Nasty Ned Fan Club II

OK, this is the last time I am going to bitch, unless he says or does something really dumb over the winter. Have you ever noticed how most of the media, ie JS and their writers, are always sticking up for the waste of my precious oxygen manager? You can see examples here, here, here by the golf writer?, and here, as well as by paying for archived stuff, but that is lame. But lets focus on today's article. 10 things that cost the Brewers a playoff berth.

• The Brewers lost 16 games during which they led at some point by three runs or more, the highest number in the major leagues......he seventh and eighth innings were particularly tricky for the Brewers, who were outscored, 208-159

Lets look at this one. Outscored by that many runs in the late innings. Could that be the fault of an inept jerk off who does not know how to give a quick hook to pitchers who aren't on in that situation?

• An overworked Turnbow also hit the skids (9.35 ERA) in the final month, making it even tougher for Yost to bridge the gap from starting pitcher to Cordero. Yost was accused of "bullpen mismanagement" and did make curious decisions at times but the fact of the matter was the number of viable alternatives decreased dramatically.

Before the quote, the author began by saying that 3 other relievers went in the tank at about the same time. I know you cant totally blame the manager for the bullpen meltdown. But a couple things in particular come to mind. Sticking with Wise when he was obviously wrecked, bringing in Aquino, who the TV announcers think is the Bee's Knees. Or maybe continually going with Turnbow when he was obviously wrecked. Granted, the "number of viable alternatives" did drop off. But these are professional baseball players in a bullpen. Throw one of those guys out there for one batter, then bring in another, and maybe allow a 4-5 out save once in a while.

• Hall began the season as the cleanup hitter but when he couldn't find any consistency at the plate he eventually sunk to No. 8. By September, he was sitting half the time, including critical games during the stretch run.

Might the above be that the lineup changed on a nightly basis from June to the middle of August? Whose fault is that? And what do you suppose riding the pine does to the delicate ego of a ball player? I would ask Geoff Jenkins that question.

At only one time in the article is our fearless leader even mentioned, and it is noted as a sort of anomaly. Like it happens, but sort of like finding 20 bucks in your pants pocket after you haven't worn them for a year happens.

The fact is, that under the current coaching regime, fast starts turn into devastating finishes. As well as the whole home vs. road debacle. Don't get me wrong, Mike Maddox has turned some real losers into great pitchers, and Neddy is really good at getting run out of games. All in all, you have to blame these sorts of things on the coaching staff. Look at the Butch Wyneger years, and how horrible the strikeouts and situational hitting was. In fact, I may argue that Jim Skalen, current hitting coach, was the lone bright spot. Even when salty veteran Dale Svuem ran things for those couple innings, he pinch hit with Craig Counsel.

List of potential free agents by position.
List of potential trade bait. Note that Rocco Baldelli was once the second coming of Joe D.