While the Brewers take a well-needed break for the All Star game, more than 500 baseball fanatics will come to Milwaukee this week for the annual SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) convention.
The highlight of the five-day event will be a centennial party for the American League, which was founded right here in Milwaukee. The league was incorporated at The Republican House Hotel, which once stood where the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel parking lot now is.
Can you imagine Ban Johnson, Charles Comiskey, Connie Mack and other legends of baseball sitting around a table, signing incorporation papers that established the league and challenged the very structure of the game at that time? It truly was a historic moment.
{INSERT_RELATED}SABR members and others will dedicate a historical marker to the event on Thursday. Charlies Comiskey III, the grandson of the former White Sox owner and one of the founders, will take part in the dedication.
It's just one of several great events planned for the convention. Panels including members of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League and the Negro League will be held on Thursday.
On Friday, a Milwaukee baseball authors' panel, which includes yours truly, and Jim Ksicinski and Tom Flaherty, co-authors of "Jocks and Socks," will be held. A Milwaukee players' panel, which includes Johnny Logan, Andy Pafko and others, will be held Saturday.
Commissioner Bud Selig will speak at the Awards Banquet on Saturday. Trips to games at Wrigley Field and Miller Park are planned.
Bob Buege, a local teacher and author of books on the Milwaukee Braves and Eddie Mathews, and a group of local SABR members put in tireless hours planning this event.
It will keep some of the baseball world focus on Milwaukee during a week where most of it is on Seattle.
Sheets In Seattle
Rookie Ben Sheets will represent the Brewers at the All Star game in Seattle. At most, Sheets will probably pitch an inning. "There are some other guys named (Randy) Johnson and (Curt) Schilling who have been around a while who likely will start, but if Ben gets an inning it will be an honor," Brewers' manager Davey Lopes said.
The Brewers also were sending a contingent to Seattle to see how officials there handle arrangements for the big game. Next year, the All Star game will be right here in Miller Park!!!!
Carew Under Scrutiny
As the Brewers slumped at the plate before the break, critical eyes once again turned toward hitting coach Rod Carew. On the radio talk shows, and web site message boards, fans started to call for Carew's head, much like they did last season when the Brewers had trouble hitting.
Carew was a Hall of Fame player and knows as much about hitting as probably anybody alive today. But, he can't hit for his players. The test then becomes whether his instructions are being executed on the field. They haven't been on a consistent basis.
Perhaps the most alarming point, and probably frustrating part for Carew, is that the Brewers are a free-swinging, all-or-nothing team -- a lineup of Gorman Thomases -- with a couple exceptions. Carew was just the opposite kind of hitter.
Gumby Talks Ball
Look for the start of a new feature in the Review, "Gumby Talks Ball," in the near future. Former Brewer Jim Gantner has consented to give his viewpoints periodically about the game in the Review.
The feature will be sponsored by the River Coffee House, a great cafe in Hartland, owned by Gumby and his wife, Sue.
Review and Preview
It was good to see the Brewers break out of their hitting woes, at least for one game, in Saturday's 13-3 win over the Giants. Jose Hernandez moved from shortstop to centerfield to fill in for some injuries and hit two homeruns. Ron Belliard and Luis Lopez equaled career highs with four hits each.
The big-hitting game came after an extra inning loss on Friday night. On Sunday, the Brewers wrapped up play before the All Star break with a 6-4, 13-inning victory over the Giants in San Francisco.
When the Brewers return after the break, they have two inter-league games against regional foes, the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox. Team exec Laurel Prieb said crowds of more than 40,000 are expected for several of those games.
Hopefully, the Brewers can heal up over the break and come out slugging and pitching well to start the second half of the season.
Gregg Hoffmann publishes The Brew Crew Review column on Fridays and Mondays and maintains a special message board on OMC.
