Updates on Past Blogs: Kratz out, Capuano finishes season.

Today I wanted to write a quick update about what’s going on with some of those who’ve been featured in my past blog entries.

First and best, Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz is now the former DA of Calumet County as he has resigned.  As I’d previously written — and hoped would happen — Governor Jim Doyle (D-WI), who used to be the Attorney General of the state of Wisconsin before he was elected as Governor, had started the process to formally remove Kratz from office, which put an enormous amount of pressure on Kratz to resign.  Doyle had said in this article from 9/21/2010  (http://www.htrnews.com/article/20100921/MAN0101/309220021/Wisconsin-Gov-Jim-Doyle-sees-Calumet-County-DA-Ken-Kratz-sexting-case-as-very-serious-issue-), which was widely covered by Wisconsin newspapers:

An outraged Doyle said Monday he would start the process to consider removing Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz and that he hopes to make a decision in a month. At a news conference five days after The Associated Press broke the story, Doyle said any prosecutor who would have behaved that way on his watch would have faced repercussions.

“I consider this to be a very, very, very serious issue,” said Doyle, a former district attorney and attorney general who leaves the governor’s office in January.

“It’s one that personally strikes to a lot of things I have worked very hard on in my career: crime victims’ rights and domestic violence. It troubles me deeply that somebody turns to the criminal justice system for help and receives the kinds of texts we have seen.”

And Gov. Doyle delivered, as Kratz, as of today, has resigned his position as DA.  Kratz’s resignation was covered widely as well; one account of it is here at this link:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20101004/GPG0101/101004091/1207&located=rss

Kratz’s resignation was quiet and done via press release, which stated:

“It is with deep sadness and regret that I announce my resignation as Calumet County district attorney, effective immediately,” Kratz wrote in a statement. “I have lost the confidence of the people I represent due primarily to personal issues which have now affected my professional career.”

I am very happy that Kratz is gone, and hope the people of Calumet County will now rest a bit easier with Kratz’s resignation.

Next, Brewers pitcher Chris Capuano completed his comeback season; as previous blogs have reported, left-hander Capuano came back this year from his second “Tommy John” ligament replacement surgery in his left arm and pitched effectively, going 4-4 with a 3.95 ERA in 66 innings, starting nine games and appearing in 24.  The rest of his statistics are available many places, but I prefer FanGraphs.com, an excellent baseball resource site for the serious fan; here’s that link:

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1701&position=P

Capuano started his final game last Saturday and struggled against the Cincinnati Reds, giving up three runs, ten hits and a walk in 3 2/3 innings.  After the game, a 7-4 loss (Capuano did not lose the game due to the Brewers offense tying the game at 4-4 in the seventh inning), Capuano said:

“It was a battle,” said Capuano. “It was one of those games when even when I had them hitting my pitch, they found holes. They hit a couple of balls hard.

“They never took the pressure off me, never really allowed me to settle into a groove. As a pitcher, you’re aware of the pace of the game (3 hours, 39 minutes). I was saying, ‘Let me have a clean inning. Let me move this game along a little bit.’ ”

But as Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter Tom Haudricourt said at this article (http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/104209094.html):

Capuano wasn’t going to let the shaky outing tarnish the comeback season he enjoyed after sitting out two years following a second Tommy John elbow surgery.

He quoted Capuano, who said:

“Physically, I’m feeling great,” said Capuano, who is eligible for free agency. “That’s everything that I hoped for out of this year. I had an uphill battle today. They’re a good team; they have a good offense.

“I don’t know what to expect (on the market). I’m glad now I can take a rest from throwing. I really haven’t stopped throwing since this rehab program began.”

I’m very, very proud of Chris Capuano, and I’m glad the Brewers re-signed him to a minor league deal last year.  Capuano is an outstanding example of patience, resilience and endurance, and I truly hope the Brewers re-sign him for next season as he’s shown he can still be an effective major league pitcher.