MLB All-Star Picks - National League

The MLB All-Star game is still a while away (July 15), but fan voting ends on July 2 (this Wednesday). Today and tomorrow I will present my picks for who should be in the starting lineup in New York. Here are my picks for the NL:

Catcher

Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves

McCann is about 500,000 votes behind Geovany Soto for the top spot, but if you compare their numbers it should be clear (except to delusional cubs fans) that McCann currently deserves the honor:

McCann - .295 Avg, .536 SLG, 45 RBI, 14 HR, 23 Doubles, 38 Strikeouts

Soto - .280 Avg, .511 SLG, 47 RBI, 13 HR, 20 Doubles, 69 Strikeouts

First Baseman

Lance Berkman, Houston Astros

This is one of the easier decisions for all-star voters.

.364 Avg, 21 HR, 107 Hits, 67 RBI, 27 Doubles

Second Baseman

Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies

This is a tougher choice, because Utley's numbers are very similar to those of Dan Uggla.

Utley - .298 Avg, 65 RBI, 23 HR, 59 Runs

Uggla - .289 Avg, 58 RBI, 23 HR, 57 Runs

Shortstop

Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins

The latest update on the voting shows Ramirez taking over the lead from Miguel Tejada, and rightfully so.

Ramirez - .294 Avg, 18 HR, 69 Runs, 20 SB

Honorable Mention to Christian Guzman (.313 Avg, 110 Hits, 24 Doubles)

Third Baseman

Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves

Another no-brainer - if someone is flirting with .400, they will be an all-star. Hopefully Jones will be healthy enough to play in the game.

.394 Avg, 100 Hits, 46 RBI, 16 HR

Outfield

Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
Carlos Lee, Houston Astros
Corey Hart, Milwaukee Brewers

I'll take those three in the outfield any day over the three that are currently holding the top spots in the voting - Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Ken Griffey.

Braun - .287 Avg, 20 HR, 58 RBI, 94 Hits
Lee - .279 Avg, 18 HR, 62 RBI, 22 Doubles
Hart - .292 Avg, 14 HR, 51 RBI, 21 Doubles, 10 SB

Soriano - .283 Avg, 15 HR, 40 RBI, 11 Doubles
Fukudome - .298 Avg, 6 HR, 33 RBI, 16 Doubles
Griffey - .234 Avg, 9 HR, 34 RBI, 14 Doubles

Pitchers

The fans of course don't vote for the pitchers, but here are four starters and one reliever I would pick.

Brandon Webb - 12-4, 3.21 ERA, 94 SO, 29 BB

Edinson Volquez - 10-3, 2.08 ERA, 110 SO, 48 BB

Tim Lincecum - 9-1, 2.38 ERA, 114 SO, 43 BB

Ben Sheets - 9-2, 2.83 ERA, 91 SO, 23 BB

Brad Lidge - 19/19 Saves, 0.84 ERA, 42 SO in 32 IP

Ledge Park

Pictures from a recent day hiking trip to Dodge County's Ledge Park.

The view from one of the ledges.



We took this sign to be more of a suggestion.

Mike's hat gave him special climbing abilities.





Just down the road from Ledge Park is this landfill.

Brewers Game - Friday, June 20

The view from 14 rows behind home plate.


Unfortunately I couldn't get my camera out in time to get a good picture of the honorary first pitch, which was delivered by the "Wizard of Waukesha," Les Paul.

Brewers owner Mark Attanasio was in attendance.

J.J. Hardy sends a home run out to center field. You can see the ball streaking toward the fence.

It was a short night for Milwaukee's starter, Jeff Suppan.

Prince Fielder connects for a 2-run homer in the 3rd inning.

And is congratulated by Ryan Braun after touching home.

Marvelous Manny

Manny Parra picked up his 6th victory last night in the Brewers' series opener against the Blue Jays. Parra has been a big reason for the recent success that Milwaukee has had.

After a loss on May 3 to the Astros, in which he only lasted 4 innings, Parra's record was at 1-2, his ERA was at 5.86, and he was averaging only 4 2/3 innings per start.

Now check out his numbers:

-He is 6-2, and has won 5 of the last 6 games he started.

-He is now averaging 5 1/3 inning per start.

-His ERA is down to 4.22. In his last 8 starts, his ERA is 3.40.

-He has 39 strikeouts in his last 47 innings.

18 More For Monday

Did you catch the final (er, next-to-final) round of the US Open today? It featured yet another classic Tiger Woods comeback (on one good knee), and ended with a tie between Woods and Rocco Mediate. The two will play an 18-hole playoff tomorrow.



If you're a golf enthusiast (or even just a general sports fan) you should check out the new HBO documentary Back Nine at Cherry Hill: The Legends of the 1960 US Open. I watched it this morning and was impressed by the film's ability to not only tell the story of the thrilling moments of the tournament, but also to tell the stories of the three main competitors - Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus. And it does all of this in just one hour.

A Little Break

I've been too busy the past couple of days to do any blogging - work started Monday, softball Monday night, more work on Tuesday, little league game Tuesday night, more soul-sucking work today, and an exciting trip to the local KMart for some headphones and paper lunch bags...phew!

I'll probably take the rest of the week off from blogging.  It's going to take me a few more days to get settled into my new daily schedule, plus I've got little league stuff Friday and Saturday.  If I stumble across any free time I'll post something, otherwise I shall return Sunday.

Weeks To DL; Where Will The Brewers Go?

Milwaukee second baseman Rickie Weeks is being placed on the 15-day DL. The injury happened Friday night in Colorado, on an illegal slide that Jeff Baker from the Rockies got away with.

Weeks' numbers through 59 games:

.210 Avg

229 AB

48 Hits

30 Walks

.325 OBP

7 HR

20 RBI

43 Runs

10 SB

49 Strikeouts

So the question is, will the injury to Weeks be a negative or a positive. Many fans have been rather vocal about their displeasure for Weeks and Mike Cameron (who is hopefully moved from the #2 spot in the hitting order). Here's hoping Joe Dillon sees some more playing time:

29 Games

.282 Avg

39 AB

11 Hits -

9 Walks

.429 OBP

0 HR

3 RBI

7 Runs

1 SB

8 Strikeouts

MLB Active Leaders

The recent historical happenings around Major League Baseball got me thinking about who the active leaders are in various hitting and pitching categories. Here's what I found:

Hits

Barry Bonds - 2935
Ken Griffey - 2614
Omar Vizquel - 2614
Louis Gonzalez - 2551
Gary Sheffield - 2550

Batting Avg

Albert Pujols - .333
Ichiro Suzuki - .331
Todd Helton - .330
Vladimir Guerrero - .322
Derek Jeter - .316

RBI

Bonds - 1996
Griffey - 1728
Frank Thomas - 1701
Sammy Sosa - 1667
Manny Ramirez - 1651

Runs

Bonds - 2227
Griffey - 1574
Sheffield - 1558
Kenny Lofton - 1528
Alex Rodriguez - 1528

Triples

Lofton - 622
Bonds - 514
Juan Pierre - 411
Vizquel - 381
Tony Womack - 363

ERA

Pedro Martinez - 2.82
Roger Clemens - 3.12
Greg Maddux - 3.12
Brandon Webb - 3.17
Roy Oswalt - 3.20

Strikeouts

Randy Johnson - 4680
Clemens - 4672
Maddux - 3315
Curt Schilling - 3116
Martinez - 3034

Shutouts

Clemens - 46
Johnson - 37
Maddux - 35
Tom Glavine - 25
Mike Mussina - 23

Opp Batting Avg

Martinez - .210
Kerry Wood - .214
Johnson - .218
Johan Santana - .223
Carlos Zambrano - .228

Another Interesting Move By Ned Yost

Instead of leaving Carlos Villanueva in for the 8th inning (he had only tossed 10 pitches in a 1-2-3, 7th inning, striking out 2), Yost decided to bring in Guillermo Mota - who then promptly gave up 4 runs and blew Ben Sheets' chance at win number 7.

Villanueva has been quite good since moving to the bullpen. Tonight was the 5th game he has entered as a reliever this year, and he has yet to give up a run:

5 Games, 7 IP, 3 Hits, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 Ks

Summer Of TS, Part IV...

...is over. I received the news this morning that I would be employed for the rest of the summer. I know that this will come as a blow to all of my fellow summer bums. No more waking up after 10 am for me.

I made a pledge a month ago that I would not shave until I got a job interview. It turned out that I never got an interview, but instead got re-hired at my previous summer job spot. My beard has moved past the hobo-look stage, so I think I will keep it for a while. Hopefully Waukesha County does not have any rules against employees having facial hair.

Random Brewers Notes

-JSOnline's Anthony Witrado does a good job of summarizing the Brewers' recent success.

-This Yahoo Sports report includes comments by Ned Yost and Doug Melvin on the Bill Hall situation.

-Milwaukee finally picked up a game on Chicago, and the Brewers are now 6 games behind the cubs. Greg Maddux pitched 7 innings of 3-hit ball to snap Chicago's win streak at 9.

-Is it too early to start thinking about the Wild Card? Jim Powell brought it up during yesterday's game broadcast. Right now, among non-division leaders, only St. Louis (35-25) and Florida (32-26) have better records than Milwaukee.

-Chicago's Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome are currently 1st and 2nd in the All-Star balloting, while Ryan Braun is 10th for NL outfielders. Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. is 3rd. Check out their numbers:

Soriano: .284 Avg, 14 HR, 39 RBI, 31 Runs, 6 SB

Fukudome: .301 Avg, 3 HR, 22 RBI, 38 Runs, 5 SB

Griffey Jr.: .255 Avg, 6 HR, 27 RBI, 27 Runs, 0 SB

Braun: .299 Avg, 16 HR, 46 RBI, 33 Runs, 2 SB

Let's get the vote out Brewers fans!

-Milwaukee's 6-game winning streak has benefited from a lot of offensive production, but check out the lines for the starting pitchers for the past 6 games:

May 30 - Manny Parra: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K

May 31 - Ben Sheets: 8.2 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

June 1 - Dave Bush: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

June 2 - Jeff Suppan: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

June 3 - Seth McClung: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

June 4 - Manny Parra: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

Total: 6 Starts, 41.2 IP, 32 H, 8 ER, 9 BB, 34 K, 1.73 ERA

-A preview of today's MLB draft. Let's hope the Brewers get some strong pitching arms.

-Last year at this time, Milwaukee had a comparable record at 33-27.

Should The Brewers Trade Bill Hall?

According to this JSOnline report, Bill Hall would like to be traded. Hall is not happy with his new role as a platoon player, and he feels especially dissed because of his willingness in the past to switch positions.

It's been over a week since Russell Branyan made his 2008 debut with Milwaukee. Here are his numbers since then:

.292 Avg, 24 AB, 7 Hits, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 6 Runs, 6 Walks, 11 Ks

Hall has only appeared in 4 games since Branyan started on May 25. In 8 AB, Hall has 3 Hits, 1 RBI, 2 Runs, and 3 Ks. Hall will most likely get another start tonight against Randy Johnson. Hall has 0 hits in 8 lifetime ABs against Johnson.

If it gets to the point where Hall is becoming a clubhouse distraction, the Brewers will have to make a move. If Hall is traded, that could mean more playing time for Joe Dillon, who could start at 3B against left-handed pitchers. Dillon is hitting .273, with 9 hits in 33 AB - mostly as a pinch-hitter.

Perhaps the biggest reason to trade Hall, is that since Branyan made his first start, the Brewers are 7-2. Before that, Milwaukee was 23-26.

Miller Park Club Suite

I was fortunate enough to get an invitation to take in Sunday's Brewer game in a Miller Park club suite yesterday. We arrived at the suite about 30 minutes before the first pitch, and were welcomed by a buffet of hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken breasts, chicken tenders, chicken wings, shrimp, fruit, popcorn, assorted desserts, various sodas, about 10 different brands of beer, a few bottles of hard liquor, and 5 bottles of wine. As if that wasn't enough, there would also be pizza served during the game. The view from our seats wasn't too bad either.





Mark Loretta's solo home run in the first inning gave the Astros a brief lead.

A 6-run fourth inning gave the Brewers a fairly comfortable lead.