I'm not saying people who write into newspapers are negative...

I'm just saying...

Reader Reaction Forum: Does Brewers affiliation increase T-Rat interest?

Of the eight responses used by the Post-Crescent to answer the question above...I counted one absolutely positive, one eh, and wait and see, and five that range from somewhat negative to overwhelmingly negative. Click the link to read them all, but here are a few of my favorites...

RATHER PLAY: Well, no, to tell you the truth. I've been to a couple Rattlers' games in past years with the Cub Scouts when I was a Cub master. I've been to one Brewers game, a couple Appleton Foxes games years ago, and I managed to see one Milwaukee Braves game when I was a lad. It's like with the Packers, since we canceled our cable TV subscription in '99, I have not watched a complete Packers game. The last one was when the Packers lost to Denver in the Super Bowl. I don't miss it. I'd rather play a game than watch it. I've played lots more softball than I've watched baseball games. I've golfed a lot more than I've watched tournaments on TV, though I do miss the Masters. For me, the best spectator and participatory sport is politics. As Heinlein said, it's almost as important as your own breathing.

Yes, the literary genius of Robert A. Heinlein...But, you can't blame him for Starship Troopers not translating well to film. Wait, no TV, so he probably hasn't seen it.

BEST DAYS PAST: Baseball has not been one of my great needs or loves, other then watching the grandkids do their thing with Little League, etc. Paying to watch someone doing bodily gyrations, scratching themselves, chewing a cud and then spewing it out before any action begins is not my idea of something grandiose. Give me the rough-and-tumble football and its magnificent action. The days of the great players like "the Babe" and Lou Gehrig are long gone, so the Rattlers' new association means very little. Now, if you mean the Chesapeake, Va., Little League Chargers, that's a whole different ball game.

Well, we're not...so...And he does know that minor league players can't chew tobacco, right? He does know that tobacco products are banned for minor league players? And "the Babe" never...oh, man...just go read them all.

From Jim Powell

Brewer broadcaster Jim Powell does a 5th inning chat every Tuesday during the season. Here is the chat from 9/23...Which Q & A is about to be highlighted on Rattler Radio?

Q: Linda Everson from Clintonville - I am so excited that the Brewers and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are now affiliated! My husband and I will be taking in alot of baseball next season as we are Brewer ticket holders and we will go to more Timber Rattlers now that they with the Brewers. Do you know will they be still called the WI Timber Rattlers or something else? Thanks for a great broadcast season from you and Bob, I never miss you guys!

Jim: I haven't heard about any name-change but I am glad to hear about the new deal between the Brewers and the Midwest league affiliate in Appleton. This will make it much easier for players who are rehabbing to pop over and get some work nearby while still working out with the club's training staff in Milwaukee. It is obviously great for the fans to be able to go check out the future Brewers when the big boys are out of town. I was happy to hear the news.

So were we.

Reaction

Jeff Johnson of the Cedar Rapids Gazette has this on his blog about the new Brewer-Timber Rattler partnership.

Finally, a Player Development Contract in the Midwest League that makes sense.
...
The deal ends a 16-year partnership between Wisconsin and the Seattle Mariners. That means the longest-tenured marriage in the league is now the Cedar Rapids Kernels and Los Angeles Angels. The Kernels-Angels and Timber Rattlers-Mariners had been tied.

There is a bit more at the link.

Just one for tonight

The day got away from me and there are a few things about which I wanted to post. But, I'm just going to link to this one blog post from Steve Prestegard's Marketplace of Ideas blog at the Northeast Wisconsin Marketplace Magazine website.

Three wins, no negatives

There are plenty of good things there so, please go read the whole thing. I'll leave you with the last couple of paragraphs.

Minor league baseball remains a great family entertainment value, the opportunity to see up and coming players with less-than-major-league attitude on beautiful Midwest summer nights at less-than-major-league prices. The opportunity to see the future of the Brewers, who clearly have invested in the future this entire decade and whose investments are starting to pay off at Miller Park, makes this an even better deal. (Brewers executive vice president Rick Schlesinger inadvertently started negotiations on the next Brewers–Timber Rattlers contract by referring to the new "four-and-plus-year" agreement.)

Rare is the case when, as Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said Tuesday, there are no negatives at all to a deal. This is one of those cases. Regardless of how the rest of this week goes for the Brewers, I'm looking forward to both the Rattlers' opener April 9 and the Brewers' home opener against the Flubs — I mean Cubs — April 10.

Back in the morning.