Jack White & Questlove: Baseball Fans

There are celebrities at baseball games. That's a known fact. It is summer with nothing to do so there is nothing weird about seeing a couple musicians at a baseball game. It happens all the time. What was weird about last night is it seemed like the cameras shined brighter on Jack White at the Chicago Cubs game and Questlove at the New York Yankees game.

Everyone came with their own joke about how White doesn't look very happy to be there. Guess what, he played in hotbox known as The Rave last night, the guy barely sees the sun and people don't really know him for a happy go-lucky kind of human. Additionally, the Midwest was balls getting stuck to the chair hot yesterday. White probably didn't expect it to be this hot.  Questlove had more fun it seemed like even though Texas and New York didn't score a run until the 13th inning. They stayed for the whole thing which is pretty awesome. Questlove should really be behind the plate every game. It seems like the right spot for him. George H Bush of the Yankees. Let's make it happen.

 Some social media highlights.

Is that Jack White pic.twitter.com/m94sBgqmxT
— Torque Penderloin (@AndrewCieslak) July 23, 2014

My favorite part of the tweet is wondering if it is actually him. All that really needed to happen is for one person to look up his tour schedule and see he just played Milwaukee, I am going to assume Chicago is happening tomorrow.



Need to have some beers with Questlove.

Charlie.

Changes to Interleague Rivalries Needed

For the last two years, Milwaukee and Minnesota have been playing a split four-game series during the week.  It is a part of the new Major League Baseball Interleague system as Houston Astros made the transition to American League giving both leagues 15 teams. This meant we would have an interleague series every series turn with two divisions playing each other along with the ‘rivalry’ matchups getting a four-game series during the week so each team would get two games at home.  This officially needs some fine tuning after two years because it is hurting baseball’s economy with ticket revenue.  How to fix it is pretty simple actually and it is beyond me why MLB hasn’t thought about it before.

The four-game weekday series works for only four interleague rivalries.  Those are Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox, Oakland A’s vs. San Francisco Giants,  New York Yankees vs. New York Mets  and Los Angeles Angels vs. Los Angeles Dodgers. The reason why it works for these four rivalries is the opposing fanbase can make it to the other team’s venue with ease drawing a bigger crowd.  When you have something like Minnesota-Milwaukee which is a six-hour trip, no one is making the trip to Milwaukee on Monday or Tuesday.  Cleveland and Cincinnati, Tampa Bay and Miami are other examples where it makes things difficult for the opposing fan to travel elsewhere.

This doesn’t stop at the box office either. Sure, most people coming into town will spend more money. They might buy a Hank t-shirt, stuff animal, etc, but they are also seeing the game at better seats.  Further, usually these opposing fans are probably staying at a hotel which is more revenue for the city along with spending money in the variety of bars and restaurants across the city. It might not be significant revenue unless the opposing team is really good and bringing in a great deal of fans, but it still is something missing in the last couple years.

Honestly, the series haven’t been as much without having Twins fans all over the city. As they have struggled, we haven’t seen as many around Milwaukee in the past couple years, but it is a good-hearted rivalry.  Additionally, it is really fun to be in an opposing ballpark giving the other fans shit in a scenario like this one.  You start singing Jason Kendall’s name like clocktower (JAAAAAAY-SON KEN-DALLLLLL, JAAAAAY-SON KEN-DALLLLLL) and talking about football in June because at times, Vikings fans have small-man’s syndrome (Love you guys).  MLB is taking away all of these things away from Brewers and Twins fans along with other rivalries around the league.  Hopefully, this is the last year with these split series during the week.

If they decided to these series on the weekend where MLB had four-game series split with Thursday/Friday being at the first place with Saturday/Sunday being at the second place. MLB can flip it every season allowing for both teams getting the weekend games.  This would still help drive people to the opposing ballpark. It is a lot easier to take off work at the end of the week telling the boss, ‘We are going to see Brewers-Twins in Milwaukee and spending the whole weekend down there.’  Taking two days off work and probably staying an extra day to party is not the worst thing in the world. Most people are not taking off Monday and Tuesday because one, there is not much nightlife happening and two, many people don't want to come back to their job on Wednesday.

The other thing baseball could think about is adding an extra series to interleague.   I doubt they want to do something like this because do you really want each team to get a weekend series with their interleague rival versus an extra division series?  Odds are probably not, but if they could figure out a way to make a schedule work, that would be the dream honestly. The one place where I could see them finding a way is trying to subtract an inter-division series.  But is it really beneficial to have them play another interleague series versus inter-division matchup like Arizona-Milwaukee?  For revenue standards, no question about it, but for potential playoff record against the National League, it could be troublesome.

This is one of the minor things the new commissioner will have to address next season.  Four-game series aren’t affecting the players rather it is affecting the fans whom want to cheer their home team in a city not their own. 

Charlie. 

Highlights-Lowlights: Yankees-Brewers (5/9-5/11)

This is SnoTap's version of recap of the two, three or four game series Milwaukee Brewers will play this season. We focus on the positives and negatives with topics about the game and topics that were nowhere near close to part of the game.

Highlights
Rickie Weeks - On Saturday night, Rickie Weeks got his chance to start after having five straight pinch hits.
He made the most of two starts this weekend as Weeks went five for nine driving in three runs. Weeks looked absolutely great out there.  The thing about Weeks and this has been true throughout his career, 'When Rickie is right, he is really right.' If I am Milwaukee, I would ride the hell out of his hot streak and see what happens from there. I will have more today about Weeks turning down the chance to play left field.

Mark Reynolds - Nobody really talked about this subplot this weekend, but Reynolds played with a chip on his shoulder this weekend. He played for 36 games for the Yankees last season and struggled mightily for them. Reynolds showed off some great leather at both first and third, sent a homer flying on Friday night and oh by the way, he had a walk off to send Milwaukee home on a late Sunday afternoon. Reynolds' offense has been so valued from this team with all the injuries they have dealt with for the first 40 days of the season.

Jonathan Lucroy - Big weekend for the Brewers catcher as he drove in a run in every game this weekend including his second home run of the year on Saturday. He came up with a big hit on Sunday afternoon with the team in need of a hit as runners were on first and second and the Brewers were stranding base runners left and right. Lucroy is another guy that if he gets warm, look out. We haven't seen red hot Lucroy where he is hitting the ball out of the park consistently and having extra bases all over the place. If he gets warm, it could be added value.

Masahiro Tanaka - I am very happy he will be playing in the American League East this season, and the only other time Milwaukee could see Tanaka would be the World Series. He is the real deal and going to make a push at Cy Young. Tanaka's control is incredible and seems like he could be an ace for this Yankees team in the not-so-distant future.

Will Smith - Currently, the Brewers seem to have revolving door at who is the true set-up man of this team. Right now, the spotlight is on Smith. He pitched in the two wins when Milwaukee was ahead in the eighth inning. Both games Smith utilized his nasty slider to strikeout three batters in two innings. Smith's ERA is currently at 0.45 which is phenomenal for the Brewers left-hander. Smith should never be a left-handed specialist for this team.

Lowlights
Khris Davis - What the hell is going on where with Khris at home? My dad would make the assumption Khris is probably partying too much at home leading him to only hit .100 at the friendly confines of Miller Park. I myself cannot explain it. We have seen it in the past where the Brewers use a home and away platoon. When the Brewers get back to full strength meaning Ryan Braun is healthy and Carlos Gomez isn't suspended, Logan Schafer deserves to get some looks in left field.

Aramis Ramirez's hamstring - Old age is a bitch. Ramirez made what looked like a routine play and heard a pop in his hammy meaning he will likely be headed to the Disabled List. Ramirez had two hits on Saturday with a home run before hurting himself. We will see what happens with his season from here. Hopefully, this is a 15 day thing, but it could be longer, you never really know with hamstrings.

Yovani Gallardo's Fourth Inning - Almost all of the action in Yovani's stat line happened in one inning. He allowed all four runs in the fourth including a three-run homer by Yangrevis Solarte. He gave up four of the five hits given up also in the fourth. Gallardo didn't pitch that well, but curious to see what happens if he doesn't give up the homer.

Matt Garza's First Inning - Another start where Garza looks like complete shit in the first inning and then settles down. This leads me to believe Garza is trying too hard in the beginning of the game. Remember the comments were Garza believes 'he is letting the team down right now.' He could be overthrowing early on then realizes he needs to relax. Hopefully, Garza will find a way to figure out his first inning issues soon because it is a slight concern. Starting 3-0 in the first doesn't really work this well.

Francisco Rodriguez's streak ending - Just bummed to see it leave. Hopefully, Frankie bounces back alright when he faces Pittsburgh or the next team he will face.

Charlie.

Yankees-Brewers Preview (5/9-5/11)

Brewers previews to get you ready for the series where we have five things to watch, pitching matchups and prediction. We add a YouTube video in the mix, it could be really anything.   

Pitching Matchups
Friday:    Masahiro Tanaka (4-0 2.53) vs. Yovani Gallardo (2-1 2.47)  7:10 pm FSNWI
Saturday: CC Sabathia (3-4 5.75) vs. Kyle Lohse (4-1 2.72)                6:10 pm FSNWI
Sunday:    David Phelps (0-0 3.18) vs. Matt Garza (2-3 4.93)               1:10 pm FSNWI

Five Things To Watch
1.) The return of CC -  This is kind of awesome. I don't care if CC dominates the Crew on Saturday night, I am just happy to have him back at Miller Park. The 2008 Summer with CC was absolutely awesome where he pitched on three days rest multiple times, and if he had a better first half with Cleveland, he would have been Cy Young that season. I don't think anyone will boo CC and if they do, f--- those people. I hope he gets a standing ovation when he hits in the mound in the bottom of the first inning. I wish Brian Anderson was back so he could talk about CC's non-no hitter at Pittsburgh because that would have been the best. Look forward to have the big.. er smallish fella back in Milwaukee.

2.) Can Tanaka lose a game or will he strike out 20? - With how things are going for the Brewers, it would be classic of them to absolutely crush Tanaka tonight with six or seven runs in three innings. That would be hilarious and typical of the Brewers. But let's be real here, Tanaka is all that and a bag of chips right now. Brewers have trouble with strikeouts which could be bad news with Tanaka as he has struck out at least five batters in all of this starts this season. Additionally, Tanaka has gone at least 6.1 innings in his six starts this season. I will point out this against him though, the last three games he has given up five home runs with a potential open Miller Park... It could get ugly.

3.) Lineup changes happening or nah - Last year, Ron Roenicke kept moving his lineup around and this year it has been the complete opposite. This Brewers team is struggling in some of kind of way since Braun's absence. Brewers are currently averaging 3.8 runs in the last 10 games, but in two of those games, Milwaukee scored runs in extra innings and they had one eight run performance. Something needs to change with the lineup whether it is moving Aramis Ramirez down in the order or putting Carlos Gomez in more of a power, run-scoring spot. Also don't sleep on Jean Segura getting moved up, he seemed very comfortable there on Monday night.

4.) Matt Garza watch - Even though Matt Garza got the 'win' on Monday night, he didn't really pitched that well. He had trouble with the top of the Arizona order for the first two times through allowing three runs in the first three innings. He got comfortable in the next three settling down. I don't know what needs to be tweaked or if he just doesn't have it right now, but at some point, Garza needs to deliver another big start for this team.

5.) Miller Park finally open? - The weather this weekend seems like it could be a great one. Right now, it is beautiful out there albeit a bit windy. There is no good reason for the roof to be closed unless they are worried about the wind, but even at 10 pm, it seems like the temperate will be around 59 degrees. Tomorrow, it is going to be 70 degrees and the following day is 74 with a chance of rain. Roof should be open all weekend and if not, Milwaukee needs to toughen up a bit.

Appropriate YouTube Videos

Damn, I forgot a little bit how awesome that final week was with the two walk-offs, CC going complete in the final game.

Prediction 
Every fiber in body says the Brewers win only one or get swept this weekend, but I am in a good mood so we are going with two of three.  

Robinson Cano Punks Yankees Fans

This is so PERFECT. Like the best thing I have seen in awhile. I am not in New York so I don't have the same perspective KFC from Barstool: New York had this morning, but I love it for the fact it shows how faceless fans think they are in the stands. These guys boo people all the time thinking they can get away with because they are fans and no one will hear them, and then they get tight when Robinson Cano pops out from behind the wall. Like they change on a complete dime. It becomes "I HATE YOUR GUTS" to 'Oh shit, I am sorry, welcome back to New York Robbie.'  I am not the booing type.  I have said on record, I would stand up and cheer for Prince Fielder, the same goes for Zack Greinke or CC Sabathia. Any Brewers fans who boo those guys flat out suck. They brought so much promise to the Brewers team. Yankees fans are just hurt Cano actually left New York.

I don't think he would do it, but I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see Ryan Braun do something similar when he plays the Mets this June. Please do it.    

Charlie.

SnoTap Baseball Thing of the Day: Pineda's Pine Tar, Swaggy P & Lucky Toilets

About two weeks ago, we talked about Michael Pineda probably using pine tar on his hand to doctor the baseball. He did it again versus the same opponent, but used it on his neck. C'mon dude. Make it a little less obvious here. It is not like you are trying to cover up a hickey or sunscreen as it is the middle of April. Yankees are on their high horse pissed about it while the Red Sox are saying 'Nahh, it's not that important."'



Swaggy P also known as Nick Young has been everywhere lately and he cannot throw the baseball to save his soul.

Evan Longoria keeps a mini toilet in the Tampa Bay Rays dugout. Why? We don't know!  He wouldn't tell the reporter, but the story is interesting enough for me to link it out. I also would like to attribute the success of the Rays to this toilet.

Charlie.