MLB All-Star Game: Brewers Shine, Waino Misstep, Jeets & No Tony Gywnn Tribute?

When All-Star Game happen no matter what the sport is, the recap of it is usually a pretty light one. We discuss a little bit about the game, but mostly, the discussion is about the plays that happen or one inning where all of the action took place. Moreover, team beat writers are talking about how their guy or guys did out there versus having any sort of reason to write about controversy. This year is completely different. There are so many storylines emerging from the All-Star Game and you wonder if it's due to social media or just a weird year?

Milwaukee Brewers were fortunate to get three players starting in the All-Star Game with Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Gomez and Jonathan Lucroy, two of them made an impact for the National League on Tuesday night. Ramirez added two hits including a double scoring the first run of the game. Lucroy was the first catcher since Mike Piazza to get two doubles and two RBIs. Anyone whose a baseball fan should be happy for Luc as people begin to focus on how he is a great baseball player not just the whole issue with the faux rivalry with Yadier Molina. 

St. Louis Cardinals found a way to screw up the All-Star Game. I didn't even know that was possible but here we are. Mike Matheny's arrogance was the start of it and Adam Wainwright finished it with the fanbase sprinkled in. Matheny wanted his guy to start the All-Star Game. Despite Clayton Kershaw's tremendous two-month stretch, Wainwright was the option even though he started on Saturday.  The first batter he faced was the legend Derek Jeter who hit a double off him. It led to a bad first inning for Wainwright as he gave up three runs including a two-run homer to Miguel Cabrera. Unlike a normal game, the players are available to the media earlier than usual, and Wainwright gave his thoughts on the first inning.

Wainwright said he 'grooved' a couple pitches to Jeter as a sign of respect. This took over the game in the social media realm as everyone rushed to criticize Wainwright for his bullshit attitude towards the whole thing. He acted like 'Ha!  I am a great baseball player, would that inning really happen to me?!' He made an excuse for struggling in his only inning. That's pathetic. Wainwright rushed to backtrack saying it was a joke which many of the media whom were there said, the Cardinals ace didn't joke there. Basically, Wainwright should have kept his mouth shut about the whole thing. There is no need to explain what happened there just say 'Derek hit a good pitch.'  He looked like a complete assclown. Naturally, the St. Louis fanbase believed Lucroy was the reason for Wainwright or Waino as they call him, struggles which is so Cardinals it hurts truthfully. The fanbase is full of world-class idiots and some of the worst in baseball. My favorite was Lucroy distancing himself away from 'grooving' pitches as he explained how the first batter was called. 

The Cardinals weren't the only ones with pie of their faces, Major League Baseball and FOX Sports ended up having a major misfire as well. After the game, people begged the question where was a tribute for Tony Gywnn who died a month ago and is revered as one of the best players in baseball. FOX Sports 1 did do a tribute before the game, but most of the time when baseball or any sport loses one of the best, they find someway to honor them on a grand stage. MLB should have done something Gywnn and Don Zimmer for that matter. Both men cared about the game of baseball so much and loved it dearly. The fact, baseball decided to ignore some of their greats is truly odd and puzzling.

The weirdness increases when you think about how much time MLB and FOX dedicated to Jeter. He is one of the best players to ever live as well as one of the most-respected guys in baseball. The latter is a huge part to why this all happened last night. Deadspin counted Jeter's name said a cool 100 times within the three and a half hour broadcast. I had little to zero problem with all of the Jeter theatrics. The guy deserved all of it. The two at-bats were both hits, he nearly made a great play to get Andrew McCutchen and honored like one of the best of the last 25 years. This is the type of stuff that makes All-Star Games for baseball so cool.

Although it made me pleased Jeter didn't get the Susan Lucci Lifetime MVP award as Mike Trout took home the crown. Trout deserved it as he drove in the first run of the game for the American League and the winning run in the fifth as well. Trout's two hits were a triple and double netting him his first of what will probably be many MVP trophies. On a night where MLB honored Jeter, it was cool to see one of the best young players take home the All-Star MVP.

Now begins the push to the playoffs. For some, this is where baseball becomes fun knowing there might be a chance for October baseball. It also becomes deathly terrifying in that same regard holding on to a slight lead in the division. Just remember Milwaukee was the only team helping the National League on Tuesday thus talking myself into an eight-game winning streak.

-Charlie.

Home Run Derby Disaster

Major League Baseball is trying to desperately to get more viewers watching their product. Right now, there is a decline from what we have seen in other sports. It is not to say MLB is pushing the panic, but there seems to be a worry that things are not getting better by any means. They tried to do something different with the bracketed competition for the Home Run Derby, and it completely sucked despite getting a worthy winner in Oakland's Yoenis Cespedes. He deserves the title without question, but the final should have been pitting Jose Bautista against Cespedes. 

The fact we got a final of Cincinnati Reds third baseman Todd Frazier versus Cespedes when we should have had Giancarlo Stanton facing off against him is a goddamn shame. Stanton grew cold having to wait for over an hour to hit a baseball. Stanton brings back memories of Josh Hamilton where we remember the first round of home runs, but he didn't win the tournament. Hell, Stanton didn't even get there. MLB could still do the competition, but they need to rework how the bracketing works so they avoid an issue like this year where Stanton gets ousted because he can't ride the momentum which is exactly what Cespedes did to win a back-to-back Derby crowns, the first person to do it since Ken Griffey, Jr.. (H/T @cjzero for the GIF)

To make it more competitive, select the 10 players, do the traditional ten outs for the first round but instead of brackets, rank them from the most home runs in the competition to the least amount. It's a free for all for the first round where the top home run hitters get to pick when they go and then eliminate five batters advancing only four to the second round. The top home runner hitter faces off against the least amount of homers with seven outs instead of ten, and it goes to brackets to finish it off. This adds more of a strategy to it without anyone getting cold. 

This whole day ended up being a disaster for MLB. There was an hour delay. The weather is unseasonably cold for Minneapolis and everyone is talking about how bad the Derby was this morning. Not a great way to  start All-Star week.

Charlie. 

Brewers All-Star Vote Confusion

I am not an All-Star voter. I used to be, but as my days go on, I do not find the time to do it. Granted, I am not knocking it whatsoever. It is a cool way to incorporate the fans as well as drive up the support with social media campaign as they have done in the past couple of years. Two of the Milwaukee Brewers are National League MVP candidates with Carlos Gomez and Jonathan Lucroy. In turn, Milwaukee fans want to see those players in front of the national audience getting attention from the start of the game. They are driving up the fan votes elsewhere yielding some weird results thus far

The funniest thing about All-Star voting right now is the fact the most deserving Brewers player Jonathan Lucroy is not a starter right now and probably will not be with only a couple days left. Lucroy trails Yadier Molina by way too far of a margin, but hopefully, Matt Matheny will not be spiteful when it comes to adding him to the roster given how great Lucroy has been all season plus Evan Gattis is currently on the Disabled List. If Lucroy ends up on the 'Last Five', that might be one of the most disrespectful thing I have seen in all season. He is an All-Star and doesn't need a frivolous fan vote to get him into the dance at Target Field. Lucroy should tell them to eff off if this ends up being the case.  

There are a lot of confusing Brewers on the list. It is hard to decide what's the most confusing on the list... Jean Segura in second, Aramis Ramirez in first or Mark Reynolds in second. It sounds like one of the weirdest MFK's in the short-term history of the game. Let's start with Ramirez because there is a chance he could be starting in the All-Star Game especially since David Wright is flirting with the Disabled List battling an injury. The only guy in the top five deserving of being the All-Star starter is Todd Frazier of the Cincinnati Reds. He is hitting .287 with 17 home runs with a .857 On-Base Percentage. If Cincinnati's fan base actually gave a damn and had decent attendance numbers, Frazier would be the pick for the third base All-Star. 

Segura and Reynolds make little sense at all.  Neither of these players are close to being All-Stars by any means. Segura plays really good defense and probably will be in some consideration for a Gold Glove yet defense doesn't usually earn you an All-Star game unless you are Omar Vizquel. Let's be clear, Segura isn't Vizquel by any way, shape or form. Although, most of National League shortstops not named Troy Tulowitzki have been slightly better than Segura, but not by a large margin so maybe Segura is not as ridiculous but he's been pretty damn bad offensively this season. Reynolds is also very confusing. Paul Goldschmidt, like Tulowitzki, will be the starter and deserves to be, but look at the list behind Reynolds... Adrian Gonzalez, Freddie Freeman, Matt Adams. Even though he battled injury, does anyone know Adams is hitting .324 this season?  For all of the Cardinal fans put in Yadier Molina, they have seemingly ignored the rest of their team which is such a Cardinals things to do.  

Some might ask why waste a bunch of words on this topic. It's fair because it will all be meaningless when starters are named over the weekend. But I find it interesting how Lucroy is a deserving number two compared to the fact all of these Brewers are near the top in other spots. It is clear the Brewers fan base did wonders to help Lucroy get closer in the two spot plus driven Gomez to the second position in the outfield to ensure his spot as well. 

From the looks of it, the Brewers will have two All-Stars with a chance at a third on offense then when it comes to pitchers, there will probably be one or two there as well. Milwaukee will have their hands all over Target Field's All-Star Game. 

Charlie.  

Running Diary of Cardinals Fans Mad at Jonathan Lucroy

In the last couple days, St. Louis Cardinals and their fanbase haven't been happy with the Milwaukee Brewers ad campaign for Jonathan Lucroy to make the All-Star Game. The whole thing went viral with a ton of tweets from angry Cardinals fans. But ESPN affiliate in St. Louis gave us video of Cardinals fans watching the video in real-time and reacting. I have to say, it is one of my favorite videos I have watched in a long time. Therefore, I had to do a running diary of the two minute video. (H/T @BradWeimer for finding this glorious video)  



.14 - Sarah Palin!  Real topical politician buddy. Acceptable answers would have been Lindsey Graham, Elizabeth Warren, Marco Rubio, Diane Feinstein. Watch the news once a century.  

.18 - That man was a laugh of someone you never double cross. Pretty sure he is putting out a hit for Lucroy.

.20 - His buddy trying to settle him down a little bit with a 'Oh it's the Brewers, what do you expect?' Like dude, it's just a video, no big deal.  

.23 - How do you not know there is a FOX Sports Wisconsin?  Like how do you think we get our baseball games? We gather around the radio like the 1940's?  Also sweet sweat stains or beer spills from your 16 oz Bud Light tallboys. Only thing worse than a 12 oz Bud Light is a 16 oz one.

.29 - This man whom shouldn't really be rocking stripes in any way shape or form. He puts out a challenge to Brewers fans like he is a professional wrestler, or a war will be started between the two cities.

.42 - The Brewers aren't a threat?  Oh, that's right, they have been leading the National League Central for over 70 days. My bad.

.48 - Nice #HOTTAKE on Molina there guy, but not a crybaby?  I present this as evidence.



  And this....



.51 - SHOUTOUT TO EVANSVILLE, INDIANA!!!!!!!!

.57 - That's one of the most obscene things you have ever seen in your life?  Gosh, you must not get out enough bud or not watch a ton of porn. One of the two.

1:01 -  What does this guy possibly want reversed exactly? Molina is in the lead for catcher of the National League. This isn't a challenge call, my man.

1:08 - FOX Sports Midwest (I didn't know that existed! What?!?!?!) wanted to do a response ad which would have been awesome, but naturally, St. Louis threw a wet blanket over it.

1:14 - I am honestly shocked it took us 74 seconds for someone to call the Cardinals organization 'classy', I really am.

1:19 - Proper way is building up the players... Jonathan Lucroy is a homegrown talent for Milwaukee. I have no idea what this guy is talking about.

1:23 - In the basement?  Your baseball team has been looking up to the Brewers for the last 70 or so days, dude. But keep living in fantasy world where the toilets are gold and everything tastes like candy.

1:27 - Honestly?  The guy with the Chive shirt and Cardinals jersey is probably right. Lucroy has quite the mountain to climb here with how popular both St. Louis and San Francisco are in the United States.

1:32 - FAT MACKELMORE TOUGH GUY ALERT!!!!!

1:47 - Yes, this is a mudslinging campaign. Lucroy is secretly running for President. I think this guy has us figured out, you guys.

1:59 - FAT MACKELMORE IS OUT FOR BLOOD. Not very 'classy' of him to want to kick Lucroy's ass.

-Charlie.

Don't Waste Time Worrying About MLB All-Star Game Starters

A wise man once said 'MLB All-Star Game starters are a popularity contest."  That wise man once said that to me a couple weeks ago. The second week of voting came out, and Brewers officially have no starters currently. Ryan Braun sits sixth, Jonathan Lucroy third, Jean Segura third, Aramis Ramirez third and Carlos Gomez fifth. There was some outrage last week, and it is continuing this week. This is one thing where people really shouldn't look too far into it, and fans shouldn't take it personally if their players do not become starters.

In all honesty, two of these players are clear All-Stars after the first two months of the season and it is Gomez and Lucroy. They have both played great this season. Everyone knows it whose watching Milwaukee this season. But this is all about the casual fans and teams featuring very public fanbases. As for Gomez, the national media made him out to be a bat-flipping hot head with one regional Sports Illustrated cover. This is how things go with a small market baseball player without much national appeal. It is such a tired thing to say but if Gomez played in Los Angles or New York, he would be a top vote-getter without question.  

Lucroy is playing like one of the best players in baseball, but he is in a tough spot. Catchers are premium position in the National League with some of the biggest names in baseball. San Francisco has Buster Posey. St. Louis has Yadier Molina. Atlanta has Evan Gattis.. oh shit wait that doesn't make sense. Yes, it is a joke Gattis is even in this discussion with Lucroy, Molina and Posey, but it is due to the large public fanbase of Atlanta around the whole South. It is not about the votes inside the ballpark. Some fan tweeted a Milwaukee radio personality outraged about all the ballots on the ground at Miller Park Monday night. Those votes are minuscule compared to what's being done on the Internet.

The best part about the month of June is the Brewers will be traveling for a great deal of it. If they continue their strong play and show opposing teams fanbases what they are missing on a nightly basis maybe the votes will increase for the non-public Brewers like Lucroy and Gomez.  Starting an All-Star Game is special, but at the same time, it really doesn't matter after the introduction. Most of the players get into the game plus there are so many replacement players, it is really hard to have a true blue snub for the All-Star Game especially when it comes to the offense players on the roster. Pitchers can be another story since a portion of them are not selected by the fans. 

If you really want to point where the flaws run deep in the voting system is Aramis Ramirez is the third-leading vote getter at third base. Granted, the third base options are weaker than a freshman high schooler's bird legs, but still, Ramirez has barely played in a month. It is all off name recognition thus why the Brewers aren't seeing more guys as top vote-getters. Ramirez is nowhere near an All-Star this season, but his name is one many fans know across the country hence why he is getting votes.

These things also have a slow build to them. If a player keeps playing well, the other fanbases start noticing whether it be due to fantasy baseball or something like FanDuel. Both Gomez and Lucroy will make a push towards the top with Braun maybe coming close to taking the top two outfield spots. Right now, the Brewers will have three or more All-Stars. They keep playing well that number should swell greater. This is nothing to waste energy on. 

Charlie. 

Tapping The Keg Podcast Episode 90

Tapping The Keg set for another edition with your two lovely hosts, Charlie and Mitch. Kind of a slow week, but we find a way to get 45 minutes of pure listening joy out of this one. We begin the podcast talking about your Brewers drinking team and what guys would be the most fun to go out with. It continues with a discussion about the hot Brewer hitting in the last week with a little All-Star talk as well. We move on to talk NBA Playoffs looking at both Spurs-Thunder and Heat-Pacers which are both headed for at least six games. The discussion continues with talk about the Bucks as Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens will be hanging with the common folk tonight plus why Mitch wants new jerseys. It finishes with the ridiculousness of criticizing Johnny Manziel.

Charlie.