2012 NLCS: San Francisco Giants Force Game 7

Folks, two games ago, the St. Louis Cardinals had a nearly insurmountable 3-1 advantage in the National League Championship Series (NLCS).

But the resurgent San Francisco Giants have looked extremely sharp in their last two games, winning game 5 by a score of 5-0 behind Barry Zito, and Game 6 by a score of 6-1 behind Ryan Vogelsong.  This means that the Giants have tied up the NLCS at three games apiece and have now forced Game 7, which will be played on October 22, 2012 (otherwise known as tomorrow evening).

I got a chance to listen to the last two innings of the game (courtesy of ESPN Radio 540 in Milwaukee), and I enjoyed it; not only did the Cardinals lose, 6-1, they lost to Vogelsong, who three short years ago was a nearly complete unknown.  (Of course, since then he’s done more than a little to prove he’s an outstanding major league starting pitcher, posting records of 13-7 with a 2.71 ERA in 2011 and 14-9 with a 3.37 ERA in 2012.)

Best of all, this was the second time that Vogelsong won in this series, as he previously beat Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals on the 15th by a score of 7-1.  And this is the third time Vogelsong has won in the playoffs . . . out of three tries.  Impressive!

At any rate, Game 7 tomorrow night will be between Matt Cain of the Giants and Kyle Lohse of the Cards.  Cain got chased in Game 3, giving up three runs in six and 2/3 innings of work, so he is in need of a bit of redemption, while Lohse benefited from Cain’s rare off-day even though Lohse pitched only five and 2/3 innings during that same game (to his credit, Lohse did give up only one run).

So keep an eye on whatever happens during Game 7 — though to my mind, it’s much more likely that the Giants will win than the Cardinals, especially as the Giants are at home.  (Confidential for Matt Cain — Lohse is hittable.  Really.  So do yourself a favor and study the films accordingly; a timely hit, from you, may be the difference between success and failure in Game 7.)

Whichever team wins will be facing the Detroit Tigers, winners of the American League Championship Series.  Detroit is a strong team that has pitching (Justin Verlander and a cast of thousands) and great hitting, though not-so-wonderful defense; their line-up features American League Triple Crown Winner Miguel Cabrera and former Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder.  (It will be interesting to see how Fielder does in his very first World Series appearance.)

I believe that the Giants would be the stronger team against the Tigers, but that the Cardinals are perhaps a better-balanced team than the Giants.  Either way, though, I’m hoping that the Giants, not the Cardinals, will win Game 7 tomorrow evening and be on their way to the ’12 World Series.

Prince Fielder signs with Tigers; 9 years, $214 million

Folks, there are reports all over the Internet that former Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder has signed a deal with the Detroit Tigers; the deal is reported as being $214 million over the course of nine years, or an average $23.78 million per year.

See this story from Ken Rosenthal for further details:

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/prince-fielder-detroit-tigers-nine-year-deal-214-million-mlb-free-agency-hot-stove-012412

Here’s a relevant quote:

On the long list of Scott Boras shockers, this one ranks near the top.

Boras’ top free-agent client, first baseman Prince Fielder, has agreed to a nine-year, $214 million contract with the Tigers, according to major-league sources.

Fielder’s deal with the Tigers does not include an opt-out provision, a source said.

Tigers general manager David Dombrowski recently told ESPN.com that Fielder, “doesn’t fit for us. He’s looking for a long-term deal and that just doesn’t fit.”

Either Dombrowski was shading the truth, or Tigers owner Mike Ilitch — who has worked well with Boras in the past — made a last-minute call to sign Fielder.

So, see, it’s not just me who’s shocked.  Rosenthal is obviously shocked, too.

The reason this deal surprised so many people, including me, is because of how long it took on the one hand (as we’re only about a month away from when pitchers and catchers must report to Spring Training) while on the other hand, the team that ended up landing Fielder — the Tigers — wasn’t even on the radar screen until now.  (This last bit is very reminiscent of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s pursuit of Albert Pujols; no one on the outside of the negotiations had any idea that the Angels were interested in Pujols, much less that they’d lay out big money for him.)

At any rate, the Tigers’ plans apparently include having Fielder play some first base and DH other days; they already have a first baseman in Miguel Cabrera (who hits from the right side, and is a power hitter), but Cabrera is no better defensively than Fielder and presumably wouldn’t mind DHing now and again.

Now, as a Brewers fan, I wasn’t surprised at all to see that Fielder is moving on.  It was obvious that he didn’t want to re-sign here; he had an opportunity to do that last year, and even at the end of this year, he had the opportunity to accept arbitration and come back for another year — Brewers set-up man Francisco Rodriguez (“K-Rod,” one of the best closers in the game), decided to do this even though the Brewers have a particularly good closer in John Axford — one who set team records last year and one who isn’t being paid very much.  (Axford should be getting a lot more than he is; at this point, he’s making just over the major league minimum and that really seems unfair.  But I digress.)

This situation has happened before, albeit with C.C. Sabathia.  Sabathia helped the Brewers get to the 2008 playoffs; the Brewers clinched the “wild card” spot on the final day of the season, and they wouldn’t have done so without Sabathia’s stellar performance (he went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in 17 starts with the Brewers).  But Sabathia, as good as he was, was a half-season rental; Fielder was developed by the Brewers farm system and his entire career (six full seasons and part of a seventh) was spent in Milwaukee up until now.

Still, unlike Ryan Braun, who accepted a contract below market value in order to stay in Milwaukee because he apparently likes the stability of knowing he’ll be financially solvent (good thing, too, but other than Evan Longoria, there isn’t a single player in MLB who’s anywhere near as interested in his long-term financial future as Braun), Fielder obviously wanted to go wherever he’d get the most money.  And he does have ties to Detroit; his father played there, and Fielder took batting practice there as a pre-teen — part of the “Fielder legend” says that Fielder hit several HRs in batting practice when he was twelve, though I’m unsure that’s factually correct.  (Fielder has enormous power, and even as a child he probably had a great deal of it also.  But Fielder himself cast aspersions on some of these legends while he was in Milwaukee, saying, in effect, “Don’t believe everything you hear, but isn’t it a nice story?”)

I just hope that whatever Fielder is getting out of this deal is worth it to him, because it’s one thing to be a “Big Man On Campus” like he was for the Brewers; it’s another to become the highest-paid player on the team, as he will be for the Tigers.  The media in Detroit isn’t as friendly as the media in Milwaukee, and even if they were, Fielder’s contract will make him much more of a target than he’s ever been in Milwaukee.  This is something he’s not likely to understand until he’s lived with it for a while; I just hope the learning curve for him won’t be too steep along the way.

Granted, Fielder is a big man (in many senses, including his heart) and I’m sure he can handle it.  But it will be much more difficult for his family and friends to deal with the media on days where he goes 0 for 4 with a couple of Ks (even a guy who strikes out as little as Fielder does, proportionately, has a few days like this a year) than it’s ever been in Milwaukee.

All I can say now is, “Enjoy the contract, Prince.  Play well.  And don’t forget your fans in Milwaukee.”  Because assuredly, we will not forget about you anytime too soon.

Brewers Play Giants; My Thoughts

My late husband Michael was a San Francisco Giants fan.

Of course, this isn’t surprising, considering he was a long-time San Francisco resident.  That his father and mother both supported the Giants, as did his brother and sister . . . well, that probably helped a little, though Michael wasn’t the type to join in just for the sake of joining.

Nope.  He loved baseball because it was — and is — a game that can be measured.  Baseball statistics make sense, to the degree that different eras can be compared and contrasted, as are various players, their situations and their teams.

Michael loved his Giants.  Which is why me watching my Milwaukee Brewers team play them is ever so slightly bittersweet.

I keep thinking about how Michael would enjoy this year’s Giants team as much as he would’ve enjoyed last year’s — the 2011 Giants once again have stellar pitching, defense, and play well as a team, all things Michael appreciated as a long-time baseball fan.  But, of course, it’s my Brewers playing the Giants — the Brewers, who mostly live and die by the long ball.  By the big inning.  Who aren’t exactly known for their skills at base-stealing, small ball, or for any of their starting pitchers.

I mean, think about it.  Who do you know on the Giants pitching staff that’s a big name?  Tim Lincecum.  Matt Cain, who’s pitching tonight.  Barry Zito, though he’s not done well this year and hasn’t justified the huge amount of money the Giants spent on him a few years ago.  Jonathan Sanchez, perhaps the best #5 pitcher in baseball.  And previously-unknown Ryan Vogelsong, perhaps the best story in baseball this year as he went from getting his outright release in 2010 to having the best ERA in baseball — 2.02 — in 2011, with a 7-1 record in fifteen starts.

Whereas the Brewers have two pitchers who’ve pitched reasonably well throughout — Shaun Marcum, who’s pitching tonight, and Randy Wolf.  Then, we have two wildly inconsistent pitchers who can be either really good or really bad — Zack Greinke and Yovani Gallardo.  And, finally, we have Chris Narveson, a guy who is better known for his bat than his pitching, though he’s had a decent year thus far.  And let’s not even start about the Brewers defense, as I could go all day about how many ways the infield in particular needs improvement (only Rickie Weeks is relatively solid at second, though he does not have great range; Casey McGehee has had some good moments but mostly isn’t known for his glove; Prince Fielder’s fielding has regressed this season, so he’s once again a well below average first baseman who holds his position due to his fearsome bat; and, of course, Yuniesky Betancourt, who hits better than he fields, but doesn’t exactly hit a ton considering his overall .250 batting average coming into tonight’s game).

I have mixed feelings here, because I see how the Giants are by far the superior team.  The Giants have pitching, defense, and overall team chemistry, even if they don’t hit particularly well . . . their pitching makes up for a great deal, which is how they win games.  While the Brewers have hitting, hitting, and more hitting, with some good outfield defense (Corey Hart in RF is good, Ryan Braun has really improved in LF but hasn’t been healthy recently, while Nyjer Morgan plays a decent center field and has speed — mind, losing Carlos Gomez due to a broken collarbone hasn’t helped), some good to better pitching amidst massive inconsistency, and more hitting.

So it’s a battle of two different styles of baseball being played out tonight in this Brewers-Giants game (currently, as I write this, the Brewers lead 3-1 in the top of the sixth).   Good to excellent hitting versus good to excellent pitching and outstanding defense.  A worthy game, one which I’ll enjoy as best I can, wishing all the while that my wonderful husband were still alive to share it with me.

Still.  I am here, and I see at least some of what Michael would’ve seen in the Giants, as I’m also a long-time baseball fan who appreciates excellent pitching and defense.   I can’t recreate a conversation which didn’t have a chance to happen, though I know what sorts of comments Michael made when he and I watched his Giants play in 2002, 2003 and 2004 . . . I suppose because I’m thinking so much about what he would’ve seen had he been here to observe it, at least a small part of Michael has survived.

And that, at least, is a good thing.  As is the enjoyment I get from watching my Brewers and Michael’s Giants.

Happy 4th, Go Brewers (and Marcum), and Other Odds and Ends

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Today’s the day to remember the beginning of the United States of America — when we declared independence from Great Britain.  (We actually declared independence on July 2, but the predecessor to the United States Congress didn’t ratify the document until July 4, which is why we celebrate on today’s date.)  It’s also a great day to watch baseball, eat hot dogs and apple pie, and for families to appreciate being with each other (or at least put aside their differences for the day).  And, finally, it’s become another day (like Memorial Day and Veterans Day) to remember our military men and women, especially those serving overseas in war zones, partly because we have three wars going at the same time, but mostly because our military remains an important part of why we remain an independent nation to this day.

Before I go on, I’d like to mention one military man overseas — my cousin, Wayne.   I know he’s seen a number of Independence Days away from the United States, but I can’t believe it ever gets that easy for him — he’s away from his family, most of his friends, and all that is familiar, which would be hard enough even without the three wars going on right now — and I want to remind him that I really do appreciate his service to our country.

Anyway, today is a day for baseball, as I said before, so it’s time to celebrate my favorite players.  Corey Hart hit his 9th home run of the year against Arizona (game is still in progress as I type this; the Brewers lead, 6-4, in the 6th) to make it 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth, then Shaun Marcum — the pitcher — hit a grand slam home run to make it 6-1.  (The Diamondbacks got a run back in the top of the 5th and two runs in the 6th.)  This is the first grand slam of the year for the Brewers — with all their vaunted hitters, including the three 2011 All-Star starters Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, and Rickie Weeks, and of course the aforementioned Hart, you’d think the Brewers would’ve had multiple grand slam HRs by now.  Not that the first one of the year would be hit by the rather light-hitting pitcher Marcum (who started today batting only .103).

Next, Casey McGehee looks like he’s finally getting on track, and that’s good.  He has two hits today, but so far for the year he’s hitting in the .220s with only 4 HR and 33 RBI despite playing in the vast majority of the Brewers games in the #5 spot.  McGehee has good power to all fields when he’s right, but most of this year he’s been mired in a slump and his defense has also suffered (when one thing goes bad, it tends to make everything go bad; this is an axiom that doesn’t just apply to baseball).  Here’s hoping that his two hits in two ABs (so far) will spur him to better things in the second half.

Next, I wanted to point out how former Brewer Vinny Rottino’s doing in AAA ball for the New Orleans Zephyrs.  Rottino has continued to hit well, though he’s no longer on a tear; he’s batting .307 with 4 HRs and 31 RBI, and his OBP remains a robust .378.  Rottino isn’t really a power guy; instead, he’s a contact hitter, an intelligent runner, and an above-average defender at any outfield position, first base or third base.  Rottino’s now thirty-one years old, yet is in excellent shape and could easily play several more years — perhaps as many as ten — and I really wish someone would give him a chance as a utility player and pinch hitter in the majors.

Next, there’s Chris Capuano, a former Brewers pitcher who now pitches for the New York Mets.  Capuano recently beat the Brewers in Milwaukee and was given a huge round of applause when announced in the starting line-up for the Mets — a sign of respect that isn’t often seen for an opposing player, but Brewers’ fans do not forget “their own.”  For the year, “Cappy” is 7-7 with a 4.27 ERA and has struck out 77 while walking only 24; I wish him nothing but success in the second half.

Finally, there’s former Brewer shortstop J.J. Hardy, who now plays for the Baltimore Orioles.  Hardy’s defense has remained outstanding while his hitting stroke has finally returned after a succession of wrist injuries marred his last two seasons — for the year to date, Hardy is hitting .295 with 11 HR, 30 RBI and 31 runs scored in 54 games played.  That last stat (runs scored) is a bit surprising as Hardy is not exactly what you’d call “fleet afoot” due to a horrific collision sustained in 2006 while trying to score a run — Hardy decided to slide late, and this may have exacerbated that season-ending injury.

At any rate, I enjoy watching my Milwaukee Brewers, past and present, and I hope they all succeed, wherever they are now and wherever they’ll be in the future.  They make the 4th of July — and every day — more interesting, as especially with this year’s team I never have any idea of how they’re going to do.

I hope you all enjoy your 4th of July experience — whatever it may be, from fireworks to Summerfest to just “hanging out” — and do it safely so you’ll be around for July 5th, 6th, and beyond.

Ken Macha out as Brewers manager; more on Brewers.

The Milwaukee Brewers, who finished with a 77-85 record, fired manager Ken Macha today by the simple expedient of not picking up his option for next season.  Macha said here (http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/104276948.html):

“Nobody likes to be let go, but I understand baseball, too,” Macha said. “I’ve been around a long time and been through this stuff. I told (Melvin) this Milwaukee experience for me was tremendous.

“It’s too bad we didn’t win more games, but I appreciate him bringing me here. … The expectations were to put up more wins and we didn’t do that. That’s the game.”

Macha’s words were classy, especially as he found out he’d been fired last evening via the media rather than by his good friend, Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin.  Macha continued:

“When you sit down and build your club … you really got to compare your club to the other teams that have won,” Macha said. “How do we stack up with say St. Louis? We signed Randy Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins. … Yeah we filled some holes, but are we on the same level with (Chris) Carpenter and (Adam) Wainright? So maybe the expectations were a little high but you still have to win.

“We lacked that No. 1 guy going out there. That’s my thoughts. If you could put someone at the top (of the rotation) and move everybody else down, you’d give yourself a much better chance to win.”

Now, this is something I, as a fan of the Brewers, said all year long.  Yovani Gallardo is not an ace.  He is a good pitcher and would probably be just fine as the second pitcher on the Brewers staff, but he is no ace.  And Randy Wolf, who’s a fine number three pitcher, has too much pressure on him as a number two pitcher — all of those roles, ace, number two pitcher, number three pitcher, are clearly defined now in major league baseball, and the ace of the staff is expected to be the guy who shuts down the opposition no matter what’s been happening with the rest of the club.  (In other words, if the Brewers had lost six or seven in a row and Gallardo’s turn was up, he was expected to keep the other team in check while he was out there and get the Brewers a better chance to win thereby.  Gallardo can do this, but he mostly doesn’t — that’s why he’d be better as the number two pitcher on the staff because he’d have far less pressure on him thereby.)

Going on in Anthony Witrado’s blog from today’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Macha also acknowledged his trying relationships with stars Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder while noting that several other players he had good relationships with thanked him after yesterday’s season finale, including Corey Hart, Casey McGehee and Wolf among plenty of others.

Skipping ahead in the blog:

“If the effort wasn’t reciprocated, then there’s not a whole lot I can do about it. You can’t force guys to do that,” Macha said. “Some guys were open to discussion and some guys weren’t, I guess, but that’s the same with every club.

“I talked a lot to Ryan, almost every day, but he does his own thing. He’s going to do what he wants to do.

“With Prince, I think he had some issues this year to deal with, the contract probably being the main thing, and at times he was hard to talk to. I don’t know if there were any guys on the staff that talked a whole lot to him this year.

“Those are the two guys, but the rest of the guys it was all positive. I opened up to (Braun and Fielder) but you have to have a back and forth. The faces of the franchise, that’s what they are.”

After reading all this, while I remain convinced Ken Macha was always the wrong man for this job, I feel rather sorry for him.  I’ve been in positions where I came into a job and wasn’t really given a chance, and it sounds like that’s exactly what happened between Macha and Brewers’ stars Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, who were both extremely angry after Ned Yost was fired in 2008 with only twelve games remaining in the season.  (For the record, I was, too.  I liked Yost a great deal.)

Macha had nothing to do with Ned Yost’s firing whatsoever, but I think because he was known to be such good friends with Brewers GM Doug Melvin, those two players in particular never gave Macha much of a chance.  But what really surprises me is that apparently no one could reach Fielder this year — which explains Fielder’s extremely poor year, where he dropped in home runs from 46 to 31, dropped in RBI from 141 to 83, and dropped in batting average from .299 to .261.  Fielder is the Brewers clean-up hitter, yet he had the fewest RBI of anyone who batted in the top five of the Brewers batting order, as you’ll see by this quick list:

Brewers RBI leaders:

Casey McGehee, 104 (bats fifth) — .285 BA, 23 HR, .464 slugging percentage

Ryan Braun, 103 (bats third) — .304 BA (led team), 25 HR, .501 slugging percentage, .365 on base percentage

Corey Hart, 102 (bats second) — .280 BA, 31 HR (8th in league), .525 slugging percentage (led team)

Rickie Weeks, 83 (bats first) — .269 BA, 29 HR, 184 strikeouts (led team), .366 on base percentage

Prince Fielder, 83 (bats fourth) — .261 BA, 32 HR (sixth in league), .401 on base percentage (led team), 114 walks (led team)

Now that you’ve seen that list, here’s some more information.  Corey Hart started the season on the bench because he’d had a horrible Spring Training; he played so well Macha had to play Hart, and eventually Hart not only made the National League All-Star team, he took part in the Home Run Derby as he was among the league leaders in home runs at that time.  Corey Hart finished with career highs in home runs and RBI and greatly improved his defensive play in right field; pretty good for a guy who started out on the bench, eh?

Then there’s Casey McGehee, who in his second full season led the team in RBI.  McGehee is a third baseman who was an older-than-average rookie last year that GM Doug Melvin picked up prior to 2009 — McGehee had been buried in the farm system of the Chicago Cubs, but was a good, solid hitter and Melvin knew it.  Signing McGehee, who started 2009 on the bench and eventually became the starting third baseman, then continued on in that role in 2010, was probably one of Melvin’s best — and most unheralded — moves of the past two years.

The other three guys — Weeks, Braun and Fielder — were all expected to do well.  But Weeks, in the past, had trouble staying healthy due to problems with his wrists that required operations; that he finished a whole season credibly, improved his defense, and led all major league lead-off men in RBI was impressive.  Braun got hit on the hand by a fastball thrown by Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson early in the season, had a huge dip in all batting stats during the summer, but rallied to have his usual excellent year in RBI, batting average and on base percentage (this includes hits, walks, and getting on base via errors).  It was only Fielder who had a rotten year, especially by his standards — and as Macha said, that’s probably due to contractual reasons as Fielder is eligible next year for arbitration, then is a free agent, so for the moment does not have financial stability assured.  (That Fielder is a client of hard-nosed agent Scott Boras is another concern, but of course Macha would never mention that even though everyone knows it’s part of the problem.  The Brewers offered Fielder $100 million for five years — $20 million a year — but Boras said that wasn’t enough.  That didn’t go over well with Brewers fans at all, though no one blamed Fielder, a bluff, genial, good-hearted man, for Boras’s actions even though Boras works for Fielder, not the reverse.)

Since this will probably be my final blog about the Brewers for a while, I may as well give my end of the season awards now.

Brewers Most Valuable Player: Corey Hart (Casey McGehee, second) — this is because when the Brewers still had a shot to get back in the pennant race and everyone else slumped, Hart carried the team through much of May and June.

Rookie of the Year: John Axford, who took over the closing job from Trevor Hoffman and never looked back, going 8-2 with a 2.48 ERA, and saving 24 out of 27 games.

Brewers Most Valuable Pitcher: John Axford.

Comeback Player of the Year: Chris Capuano — Capuano’s stats of 4-4 with a 3.95 ERA in 24 appearances (and nine starts) are a little misleading, though they’re perfectly fine.  As it stands, “Cappy” is the first player to effectively pitch in the major leagues after a second “Tommy John” ligament replacement surgery on his pitching arm.  He also is a study in perseverence, as his second comeback required nearly two full years of rehabilitation.  Capuano deserves serious consideration as major league comeback player of the year.

The Brewers had many good players who had fine years for them in 2010; they just did not jell as a team.  Here’s hoping that next year, the Brewers will be much better and give the fans a great deal more excitement overall.