The Minnesota Timberwolves have been without a real personnel boss since moving Kevin McHale to the bench during the season. You could joke they've been without one for a helluva lot longer than that, but we'll stick with facts.
Owner Glen Taylor has apparently stopped dragging his feet on the matter, and is set to announce a hire.
* David Kahn will be announced tomorrow as the team’s president of basketball operations — a new title that in language is one step up from Kevin McHale’s vice president of basketbll operations.* He will arrive with no stipulations as to who — including Kevin McHale and Fred Hoiberg — he does or doesn’t keep from the current front-office staff and will use the next five weeks before the draft to evaluate Hoiberg, Jim Stack, Rob Babcock, etc.
Kahn comes from the NBA Developmental League, and most recently had NBA work with the Indiana organization. He was targeted early in the process, but became the guy for the job when Portland executive Tom Penn pulled out of the running.
ESPN reported earlier this week that Taylor has mandated that the new general manager allow McHale to make up his own mind on coaching the team. One has to think this deterred some solid candidates from taking the job, as most new general managers want to be able to make their own decisions on coaches. As good a job as I think McHale did with this team after he took over, most owners recognize that these mandates don't work very well.
Then again, Glen Taylor hasn't become one of the worst owners in the NBA because he knows what he's doing with this team.
There's no question the Milwaukee Brewers are a young, confident bunch of ballplayers. They've won a lot of fans over with their play in the last few years, and their current 20-5 tear has them atop the National League Central.
That said, it appears that their ritual of untucking jerseys after a victory has made them a few enemies, especially around the city of St. Louis, Missouri.
"Well, they've got a little flair about them that some people don't care for," said closer Ryan Franklin. "But that's just the way they are. So yeah, I think it would be more fun to beat them than it would be the Padres or something, just because of what they do after they beat you."
... "They are what they are," (pitcher Kyle) Lohse said. "That's how they choose to present themselves and play the game. A lot of people don't like it. We're not the only ones."
It's pretty clear that the Cardinals are more angry about not being able to beat these guys than anything else, but whatever. What's odd about all of this is watching the St. Louis media play the same song.
Read this article by Derrick Goold about Monday's 8-4 Brewers win that completed a three-game series sweep at Busch Stadium. In 600 words of pure slop, there are three separate occasions where Goold mentions the untucking.
Are the Cardinals so uppity and self-absorbed that their players, personnel, fans, and even media can't understand anything they don't do themselves?
I mean, you don't see any Brewers media people asking publicly why the Cardinals insist on throwing baseballs at hitters they're incapable of getting out? It's simply none of their business how the Cardinals choose to handle opposing hitters.
It's not like the Brewers are showing anyone up when they untuck their shirts after a win. It's not like they are rubbing it in somebody's face. It's their way of celebrating a win and marking the end of a day's work.
Really, it's not much more than that. It's a team-first celebration by one of the closest groups you'll find anywhere in baseball. Leave it to a curmudgeon like Tony LaRussa to find fault and then sick his minions on everyone. Perhaps the Genius should worry more about his sparking 1-9 record in the last ten games against Milwaukee at Busch Stadium.
Just as the boys were getting hot, the Brewers have lost their leadoff hitter and emerging star second baseman.
Years of struggles had left fans wondering if Rickie Weeks would ever realize his boatload of potential. The start Weeks got off to in 2009 answered a lot of questions.
Sitting at .272/.340/.519 and on pace to blow away his career bests in many offensive categories, Weeks couldn't have been doing much more to alleviate fears about his development. Suddenly, the Brewers were looking at a legitimate All-Star setting the table.
(GM Doug) Melvin and head trainer Roger Caplinger said preparation was being made for Weeks to have surgery Wednesday in Phoenix by specialist Don Sheridan. Sheridan repaired his right wrist injury in 2006 as well as a torn thumb tendon in 2005.
Caplinger said there was no known medical reason for Weeks having the same injury in both wrists.
"Dr. Sheridan said he never had a patient who had that in both wrists," said Caplinger.
"Basically, it's Rickie being Rickie. He has very strong hands and wrists and has a lot of bat speed with torque."
There couldn't be much more disappointment with this news. Weeks had the look last year of a player who would forever struggle at the major-league level. The team has been greatly patient with him, though, and it seemed that the light came on for Weeks during spring training.
"It's depressing. It really is," said (Brewers' bench coach Willie) Randolph. "I know the hard work he put in this spring. He was one of the best students I’ve worked with in recent years. I just feel terrible for him. I know he was looking forward to going to the next level.
"I challenged him in spring training to set his goals on becoming an all-star this year. He came out ready to take over. I believed it. I think he believed it too.
"Right now, you just feel terrible for the kid. I don’t know what to say. I was praying that it would come back not as bad as they thought. I just had a bad feeling in my gut.
"He was on the right track. This is a tough business; you have to roll with the punches. But when it hits you like this, it’s not easy. It’s hard to deal with."
Where the club goes from here is going to be interesting.
Youngster Mat Gamel was already up from the minors, and he's in the lineup for Monday's game at St. Louis. Another player will be brought in from Triple-A Nashville when Weeks is formally placed on the disabled list.
Who plays second base full-time? Maybe the answer is "No one". Veteran Craig Counsell figures to see a lot of action, and I would expect the Brewers to bring Hernan Iribarren up from the minors. He won't play every day, either.
Bill Hall has experience in the middle infield, and fans who have speculated that J.J. Hardy could someday move to second base to accomodate big prospect shortstop Alcides Escobar may advocate that move now. Escobar is not ready, though, and he certainly isn't ready to play every day. Nor would Hardy be ready to play every day at second base.
I think we'll see a mishmash of players at the position, with Counsell getting the bulk of the work. However, another injury (PLEASE NO!!) could change all of this, perhaps escalating Escobar's rise through the system.
When the season started slowly for the Milwaukee Brewers, I pleaded with fans on the awesome Brewerfan message board to give new manager Ken Macha some time.
The process of evaluating an entire baseball team can be a long one for a new manager, especially one as thorough and intelligent as Macha. It wasn't simply a matter of drawing up a lineup and sticking with it until someone got hurt, and it was going to be a process that made Macha look like a guy who is easily better than his predecessor.
After that slow start, Macha has been golden for Milwaukee. He has the Brewers playing some great baseball, as they've surged to a game-and-a-half lead in the National League Central over the hated Chicago Cubs. Sunday's 8-2 curbstomping of St. Louis serves as an example of what this team is capable of doing when they work counts and get solid pitching.
I'll freely admit that I didn't expect the Brewers to spend much time in first place in this division during the 2009 season. But Macha has been refreshing.
While hockey coaches are often reluctant to change lines, defensive pairings, or goalies when the team is winning, it's exceptionally important for a baseball manager to integrate different guys into the lineup all the time. It keeps the main guys fresh by getting them a few days off here and there (the Brewers just had a stretch of 20 straight days without a day off), and it keeps the bench players from getting too rusty with just limited late-inning at-bats.
Macha probably surprised some recently. He told FanHouse colleague Jeff Fletcher that he uses philosophies learned in Oakland (better known as "Moneyball" tactics) when it comes to preparing his pitchers.
Macha has brought more of the A's practices to Milwaukee. Third base coach Brad Fischer, who was the bullpen coach in Oakland, has helped the Brewers pitchers have more intense preparation and knowledge of the statistical tendencies of the opposition.
"That's something that Fisch was into with (A's pitching coach Curt Young)," Macha said. "We've got our computerized stats program that we look at. The pitchers aren't overpowering, but they have the ability to make pitches. We give them a plan and Jason Kendall (also from Oakland) listens to the plan and helps them carry it out."
... (Brewers GM Doug) Melvin and Macha have a winning team, and Macha also has a chance to see what it's like to manage without Beane looking over his shoulder.
"We went on a road trip here and I didn't hear from Doug one time," Macha said.
He told a story about a day this spring when he and Melvin were discussing the rotation, and Melvin said: "That's your call."
"That's your call," Macha repeated, as if they were some sort of magic words.
Those tactics appear to be working. The Brewers have steadily improved their pitching since a rough start, with both Jeff Suppan and Manny Parra doing a good job to start limiting their walks. It's easy to just credit the coaching staff, but the players deserve kudos, too. They've been through a lot of transition since September, both in coaching and in player personnel. They've responded with a great start to the season, and they may have already exceeded some expectations around baseball.
Greetings from Sioux Falls, where I've been on family "business" since Thursday.
The UMD Athletic Hall of Fame's Class of 2009 has been announced. The following info comes from the school's press release.
A quartet of All-Americans -- Jeff Guidinger (basketball), Ron Johnson (golf), Derek Plante (hockey), and the late Corey Veech (football) -- three-time all-conference selection Ann (Patet) Henry (softball), and former heavyweight boxing contender Scott LeDoux (football) will all be paid a lasting tribute on Oct. 3, 2009 when the University of Minnesota Duluth Athletic Hall of Fame holds its 12th enshrinement ceremony. The addition of this distinguished group will bring the UMD Athletic Hall of Fame membership to 94.
Guidinger drew the curtain on a rewarding basketball career in 1986-87 by attaining NAIA All-American (third team) honors in addition to being named the Northern Intercollegiate Conference Player of the Year. The Milwaukee, Wis. native and Whitefish Bay Dominican High School alumnus exited the Bulldog program ranking fifth in career scoring (1,422 points in 119 games for an 11.5 ppg), second in rebounding (731) and first in block shots (130). A two-time winner of the NAIA District 13 Player of the Year Award, Guidinger paced the NIC in field goal shooting (.624) as a senior while securing All-NIC recognition for the second year in a row (first team in 1986-86 and second team the previous year. He also finished atop the Bulldog scoring and rebounding charts in each of his final two seasons. Guidinger, who was selected UMD’s Outstanding Senior Male Athlete for 1986-87, helped lead UMD to three NIC championships (1983-84 and 1985-87), four NAIA National Tournament berths, four 20-win seasons and a 95-28 overall record during his four years of starting duty at the power forward position. Chosen to UMD’s All-75th Anniversary Team in 2006, Guidinger spent one season (1987-88) as a UMD student assistant coach after his playing days were over.
Johnson, who grew up in Duluth and attended East High School, was a four-year letterwinner in both golf and hockey (left wing). In the spring of 1962, he joined teammate Tom Maas as UMD’s first golf All-Americans after placing fourth individually at the NAIA Championships. Johnson, who captained the Bulldogs to a third place team finish at that national event, also played an integral part in UMD’s conquest of four straight Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles. On the ice, he skated a regular shift in 73 career games and was credited with 39 goals and 31 assists for 80 points -- good for the No. 4 spot on the Bulldogs’ all-time scoring list at time. Johnson served as an alternate team captain in his farewell season with the hockey Bulldogs and wound up missing half of the year with separated shoulder. In May of that year, he was bestowed with UMD’s 1962-63 Outstanding Senior Athlete Award.
LeDoux, a native of Deerwood, Minn., lettered three years with the football Bulldogs, including in 1968 when he started on both the offensive and defensive lines, before pursuing a career in professional boxing. As an amateur, he won the Upper Midwest Golden Glove title while he was a sophomore at UMD. LeDoux posted a record of 33-13 with four draws in 50 professional bouts and is the only fighter to have boxed 11 world champions: George Foreman, Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Leon Spinks, Ken Norton, Frank Bruno, Mike Weaver, Gerrie Coetzee, Mike Tyson (training camp) and Lennox Lewis (training camp). He later served on and chaired the Minnesota Boxing Commission for 18 years and was employed as a ringside boxing analyst for ESPN2 Tuesday Night Fights in 2000.
Plante was a driving offensive force for the Bulldogs for four winters, culminating with a senior year in which he racked up an NCAA-leading 92 points --- still the second highest single-season total in team history -- for a school-record 2.49 points per game average. The Cloquet, Minn. product captained the Bulldogs to the 1992-93 WCHA regular season title and a berth in the NCAA Regionals and, in the process, was chosen as a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist, a first team All-American, the USA Hockey Male Athlete of the Year, and the WCHA Player of the Year. In addition, he was a All-WCHA first team honoree as a senior after receiving second team honors the previous winter. Planted closed out his collegiate career with 219 points on 96 goals and 123 assists in 138 outings which currently puts him in a tie for second place on the UMD’s all-time scoring charts while his career points per game average (1.587) trails only UMD Hall of Fame Inductees Bill Watson (1.94 ppg), Keith “Huffer” Christiansen (1.92 ppg) and Brett Hull (1.588). During his final season, he paced the Bulldogs in points for the third winter in a row en route to landing UMD’s Most Valuable Player Award an unprecedented third consecutive time. A member of the WCHA All-Academic Team as a senior and the owner of team records for most career game-winning goals (15) as well as most playoff assists (13) and playoff points (19) in one season (1992-93), Plante was chosen UMD’s Outstanding Senior Male Athlete for 1992-93. Plante, who played two years of baseball with the Bulldogs as a reserve second baseman (1991 and 1992), went on to enjoy an eight-year stint in the National Hockey League with Buffalo (1993-99), Dallas (1999-2000 when he won a Stanley Cup), Chicago (1999-2000) and Philadelphia (2000-01), producing 96 goals and 152 assists for 248 points in 450 regular season games. Selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1989 NHL draft (8th round, 161st pick overall), Plante also did time with the International Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves (1999-2000) and Michigan K-Wings (1999-2000) and the American Hockey League’s Philadelphia Phantoms (2000-01). He spent another six seasons playing professionally in Europe and Japan before retiring following the 2007-08 season. He skated with Team U.S.A. at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships on seven occasions: 1992, 1993, 1996, and 2000-2004.
Henry arrived on the UMD campus from South St. Paul in 1985, and over the next four years distinguished herself as one of the most prolific hitters in Bulldog softball history. The three-time All-NIC third baseman (1986, 1987 and 1989) was a member of three NIC championship teams and helped UMD advance all the way to the finals of the 1988 NAIA National Championship in Oklahoma City, Okla., where she landed All-Tournament Team honors. When she hung up her collegiate spikes for good in the spring of 1989, Henry held down the No. 1 spot among Bulldogs for career games played (172), at bats (535), hits (188), doubles (29) runs batted in (129, a mark which still stands), total bases (257) and slugging percentage (.477) while sporting a .351 lifetime batting average. She also set school single-season marks for RBI (45) and fielding assists (114) during the 1988 season. Henry who was a co-recipient of UMD’s Outstanding Female Athlete award in 1988-89, served as an Bulldog assistant coach for two years (1990 and 1991), as the head softball coach at the University of Wisconsin-Superior for one season (1992) and as the assistant softball coach and head volleyball coach at Henry Sibley High School for six years (1996-2001).
Veech, who was killed in a automobile accident in September 1990, capped off a remarkable senior season with selections to the Associated Press Little All-American and Football News All-American second teams. The Hermantown, Minn. native started three years in the Bulldog offensive backfield and concluded his career owning no less than 15 school records, including five marks which still remain -- rushing attempts in a career (606) and single-season (269 in 1986), most 100-yard rushing games in a season (nine in 1986) and consecutive 100-yard rushing games (seven in 1986) and punt returns in one game (eight in 1985). Chosen to the All-NIC team on two occasions (1985 and 1986), Veech was bestowed with the NIC's Most Valuable Player award as a senior after leading that circuit in both scoring and punt return average. He handled an alternate team captain role on a UMD club which went 8-1-2 overall and shared the No. 18 spot in the final 1986 NCAA II poll. That same year, he ran for 1,377 yards, a figure which then ranked second to only Ted McKnight's 1,482 yard effort in 1976 on UMD’s single-season charts. Veech’s rushing average during his farewell year (125. 2 yards per outing) was the sixth best in in the nation while his 11.1 points per game mark was bettered by only one other NCAA II player. He topped the Bulldogs in rushing and scoring both as a junior and senior and finished as UMD’s second all-time leading ground gainer with 2,768 yards.
The Mavericks, after all, make geographic sense, have a huge arena to fill, and have a new athletic director looking to max out the potential of the school's only Division I program.
Longtime head coach Mike Kemp is said to be an opponent of such a move. Because of that, supporters of a 12-team WCHA got bad news this week when he stepped down as coach of the Mavericks. The bad part about it is that Kemp is taking over as associate athletic director under new A.D. Trev Alberts.
“Mike has made a choice of great humility and selflessness in order to benefit our hockey program,” said Alberts. “We need him here long term and in a role larger than coaching. He will figure prominently in the strengthening of our marquee program."
It's a curious move, but Kemp sounded upbeat in a statement.
“I’m thrilled for the opportunity to join Trev, Michele Roberts, Don Leahy and Connie Claussen as a cog in the management team,” said Kemp. “It’s important to me to continue to assist in the direction of hockey into the future.
“The UNO hockey program has been a huge part of my life and to continue to make decisions and plot the course of Maverick hockey is something I cherish.”
Perhaps Kemp will look at the issue and have a change of heart. Perhaps Alberts has already made up his mind what the school should do. It's also possible that the WCHA will have to look elsewhere for a 12th team.
HATTIESBURG, MS—Retired quarterback Brett Favre mailed his throwing arm to the Vikings Tuesday, sending the record-setting limb to the team's headquarters for evaluation in hopes of signing with Minnesota. "I made sure to bubble-wrap it, and I stuck a couple big chunks of dry ice in the envelope, so it should be fine," said Favre, who sent the appendage after the Vikings expressed health concerns with the potential signing of the 39-year-old quarterback. "Once the Vikings examine it, I'm sure they'll find that my throwing arm has no structural damage. The doctors who cut it off said it looked great." According to James "Bus" Cook, Favre's agent, the three-time MVP is unlikely to come out of retirement if the Vikings believe that his amputated throwing arm will require major surgery.
Normally, I am glad to read the reports of hard-working, respectable people in the media.
When it comes to Brett Favre, I'm no longer so glad.
With word leaking last week that Favre was going to talk to the Vikings about joining the team, I made my feelings clear.
Despite trying ever since to avoid Favre news, it's practically unavoidable. He's all over the place. Luckily, he doesn't play hockey, so there is still refuge.
The latest interesting nugget comes from Greg Bedard of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He blogged about Favre early Wednesday, and he sounds as jaded as I am about the whole thing.
This is what I'm reasonably sure is going on:
BLF tested his arm early last week. It did not go well. He called the Vikings to say he was done, that his arm is killing him. The Vikings, who really want him, said, 'Not so fast. Let us take a look to see how bad it is.' BLF can't play without arthroscopic surgery. And it will involve more than just clipping the biceps tendon. The shoulder needs to be cleaned out. That tends to happen with 39-year-old shoulders. (This is why both the Yahoo! and ESPN reports were correct last week)
Again, like I've reported from the beginning, this all depends on BLF's shoulder and whether he is willing to get the surgery. If he doesn't get it, he's done. If he does, he's still in play.
The Vikings think eventually BLF will come around and want to play again sometime later this month or in June. They're just waiting him out and keeping him on the line until then. This is not ending anytime soon.
First off, it's positively genius to refer to Favre as "BLF". I love it.
(Brett's middle name is Lorenzo.)
I can only echo the Packers' take on the deal. If he wants to play football, he should go ahead and play.
Of course, when the Packers say it, the meaning isn't exactly what it sounds like. It's their cute little way of saying "Bring it on, sir". I'm thinking the Packers don't believe Favre's arm can either 1) withstand a 16-game season, or 2) beat the Packers twice.
I'm thinking they're probably right on both counts.
On the field, the Saints have clearly learned much of what their old coach tried to teach them.
St. Scholastica (35-5) has qualified for the NCAA Division III regionals once again this year. They'll be heading to Oshkosh, Wis., this week to play in a regional hosted by UW-Oshkosh. The Saints are the third seed in a six-team grouping, and will play fourth-seeded St. Norbert in the opening round. The top seed is St. Olaf, followed by St. Thomas. Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Beloit are the other two teams in the regional.
The Saints got to regional play after a busy second day at the UMAC Tournament Friday in Duluth. St. Scholastica scored 56 runs in three straight wins -- two of them over Bethany Lutheran, who had upset the Saints Thursday night -- to clinch their 13th straight UMAC baseball crown.
The regional tournament begins Wednesday. The winner advances to the Division III World Series in Appleton, Wis., beginning May 22.
Friday night, Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun hit a game-winning two-run home run in the eighth inning against the Cubs. When bat met ball, Braun went into a bit of a walk, instead of running toward first base. He also stuck his tongue out (right). Video can be seen here.
(Dear MLB, please enable embedding of videos. This isn't 2007.)
Saturday night, Braun hit another long bomb, this one to give the Brewers a 5-2 lead on their way to a 12-6 win. The at-bat before his long home run, Cubs starter Ryan Dumpster had a message he wanted to send the slugger's way.
(Let's see how long this video is available for.)
Set aside for a moment the argument about whether the pitch actually grazed Braun's helmet, because it's irrelevant. The umpire ruled that it did, Braun was awarded first base, and it didn't matter because the Brewers won by six runs and absolutely destroyed the Cubs pitching on this night.
Focus instead on the location of Dumpster's pitch.
"I think the league frowns upon people throwing at people's heads," (Brewers manager Ken) Macha said. "I don't know if (MLB vice president) Bob Watson will look at that or not.
"I don't think that's a good idea to throw at people's heads. I don't know if (Dempster) was or he wasn't. I can't answer that. It's hard for me to tell anybody what somebody else's intentions are."
I wouldn't be happy, either.
After all, it has to be kind of scary watching people throw at your best player's head.
I am all for the policing that we see in baseball. To me, there are no issues with a pitcher sending one between a guy's numbers when they feel it's necessary.
But it has to be between the numbers, not into someone's earhole. You just don't go after a hitter's head, no matter how much of a jerk they may act like.
Macha's right about this, and Dumpster would probably face a fine or a possible suspension if he didn't play for the Cubs.
Where Macha goes wrong is in trying to tie in a larger point about the dangers of headshots. This comes from the same Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.
"The implications of hitting somebody and the effect that can have on somebody's career, look at Kirby Puckett. He was one of the stars of our game, enjoyed the game. He got hit in the face by Dennis Martinez and that was pretty much the end of it. There are consequences of what you do out there."
I have great respect for Tom Haudricourt, but it would have been nice if he had found a way to correct Macha. After all, it only took me one Google search.
To this day, Puckett searches for the logic behind his illness. "Nothing popped. There's nothing detached. Doc says it was just the pressure building up behind the eye for 35 years. And finally it just got to the breaking point on March 28."
(Dr. Bert) Glaser has ruled out as a cause any residual trauma from the beaning Puckett suffered Sept. 28 when his left sinus was shattered by a Dennis Martinez pitch.
(NOTE: The Times article cited Glaser, who was with the Retina Eye Institute in 1996, as "one of the foremost eye specialists in the country", so there's a good chance he knew what he was talking about.)
Ken Macha is far from the first person to blame Puckett's blindness on Martinez, either directly or indirectly. Sadly, many people continue to make this mistake even now, over 12 years later.
It would have been nice for Haudricourt to reach into the vast amount of information available on the internet before he allowed Macha to become the latest.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have been without a real personnel boss since moving Kevin McHale to the bench during the season. You could joke they've been without one for a helluva lot longer than that, but we'll stick with facts.
