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.
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.
With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.
He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.
This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.
Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.
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