There's something brewing - A Badenian going America

[Loeffle]

November 2007 - Milwaukee Brewers - Offseason
Manager and GM Fritsche

16th November 2007:

Rumours:

MLB leaked some information about the upcoming changes for the 2008 season. It seems to be sure that American league will expand with two teams and that maybe also two teams will switch leagues and/or divisions.
If Interleague play will be continued is not yet decided.


17th November 2007:

C Damian Miller, 3B Corey Koskie and nine minor leaguers become free agents.

SP Carlos Zambrano is the biggest name on the free agent list.


28th November 2007:

We signed minor league free agent 1B Garrett Jones. He was hitting 23 HR for AA New Britain last season. He is expected to report to AA Huntsville or AAA Nashville next season.

[Loeffle]

December 2007 - Milwaukee Brewers - Offseason
Manager and GM Fritsche

1st December 2007

Rule V Draft

We lost CF Drew Anderson (.304 in 56 AB for Huntsville) to the New York Mets, SP Dennis Sarfate (7-9, 4.08 ERA for Nashville) to the San Diego Padres and 2B Callix Crabbe (.290 in 269 AB for Nashville) to the Kansas City Royals, while we drafted MR Jeff Bajenaru (2-1-3, 2.75 ERA for Tucson).
Losing Anderson (who was missed almost all 2007 season) hurt a bit, while we easily can replace Sarfate and Crabbe at AAA Nashville.


2nd December 2007

The first "big" free agent to switch teams is C Michael Barrett (.258, 24 HR, 68 RBI for San Diego) who moves to the Mets signing a $ 68,040,000 4-year contract.

MLB announces a press conference to be held on 7th December 2007, the day when owners winter meeting end.


6th December 2007

Today we signed 36 year old C Henry Blanco (.212, 3 HR, 23 RBI for the Yankees) to a 1-year $ 580,00 contract. Blanco is one of the best defensive catchers in the game, throwing out over 55 % of runners last season.

Also SP/MR Juan Cruz (6-3, 3.62 ERA for Arizona) is going to join us as a free agent. Cruz will earn $ 1,260,000 over 2 years.


7th December 2007

The owners of current Mayor League Clubs agreed on the following.

The
Vancouver Marmots
and the
Buffalo Blizzards
are joining the noble society for the 2008 season. More information to follow soon.

The owners also agreed on a realignment to create more local rivalries, especially in the North East. Due to this Interleague-Play will continue for at least one more year. The realignment is just a first step, which is planned to continue in future years.

The 2008 setup will be like this:

American League West
Vancouver Marmots
Seattle Mariners
Oakland Athletics
Los Angeles Angels
Texas Rangers

National League West
San Francisco Giants
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies

American League Central
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Toronto Blue Jays (the Blue Jays were supposed to move to the National League Central, but Frank Thomas who recently bought a 15 % stake of the Blue Jays vetoed the move)

National League Central
Houston Astros
St. Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee Brewers
Cincinnati Reds
Buffalo Blizzards

American League East
Washington Capitals
Baltimore Orioles
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
Tampa Bay Devil Rays

National League East
Florida Marlins
Pittsburgh Pirates
Atlanta Braves
Philadelphia Phillies
New York Mets

[Loeffle]

December 2007 - Milwaukee Brewers - Expansion Details
Manager and GM Fritsche

9th December 2007

SP Fernando Nieve (6-7, 3.78 ERA for Houston) signed a 2-year contract worth $ 1,260,000 with us. We lost though the race for Carlos Zambrano who signed $ 108,470,000 seven year deal with the Cubs.


11th December 2007

We signed minor league free agent SS Marcos Yepes (.302 for A Hagerstown).


12th December 2007

The expansion teams held press conferences today giving some more information about their future.


Buffalo Blizzards

The Blizzards will Play Ball in the 48,300 Capacity Pilot Field. A Park that is going to see many doubles and triples, but very few homeruns.

40 year old Manager Dennis Church, a Liberty Lake (Washington) native will lead them into the MLB adventure.

Their Minor League Affilates are:

AAA Utica Mohawks
AA Mount Vernon Greyhounds
A White Cloud Pines (Michigan)
SA Mancos Mesa Verdes
R Randolph Republicans (Utah)
R Chula Vista Bonitos



Vancouver Marmots

The Marmots will call the Port of Vancouver Arena, a 48,900 seat park with retractable roof their new home. The stadium seems to be neutral.

Raúl Martínez a 54 year old Eden Prairie, Minnesota native is the new man at the helm.

Their Minor League Affilates are:

AAA Victoria Islanders
AA Santa Anna Colemans (Texas)
A Southmont Yadkins (Carolina)
A Prince George Nechakos
R Yellowknife Polarbears
R GCL Marmots

[Loeffle]

December 2007 - Milwaukee Brewers - Offseason
Manager and GM Fritsche

15th December 2007

Even if the Vancouver Marmots and Buffalo Blizzards have a very solid financial base, they surprisingly opted for talent over veteran in the expansion draft.

Buffalo Blizzards:
1st SP Mark Rogers (from Milwaukee)
2nd SP Jamie Richmond (from Atlanta)
3rd SP Rich Hill (from Arizona)
4th 3B Eric Campbell (from Atlanta)
5th SS Sharlon Schoop (from San Francisco)
6th SP Juan Mateo (from Chicago (N))
7th MR Ricky Barrett (from Minnesota)
8th CF Jason Place (from Boston)
9th C Maximiliano Ramirez (from Cleveland)


Vancouver Marmots:

1st MR Shairon Martis (from Washington)
2nd CF Daryl Jones (from St. Louis)
3rd SS Preston Mattingly (from Los Angeles (N))
4th CL Kevin Whelan (from New York (A))
5th 1B Kala Kaaihue (from Atlanta)
6th C Max Sapp (from Houston)
7th LF Cole Gillespie (from Milwaukee)
8th SP Kyle Winters (from Florida)
9th RF Dominic Morrow (from Kansas City)


While the expansion teams completely ignored our veterans (like Vargas, Hardy, Turnbox), they emptied our farm system. While we lost seven of our best prospects, the Braves and Dodgers lost six players each.

Gone are:
SP Mark Rogers (AAA: 9-7, 3.22 ERA, 145,1 IP, 123 H, 81 B, 152 K)
LF Cole Gillespie (AAA: .271, 9 HR, 56 RBI, 43 BB, 64 K, 9 SB, 5 CS)
SS Loran Zwartbol (17 year old Aruban we signed in late september, was considered being a "can't miss prospect)
SP Jack Egbert (MLB: 3-3, 5.77 ERA, 68.2 IP, 85 H, 27 BB, 34 K)
LF James Loney (MLB: .263, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 7 BB, 10 K)
SP Jeremy Jeffress (AA: 9-10, 3.32 ERA, 170.2 IP, 145 H, 74 BB, 156 K)
C Nestor Corredor (A: .278, 3 HR, 35 RBI, 19 BB, 44 K)

Rogers, Gillespie, Egbert and Loney were supposed to be on our spring training roster.

[Loeffle]

December 2007 - Milwaukee Brewers - Offseason
Manager and GM Fritsche

16th December 2007

The Colorado Rockies signed free agent RF Bobby Abreu (.252, 11 HR, 52 RBI for the Yankees) on a deal worth $ 26,360,000 over 4 years

MR Rui Makino was released after he refused being sent down to AAA Nashville.


23rd December 2007

We signed free agent RF Franklin Gutierrez (.272, 1 HR, 8 RBI) on a 2 year contract worth $ 910,000.


27th December 2007

We traded AAA Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year R.A. Dickey (17-4, 3,59 ERA, 49 BB, 106 K AAA for Nashville) to Los Angeles Angeles for SPs David Herndon (Texas League Pitcher of the Year; 18-5, 2.94 ERA, 58 BB, 154 K for AA Arkansas) and Rafael Rodriguez (11-11, 3.43 ERA, 37 BB, 147 K at A Level).

This trade was made to give us some depth in starting pitching in the minor leagues. Dickey was an warhorse, but is already 34 years old.


30th December 2007

Today we signed a big free agent. We finalized a 3 year $ 20,560,000 contract with left handed CL Soichi Fujita (4-6-30, 2.00, 5 BB, 44 K in 54.0 IP for Chiba Lotte). Fujita was 2007 Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star. It has to be seen if he can challange Cordero for the closer job, or if he will be the set up man.

On the same evening we made a big trade with the Washington Nationals. They get INF Tony Graffanino (.275, 10 HR, 44 RBI), MR Brian Shouse (4-3-2, 4.89 ERA, 35.0 IP, 37 H, 16 BB, 31 K), as well as minor leaguers SS Chris Barnwell and 1B Joe Dillon, while we receive SP Cory van Allen (A 9-7, 4.87 ERA, 146.1 IP, 133 H, 50 BB, 114 K) and CF Justin Maxwell (AAA .246, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 8 SB)

With the arrival of Fujita there was no chance for Shouse anymore. Therefore we packed another youth for veterans trade.


31st December 2007

Another trade before the year ends. As AAA CF Laynce Nix was no longer needed we exchanged him with Twins prospect SP Kyle Waldrop (9-8, 4.79 ERA, 171 IP, 212 H, 37 BB, 72 K).

The years ends, and 2007 was a great one. Even if we completely underestimated the expansion draft we filled almost all problem areas.

[Loeffle]

January 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers - Offseason
Manager and GM Fritsche

6th January 2008

We signed today free agent 2B/SS Luis Rivas (.259, 6 HR, 45 RBI, 10 SB for Cleveland) to a 2 year $ 1,220,000 contract. He should fill the hole that Graffanino's departure left.

MLB announced today to start the season with the two expansion teams facing each other for an expansion games. We were left wondering if MLB considered the climate in Buffalo in early March?


26th January 2008

Once again we did business with the Phillies. This time to solve our problem at Nr. 4/5 starter. We sent SP Claudio Vargas (6-9, 4.95 ERA) and minor leaguer SP Tim Dillard packing and got SP Freddy Garcia (11-11, 5.16 ERA). Despite his ugly numbers last season we think that Garcia is a much better pitcher than Vargas. Time will show ...

Six weeks after they were founded the Buffalo Blizzards hired a GM. Before that they signed two veteran free agents Isringhausen from St. Louis and Lowell from Boston.

[Loeffle]

February & March 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers - Offseason
Manager and GM Fritsche

13th February 2007

We claim C Lou Marson (.249, 5 HR, 22 RBI at AAA Ottawa) from the Phillies, who put him on waivers.

The Indians make a trade proporsal which includes basically Sizemore for Sheets. We decline as our fans would kill me and we don't need another outfielder.


2nd March 2007

Expansion Exhibition Game

Buffalo Blizzards at Vancouver Marmots - Port of Vancouver Arena

Clear skies (40 degrees), wind blowing in from left at 22 mph, a crowd of 37762 watching the first ever game of these teams.

Buffalo Blizzards

C. Dunlap DH
T. Snider RF
J. Loney 1B
A. Marte 3B
E. Campbell 2B
E. Lis LF
B. Clevlen CF
M. Ramirez C
M. Lowell SS

R. Hill SP

Vancouver Marmots

C. Golson CF
W. Aybar 3B
C. Gillespie DH
K. Kaaihue 1B
M. Cuddyer RF
A. Rowand LF
B. Phillips 2B
P. Mattingly SS
M. Sapp C

C. Silva SP

W: C. Silva, L: R. Hill
HR - A. Marte / M. Sapp, A. Rowand
MoM: A. Rowand 1-3 (HR, 3 RBI)
Silva pitches a complete game, giving up 7 hits, 3 runs, 1 BB and strikes out 3.

Final Score:
Buffalo Blizzards 3 - Vancouver Marmots 9


4th March 2007

Expansion Exhibition Game

Vancouver Marmots at Buffalo Blizzards - Pilot Field

Once again perfect weather for baseball - almost at least.

Partly Cloudy (18 degrees), wind blowing out to left at 18 mph, attendance 37329

W: K. Johnson, L: S. Hill, S: J. Marshall
HR - M. Cuddyer, G. Golson / E. Campbell
MoM: G. Golson 3-4 (2 RBI homer)

Final Score:
Vancouver Marmots 3 - Buffalo Blizzards 6

No injuries on both sides after the expansion exhibition games took place in rather winterly environments.


Coming up next: Spring Training

[Loeffle]

March 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers - Spring Training
Manager and GM Fritsche

7th March 2008

We head with the following squad to spring training, where we are supposed to play 24 games until 31st March.

SP Ben Sheets
SP David Bush
SP Chris Capuano
SP Yovani Gallardo
SP Freddy Garcia
SP Cory Van Allen
SS Carlos Villanueva
MR Elmer Dessens
MR Alan Embree
MR Juan Cruz
MR Manny Parra
MU Matt Wise
MU Fernando Nieve
SR Jose Capellan
SR Derrick Turnbow
SR Justin Orenduff
CL Francisco Cordero
CL Soichi Fujita

Even if most pitching spots seem distributed some of the young guns will get their chance to show what they have to offer.

C Lou Marson
C Henry Blanco
C Johnny Estrada
C Mike Rivera
1B Prince Fielder
1B Brad Nelson
2B Rickie Weeks
2B Luis Rivas
2B Hernan Iribarren
3B Bill Hall
3B Mat Gamel
SS Cesar Izturis
SS Alcides Escobar
LF Ryan Braun
LF Charles Thomas
CF Tony Gwynn Jr.
CF Shane Victorino
RF Lorenzo Cain
RF Franklin Gutierrez
RF Gabe Gross


Our first match showed that the team is still VERY rusty:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H
Milwaukee Brewers	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	0	5	9	12	6
Arizona Diamondbacks	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	5	9	0

12th March 2007

LF Ryan "Calamity" Braun damaged his knee meniscus today. He is expected to be out for two weeks. The Brewers are currently 2-3 in spring season. The Buffalo Blizzards and Chicago Cubs are the best NL Central teams so far. They carry both a 3-2 record.


13th March 2007

SP Cory Van Allen who was considered to have a chance on making the active roster, got a herniated disc in his first start for the Brewers. After only ten pithces he was done. He is out for seven weeks and won't be back until May.
We decided not to call up another player to take his roster spot in spring training.


19th May 2007

Half of Spring Training is over, and we are going 6-6. Hopefully Braun will soon be back, as Fielder seems to be the only one to bat in runs at the moment. Yost shows once again that he can't coach.

[Loeffle]

April 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche

Spring training ended on a positive note as Ryan "Calamity" Braun could at least get some at bats after his injury. We finished spring training with a 13-11 record, even if Ned Yost mishandled the bullpen in virtually every game. When we were 6-8 he was very close to get the sack.

Toronto, Pittsburgh, the Cubs and the Mets had the best record going 15-9, while San Diego finished dead last with a 6-18 record.

Surprisingly the Buffalo Blizzards (11-13) did better than the Vancouver Marmots (7-17) during spring training.

After spring training we had to decide on some moves which we didn't expect in Early March. Some players did so bad, while others really showed they have potential for the mayors.

Our projected opening day squad:

SP Ben Sheets (0-1, 12.00 ERA)
SP Yovani Gallardo (0-0, 2.25 ERA)
SP Manny Parra (2-1, 3.45 ERA)
SP David Bush (1-0, 5.40 ERA)
SP Chris Capuano (0-1, 4.50 ERA)
SS Freddy Garcia (2-0, 4.50 ERA)
MR Alan Embree (0-0-1, 4.63 ERA)
MR Juan Cruz (0-1-0, 4.82 ERA)
MU Elmer "Victoria" Dessens (2-0-1, 1.76 ERA)
SR/CL Soichi Fujita (1-2-7, 5.73 ERA)
SR Jose Capellan (2-1-0, 6.28 ERA)
CL Francisco Cordero (0-0-0, 8.44 ERA)

Kind of shocking that 37 year old Dessens was once again our best pitcher. Gallardo seems to be back on track after his injury, while Sheets, Capellan and Cordero simply looked awful.

MR Matt Wise (2-1-0, 2.89 ERA)
MR Justin Orenduff (0-2-0, 4.05 ERA)
MR Carlos Villanueva (1-0-0, 0.00 ERA)
CL Derrick Turnbow (0-0-0, 6.00 ERA)

were sent down to AAA Nashville.


C Henry Blanco (.233, 2 HR, 6 RBI)
C Johnny Estrada (.255, 3 HR, 8 RBI)
1B Prince "Naughty Chow" Fielder (.364, 5 HR, 21 RBI)
2B Rickie Weeks (.305, 4 HR, 6 RBI)
2B Luis Rivas (.184, 1 HR, 5 RBI)
3B Mat Gamel (.257, 1 HR, 5 RBI)
3B Bill Hall (.241, 0 HR, 3 RBI)
SS Cesar Izturis (.326, 0 HR, 7 RBI)
LF Ryan "Calamity" Braun (.333, 0 HR, 1 RBI)
CF Shane "Flyin Hawaiian" Victorino (.209, 1 HR, 5 RBI)
CF Tony Gwynn Jr. (.279, 1 HR, 5 RBI)
RF Lorenzo Cain (.326, 2 HR, 8 RBI)
RF Gabe Gross (.327, 3 HR, 9 RBI)

Some of the young World Series stars had to make the trip back to Nashville. The situation as SS is not satisfactory as Rivas wasn't able to challenge Izturis, who is not expected to play every game.

The unlucky ones are:

C Mike Rivera (.188, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
C Lou Marson (.263, 0 HR, 2 RBI
1B Brad Nelson (.355, 0 HR, 3 RBI)
2B Hernan Iribarren (.216, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
SS Alcides Escobar (.235, 1 HR, 2 RBI)
LF Charles Thomas (.333, 2 HR, 7 RBI)
CF Charlie Fermaint (.333, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
RF Franklin Gutierrez (.206, 2 HR, 7 RBI)


After the last spring season game and the roster moves were made, owner Mark Attanasio told me that we are expected to make the playoffs. A natural goal after we won it all last season, but several players seemed to lose a lot during the winter.

Our payroll (approx. $ 63.000.000) is only one third of the Yankees one.

Our first regular season series will bring us to Los Angeles, where we face the Dodgers. The Marmots of Vancouver host the Royals, while the Buffalo Blizzards travel to Philladelphia.

www.bzol.de - remember how badly their predictions sucked in the playoffs - picks the following teams as division winners:

New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays
Seattle Mariners
New York Mets
Chicago Cubs
Arizona Diamondbacks

[Jestor]

Nice surprise World Series win, but the pressure's on now.

[Loeffle]

Originally Posted by Jestor

Nice surprise World Series win, but the pressure's on now.

Yes - I landed there by accident, could be compared with the 13th inning win the Rockies had against the Padres ...

Will play my opener in some minutes, but I doubt we are good enough to repeat Maybe I should sack Yost, just for fun

[Loeffle]

April 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche

6th April 2008 - Opening Day

Game #1 – Milwaukee [0-0] (B. Sheets 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Los Angeles Dodgers [0-0] (C. Kershaw 0-0, 0.00 ERA)

As the Dodgers chose lefty 19-game loser Kershaw as their opening starter, our lineup wasn't exactly what I supposed being out every day line-up:

SS Cesar Izturis
RF Lorenzo Cain
2B Rickie Weeks
LF Ryan Braun
1B Prince Fielder
CF Bill Hall
3B Mat Gamel
C Henry Blanco
P Ben Sheets

The Dodgers countered with:

CF Juan Pierre
2B Tony Abreu
LF Matt Kemp
3B Andy LaRoche
RF Andre Ethier
1B Olmedo Saenz
SS Rafael Furcal
C Russell Martin
P Clayton Kershaw

Kershaw (6.75 ERA) and Sheets (12.10 ERA) were both horrible in spring training, so the audience was very curious how they would pitch on opening day.

The game itself was not a very spectacular one. The Dodgers took the lead through a rare Tony Abreu homer in the first. They added another one in the fourth, which was virtually enough to beat us. We wasted three baserunners in the ninth to lose the first game of the season.

Milwaukee at Dodgers: 2-3

W: C. Kershaw (1-0), L: B. Sheets (0-1)
H: H. Kuo (1), T. Saito (1)
S. J. Broxton (1)
HR - / T. Abreu (1), A. LaRoche (1)
MoM: C. Kershaw - 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K


Elsewhere:

The Buffalo Blizzards 4th Round Expansion Draft Pick 2B Eric Campbell tore his back muscle and is expected to be out for 1 year and 1 month. The Blizzards lost their mayor league debut 5-1 at the Phillies, while their expansion comrades the Vancouver Marmots blew a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the 8th, to fall 9-5 to the visiting Kansas City Royals.

[Loeffle]

April 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche

7th April 2008

Game #2 – Milwaukee [0-1] (Y. Gallardo 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Los Angeles Dodgers [1-0] (A. Reyes 0-0, 0.00 ERA)

After the shaky start against lefty Kershaw we would today stick to our standard lineup against righties:

SS C. Izturis - CF S. Victorino - LF R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - 2B R. Weeks -
RF G. Gross - 3B B. Hall - C Johnny Estrada

Dodgers starter Reyes came to L.A. in exchange for 3B Betemit.

Game 2 started like a clone of Game 1 with the Dodgers taking an early lead through a homerun. We eventually took the lead thanks to four two out runs in the fifth. Gallardo had thrown already 100 pitches after five innings, so we had to rely on the bullpen. The bullpen looked sharped, but a naughty Prince Fielder error in the 7th allowed the Dodgers to tie the game at 6. With speedy Pierre leading the 9th of with a single, stealing 2nd and two sacrifice flies, the Dodgers also won this one by smallest all margins. It's no disaster to lose the first two games on the road. But I didn't like the relaxed approach some of my players showed. Most positive so far are Braun and Victorino. Tomorrow we have to avoid the sweep at all costs!

Milwaukee at Dodgers: 6-7

W: D. Lowe (1-0), L: S. Fujita (0-1)
BS: J. Capellan (1)
HR - R. Braun (1) / O. Saenz (1)
MoM: J. Pierre - 4-5, 3 R, 1 RBI, SB

Elsewhere:

The Marmots (4-2 over the Royals) and the Blizzards (9-2 at the Phillies) took both their first franchise victories in their second game.

We claimed World Series hero Brian Shouse of waivers from the Washington Nationals after we traded him there just a week ago. Shouse will pitch for AAA Nashville until one of our relievers begins to struggle.

[Loeffle]

April 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche

8th April 2008

Game #3 – Milwaukee [0-2] (M. Parra 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Los Angeles Dodgers [2-0] (J. McDonald 0-0, 0.00 ERA)

We can only hope that Parra continues his spring training form and outduel McDonald who had a 0.95 WHIP in the same period:

SS C. Izturis - CF S. Victorino - LF R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - 2B R. Weeks -
RF G. Gross - 3B B. Hall - C H. Blanco

And of course it was McDonald who continued his hot streak, and Parra who suddenly pitched like we saw last season. The Dodgers got a comfortable 5-0 and we wasted the few baserunners we eventually got. Alexander, Elbert and Lowe ran the Dodgers into the trouble and allowed us to rally to 5-4. LA closer Wright allowed runners on 2nd and 3rd just to get pinch hitter Estrada to pop out. Our rally was in vain as Wright pitched a perfect ninth.

We got sweeped and lost all three games by one run. Depressing!

Milwaukee at Dodgers: 4-5

W: J. McDonald (1-0), L: M. Parra (0-1)
H: S. Elbert (1), D. Lowe (1)
S: W. Wright (1)
HR - / T. Denker (1)
MoM: J. McDonald - 7.1 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K


Elsewhere:

Other sweeps Boston over Baltimore, Oakland over Los Angeles, Tampa Bay at Texas, Florida over Pittsburgh and San Diego over Cincinnati.
The Mets lose SP Pedro Martinez for 13 months due to a fractured elbow. They won their game at Atlanta anyway by a score of 20-4 with SS Jose Reyes and CF Lastings Milledge going both 5-6.

[Hurkman]

You have Shane Victorino...As far as I am concerned, you now have to go 159-3 the rest of the season with him on your roster. Seriously, though, this is a great start, and even though you completely stole Shane from Philly, I like the way this looks, and you've got a reader!

[Loeffle]

Originally Posted by Hurkman

You have Shane Victorino...As far as I am concerned, you now have to go 159-3 the rest of the season with him on your roster. Seriously, though, this is a great start, and even though you completely stole Shane from Philly, I like the way this looks, and you've got a reader!

Well thanks Nice to get some feedback I hope my English isn't too bad to get what I want to tell? The Phillies got Kevin Mench who gives them at least more power, but no speed in outfield (and who earns eight times more than Victorino this season).

After Gwynn Jr. had a very bad offseason I gave centerfield to Victorino and he is one of the very few bright signs in offense so far. Let's hope he is going to develop positively.

I have a long weekend, so you can expect a couple of games this weekend. It takes some time as I play every game in person (no use to let Ned Yost the job). Next up a home series against the 3-0 Padres.

[Loeffle]

April 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche

9th April 2008

Game #4 – San Diego [3-0] (D. Sarfate 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Milwaukee [0-3] (D. Bush0-0, 0.00 ERA)

A interesting matchup; our best pitcher in 2007 D. Bush faces D. Sarfate who pitched for our AAA affilate Nashville last season and was eventually picked up in the Rule V draft by San Diego. I'd say Sarfate showed last season he is not good enough for the big league, but let's wait and see:

SS C. Izturis - CF S. Victorino - LF R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - 3B B. Hall -
RF G. Gross - 2B R. Weeks - C J. Estrada

There won't be many words about this game. Sarfate had a one hitter through six innings. The Padres had 20 hits, we had 4. To make everything worse Freddy Garcia was injured and will be out up to two weeks.

San Diego at Milwaukee: 13-2

W: D. Sarfate (1-0), L: D. Bush (0-1)
HR - N. Crosta (2), C. Huffman (1), C. Hunter (1) / P. Fielder (1)
MoM: C. Hunter - 4/6, 3 R, 2 RBI, HR, SB

Elsewhere:

After Gameday 4 we are the only team going 0-4. Next up C. Capuano ...


We decided to place Garcia on the DL and called up Carlos Villanueva from Nashville. Nashville received Mike Jones from Huntsville as replacement for Villanueva from Huntsville.

[Loeffle]

April 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche

10th April 2008

Game #5 – San Diego [4-0] (C. Young 0-0, 0.00 ERA) at Milwaukee [0-4] (C. Capuano 0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Young went 4-14 with 6.78 ERA last season. Maybe a chance to win for the first time?

RF S. Victorino - 3B B. Hall - LF R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - 2B R. Weeks - C J. Estrada - CF T. Gwynn Jr. - SS C. Izturis

Also in our fifth game we were unable to take a lead, despite collecting 14 hits and 6 walks. It actually looked like a straight away loss again, but some of our guys showed some heart tying the game at 4 in the eighth. In the tenth it was up to our "big" Japanese free agent Fujita to lose it for us. He was not able to get an out. Sad but true, the Worls Series champion is 0-5 now. What was the worst start ever for a defending champion?

San Diego at Milwaukee: 7-4 (10)

W: M. Adams (1-0), L: S. Fujita (0-2)
H: H. Bell (1), T. Mastny (2), R. Ring (2)
BS: M. Adams (1)
S: C. Meredith
HR - M. Bradley (1), A. Gonzalez (1) /
MoM: A. Gonzalez - 3/5, 1 R, 4 RBI, HR

Elsewhere:

Nate Robertson pitches a four hitter (10-0) for the Tigers against the Devil Rays.

Four of our Minor League teams started their season today. Obviously all of them lost their games ...

[Loeffle]

April 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche

11th April 2008

After the first five games our starter are 0-3 with an 6.43 ERA and our new 20.650.000 Dollar man Soichi Fujita is 0-2 an 27.03 ERA. Maybe those fans who questioned this blockboster free agent signing were right? Maybe we should have outraised the Cubs $ 108,470,000 7 year contract for ace Carlos Zambrano? Why is our offensive virtually dead with runners in scoring position?

Game #6 – San Diego [5-0] (J. Peavy 1-0, 0.00 ERA) at Milwaukee [0-5] (B. Sheets 0-1, 4.26 ERA)

Peavy allowed 2 hits and 1 walk in his season debut. If he continues like that we will be 0-6 after our first home series.

SS C. Izturis - CF S. Victorino - LF R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - 2B R. Weeks - RF G. Gross - 3B B. Hall - C J. Estrada

The game was open - even if we never had the lead - until C Estrada threw the ball into the outfield with the double steal on in the 6th. Instead of having two outs and a runner on second. We collected a run and had one runner on third with one out. With the top of the lineup hitting well today, we threatened twice in the 7th and 8th. But the Padres hold on their lead and moved to 6-0. On a positive note Dessens and Fujita combined for three scoreless innings.

San Diego at Milwaukee: 6-4

W: J. Peavy (2-0), L: B. Sheets (0-2)
H: T. Mastny (3)
S: C. Meredith (3)
HR - n/a
MoM: C. Izturis - 4/5, 1 R (hard to bat leadoff for the 2008 Brewers)

Elsewhere:

The New York Mets were dealt a blow when they learned that their ace Mike Pelfrey (2-0, 2.03 ERA) will miss the rest of the season after he suffered a torn becep muscle.
Minnesota's Francisco Liriano threw a 3-hitter against the Boston Red Sox blanking them 9-0.
The Padres are the only team at 6-0 after two series.

[Loeffle]

April 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers
Manager and GM Fritsche

12th April 2008

Now on the agenda: a trip to Barry Bonds less (he signed a 2 year contract worth $ 36,080,000 with the Florida Marlins, where he is a bench player) San Francisco Giants. Our team leader Cesar Izturis remembered us that we had a very good record against the Giants last season. And that this series must be a turning point! The Giants lost four in a row, which means they are almost as cold as we.

Game #7 – Milwaukee [0-6] (Y. Gallardo 0-0, 7.20 ERA) at San Francisco [2-4] (J. Sanchez 0-0, 9.64 ERA)

LF S. Victorino - RF L. Cain - 2B R. Weeks - 3B R. Braun - 1B P. Fielder - CF B. Hall - SS L. Rivas - C H. Blanco

What a great game this was. Everything went very smooth until Mr. Cruz and Mr. Cordero started the bottom of the 9th with a 7-3 lead. As our bullpen is quite overused there weren't many options left. Cruz pitched a perfect 8th, so why pull him before the 9th having a lead? Anyway he allowed a runner on 1st and 2nd, before our "closer" came in to mess away also this game. 2 extra base hits and a wild pitch were all the Giants needed for their walk off victory. Now we are 0-7 and would even lose to George W's White House All Stars at the moment.

W: B. Wilson (1-0), L: F. Cordero (0-1)
H: J. Capellan (1), A. Embree (1), J. Cruz (1)
BS: F. Cordero (1)
HR - / R. Durham (1)
MoM: R. Durham - 2/4, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI

Elsewhere:

The Reds catcher Dave Ross homered thrice in 6-4 win over the Braves.
Both expansion teams won again and improoved to 4-3. This means they have combined less losses than the reigning World Series champion Milwaukee.

We decided to place Lorenzo Cain on the 15 day DL. He was injured through a collission at home plate. Franklin Gutierrez will get his chance.