Midway through the season last year, Right Field Bleachers started to make efforts to land a Seth McClung interview. It was a bit of a long shot. Frankly, most MLB players have better things to do with their off time than talk to fan blogs, but it just seemed like Seth was the kind of personality that would be willing to do it. And fans wanted to hear from Seth. It was obvious from the beginning of Big Red’s time in Milwaukee that the fans and him connected.

After some legwork, we got ahold of Seth and lined up an interview. He just had to approve it with the Brewers media folks. Unfortunately, the Brewers media department has an extremely overbearing and dated policy towards blogs. Essentially, blogs get zero access, no exceptions. After pleading my case and being a pest for a week or two, they bent a little and allowed the interview just this one time. And then a day later, Seth was injured and the interview was off again. Bad luck…

Once the offseason hit and it was clear that Seth was no longer going to be a Brewer (and therefore we didn’t have to go through the hassle that is the Brewers media department), we started to effort an interview with him again. After a few weeks, we finally connected.

Seth called us up on Super Bowl Sunday and chatted for about a half hour. And he didn’t disappoint. The newly signed Florida Marlin hit on everything from how much he truly loved Milwaukee and Brewer fans (and how wants to come back at some point), the clubhouse chemistry, his role as the team “janitor,” his rift with Ken Macha, Todd Coffey’s “man boobs” and “sixth inning bathroom visit” and much, much more.

Say what you want about the Seth, but the guy is genuine and he’s a blast. I’m going to miss watching him as a Brewer.

Listen to the interview here (intro and outro song is “Modern Times” by The Black Keys):

This is Jared with Right Field Bleachers and we have former Brewer Seth McClung on the phone. I guess, first off, Seth, congrats on joining the Marlins. How did that deal come to be and what did you like about the opportunity there.

Well, thanks for having me, first off. You guys got in touch with me through the West Virginia Rush program I run and, before I answer your question, one of the reasons I really felt like it was kind of cool to do this through the blogs is I really feel like Milwaukee has a pretty kick ass following through the blogs and the fans really voice their opinions.

But the way the Marlins deal came about is when I became a free agent, pretty much every team in the National League showed interest and a few teams in the American League. We waited around and it boiled down to where the best opportunity for me to get back in the Major Leagues and stay in the Major Leagues seemed to be in Florida. I think we might have waited a little bit too long on a couple of things, but we’re here in Florida and it’s a good opportunity. I turned down more money in a couple of other places because of the opportunity. It’s closer to home for my family. We have a five-month old and it’s going to be an opportunity where Stephanie, my better half, doesn’t have to really quit school. She can still drive now back and forth between the Tampa Bay area, Jupiter is in the Tampa Bay area, and Miami. So, a lot of family decisions came into it.

Obviously, I would’ve loved to come back to Milwaukee. That was my first choice. But that’s not something they really wanted to do.

You mentioned a number of times in interviews and on your Twitter account that you had a really good time in Milwaukee and you loved the fans here. So, needless to say, you were a little disappointed you weren’t able to stay with the team?

Yeah, I was really disappointed. I felt like in 2007, when I got traded, I didn’t really do much, but I saw that it was such a great clubhouse. And then 2008 rolled around and I was blessed with the opportunity to start 13 games and then pitch in September and towards the playoffs. And I felt like I really added a lot to the team. I was praised by our coaching staff and the general manager and everybody for my accomplishments in 2008.

And then 2009 rolls around and, you know, we have a change at the top. And, obviously, if you look at the season, I started out pitching great. And then, you know, circumstances came up that were beyond my control and I tried to appease certain wants and I started to pitch poorly. And I continued to appease certain wants and I got hurt.

So, I had to come back. It was big. I got hurt late in the season and it was an injury that most guys would’ve packed up and not tried to come back from, but I felt like we still had a chance at the playoffs. When I got hurt, we were still in it. And then we basically fell out of it, but I wasn’t going to give up on my teammates and the organization. I tried to come back and just prove that being a Brewer meant a lot to me. It wasn’t about me, it was just about not letting my teammates down. You hate to compare things to war or a fight, but I didn’t want to leave my guys hanging. Our bullpen was beat up and they needed some help. I really wanted to get back for them.

All that hard work, I mean, once I got the initial opportunity to come to Milwaukee, I felt like I did everything I possibly could to make the fans and to make the organization happy. I really loved it there and it’s a shame that it came down to an individual decision. Who knows how long certain people will be there, but I would love to come back to Milwaukee one day.

You talked a little bit about the bullpen and the pitching struggling last year, and most of your time with Milwaukee you kind of bounced between the bullpen and the starting rotation. Did that contribute to some of the difficulties you had at all? Was it hard to keep switching roles?

It is, but it’s hard to pitch in the Major Leagues. I mean, it was my job.

You take a look at my numbers and, if you want to be a Sabermetrics guy or one of those guys who want to just boggle numbers, you can say pretty much that everybody except the superstars suck. And you can manipulate numbers any way you want. But what I did for the team and provided for the team is I came in when we needed a spot starter in 2008. I filled in, I feel, very well. You know, who knows where we would’ve been had I not been able to fill in? And then outside of that, I would come into the game when we were down 2 runs in the fifth or six innings and I would keep us right there or keep us within the games. Sometimes we’d come back and win those games and sometimes we wouldn’t, but by putting me in and eating up two innings at a time, it kept the seventh, eighth and ninth inning guys pitching the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. I felt like I wasn’t really, in 2009, used in that capacity so much.

My role was basically, I think some of the radio guys in Milwaukee called me the janitor. It’s one of those jobs where if you don’t have a good janitor, man, you notice. But if you’ve got a good janitor, you kind of take him for granted. I’m not saying I was taken for granted by the organization because most of the organization was very good to me. But if you want to look at my numbers, you can say whatever you want about them. I don’t mind. It’s just that my role was something that being filled in 2008 allowed us to get to the playoffs and before I got hurt in 2009, we were still in the hunt.

Do you think that you’ll have a similar role on the Marlins? Have you talked with them about that at all?

Uh, I’m not really sure what the Marlins want. I don’t know if they see me more as a late-inning guy. I mean, I’m pretty versatile and if you’re going to confine me to one inning, I can come in and throw as hard as you’d like me to. If you want me to go multiple innings, I have to adjust and then taper down my velocity to be able to go different innings. So, it’s kind of one of those things that I can do both and we’ll just see what they need.

And it’s the same line that I’ve always had in Milwaukee. I want to do what’s best for the team. I’m a team-before-me kind of guy. It’s a shame that sometimes the game of baseball is a business because it’s not what you’re taught growing up. When you’re in the little leagues, you’re always taught that it’s about the team. It’s a family. For the guys who play the game, it’s a family, but sometimes for the coaches and the front office, it’s not really a family. It’s the sad part about baseball. It’s throughout everywhere in baseball. It’s not just localized in Milwaukee. And I’m by no means bitter about it. I loved my time in Milwaukee and everybody was great. But it’s the realization that, as you get older in the game, stuff like that happens.

Yeah, and you’ve hit on this a little bit, but on your Twitter account, you didn’t really hide the fact that you didn’t exactly see eye to eye with Ken Macha at times. Can you talk about your relationship with him and where that fell apart?

I don’t think I ever really had a relationship with Mr. Macha. I tried in the first half to really build a relationship. I don’t think he really got me. You could take what I could say and say, “Oh, he’s just disgruntled” and what not. I am disgruntled, but it’s because our relationship really wasn’t that great and I didn’t agree with a lot of the things he did. People gave Ned Yost a hard time for taking up for his players, but there’s a lot to be said about that. And people give Lou Piniella a hard time for arguing with the umpires, but there’s a lot to be said for that.

Ken Macha, if I had my choice, I wouldn’t play for him again. And I’m not here to throw stones. Good luck for the rest of the year. It’s over. And this is probably the last time I’ll really comment on Ken Macha. But I just really didn’t agree with his philosophy, his coaching style. Let’s just keep it that simple. Some things in house need to stay in house and let’s just say I didn’t agree with it and I really didn’t feel like he treated me fairly or gave me a fair shake at anything.

Would you say that’s a feeling that a lot of players have? Is the team behind him or is it kind of a divided locker room?

You know, I’m no longer there and my answer, whether it could be construed as truthful or anything, there’s no real need. There’s no real need to delve into those things. I understand the want to ask that question, but I’m not really at liberty to speak for anybody else. I can speak for myself. But that’s a question you’ll have to ask those guys. I hate to sound like I’m copping out, but I would never throw teammates or anybody under the bus. I don’t do that kind of thing.

OK, fair enough. We kind of talked about the Twitter account just briefly. I think that was something Brewers fans kind of got a kick out of last year as you started to do that a little bit more and over the offseason too. But recently you deleted the account. Can you talk about why you decided to do that?

I deleted the account because I think it was getting on Stephanie’s nerves. I enjoyed it a lot. The Twitter account was great.

Over the years, maybe the year I did it, I don’t even know if I did it a year, I got all positive responses except for two. The two responses were from toolbags and I just blocked them and it was whatever. But all positive responses. And I enjoyed interacting with the fans. I’m from West Virginia, man, and I’m as blue collar as they come. I’m just like you and just like everybody else. I just happen to play baseball. And I thought it was a pretty cool way to connect with the fans to just kind of show everybody that, “Hey, I’m just a guy that’s very fortunate to play baseball and thank you guys for being supportive.”

And, to tell you the truth, I had decided that, after Milwaukee, that I wasn’t really going to do it anymore because it was a special situation in Milwaukee. That’s no slight to any other fans, but I had such a special bond with a lot of fans in Milwaukee. I felt that it was something that I couldn’t continue because I kind of knew I wasn’t going to come back. And I wanted everybody to know how grateful and honored I was to be a Milwaukee Brewer and play on their favorite team and how supportive they were. It was awesome. And had I not had the Twitter account, I wouldn’t have been able to send my good bye. I mean, they don’t typically give long relievers middle pages in the paper to do the kind of things like that. So, to be able to do that and to say my good byes to the fans and to the organization, it was huge. And I really enjoyed it.

I apologize to whoever Miller Park Drunk is about my misspelling things on there. I’m sorry that you don’t understand that 140 characters is usually 140 characters and I don’t really have a great spell check on my phone, but I hope everybody enjoyed it as much as I did and I enjoyed the fans. It was just my way of connecting.

I think part of that bond that Brewers fans had with you is they could tell you were basically just one of us. You were a regular guy. On the field, after the Wild Card Championship, pouring beer on yourself, all that kind of stuff. I guess, did you get that feeling too where you were one of the guys sort of?

(Link: Video of McClung celebrating Braun’s go-ahead home run in Wild-Card-clinching game against Cubs in 2008)

I definitely felt I connected with the Milwaukee fans. I mean, I didn’t go out much. My days when I played in Tampa, dude, you could find me in any bar in town. But when I came to Milwaukee, I kind of settled down in my ways and I was pretty serious, in a serious relationship. And now I’m a father. So, I mean, those kind of days for me, I didn’t get to do much in Milwaukee.

But when I did get to go out, my cousin Brad works at McGillycuddy’s. I would have to say that McGillycuddy’s is probably the most blue-collar bar on Water Street and I fit in perfect there. I mean, it was just like, “These are my people. This is who I grew up with in West Virginia.” I understood the philosophy. My father was a hard-working guy. My father built high-rise buildings. We lived in West Virginia and he would live in Boston for six months or live in Atlanta for six months and he would come back on the weekends. He’d drive eight hours to spend 16 hours with us and then drive back another eight hours to go back to work. So, I mean, I knew what sacrifice was growing up and my family taught me some values. I was able to connect with the fans on a certain level because I never thought I was any better than anybody just because of my job. I mean, I understand that sometimes you’ve kind of got to separate yourself because it does get crazy sometimes, but you knew that it came from a good place. And I could always connect with that.

There’s always stories coming out about practical jokes or superstitions in the bullpens. Can you give us any good stories about the Brewers bullpen?

Well, first of all, Todd Coffey and I are actually two different people. A lot of people yell at me calling me Coffey. Coffey is about 475 pounds with man boobs. And I am not 475 pounds. I love Todd. Don’t get me wrong. I say this jokingly. He’s a great guy.

Some of the things that we’ve done in the bullpen that are really of note, I think, the Bullpen Olympics of 2008 got a lot of pub. And I would just like to acknowledge that was 100 percent my idea. I got the games together and I put the rules down and then I did purchase medals for first, second and third in each event and then overall trophies for everyone. So, that was all mine and that was a lot of fun.

I think David Riske won it. Shousey came in second. I was proud to announce that I took home the overall bronze medal. That was a lot of fun. We did that for about six weeks, sorry, three weeks and it took a lot of time. I think we caught a little bit of flack for it and, during that time, I think we had something like a 2 ERA as a bullpen and we kind of said, “Seriously, we’re not the problem. Don’t worry about us. We’ll be ready to pitch when it comes our time.” We take our job serious, but when you’re in the bullpen things go a little different.

Another thing I did, when I got hurt this year, we’ve got a rather large bathroom in the bullpen and I decided once the team went to the West Coast trip that I was going to go and redecorate the bullpen. And I made sure I put posters in the bullpen. I put some rugs down, magazines down. I put a refrigerator in there so we could have drinks. I bought candles because Coffey’s sixth inning bathroom visit was terrible so we had to make sure we had some candles.

I had something in there that represented everybody so I went through the bios and I was reading like it said that Mitch Stetter loved ping pong, table tennis, so I put a ping pong paddle and a ping pong ball on the table in there. And then Coffey loved Star Trek so I went out and bought season DVDs of Star Trek movies or whatever and I put those in there. And then I put a big picture of Trevor Hoffman framed with a big skull in the front to represent “Hells Bells.” And DiFelice is Italian so I put the Italian Sausage in there. And then, myself, I put a Chuckie doll in there. I did something for everybody. And then I put one of those Miller Park or Brewers miniature home plates on there and I had candles all on the edge meaning the bullpen lives on the edge. It was just kind of fun and we did that and I think the guys got a really big kick out of that.

It’s just things like that that you do throughout the year to really break up the monotony of everything and just be a team player. I mean, I feel like anything you can add off the field as well to be a good team player is important to the chemistry of the team. To talk about the Milwaukee Brewers, the most important thing is that everybody loved each other there. I don’t know the chemistry now because guys are gone and a lot of key guys who brought a lot to the clubhouse are gone, so who knows how it’s going to be? But it was the best three years of my Major League career was playing for the Milwaukee Brewers, not just on the field, but in the clubhouse, on the road trips. I loved every single guy.

I don’t keep up with really a single Tampa Bay Devil Ray that I played with. That’s from 1999 to 2007. And let me tell you, I’ve already talked to almost everyone on the Milwaukee Brewers team just through text messages or sending cards back and forth and just being in touch. My best friend in baseball is Corey Hart and he’s an awesome guy, an awesome family guy. Just being able to text him, see how he’s doing, or text Trevor, or text Coffey. Villanueva and I will e-mail jokes back and forth to each other. Like I went to a Mexican restaurant and I ordered some food and I took a picture of it and I sent it to Villanueva and sent it to Yo and I said, “I miss you guys. That’s why I’m having this burrito.” So, it was just funny stuff back and forth. This is a great situation.

And going back to Coffey a little bit, at one point last year, you wore a shirt in the bullpen that said “Not Coffey,” right?

Right, right. I had been called Coffey a few times. And, again, I kind of take exception to it. When I was in high school, I lettered in seven sports and I was an All-American baseball player. I played shortstop and centerfield and pitched. I played basketball. I was the point guard on offense, not really point guard, we had a point guard, but I’d bring the ball up. I played in AAU tournaments in basketball. I did the high jump. I did a lot of athletic things.

And then Coffey is like a big guy. He’s just kind of like a big ol’ guy that pitches. You know? You love him. He’s just a big ol’ teddy bear. And I still kind of fancy myself as an athlete and when I get called Coffey, I think, “Golly, how could you not know I’m not Todd Coffey?” And, so, I would say “Not Coffey” all the time. “Not Coffey.” I’d just yell out “Not Coffey.” So, finally one day, the guys on the team were kind of getting a joke on it so I went to our head clubbie, Tony, and I said, “Hey, can you get me one of those pullovers and put on the back ‘Not Coffey’?” And, so, we did that and it was a big joke. I wore it the first day out and I think we got our asses handed to us, I mean, just absolutely kicked, so I could only wear it one day. I couldn’t wear it anymore after that so I had to get my fill out of it one day, so one batting practice and one game. But after that, we couldn’t wear it anymore so I sent it home as a reminder of how good of a time we had.

It’s just funny stuff like that, man, that’s really kind of where the chemistry comes involved. And other guys did some things that were funny. It’s enjoyable. It makes the season enjoyable and memorable.

So, are you saying that you could beat Todd in a race?

Are you serious, man? Todd Coffey in a race? You know what? I thought about doing something funny like putting on YouTube me training to beat Todd Coffey in a race, like a video montage would be funny. But I never did it. But, yes, I could beat Todd in a race. You know, he’s the redheaded bullet out of the pen, but I got him in a race. Don’t worry about that. I’m not going to lose to Todd Coffey.

Alright, well, I guess for Brewers fans, the Cubs have probably been the biggest rival since the team moved to the NL Central, but it seems like, in your time as a Brewer, the rivalry against the Cardinals really picked up and there were some heated moments and comments in the media over the years. How much do you think that rivalry escalated while you were around?

I felt like it was a little, it was chippy. Had it been a basketball game, there probably would’ve been elbows thrown, you know? But I don’t think it was ever personal. It was personal on certain levels, but it wasn’t something we were constantly thinking about. It was only really when we played them. But you could see it escalate from 2007 to 2008 to 2009. It was one of those things that we knew about. We didn’t live our lives hating the Cardinals. You don’t really hate them, but you acknowledge kind of what they’re saying. And I’m sure they acknowledged what we did. That’s why they said what they said. They didn’t like that we untucked our pants and they didn’t like that we had the Atomic Walkoff. But it’s kind of that we were a young, fun team and that gets back to the chemistry. I never had more fun doing some of the things that we did. And if Trevor Hoffman and David Weathers are OK with it, then anybody should be OK with it because those guys have been around long enough to know what’s right and wrong in a game. Everything we ever did was all done in good fun. It wasn’t done in any disrespect to the game or to any individual. If anybody has got a problem with all of that stuff, it’s overblown because they’re taking offense when they shouldn’t be taking offense.

OK, you had an interesting moment against the Cardinals yourself in September of 2007. So, you’re no longer a Brewer. Yost is gone. I think the Statute of Limitations is up on this. You hit Pujols on purpose, right?

The Statute of Limitations is definitely not up on that. And all I have to say is “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit” and I got freed of all charges.

Alright, alright. Last season, Ryan Braun made some comments about the team’s pitching that some people took as a shot at you or Mike Burns. What was your reaction to the comments and did you talk to Ryan about that?

It was a direct shot at Burnsy and myself, and Ryan spoke with me actually. I wasn’t going to go to him. He spoke with me and he apologized.

You could look at it as a turning point in the season. It kind of really hurt us. It kind of really hurt our pitching staff. One thing that Ryan has to understand is that, I know he understands he’s a superstar, but he has to understand that you can’t, and I think he has, I mean, he’s really kind of tapered off, but you’ve always got to remember you’ve got to put your team first. And I think I read a comment he said he’s not the GM and he doesn’t get into that anymore. And he’s not and I think he’s realizing that.

And another thing people don’t realize is reporters talk to him constantly so he’s got to be on his A-game not to say something stupid. I didn’t like what he said, but I’m sure he learned from it. I have no hard feelings, none at all. To tell you the truth, Ryan is a pretty decent guy. So, I don’t have any hard feelings. It sucked getting thrown under the bus, but I understand where he was coming from. I understand he wanted to win and I wanted to win. So, I think he learned from it.

You know, I’ve made mistakes too. You can go back and look at some of my quotes when I was in Tampa and they’re pretty bad. So, everybody makes mistakes. So, it sucked, but I understood and I forgave him. Ryan and I were pretty decent friends when we were on the team so I didn’t like it, but no hard feelings. And I think he’s learned from it and I think he’s going to be a better teammate from it, I think, in the end. And it’s a good thing that he was able to learn from it and we’re all able to move on.

And speaking of Braun, I saw that before you deleted your Twitter account, you talked a little bit about entering into a similar business venture as he has with a t-shirt line. Can you talk about that a little bit?

Yeah, I got a little creative bone in my body. I don’t really know how to draw or do any of the art stuff, but I’m a real big ideas guy and I think I’ve got some pretty nifty kind of ideas. I don’t want to get into it too much because I believe in the idea so much that if I told it, I think somebody would steal it. So, I don’t want to get into it too much, but once it gets out there, and gets put out there, I’ll let everybody know.

Alright, sounds good. Anything else that you’d like to add that we haven’t hit on yet?

I’d really just like to say to everybody that’s a Milwaukee Brewers fan and has followed the team from 2007 to 2009 that I will always remember it as really a great time. I really enjoyed the enthusiasm that you guys brought to the stadium and to the park every single game against every team no matter what. And I know I’m putting on a different uniform and I’m going to be entering Miller Park again and, you know, I hope I don’t get booed, but I know you’re not going to be cheering for me outloud because you want your team to win and I understand. And hopefully one day I can come back and be a Brewer, but I just really want the fanbase to know that I loved it. And I just really want the organization to know that aside from a singular individual, this was the single most greatest time in my athletic career from amateur to professional. And I’m really grateful and blessed. I thank God every day for the ability to play in the Major Leagues and for the life I have. And playing for you guys has been one of the best times of my life and I’m really grateful.

Well, thank you very much for doing the interview with us and good luck down in Miami. Try to go easy on the Brewers when you face them this year.

Hey, well, why don’t  you tell the Brewers to try to go easy on me? You guys take care. Thanks for having me.

• There should be some people eating crow on Jerry Stackhouse. Since his first game after being signed, a move which was much maligned, the Bucks have gone 7-3.
• Carlos Delfino and Luke Ridnour were underrated acquisitions.
• If the Bucks can get Redd off their salary (I believe he has an option for next year), the Bucks should put together their entire financial fury into getting Dwayne Wade this offseason (Kohl’s has done well during the recession…let’s go Herbie). Think about it. The Bucks are instantly relevant with D-Wade. Imagine D-Wade at SG, Brandon Jennings at Point, Bogut at C and fill the rest with Delfino, Bell, Ilyslova, and Mbah a Moute.
• Andrew Bogut has improved a ton from even a year ago. He isn’t a bust
• Speaking of bust, Joe Alexander never got a fair shake in Milwaukee yet and I hope he does.
• Squad 6 is the best thing to happen to the Bradley Center in a long time.

Let’s start the week of on a positive note:

Here’s a list of 10 Brewer-related things I’m excited for before opening day

10) Brewers Winter Tailgate – What started off as nutjobs freezing for baseball tickets has been embraced by the team and the fans.

9) Pitchers and Catchers report – The four magical words in the middle of winter that make you feel like digging out of your hole. Anyone else start working out again once these words are said? Anyone else just have a good day on PaCR day? Yeah, didn’t think it was just me.

8) Promotional Schedule released – This isn’t a big deal, but it’s always fun to see who their going to make into a bobblehead this year. We already know there’s a Bernie Brewer one…perhaps a Prince as the HR Derby Champion bobble? Doug Melvin was a hit last year, how about a Mark Attanasio bobblehead?

7) This Year’s Breakout at Spring Training – Two years ago, it was Gabe Kapler. Last year, it was Casey McGehee. Who’s it going to be this year?

6) Ryan Braun’s Tavern and Grill – I know I’m lame, but I’m so close to Lake Geneva that it’s probably more exciting to me than others. And it can’t be any worse than Remitee, right?

5) Fantasy Baseball Draft – I love having all the guys get together for the draft, talk baseball, and speculate about players and teams.

4) Getting out the Grill and getting it ready for the season – This usually happens once most of the snow has left and it usually starts out as wanting to clean the grill and it usually ends up making burgers and brats…you know…to warm it up before the season.

3) Watching the pitching staff come together – Will the Crew have three lefty starters or will Manny and his fragile psyche get sent to AAA? Will the Narv-Dog be a reliever, long reliever, or AAA starter? Will Riske be ready? Will the relievers from last year still be worn out (already lost DiFelice for the year)? Will Jeff Suppan start? If so, it will because of two reasons; he will either have rocked in spring or there will be laugh-worthy reasoning from the managerial staff.

2) Spring Training Games – I love getting updates during the day about the team, not to mention seeing how prospects are doing this year. Plus, this year’s team has been through the biggest overhaul since 2006. It’s going to be interesting to see how all the new pieces work.

1) The night before Opening Day – The excitement has been bubbling for a long time and comes to a climax the night before.

Last week, I wrote about the high expectations new pitching coach Rick Peterson brings with him and the fact that he doesn’t seem interested in tempering those expectations at all. Well, the enthusiasm continues to build.

Mike Silva of Mike Silva’s New York Baseball Digest, a Mets blogger who wrote that he wishes Peterson was still in New York, says the veteran pitching coach should be a nice fit for the Brewers:

“I predict the Brewers will see many arms overachieve with Peterson as their pitching coach. Their young hurlers, like Yovani Gallardo, will become better because of the experience of working with him.”

And perhaps the improvements on the mound won’t be as important as another part of Peterson’s program — keeping those pitchers on the mound. In August, Silva interviewed Peterson, who was not with an MLB team and was working on building 3P Sports at the time (download here). And Peterson left little doubt that he believes in the system he developed with Dr. James Andrews. In fact, he all but promised pitchers will stay healthy if they stick with it:

“In 11 years, six years with Oakland and five years with the New York Mets, if there’s one thing in my career that I’m most proud of it is the fact that we kept healthy arms healthy during the tenure of those times coaching at the Major League level. And that is a real tribute to the research and implementation of Dr. Andrews’ program of the biomechanical analysis and then how to train pitchers deliveries to keep them healthy.”

AND

“Without question, what I  can say from being a Major League pitching coach and hopefully getting back in the Major Leagues next year, is this is absolutely the best program that’s out there.”

Again, it’s hard to not be enthusiastic about what this guy is promising to deliver. Hopefully it translates to the results on the mound this season.

Reliever Rollie Fingers, who won the AL Cy Young and MVP awards in 1981, struck out Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker to clinch the Brewers’ second half AL East title. The 1981 season was divided because of a players’ strike so the Brewers played the Yankees, the first half AL East winners, in a best-of-five series. They lost the series 3-2.

It’s great to watch the Brewers celebrate as the fans rush onto the field at County Stadium. That’s some classic video and I’m glad someone deemed it worthy of unearthing for us.

Corey wants 4.8 Mil, the Crew wants to give him 4.15 Mil and both sides are at a standstill (according to Adam McCalvy). Let’s check out Corey Hart’s arguement:

1. I was totally an All-Star (that was voted in by the fans I later dissed)
2. I’m a 20/20 guy (once in 08)
3. I have to put up with fans asking me how many outs there are every freakin’ inning. I mean, geez, can’t these people read the ribbon board?
4. I lost at bats to offensive powerhouses like Jody Gerut and Frank Catalonotto last year
5. It takes a lot of money to change my hair as much as I do
6. I hit .173 and had an OBP of .192 during our September postseason chase in 08.
7. J.J. Hardy and Jason Kendall were the only opening day starters to have a worse OBP and SLG % than me last year.
8. Even though fans noticed that I didn’t go after as many fly balls very hard in 2009, I had the worst fielding percentage out of every outfielder on the team (including bench players)
9. I got kids to feed
10. I heard Melvin has never been to arbitration yet so I’m figuring he knows he’s gonna lose.

Following up on some topics of recent posts here, Brewers GM Doug Melvin discussed expectations for Manny Parra for this season and the Jim Edmonds signing on 540 ESPN Milwaukee yesterday.

Here are his quotes on Manny:

“Manny is still young in experience. Again, when you talk about young pitchers, you do have to talk about being patient. We sent Manny out to the minor leagues last year. When he came back, he was 8-3. After he came back from the minor leagues, he did have a high ERA. So, he’s going to have to get deeper into the ballgames, give us a chance to pitch in the games.”

“He’s so talented. He’s got such good stuff, he’s a good arm, he’s big, he’s physical. He reminds me in some sense of a left-handed pitcher that we had here in our system and we grew a little impatient with him. We gave up on him. We were in the early stages of his development. He went to Colorado last year and won 16 ball games. That was Jorge De La Rosa, and that. So, you never want to give up on a young pitcher that has good stuff, especially being left handed, being physical.”

“And we recognize that this is a big year for Manny and I think he does too. So, we’re hoping that he and Rick Peterson will get together and put all that ability on the right path to success.”

He didn’t come out and say it, but I think it’s pretty obvious Melvin expects Parra to be in the rotation next season. That would leave the battle for the last rotation spot between Dave Bush and Jeff Suppan. Bush should win if it’s based on performance alone, but, unfortunately, Suppan’s hefty contract might have the final word there…

And here are Melvin’s quotes on Edmonds:

“Well, I talked to Jim Edmonds’ agent at the end of last year and he told me just to keep him in mind. He said that he expressed interest in getting back in the game and playing after sitting out a year. He has the same agent that represented Gabe Kapler. With Gabe Kapler that worked well for us. We took Gabe after a year of retirement, he came back and performed very well for us. He’s now in his second year with Tampa Bay.”

“So, you know, Jim Edmonds is an individual with a lot of experience, 15 years of experience. He has a number of Gold Gloves. He’s a .290 career hitter with 380-some home runs. But as the offseason went on, his agent said that he continued to work out. He continued to show a desire and an interest to play. He had the fires burning. And we were one of the teams that were on his short list of teams to play for. And if we had interest, he would be interested. So, we were able to convince Jim that this is a good place to play. He wants to stay in this division, the National League. He is familiar with the Cubs, where he had a year, with the Cardinals for most of his career.”

“He’ll come to camp and try to win a job. It’s not a lot of money. That wasn’t the issue with him. The fires were burning. He wants to get back in and play the game and play it at a level with a team that he can compete.”

“So, we’re looking forward to it. I think that it’s an opportunity that brings experience to our line-up, to our ball club and to the clubhouse because our outfield is all right handed with Hart, Gomez and Ryan Braun. So, there could be some playing time here for Jim Edmonds if he’s able to play.”

It sounds like Melvin feels Edmonds could be a valuable left-handed bat off the bench with the chance to spell all three outfielders at times. That’s the pinnacle of what I’d expect Edmonds to be able to contribute. I think the idea that he would be able to start regularly against right handers is a pipe dream for Edmonds. I hope he’s OK with a fourth or fifth outfielder role if he makes the team.

“GO GOMEZ GO!”

The Brewers have promised Edmonds everyday starts against righties?

OK, I think I hate the Edmonds signing now.

Via Tim McKernan’s (InsideSTL.com) Twitter:

Edmonds: Brewers told me I’d get a chance to play everyday against right-handers, and I’d get a chance to play when corner OF get days off.

I’m trying to make sense of this and I’m having a hard time…

Maybe the Brewers don’t believe in Carlos Gomez or Corey Hart. There are much better ways to upgrade than relying on a 40-year-old who didn’t play last year to pick up starts three or four out of every five games though.

Maybe Melvin did tell Edmonds he’d have a “chance” to play everyday against right-handers. I mean, there’s a “chance” I could play every day against righties. Melvin could’ve just gave him the old “every player has to earn his starting position” line to sell Edmonds on the Brewers. The idea that the Brewers would have to sell a player on the chance to play on the team after no teams were even interested in adding him to their rosters last season is pretty depressing though…

Maybe the Brewers are working on a trade of Corey Hart. While there’s a part of me that would love to not have to watch Corey suck at baseball in a Brewers uniform anymore, the thought of watching the elderly Edmonds as a regular starter for a whole season is much less appealing. And Hart was an all-star just a few years ago. There’s at least some hope he could figure it out and return to form. Edmonds is not going to suddenly get younger. And, again, there are still better options than Edmonds available on the free agent market if you’re looking for corner outfielders who might have to start more than a couple games a week.

Maybe Edmonds just made the whole starting against right handers thing up. Unlikely, but there’s a chance…

I’m guessing it’s closest to the second guess. Melvin probably promised Edmonds they’d let him compete for playing time in spring training, go in with an open mind, blah, blah, blah…

All I know is that if Edmonds is a regular starter for the Brewers in 2010, it’s probably going to be a long season…

1. Brett Lawrie, 2B
2. Alcides Escobar, SS
3. Eric Arnett, RHP
4. Kyle Heckathorn, RHP
5. Jon Lucroy, C
6. Wily Peralta, RHP
7. Lorenzo Cain, CF
8. Jake Odorizzi, RHP
9. Kentrail Davis, LF
10. Zach Braddock, LHP

A couple things I find interesting:

1. Brett Lawrie is ranked ahead of Alcides. This was surprising and when reading why he chose this order, he seemed to downgrade Escobar because of the lack of pop in his bat. This might be why more people choose Baseball America
2. No Chronic-Crazed RHP by the name of Jeremy Jeffress on the list…man, how his stock has fallen.
3. Speaking of falling stock, no Angel Salome either
4. I’m excited for the possibility of a Heckathorn and Arnett in the rotation
5. I think it’s funny how some people LOVE Kentrail Davis and some people think he’s overrated. This year will be more telling.
6. Wait…wait…fans of the T-Rats will be wondering where Cody Scarpetta is…You have to love the Appleton fans love of Scarpface.