Backwards baby: On the baby front, we found out a few weeks ago the baby is still breech (upside down for the non-parents out there). We went in today to see if he could be maneuvered from the outside (using an ECV procedure) by the OBGYN to get his head down. After a good five minutes of trying to get his head down, the surgeon gave up and we’re now scheduled for a Cesarean section. It’s no guarantee that he’ll even wait another couple weeks of course and we could go in at any minute from here on out, but Jenny is doing well and appreciates all the well wishes. The boy on the other hand is already proving himself to be a child who doesn’t listen to his parents by stubbornly refusing to spin for us this morning. So scheduling is good because we can plan ahead a bit with Emerson and Carter, but unfortunately the baby doesn’t yet have a copy of the calendar, so he could just decide to come whenever. We’re still not 100% settled on a first name.
Brewers halfway through are half as good as they could be: So, the Brewers are 40-49 at the half way point of the season. Some are calling for the team to dump it’s best players because the season is “lost” at this point. What??! While 9 games under .500 isn’t anything to brag home about, it’s certainly not bad enough to be raising the white flag on a season only half complete in my opinion. We’re only 8.5 games back in the division for crying out loud! That’s only a four win/lose swing! To all the haters and depressing cynics out there, get over it. The only time you seem to be happy is when you’re bragging about what a great team this was in 1982 and how no other Brewers team will ever compare to that. For the rest of us Brewers fans who pull for them no matter what, there’s a lot to be optimistic about.
I watch a lot of baseball. I’ve either been at or watched on TV about 75% of the Brewers games. While there have been some truly terrible games they’ve played this year, that’s not something that’s unique to a single team within Major League Baseball over a 140+ game schedule. If you think about it, we’d be a .500 team and right there for the division lead if it weren’t for the 5 blown saves and 4 loses by the formerly unshakable Trevor Hoffman. The starting pitching has come around to be at least “decent”, the bullpen has settled down and isn’t continually losing games for us, and our new closer – hipster favorite John Axford – has been spectacular with a 4-1 record and 10 saves with a 2.8 ERA since given the closing role. Wax that mustache all you want my man as long as you keep striking out opposing hitters!
On offense, it’s good to see Prince playing to where he should be and Corey Hart’s explosive bat has been a nice surprise. While Ryan Braun has been on a bit of a skid lately, it’s good to see that they’re winning despite that because other guys on the team are stepping up, Ricky Weeks and Casey McGhee especially.
The All Star Break means that trade rumors are swirling as well. I think it would be a mistake for the Brewers to trade Corey Hart at this point in the season, when they’re a winning streak away from making a play at the division. I think the Brewers have invested a lot of time and resources into him and they should be enjoying the fact that they’re reaping the rewards of one of their prospects instead of considering cashing him in for another prospect (that I assume we’d develop and then trade away for a few more, like we’re some sort of never ending farm club for teams with bigger pocket books than ours). I do support cashing out on Hoffman though since he’s being paid a lot of money to basically sit in the bullpen and do nothing but watch Axford continue to steal his old job. There’s a team out there I have to imagine who would take Trevor in exchange for a decent middle set up man which is something we can use.
I could obviously write about this all day as it’s one of the few other subjects I have a very strong opinion on, but the bottom line is everyone knows the Brewers are a better team than 40-49 half way through the season. I sure do believe it and I know the players and coaches do as well. With one or two small adjustments, this team can catch fire in the second half of the season, and it will be a heck of a lot of fun to watch if they’re allowed to do that.
New buses for Milwaukee County Transit: On the transit front, the first of the new clean diesel Milwaukee County buses have arrived which is great news. The aging fleet has been needing replacement for some time now, and thankfully there was some stimulus money that came through to purchase the 125 new buses which will be cleaner and more efficient to operate. Stimulus dollars used to purchase equipment that was built next door in Minnesota… good deal. Unless you’re a responsibility free right wing talk show host, then this will be a complete failure and just go to ‘prove’ how the stimulus hasn’t done a lick of good for the economy or jobs!
I live in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI with my wife Jen, our daughter Emerson, and sons Carter and Colton.
