So far, the Standings page, the cartoons page, and the personalized cartoon option were all created on the suggestion of you guys.  Just keep your ideas rolling in!

What a great week, the brewers go 6-1!!!!  Plus a sweep of the Cardinals in St. Louis, anyways, here are this weeks heroes:

Sunday 7/20:  Ryan Braun is the hero with 5 RBI’s @ san fransisco.  Manny Parra is the Runner up with an excellent start going 7 2/3 innings.

Monday 7/21:  Bill Hall is the hero with the clutch go-ahead homerun in the 10th inning @ St. Louis.  Runner up is Ned Yost, he managed the bullpen well and put togeather a good lineup.  Honerable Mentions are Rickie Weeks and J.J. Hardy.

Tuesday 7/22:  Bill Hall is the hero, he again hits a clutch homerun late in the game, this time to cap a late inning three run comeback.  Honerable Mentions are Ned Yost, Jeff Suppan, Salomon Torres, Prince Fielder, and JJ Hardy.

Wednesday 7/23:  CC Sabathia is the hero, he pitched a complete game shutout, what more can you ask.

Thursday 7/24:  Ryan Braun is the hero, he went 4-4 and reached base 5 times, he also hit the go-ahead homerun in the 9th inning with one on and one out down a run.

Friday 7/26:  Ryan Braun is the hero again, he hit the key game tying homerun in the 7th inning which kickstarted the offense.  Runner-up is Ray Durham who hit two doubles and scored three runs.

Well because of the All-star game the Brewers only played three games this week, but they won all three of them so we have three heros this week

 7/13 vs. Cincinnati goes to CC Sabathia.  He pitched a complete game and gave up only 2 ER’s in a 3-2 win.  He also hit a homerun.  He was voted the HOG unanimously.

7/18 @ San Fransico goes to CC Sabathia.  He pitched a complete game and gave up just 1 ER in a 9-1 win.  He also hit a double to help his own cause and scored a run.  He was voted the HOG unanimously.

7/19 @ San Fransico goes to Prince Fielder.  He had a good day offensivly, he hit a homerun into the water and he drove in a run with a basehit.  Second place goes to David Riske who pitched a scoreless 8th inning, 1.0 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 3 K.

*Remember to vote on the Brewers’ message board for the Hero of the Game after every win, polls close before the next game or when someone gets a big enough lead and noones voted in a while like tonight.

Well we’ve made it to the all-star break and our Brewers are right in the thick of things, they sit at 1/2 game out of the wild card and 5 games out of the divison lead, not bad.

The team grade is a B+

Now, on to the player grades

Position Players:

 Jason Kendall  A- :  He’s had an excellent season defensivley, teams are starting to learn quickly that you can not run on Jason Kendall anymore, plus he calls a great game, pitchers like Manny Parra would not be as successful if it were not for Jason Kendall, His hitting has been alright, definently an improvement over last season for him, he’s had some clutch hits

 Prince Fielder B:  Compared to last season, this season has been a bit of a disapointment for Prince offensivly, however, 17 dingers at the break isn’t bad and he’s done a good job getting on base with one of the highest OBA’s on the team

Rickie Weeks D:  Rickie has underachieved to this point, a lead off hitter should be hitting close to .300 not hovering around the mendoza line, ned defends keeping rickie in the lead off role because rickie scores a lot of runs, but imagaine how many more runs a competant lead off hitter would have scored by now

J.J. Hardy B+ :  J.J. has been on a tear lately before the all-star break, his batting average is in the .290 range and he has 13 homers, a great job deffensivly as well, he is among the league leaders in fielding percentage.

Bill Hall C- :  Billy has shown that he still has some good power, 14 homers I believe, but he has been terribly inconsistant.  During one of his slumps this season he lost his starting spot and is now in a platoon situation at 3B.  He’s starting to pick it up latly though.

Ryan Braun A:  All-star Starter, 23 homers, and a solid average, braun has definently shown he deserves the big contract he signed.

Mike Cameron D+ :  Cameron has been disappointing this season, his batting average has been around the .220 range for most of the season with many strikeouts, but the biggest dissapointment is that Cameron’s defense in Center has not been very good, he’s missplayed some balls in center and isn’t as fast as he used to be.

Corey Hart A :  Corey is probably the best all-around baseball player on the Brewers, he hits for average, he gets on base, he hits homers, he drives in runs, he steals bases, and plays solid defense, lets lock this guy down to a nice long contract

Gabe Kapler A:  What a great surprise, Kapler hasn’t gotten a lot of starts because of Cameron in Center but when he’s been given opportunities he’s came through with clutch hits.

Tony Gwyn Jr. incomplete:  Tough luck for such a promising young outfielder, he had a great shot at the starting spot in center early but he goes on the 15 day DL and has not been on the 25-man roster since early in the season, hopefully we see him in September

Hernan Irrabarren incomplete:  He’s been up in the majors for two stints this season but has only got a handful of at-bats and only, I believe, 1 start, hopefully we see him in September

Gabe Gross C-:  Gabe became the starter in place of Cameron during cameron’s suspension, Gross got off to a slow start but was starting to pick it up when he was traded to the Rays for a minor league prospect right before Cameron’s return.

Craig Counsell B-:  Counsell has been a solid utility infielder, he filled in nicely when Weeks went on the DL and has come through in many key pinch hit situations this season for the Brewers

Joe Dillon C  :  A utility infielder who has shown he can play just about anywhere, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, LF, who also has had some clutch hits off the bench, his average is not very good at this point though and he’s in a bit of a slump

Russel Branyan B- :  Branyan tore up AAA early this season and with Hall struggling at the plate the brewers called him up to plattoon with Hall, Branyan hit a lot of homers early and had a great average but has gone into a slump as of late.

Mike Rivera B+ :  Rivera hasn’t gotten much playing time with Kendall at starting most of the games at catcher but when he’s been given a shot he’s shown he can hit the ball, good power and a great average at this point, however he is nowhere near as effective on defense as kendall.

Pitchers:

Ben Sheets A:  What an excellent start to the season for sheets, an ERA in the 2’s, 10-3 record, and 3 CG’s with 1 shutout, he’s been an innings eater and to this point has stayed healthy, excellent job!

CC Sabathia incomplete:  He’s only made 2 starts as a brewer, but was very good in both and hey he can hit too, let’s hope he’s worth LaPorta.

Dave Bush  C+:  He got off to a slow start this year and spent time in AAA and in the bulpen, his last few starts have been great though, he’s been locating his breaking ball better and nearly threw a no-hitter.

Manny Parra  A-:  At first he was having trouble eating innings but he’s been dominating for the last couple months and has a great ERA with an 8-2 record.

Seth McClung B-:  He’s been one of the team’s biggest surprises so far, he barely made the team out of spring training but when put in the starting role he’s shown that he’s a solid starter.

Carlos Villanueva B-:  Carlos struggled early this season in the starters role but since being moved to the bullpen he’s been very effective.

David Riske C+:  Riske was an average middle reliever early in the season but in May he hurt his elbow and missed a month on the DL and has never really gotten into a groove since then.

Eric Gagne D :  Gagne has not been what was expected of him, he was supposed to solidify the bullpen by making the ninth inning easier, however he is 10-15 in save opportunities with an ERA above 7.3 and he spent a month on the DL, hopefully he can rebound in the second half and show that he wasn’t a complete bust.

Brian Shouse B+  :  one of the few reliable relievers in the brewer’s pen this year, he’s got a great ERA and is tough on lefty’s

Mitch Stetter B+ :  started the year in AAA then was good for a few weeks in the majors before losing control and ending up back in the minors, he’s back now and he looks pretty dominant.

Guillermo Mota D- :  He started the year as a reliable set-up man but has just completely lost it of late, hopefully he can regain his form from earlier this season and still help this team.

Salomon Torres A :  Another great surpise, since Gagne went on the DL Torres has stepped in and done an excellent job in the closers role 15-18 in save opportunities, he’s also been durable, and pitched a lot of innings.

Jeff Suppan B- :  Had a great start to the season and had a solid ERA through the first two and a half months this season but has not been effective as of late and is now on the DL.

Yovanni Gallardo incomplete : Started the year on the DL and then tore his ACL and is now out for most of the season, his three starts this year were solid though.

Mark DiFelice  C:  Was a decent long reliever in his short stint in the majors

Tim Dillard incomplete:  Was a decent middle reliever, hopefully we see him again in September.

Zach Jackson incomplete:  Made a couple of appearences early and was part of the CC Sabathia trade.

Julian Tavarez F :  Had one good outing for the Brewers, the rest was not very good, he couldn’t find the strike zone at times and got knocked around a lot.

Derrick Turnbow F:  Had one good outing where he picked up a save, the rest was aweful, he just could not throw strikes and we’ve probably seen the last of him, unless he can hit

*If I missed anyone let me know

Well another amazing all star weekend has come and gone and now it’s back to division rivalries and enemy bashing. The message boards are alive with people harassing each other because of the team the choose to cheer for… welcome 2nd half baseball.

 But here’s the thing I want to talk about. Why are Cubs fans getting on Corey Hart about that throw at the end of the game. It wasn’t the world’s best throw (if it was he would have gotten Morneau at the plate) but it was close. The true fact is that you can’t rely on a player to make that throw or any throw for that matter. I’ve heard “Fuky could make that throw” and “If Soriano was healthy Morneau would be out by a few steps.” Well here’s the issue. Fukudome might have a pretty accurate arm but I don’t think he’s that strong. Soriano… Well Soriano probably wouldn’t have even caught the ball.

Then I realized it. These were cubs fans we’re talking about here! The same group of people who have blamed the 100 year drought on a goat. The same group of people who blamed poor Steve Bartman for being knocked out of the playoffs a few years back instead of the players who really cost them the game. Could it be?!? YES! It seems this years all star game has allowed cubs fans to continue the tradition of blaming people except themselves! Geovanni Sotto (whom I am a big fan of) couldn’t seem to throw the ball to second base to get a single runner. Yeah Sheet’s pitches may have been in the dirt, or a curve ball but last I checked the catcher is the one who calls for the pitch, he knew what Sheets was throwing and he should have been able to adjust. Instead what’s he do? Throws the ball everywhere but second base (I believe I read someone say he was “throwing the ball like a drunk”), but yet again all we hear from Cubby nation is “Sheets screwed the pooch with bad pitches, the runners stole on him, not our guy… never!”

Then you got the offense, yeah The Brewers bats seemed to be resting during the ASB but at least we can admit it. I’d like to point out to all the Cubs fans who blamed Hart and Braun for striking out and having O-fers that the Cubs bats didn’t do much better. Fukudome, and Soto both looked horrible at the plate as well and Aramis Ramirez only got on via a walk (OH BOY!). But again… Cubs fans look to The Brewers and blame us, I guess they were watching a different game?

1) Fukudome. Well, he started out good. .305/.416 in March and April, but as some predicted, he’s been going downhill since: .293/.388 in May… .264/.387 in June… .167/.222 in July. Pitchers are adjusting faster than he is.

2) Cedeno. While a .269 average isn’t outstanding, it IS for Cedeno. He managed just .203 last year and .245 in ‘06. His .340 OBP is also an out-of-body experience. It was .231 last year.

3) DeRosa. With 11 Hrs already, the Guy is on pace to hit 22 HRs. He only hit more than 11 HRs in a WHOLE season one other time when he hit 13 in ‘06.

4) Jim Edmonds. He has 10 Hrs already. His .232 batting average alone will tell you that his power surge won’t continue for long. In fact, he only hit 12 HRs all of last season. I doubt He’ll hit 20 this year as he’s on pace for.

5) Blanco/Soto. Blanco is hitting .286 in a back-up role. that will drop to something closer to his career average of .225. ..and does anyone really think Soto will hit 32 Hrs this year? I’m not so sure.

6) Dempster. Right now he’s 1.43 UNDER his career ERA -and that’s over a good number of seasons in the bigs. He’s on pace to win 20 games. He’s also on pace to pitch almost 250 innings. He’s never pitched more than 226.1 innings in a season in his entire career and that was way back in 2000.

7) Harden. Pitched 13 games so far (even if only 1 was for the Cubs). He hasn’t managed to pitch 13 games since 2005. Will he last?

Zambrano. Has never won 20 games, but he’s on pace to. He’s on pace to pitch 240 innings.  He’s never pitched more than 223.1 (2005). He’s also on pace to lose only 6 and he hasn’t done that in 3 years. based on career numbers, he’ll lose more and win fewer inthe 2nd half.

9) Lieber. His era is 3.43. He’s never ended a season with an ERA eevn close to that over his 14 year career.

10) Lilly. On pace for 18 wins. He’s never won more than 15. …On pace for 40 starts. -Never started more than 34. - and he’s only done that ONCE. …On pace for 240 IP. -Never pitched more than 207 and only did THAT once as well.

11) Marmol. The guy is on pace to pitch 104 innings and 100 games pitched in relief. His arm will fall off if they don’t slow him down.

12) Kerry Wood. He’s still Kerry Wood. Besides his era being .62 points lower than his career era, he’s also healthy. And we all know that never lasts. He hasn’t been healthy for a full season since 2003.

13) The Cubs. That’s their name, losing is their game. They ARE, afterall, dubbed ‘the loveable losers’ for a reason. The goat? Steve Bartman? Something’s got to give here.