It's hard to think of a more one-sided "rivalry" in sports than the one currently contested between the Pirates and the Brewers. Before the Pirates' 8-5 win last night, the Brewers had taken 17 straight games between the two teams, dating back to May 22 of last season. Somehow (or maybe because of the losing streak, though the Pirates rarely seem to be the initiating team) a lot of bad blood has boiled up between the two teams, and it came to a head (again) Monday night in the eighth inning.
Last night's mini-altercation started when Brewers' reliever Chris Smith beaned Pirates' reliever Jeff Karstens. Karstens, you may recall, beaned Ryan Braun back in May, which sent Braun over the edge and led to some ridiculous and vague threats that never materialized. So Karstens got the message and started walking towards Smith, when he was intercepted by Jason Kendall, who appeared to point to first base. This is when things got interesting.
The manager who has never had a losing season -- not as a minor league manager, major league coach or major league manager -- has the Brewers playing some of the best baseball in the big leagues.
As they head into this weekend's series with the Cardinals, who are tied with the Brewers for first in the NL Central, the Brewers have won 18 of their last 24.
While Macha would be the first to tell you that the players are more responsible for winning than the manager, this team has Macha's fingerprints all over it.
NEW YORK – Basic math: subtract two pitchers who went 24-11, another who saved 28 games and two managers and what do you get?
Well, besides a boost in attendance, the Brewers say they can be even better in 2009 than last year, when they went to the playoffs for the first time since 1982.
"I think we can [be as good]," veteran infielder Craig Counsell told FanHouse last week. "We have an offense that really should be better than last year – young guys in the prime of their careers."
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.
Meet the ... Team who could easily end up with the best offense in the National League. The potential firepower of this lineup is mind-boggling. They are going to need it, because the pitching staff has a chance to embarrass itself on a regular basis. They weren't good to begin with, but now Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia have departed.
Every four years, Major League Baseball's postseason intersects with a presidential election. This is one of those years. In the spirit of the season, we here at MLB FanHouse have divided the playoff teams up for a series of debates. Here Pat Lackey and Mullet discuss the NLDS between the Brewers and Phillies. Mullet: This series may turn out to be the least competitive of all the four first-round matchups out there. There are a lot of reasons the Phillies should take care of the Brewers in three or four games, so I'll start with this one: Brad Lidge is 41-for-41 in save opportunites this season. The Brewers bullpen, meanwhile, has Eric Gagne and Guillermo Mota. You've seen it as much as I have, bullpens win in the playoffs.
Pat Lackey: It makes me vaguely sick to my stomach to point this out, but since mid-July Eric Gagne has a 3.52 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He's not the Gagne of old, as his strikeouts are way down (17 in 23 innings over that span), but he's at least done a good job of keeping guys off of the bases for the home runs he inevitably gives up. The Brewers will likely turn to Salomon Torres in a pinch before either of the guys you named and until a couple hiccups down the stretch, he was very good this year.
As far as locations go, Manhattan Beach, CA might be the top choice of places to live by athletes from a variety of sports. The nice neighborhoods, beautiful weather, and close proximity to Los Angeles are all things that seem to make living here a no-brainer. If you're a star athlete that can afford it, that is.
The community has been home to many athletes over the years, including the three we'll feature today. First we have Tony Gonzalez of the Kansas City Chiefs. His rooftop deck (pictured above) is the highlight of his place, and as such it can be yours for the low price of just under $4 million.
When Jason Kendall left Oakland last July, he was hitting .226 and most people assumed that his career as a useful offensive player was over. He hit decently in his short stint with the Cubs', but not well enough to keep his job over rookie Geovany Soto for the playoffs. That made it all the more surprising when the Brewers signed him to a $4.25 million contract to be their starting catcher this year. After a winter of jokes about Ned Yost putting him in the nine slot in the batting order, Kendall's rewarded the Brewers with a .405 batting average through two weeks. So ... is it for real?
In one word: no. His batting average on balls in play (which are the only kind of balls the powerless Kendall hits) is .417, which is absurdly high, especially with what would be a career low line drive percentage of 14.3%. Those numbers suggest, unsurprisingly, that Kendall's hot start isn't one that's terribly likely to last a whole lot longer.
And yet, there is hope for Brewers' fans. It's hard to quantify how much his off-season laser-eye surgery may have helped him and he is back in the National League and out of the McAfee Coliseum, which is a pitcher's paradise. As recently as two years ago, he put up a BABIP of .323, which would might make for a decent year if he cuts down on his strikeouts this year. He won't hit .400 and probably won't hit .300, but if he can hit .280 out of the nine slot, he'll do a decent enough job of setting the table for the top of the Brewers order.
It's no secret that Jason Kendall's been declining the past few years. Actually, declining may not cover it as much as "Kendall's dropped off a freaking table in the last two years" does. Most people had a number of theories as to why, most dealing with Kendall being a kind of old guy who's been catching since 1996 through ugly thumb and ankle injuries. Those theories make sense, but then, Kendall just got laser surgery on his eyes and claims he's seeing a whole new world:
Kendall had laser eye surgery this offseason, and he said he's seeing the ball better than he has the past six years, he said. He wore contact lenses while with the A's.
"I feel like I'm 18 again," Kendall said of his vision improvement. "I'm picking up the rotation on the ball like I used to."
Do bad eyes explain a .242/.301/.309 season between the Cubs and A's last year? Do they justify a $4.25 million contract and a starting job on a silver platter? I might buy it for a younger player, but Kendall's going to be 34 and he's caught in 1600 games in his career (he's actually the Pirates' all-time leader in games caught). Accordingly, I'm going to go ahead and assume Kendall's on the downslope of his career until his hi-tech new eyeballs prove me wrong.
Estrada for Kendall is a pretty lateral swap behind the plate, I think. They're both pretty terrible hitters at this point in their careers and just generally past their primes. I suppose the net benefit of this is that the Brewers pick up Mota, if you can call that a benefit. Mota was pretty terrible last year after coming back from his steroid suspension. Still, he's another arm in the bullpen for the Brewers, which they may need if they can't keep Francisco Cordero, who figures to be one of the hottest properties on the free agent market this year.
Honestly, I thought the Brewers would've tried harder to replace Estrada with someone that could hit. Kendall was traded from Oakland to the Cubs last year and promptly lost his job to the completely unproven Geovany Soto. He did hit better with the Cubs than he did with the A's, but that doesn't mean his .270/.362/.356 line is good. If Ned Yost bats him at the top of the order, we'll know he's officially gone insane.
The Cubs did a bunch of tinkering and trading in late July and August and it looks like almost none of it is going to affect the outcome of their five game series against the Diamondbacks. Waiver wire acquisitions Craig Monroe and Steve Trachsel, who have bombed as Cubs, were both left off the Division Series roster by Lou Piniella, while trade deadline pick-up Jason Kendall appears to be mostly relegated to backing up the emerging Geovany Soto (at least if the Sun-Times guess at the starting lineup is to be believed).
It's worth noting that while Jason Marquisisn't going to be a part of the post-season rotation (as of now, at least) he did make the roster over Sean Marshall. This choice was made because, umm, I don't know why. I'd rather have Marshall make a spot start than Marquis if the Big Z can't go on three days rest (which, frankly, is something I'm surprised Piniella is banking on). I guess Marquis is a bit older and has more experience in big games, plus the Cubs haven't used Marshall much in the past couple weeks. Still, Marshall scores high on the "Not Jason Marquis Scale," which is a completely pretend method created by me to determine how much a pitcher sucks.
One final note on the Cubbie roster: Kerry Wood will be in the bullpen. Kerry Wood on the mound in the late innings of a close playoff game. That doesn't make Cub fans shudder at all, does it?
It's hard to think of a more one-sided "rivalry" in sports than the one currently contested between the Pirates and the Brewers. Before the Pirates' 8-5 win last night, the Brewers had taken 17 straight games between the two teams, dating back to May 22 of last season. Somehow (or maybe because of the losing streak, though the Pirates rarely seem to be the initiating team) a lot of bad blood has boiled up between the two teams, and it came to a head (again) Monday night in the eighth inning. 
NEW YORK – Basic math: subtract two pitchers who went 24-11, another who saved 28 games and two managers and what do you get?
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
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Within a day, the Brewers have completely changed their catching situation. 
The Cubs did a bunch of tinkering and trading in late July and August and it looks like almost none of it is going to affect the outcome of their five game series against the Diamondbacks. Waiver wire acquisitions 
