Obviously, She Was a Huge Mr. Belvedere Fan

Broadcaster Uecker says he was stalked in Pittsburgh

"Mr. Uecker said Ms. Ladd approached him after games he worked, hiding and then jumping out unexpectedly to talk to him. She once followed him to a road series between the Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates, staying on the same floor of his hotel and finding him at the pool."

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The Stars Were Aligned

Last night, I took in my first MLB postseason game. Needless to say, it was among the most exciting games of my life - for many reasons other than just the outcome.

As a lifelong Phillies fan, I haven't always had much to cheer about. Last night Citizens Bank Park was electric.

Allow me to share some sights, sounds and impressions of the game...

I knew I was in for something special when I was greeted pre-game by this man:

Some questioned the decision to have Mitch Williams throw out the first pitch in Game 1. No such doubt last night as Harry Kalas did the honors for Game 2.

Not all is positive in Philsville, however. Mrs. Werth seems to have lost a step since we last saw her.

Jessica Biel made her pitch for fans to "Stand Up To Cancer."

The drunk businessmen around me (pounding Jack & Cokes) were torn and complexed by her.

As Jessica encourgaed everyone to "Stand up":

(While firmly planted in his seat): "I'm already up, baby."

(When Biel asked for them to take out their cell phones): "Gimme the digits, honey."

(When Biel asked them to text to give a $5 donation to "Stand Up To Cancer"): "$5? Yeah that ain't happening."

Clearly, it would have cost him a half a plastic cup of diluted hard liquor.

A man near us had the Spirit of '80 on his mind (and his back).


Name: Michael Jack Smith
Jacket: 1980
Haircut: 1980
Mustache: 1980
Favorite Ballpark Food: The Schmitter

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Finally, let's get to brass tax. Phillie fans are constantly dogged about their negativity toward the team and its players.

Fittingly, Brett Myers, posterboy for player inconsistency, was the starter last night. With his near-blowup in the top of the first, you could hear fans hanging on to every pitch he made. Collective groans echoed throughout the stadium. There was an undercurrent of "here-we-go-again" resonating.

Myers got out of the inning, and from there went with a one-hitter through the 7th, but it was his ensuing at bats in Game 2 that he will be remembered for down the road.

But the real magic was as much created by the fans as by Myers. In what other city, with 2 outs, the pitcher batting against CC Sabathia in the 2nd inning, would 50K+ strong hang onto every pitch in an at-bat? What other fan base, besides maybe Boston or New York (AL), would understand the nuances of working a count early on a guy pitching on 3-days rest for the 4th start in a row? Again - with 2 outs, and the pitcher pitcher batting, who an inning before was one hit away from being run out of town, would 50k+ scream at the top of their lungs and wave towels in the 2nd inning? In what other city would said pitcher receive a standing ovation as he changed bats after breaking one on a foul ball? (I commented "Wonderboy").

There was as much excitement in 3 Brett Myers at bats as there was after the Victorino grand slam that the first set up.

THAT, readers, and not stories of Santa, Michael Irvin and battery hurling at JD Drew defines the passion of Philadelphia sports fans.

Go to MLB.com and watch the pitch sequences. Better yet, listen to the pitch sequences as pitch-by-pitch the crowd grows more and more excited.

MLB.com: 10/03/2008 Myers' game at the plate

Here's some crappy video I shot with Lights Out Lidge on the mound.

Just so you know that despite my praise for the Phillies fans, that doesn't mean we've gone soft. Despite the game we just witnessed, fans still expect the best out of the players. At the very end of this short one, note the quote, "Don't start this...THROW HIM A STRIKE!"

MLB Playoff Teams as VH1's 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs

As VH1 prepares to roll out this year's Hip Hop Honors, the music channel has been counting down the 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs all this week. In honor of hip hops pioneers, and their contributions to making MLB fitteds fashionable in the 1980-90s and a gang staple today, we take a look at this year's 8 playoff teams in relation to songs on the countdown.

Phillies
"How Ya Like Me Now [Longer Version]"
Artist: Kool Moe Dee
Album: How Ya Like Me Now (1987)
Label: Jive Records

Given up for dead by pundits and fans alike only about a month ago, playing inconsistent ball down the stretch, relying on the inevitable Mets collapse, the Phils are suddenly in good shape.

Brewers
"It Takes Two"
Artist: Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
Album: It Takes Two(1988)
Label: Profile Records

Having counted on the One-Two Punch of C.C. and Sheets to carry them through their first playoff in decades, the Brew Crew now has their back against the wall relying merely on C.C.'s girth.

Dodgers
"Set Adrift on Memory Bliss"
Artist: P.M. Dawn
Album: Of the Heart, Of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience (1991)
Label: Gee Street Records

Riding on the postseason past experiences of Manny, Lowe and Torre, the song is as laid back as Manny's D. Plus, both acts' fat members rock dreads.

Cubs
"Me So Horny"
Artist: 2 Live Crew
Album: As Clean as They Wanna Be (1989)
Label: Skyywalker Records

The Cubbies have been wanting this long time.

Red Sox
"Me Myself And I"
Artist: De La Soul
Album: 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
Label: Tommy Boy Records

This one's more about the fans. Massholes: The most egotistical fans this side of New York.

White Sox
"Tha Crossroads"
Artist: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Album: Greatest Hits (2004)
Label: Relativity Recordings/Ruthless Records

Teetering on being very talented and being very bad, having won a recent championship and then having backed into the playoffs this year, the White Sox and their manager have met at the crossroads.

Rays
"Now That We Found Love"
Artist: Heavy D & The Boyz
Album: Peaceful Journey (1991)
Label: Uptown/MCA Records

Like many first-timers who get their cherry broken, now the Rays need to figure out what they're gonna do...with it.

Angels
"Woo-Hah! Got You All In Check"
Artist: Busta Rhymes
Album: The Coming (1996)
Label: Elektra/Flipmode

A little older, a little fatter, less wild, but watch out for the Apollo Creed-like body blows to make your shit bleed.

Wild Thing, You Make My Heart...uh...Hurt?

Which guest do you think do you think will get the Phillies more emotionally drained - a heroic officer or the bane of their existence for the last 15 years?

Inqy: The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by Philadelphia Police Officer Richard Bowes, who was injured in the Sept. 23 shooting that killed Officer Patrick McDonald. Bowes will be joined by former Phillies reliever Mitch Williams, who saved 43 regular-season and three postseason games in the 1993 season.

I hope Phillie fans forgive, forget and move on. Mitch readily owns up to his role in the '93 Series. And he makes some kickass salsa. On a side note, he had a money quote on the WIP morning show today on his watching Brad Lidge in the playoff clincher from the press box:

"Now I know why everybody hated me."

Cubbie Chaser: Somebody Up There...Doesn't Like the Brewers

What a week, huh? After starting the month by losing 6 of 9 and looking very much askew, Carlos Zambrano comes back from the near-dead to throw a no-hitter against the hottest team in baseball, and then the Cubs work some crazy voodoo magic to take two-of-three from the Brewers and bring their magic number down to 2.

If I wasn't, you know, a lifelong fan of this stomp-on-your-heart franchise, I'd think this was their year or something.

Have any of you figured out what exactly happened Thursday at Wrigley Field? If so, e-mail me at stillinshock(at)whatthehell(dot)com.

From what I can glean, the Cubs were down by FOUR with TWO outs and NOBODY on in the bottom of the NINTH. And they ended up winning, 7-6, in 12.

This from a team that often seems to shut down and hold on after it gets a lead in the fourth or fifth., a team that strands baserunners left and right, a team that let a parade of mediocre relievers keep it in check Wednesday night in a 6-2 loss. We haven't seen this kind of fight out of these Cubs since that ridiculous nine-run comeback against the Rockies on May 30. Can you remember back that far?

Actually, I don't know whether to laud the Cubs here or laugh at the Brewers. Is it just me, or did the Brew Crew have, like, 10 zillion chances to make this a race down the stretch in the NL Central and/or run away with the Wild Card? Yet here they are, having to pretty much sweep the rest of the season to make the playoffs.

There's got to be something mystical at play here. I don't see how any team can fail to take advantage of the opportunities the Brewers have had, ESPECIALLY Thursday's 6-2 lead and countless late-inning rallies, unless its planets are misaligned or its karma is out of whack. Or it doesn't have strong leadership, or its bullpen really stinks...

You want to talk curses? Don't look at the Cubs. They've been pretty darned fortunate all year long. If they don't reach the World Series this year, it'll be because there is a hotter, or healthier, NL team at that time. Not because of any stupid curses.

If I'm a Brewers fan, on the other hand, I'm really searching the stars right about now. (I've got bad news, folks. From personal experience, praying does not help your baseball team.)

Cubbie Chaser: Celebrating "The Pitch"

I know it's way too early to start assigning big, dramatic names to things. Neither the division, nor even a playoff berth, has been clinched. Get cocky now, and you know what big, dramatic name we'll have for October: Suicide Time.

But just for today, I'm dubbing Kerry Wood's 3-2 offering to Prince Fielder in the Cubs' 5-4 win last night, "The pitch."

Holy crap, that was a tense moment. And Holy God, that was a nasty pitch. (Or, what's the baseball-insider jargon? Filthy?).



Wood himself has a name for that pitch. He called it a "slurvy slider" in Paul Sullivan's Chicago Tribune game story.

Yeah....wasn't that the pitch that launched a thousand Wood injuries back in the late 90s? Whatever. Fielder didn't know what the heck to do with it, and that's all that counts. Because the Big Veggie looked like a one-man wrecking crew on Tuesday night, with two home runs and a near-double down the right field line that Mark DeRosa -- who's proving a very capable fill-in for Kosuke Fukudome -- snuffed out with a diving catch.

Wood, a former starter, has developed a very closer-esque flair for the dramatic lately. It's almost as if he's trying to face the other team's biggest home run threat with two outs and runners in scoring position. Remember Albert Pujols coming up with two outs in the last game of the Cardinals series? How about Ryan Howard in the first game of the Phillies series? Wood shut them down, both via the very democratic popup.

Last night, with runners on the corners and Fielder locked in, Wood pulled out that pitch. THE pitch. Strike 3. Magic number 4. Two more wins over the Brewers in the next two days, and 100 years of postseason futility will be put to the test.

That sounded kind of cocky. But we'll allow that -- just for today.

You're Fired!

One thing that bears mentioning in this year's unceremonious firings of playoff chasing managers Willie Randolph and Ned Yost: both we're brought about by the play of the Philadelphia Phillies, as much as the lack thereof of their own respective clubs.


AP: "But the team has gone into a September slump. After being swept in four games in Philadelphia, the Brewers dropped into a tie with the Phillies for a wild-card spot in the postseason...After the weekend series with the Phillies they decided the managerial change had to be made."

Yahoo!: "Randolph’s job security had been unstable since September, when the club suffered arguably the biggest regular-season collapse in baseball history, blowing a seven-game standings lead to the Philadelphia Phillies with 17 contests remaining."

Yet for a few years now, the Phillies, to the dismay of many Fightin' fans, can't seem to figure out a way to give their own manager the boot.

Ned Yost Says Ignore Spousal Abuse

Let's say you have a neighbor. Let's say you witness that neighbor bum rush and pummel his spouse. Ned Yost thinks you best mind your own damn business.

By now you've seen the highlights of Prince Fielder going after Manny Parra. If you haven't, here you go...



What really struck me was the asinine analogy the Brewer's coach associated the in-dugout attack with.

"It's not a big deal. For eight months a year, we're a family. At times things happen, flare up, but it's between the family. It's in the family. It's a little bit rude when your neighbors are fighting next door for you to go knock on the door and ask what happened. We handle it ourselves. It's between us and it's nobody's business. But it wasn't that big a deal."

Got that, Nosey Nelly? Next time you witness an assault, pretend like it never happened. Snitches get stitches.

Seymour Butts

I used to think that Ben Doody was the best sports writer name on the planet.

That was until I read the byline on the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal's Brewers Blog for "Michael Hunt."

The New Mr. October

Really?

"Brewers Punch Ticket for October by Adding Sabathia"

Say it together: "C.C. Sah-BAYTH-e-yah"!

I love headlines like this. Makes me feel like they shouldn't even play the second half of the season.

After all, we are talking about THE Milwaukee Brewers here - not exactly a sterling case study in baseball success.

These are the same Brewers who blew a lead in a decidedly weaker division last year, fighting with each other in the dugout along the way. However, I suppose when the media starts hyperventilating about a pitcher with a subpar record, good things are bound to happen for your team, right? (See: Zito, Barry).

The Zito comparison notwithstanding, I seriously don't think adding C.C. can hurt the Brew Crew - I've checked the records and have confirmed that he throws a harder than 84 mph. So in the words of Longfellow, "If you want to crown 'em, then crown their ass."

But here's the reality: The Cubs are good, period. It pains me to write that, but it's true. They very well could and should win the division (although they will most certainly tank in the postseason - it's simply their nature). Plus, the Cards are not too far behind either - and they'll be adding two top of the line starters in the second half in Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter.

But that's what's fun about trades at the deadline - it gets people talking about otherwise sickly franchises in a way that is slightly detached from reality.

In some respects, however, I do have to say I'd love to watch-hear the nightmare of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver trying to call the sausage race at Miller Park during the World Series:

Buck: Rickie Weeks strikes out looking to end the sixth for Milwaukee ... as we head to the seventh, it's time for that great tradition here at Miller Park, the Sausage Race!

McCarver: Joe, sausages are a HUGE part of Wisconsin's heritage. That's why they call it the sausage race. Those are actually people down there - dressed up as sausages! And they'll run around the park, and the first one to finish is the winner!

What a Melvin

You say Sabaythea. I say Sabathia. Let's call the whole thing off.

Oh, Doug. At the very least know the pronunciation of your prized acquisition.

Yost Goes All Bissinger

Ned Yost was none to happy about a blog post that claimed he was moments from getting canned by the Brewers. Parts of the post was later reprinted in the Sentinel Journal's Brewers Blog.

While Milwaukee GM Doug Melvin chose to brush off the notions surrounding his manager's employment status as "erroneous Internet rumors," Yost chose to launch into what was described by the Sentinal Journal as a "mild tirade/venting session" that included "un-publishable words."

Yost: "It's not right. Blogs and the talk radio show guys, it's fun, but they don't have all the information. To sit back and criticize and talk about certain situations and they don't have all the information, now that's where it gets hard to listen or give it much credability. It's a joke. There's no legitimacy there at all, and we put it on the Internet for everybody to see and raise havoc. It's a joke. It's not fair and it's not right."

Misleading Headline: Brewers Lock Up Head Case

"Why can't you be more like Lloyd Braun?"

Brewers lock up Braun through 2015 with $45 million deal

Still Cool. Still Cocky. Still Bad.

Last summer Rev. Shaw ran into the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time, the Honky Tonk Man, knockin' 'em back and posing with his strap for fans at an airport bar. We wrote:

Apparently Honky makes over a G to just show up and sign autographs at county and state fairs, and, additionally, makes commission on what he sells. He then, mutton chops, jet black hair and all, basks in the attention he receives in airport bars, going so far as to pose with a championship strap.

Turns out, he hangs out at MLB spring training facilities and is pals with an NL front office man.

Brewer's beat writer Anthony Witrado blogs at one of our daily MLB reading stops, the Milwaukee Sentinal Journal's Brewer's Blog. He wrote this afternoon, "Today might have been the best day of camp for Tom and I, as Brewers director of media relations Mike Vassallo brought in his long-time friend and former WWF Intercontinental champion ... HONKY TONK MAN!"

As Witrado goes on to tell of what a joy Honky was, I can't help admit I am a bit jealous.

Photo: jsonline.com

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UPDATE: Big League Stew has some kick-ass pictures.

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An Outfit Fit For a Prince

Photo: thecelebritytruth.com

The wackado group PETA turned to wackado designer and sports groupie Alyssa Milano in their latest campaign in support of vegetarianism. Milano "donned an outfit entirely made out of lettuce, asparagus and other greens."

Milano joins Liz Berkley (so excited, yet so scared), Pam Anderson and other fine specimens as part of the group's Lettuce Ladies posse. At the Lettuce Ladies site you can check out a great little new sport called "tofu wrestling" featuring Playboy model Kira Eggers, and for the laddies a little off-shoot called the Broccoli Boys.

Here's hoping to see vegetarian Prince Fielder give someone over there the stink face.

Photo: PETA

Separated at Birth: The Reg Abides

Ariel, inspired by her love of bowling and Joe Sports Fan's Worthless Card Collection, pointed out this doozie.

Misleading Headline: Super Tuesday

On the heels of what was as close to a national primary as the country has ever seen, the Brewers appear to have come to terms with the Rangers' die-hard to compete for a spot in their rotation.

Brewers sign right-hander Bush to one-year contract