Now that all of the Opening Day tributes have come and gone, a lot of fans were wondering when there would be a more public celebration of life for the legend that was Mr. Baseball. Well yesterday we got our answer! Sunday, August 24th. The Giants are in town that afternoon (I don’t think that’s a coincidence with Willy Adames making his only trip to Milwaukee this season), and Bob Costas will host an extended pregame ceremony in honor of Ueck.
This might mark the first time in the history of Milwaukee baseball that every single fan is actually in their seat before first pitch. Personally, I always try to get in the park before the game starts, but I know tailgating culture for this fan base is about as big as it gets, and a lot of the time you’ve got a few thousand people lingering in the parking lots until the 3rd or 4th inning. But I doubt that will happen on this day. I imagine there will be plenty of tears shed, both from sadness and from laughing at stories, that afternoon. It’s interesting that we’re essentially going to have a funeral and a Major League Baseball game in the same afternoon at the same venue, but that feels altogether appropriate in this case.
The Brewers also swung a few trades yesterday! Obviously a YUGE issue so far this season has been injuries to the starting rotation. The franchise clearly did NOT take the advice of a very handsome, if not somewhat misguided, blogger at the beginning of the season when he told them to turn injuries to the ‘off’ setting:
Sad! And the consequence of that has been watching 4 of their preferred 5 starting pitchers landing on the IL. Freddy Peralta right now:
So yesterday they made a trade with the Red Sox, sending 19-year old outfield prospect, Yophery Rodriguez, and bringing back 24-year old righty Quinn Priester.
First things first: Quinn Priester sounds like a villain from a Spaghetti Western. That name sounds like a guy who is going to walk into the ol’ saloon, drop a single coin on the bar and order a whiskey neat.
Second things second: This was a move the team probably had to make. I realize Rodriguez was a Top 10 prospect in the organization (#7), and Priester’s numbers in a limited sample size at the Major League level aren’t great (6.23ERA), but this team is starved for any kind of pitching depth at the moment. Priester is a former first round pick (2019) so there is some pedigree there, his career minor league numbers are pretty good (3.61 ERA), so let’s get him in the famed Brewer Pitching Lab and see what they can do with him. Have some blind faith!
Not to mention: The prospect game is fickle. Yes, Rodriguez was rated fairly high, but he’s also really young, and was probably 2-3 years away from the Majors (and that’s best case scenario). Is there a chance he blooms with the Red Sox and we regret this trade in 5 years? Sure. Is it more likely that we never hear of Yophrey Rodriguez again? Yup. A 19-year old prospect is basically a scratch off ticket.
PS: They also traded Grant Wolfram to the Orioles yesterday for Daz Cameron. Does that last name sound familiar? He’s Mike Cameron’s son. The Brewers have been blessed with a LOT of high level centerfielders over the last 20+ years. Lo Cain, Carlos Gomez, just to name a few. But watching Mike Cameron patrol centerfield in 2008 and 2009 for the Brewers was breathtaking. He was SO smooth, he made incredible plays look routine. Watching him play centerfield was like watching a cheetah run in slow motion. Poetry.
Comments