Milwaukee's Daily Magazine Friday, Dec. 11, 2009

Sign in | Register now

In Sports Commentary

By Dave Begel Special to OnMilwaukee.com E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Dave Begel

Published May 13, 2008 at 5:11 a.m.

Tags: brewers, ned yost, doug melvin, mark attanasio

No matter what they say, I'm going to keep on beating my head against this wall until it crumbles or the idiots who keep building it shut up.

Let me make it as clear as I can.

NED YOST IS NOT THE REASON THE BREWERS AREN'T WINNING!

Everybody needs to understand that the chattering class (scruffy sports columnists, stupid talk radio hosts, semi-stupid talk radio hosts, guys who've never played a down or an inning or a quarter in their lives, people who think a $20 ticket and a seat on the couch makes them some kind of expert) has a vested interest in calling for Ned Yosts' scalp.

The way they figure it, if there isn't any controversy, nobody cares what they have to say. They may be right about that. And so, they decide to create a controversy.

One of the main idiots went on a sleep-deprivation strike until the Brewers won a game. It almost made you hope for a major league-record losing streak.

The problem, of course, is that Yost is not colorful. He is very, very businesslike. He may be stubborn. But, he's also one hell of a lot smarter about baseball than the cumulative wisdom of all the jerks that are running around calling for his scalp.

After the game Saturday, I was driving home from Madison and listened to post-game shows on WAUK, WSSP and WTMJ. They were all pretty much the same.

On one, a caller said, "God, I look at Yost in the dugout on TV and he never shows any expression. Get rid of him."

Yes. And bring in Marcel Marceau.

All of the hosts questioned the call for the suicide squeeze when Jason Kendall missed the sign. They used the play as another excuse to blast Yost.

Anyone who doesn't have an axe to grind and who knows baseball knows that the call was perfect. The infield was playing back. They had taken no time between batters, so the defense couldn't even think about the squeeze. And the run would have given the Brewers the lead. A perfect call, but badly executed. Certainly not the fault of the manager.

I don't mind a change in coaches. The Bucks did the right thing with their housecleaning, even though stability might have ended up with the same result in the long run.

We all drank the same Kool-Aid regarding this edition of the Brewers. We all believed that last year was going to be equaled and even exceeded this year.

What nobody seemed to recognize is that the Brewers have a bunch of babies on their team. I'm not talking personality, necessarily. I'm talking about time on the job.

Look at the heart of the roster -- Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, Braun, Hart and Hall. Have any of these guys established a lengthy record of consistently high performance? The answer is no.

You can count each of their years of experience on the less than all the fingers on one hand.

If you ask anyone who knows anything at all about sports, the thing they know is that young players are remarkably inconsistent. You can get brilliance one week and the next week they look like they don't even know what game they are playing. It's part of the growing process.

Last year, many of these kids had surprisingly good seasons. This year, not so good. And the record reflects that.

Here's the operative question:

What could Yost do that he's not doing that would make this team better? If you answer something about lineup changes or the pitcher going back to batting ninth or rotation of pitchers, then you don't have a clue.

Many of the areas in a baseball game when the manager has to make decisions come only when the team is hitting and putting runners on base. With the lousy hitting the Brewers displayed last week, Yost wasn't even faced with those decisions.

You can talk about setting the emotional tone for a team and making sure players are ready, eager and willing to play. A big deal in football, a slightly smaller deal in basketball and not so much of a deal in baseball.

If anything, this might be a time for general Doug Melvin to step in with a couple of things.

First, he could make sure the players know that Yost is the manager now and is going to be the manager all season long. Players are very sensitive to turmoil in the front office and that sensitivity leads to inconsistent play.

Next, make sure that Ted Simmons stops being the manager-in-waiting and have him sit near Yost and send the message that he's helping his boss. Every time I see the Brewers dugout, Simmons is on one end and Yost at the other.

Finally, talk to the boss, Mark Attanasio, and tell him that this franchise is going to stop panicking, as it has done so often over the last two decades. If you believe you are on the right track, don't let the dumb asses with microphones or pens make you do something stupid.

We've had years and years of that with the Brewers. Now is the time to show we have some faith.

7 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by mikeb on May 14, 2008 at 9:50 a.m. (report)

Dave, If a batting lineup is unimportant, why don't managers simply draw the order out from a hat? So let's start with the precept that a batting order is important. Using that precept, what is the basis for batting a strikeout prone guy like Mike Cameron #2 in the order? What's the notion for batting JJ Hardy in front of the pitcher when he's shown he's a fastball hitter who lacks the patience to work the count in that spot? Wouldn't hardy see a few more fastballs in the #2 hole? I'm not going to say Yost is the entire problem for the Brewers. he's been saddled with some bad signings by Doug Melvin (who should be the guy on the hotseat) and no one knows how much control Yost really has on things like playing time. That said, any reasonably intelligent person who has watched a lot of baseball should be able to question things without being demeaned by a guy writing for a website. Dave, I hate to say it, but you come across as a really bitter guy who really wants a job at the Journal or on one of the sports talk stations. I would also suggest that before you comment about the personal appearance of sportswriters that you take a look in the mirror yourself.

---

Posted by sandstorm on May 14, 2008 at 4:15 a.m. (report)

First of all, this is not Sandstorm...I'm the jerk who's staying at his/her house and using his/her computer. I clicked on the comment section and the name came up. The opinions voiced here are not those of Sandstorm. That said, wow is Begel an idiot. I mean, where does he get off with his "authoritative" comments? I am from out of town and Sandstorm has been kind enough to give up his/her couch to me (I don't read this enough to know if y'all know his/her gender, so that's why I'm doing this - Especially since I'm hijacking the account while Sandstorm sleeps). I watch every game on MLB.TV - which I pay for because I chose to leave town & love The Brewers - and, I've seen too many close-ups of Ned yawning in the dugout, or just looking bored in the back of the dugout. Now, I'm like anyone - I don't want my boss breathing down my neck (and might actually work harder for a boss I like), but, as a fan, I need to see a little more fire. Ned's detachment during games just doesn't translate well to the fans. Maybe he has a "we did this in practice" or "we've already gone over this" attitude, but *maybe* a little fire in the dugout would fire up his players. The ultimate argument though, often comes down to pitching changes. I'm not going to pretend to be an authority (like Begel), but baseball has been around a lot longer than "the closer" and if your closer is about to give up a game, TAKE HIM OUT. I was in town for the 1st Dodgers' game tonight and thankfully it worked out...But I was also in Houston when Gagne gave up a 6-4 lead. I'm still rallying behind Gagne and I'd love to see him get back into form, but if he's faltering, how does that help him (or us) to leave him in? I realize "Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical," so I'm trusting Ned for now...I'm just asking for a little mental/physical reaction to what is happening in the game - and maybe a little more explanation about what is going on in his head. It's not like he'd be giving up too much by saying something beyond the stock quotes. Finally (to discredit my entire post), I (along with some of my friends and drinking buddies) have felt for a long time that The Brewer's players need some good nicknames to become loved by the nation. "Swiss Army Knife" is a step in the right direction, except it is too long, doesn't really roll off the tongue, and was thought up by Lou Piniella. The last good nickname we had was "El Caballo", and we didn't think of that either. This responsibility lands firmly on Uecker & Powell. Let Yost concentrate on baseball issues, while Bob and Jim figure out how to makeup some memorable/lovable/legendary baseball names.

---

Posted by pjk on May 14, 2008 at 2:52 a.m. (report)

10 games below .500 since last July. Not quite Casey Stengel numbers.

---

Posted by tburkett33 on May 13, 2008 at 1:44 p.m. (report)

Once again Begel shows his general lack of knowledge and writes his timely "Everyone else but me are idiots" column. Since when is DB above the unwashed idiots. Talk show hosts and columnists guys who make a living talking and dissecting sports are all clueless huh? And what give DB the authority to be the smartest man in the room. First of all the "idiot" who deprived himself of sleep united frustrated Brewer fans all across the city. What started off as a sill radio stunt took the attention of a team that was slumping badly and gave Brewer fans something more to rally for. Also I beleive if the Brewers had lost the series aganst the Cardinals and subsequently fell 8 games back Ned Yost was squarely on ther hot seat. I still think his job isn't safe. He's loyal too a fault, his teams play too tight and he's bad with the media. In a business where butts in seats and fan love is important to the bottom line results and bad karma caused by the manager won't cut it. DB thanks once again for giving me a reason to write a comment. I always look forward to the opportunity to read your irrelevant opinions and verbally abuse you shortly afterwards. I think I speak for al the rest of us lowly idiots who know nothing in your world. Make sure you write the "I was wrong" column when Ned is toast

---

Posted by sandstorm on May 13, 2008 at 12:40 p.m. (report)

Begel's most arrogant column yet!!! "NED YOST IS NOT THE REASON THE BREWERS AREN'T WINNING!" what makes you any smarter than anyone else watching the game? how can you state that as fact when you're just as stupid as every other "expert", fan, writer, or blogger. get a grip Begel. your opinion is not fact, and many many people smarter than you don't think Yost is getting the most out of this ballclub. seriously. grow up.

---

Show me the other 2 Talkbacks

Dining | Bars | Music | Movies | Sports | Entertainment | Marketplace | Family | Politics | Milwaukee Buzz
Visitors Guide | Hotels | Events | Weather | Scoops | Postcards | MyOMC | Readers Blogs | Message Boards
E-mail Newsletters | Text Headlines | Terms of Service | Help | Advertising Info | Feedback | About Us
Contact Us | RSS | Privacy Statement