Kevin's 6th Blog: Just Dance!

With it being the 4th week of the month, that can only mean one thing, Kevin Caloia is back on the blogisphere scene. I apologize for missing/side stepping my blog during the month of March. Unfortunately, I was mentally preparing for a 12 hour van ride down to Alabama for a golf / bachelor party trip. . . .which I had a very good time on, as the weather was beautiful both days and the golf courses were great.

I will share one quick highlight with you from the trip before we dive into the meat of this week’s blog, MUSIC! It had rained for about 12 days in a row while we were down there so everything was really wet and there was a lot of standing water. We were on our way to the third hole which we needed to drive through a tunnel (under the road) to get to. Well some water had collected just before the entrance to the tunnel and I did not think it was more then a couple of inches so I didn’t think twice before the individual riding in the cart with me said, “floor it”. . . . It was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen; the water was at least one if not two feet deep and we hit it at top speed 8 mph) and created a pretty amazing scene. Water shot up over the whole cart, we got completely soaked, but didn’t care because we were laughing so hard because we created such a big impact that the water cascaded over the top of the golf cart like a title wave. Note: If you are going to be as stupid as I was that day you will want to make sure your cart has a windshield, you have a couple of adult beverages before and after, and you put your phone in a waterproof bag. . .

Baseball is in full swing and the Brewers have had a couple of home games so what is the juice talk around the office, what song is playing when Braun, Hart, and Prince walk up to bat? What is the hot new track that they are blasting at Miller Park? Well I couldn’t tell you but I am sure numerous Brewer fans have already download it to their iPods. I could tell you every song which the Cubs players walk out to, the beautiful organ! This got me thinking and I thought I would ask all of our loyal readers a question, what do you like better, each player having their own music or stadiums just playing the same type of music for each batter?

Now I think that a lot of people could go both ways on this issue thinking that it is nice to hear an organ every once in a while for all of the players but they also think that it is nice for a player to have their own song to pump them up before the at bat. I am torn on this issue as I could go either way (a switch hitter). I love the idea that they are a team, not a bunch of individuals. That the players “walk up song” (I believe Liz or Rod coined this phrase in our office), which is the music being played as the player walks to the plate, should all be the same or played by the same instrument. They are one team, one group united, with a common goal and purpose to play their best and win the game. (Editor’s note: bla bla bla)

However, I know if I was the one walking out in front of 40,000 screaming fans in the bottom of the 9th with runners in scoring position and two outs, with everything riding on my bat I would want to hear some AC/DC, maybe a little Hells Bells, Thunderstruck, or TNT! I would want something to get me jacked up and excited for the at bat. A song that would give me the confidence to look the pitcher right in the eye and let him know that this is not going to be his day.

I know that the baseball purest prefer just a simple organ being played for the whole game and just the players names being read. While the kids nowaday want the latest rap track from Flowrida, T-Pain or JT! Or possibly the latest Nickelback or Hurt song. I think the two questions which have to be answered by the stadiums though,
1) Is the music going to help or hurt my player’s performance during his at bat?
2) Is the music going to get the crowd involved, get them excited, or is it going to put them to sleep, bore them, or annoy them?

Until next time, keep your chin up because Mallards baseball is just 39 days away!!

Go Bulls! Go Hawks! Get well soon Fridge! R.I.P. “Tired Bill”

J-Rod's 6th Post: "State of the Brewers: It's a long season..."

Calm down Brewers fans, we're only 81 innings into the 2009 season.

Of course a 3-6 overall record and 2-4 mark at home isn't exactly the position we had hoped to be after nine games, but, considering that we're only 0.055% into the season, it's hardly the time to panic.

Consider this:

1)Apart from the 7-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants on April 9, the Brewers have had a legitimate chance to win every game. The Crew could easily have two more W's minus a blown save by fill-in closer Carlos Villanueva on April 11 against the hated Chicago Cubs and a six-run third inning meltdown by Yovani Gallardo this past Monday against the Cincinnati Reds. While a 5-4 record would look nice...peek around the rest of the league and you'll see the Boston Red Sox sitting at 3-6, the Minnesota Twins at 4-6, the defending American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays at 4-5, and the Arizona Diamondbacks at 3-6. Come October, I still expect at least two of these teams to be sitting atop their respective divisions.

2) Our starting pitching has been pathetic. It's hard to believe we're only third-to-last in the Major Leagues in walks allowed with 43 (only the Braves & Indians have been worse!). It's one thing to put guys on base, but when you start walking consecutive batters with the bases loaded, now we have a problem....*cough* Jeff Suppan. But once this bunch starts pounding the strike zone and gives the team a better chance to win ballgames, things will get interesting.

3) We rank #28 in hitting! Really, if Mike "I swear I'm off the juice" Cameron hadn't gotten off to the start that he has, we'd rank dead last. Check out these batting averages: Prince Fielder (.200), JJ Hardy (.156), Ryan Braun (.212), and Jason Kendall (.120). Manager Ken Macha said it best before yesterday's game in stating that it's evident a lot of these guys are trying to start the year off with a "bang" and are simply swinging at bad pitches. Once these guys settle down and let the game come to them, this offense will give a lot of opposing pitchers' nightmares.

I predicted before the season this team would finish with an 84-78 record, which should put them in the race for the Division (if the Cardinals come back to Earth) or Wild Card come October. Look for GM Doug Melvin to pull the trigger again this season at the trading deadline & make a move for a Jake Peavy-type impact in order to keep the fanbase excited & season attendance again near the 3 Million mark.

But more importantly, Mallards Opening Day is only 45 days, 21 hours, and 24 minutes away....

Mike's 2nd Post - A boy named "Doug"

Well everyone, it seems my time has come to post again so I hope you’re ready for the second installment of the “Life and Times of Mike Then in the Northwoods League.” When I last posted I gave a little bit of insight to my first year as an intern in the Mankato MoonDogs office. Today, I will fast forward to the summer of 2005 and “The Story of a Boy Named Doug.”

I would like to preface this story with a little more insight into a NWL office. Due to the close proximity that we all work in, and the amount of time spent together, there is quite a bit of good-natured mocking and ridiculing that happens on a daily basis. People take it and dish it right back. It’s just the nature of the business. With that being said, I’ll continue with the story.

As the spring of 2005 rolled on, it was only my second season as an Assistant GM and Kyle and I decided we needed to widen our scope of potential intern candidates and started interviewing several from around Minnesota and Wisconsin. One candidate, from Waunakee, took the time to drive to Mankato for a lunch interview as he was that serious about getting a job in the NWL. He had also toyed with the idea of trying to work for the Mallards, as it was basically in his backyard, but after several phone conversations, one of which happened while he was on spring break in Florida, we convinced him a summer in Mankato would be a great opportunity for a career in baseball. So as soon as school was complete he packed up his car and made the trek to Kato for a summer none of us will ever forget.

Typically, every season teams in the league hire various interns for different specific tasks. Because “Doug” was a baseball fanatic and had worked in the athletic department at his school where he had written stories etc., we gave him the task of writing post-game recaps, updating the website, and sending out email blasts along with his other daily tasks. He was a great kid, who was willing to put in extra hours and do whatever it took to help out the team. “Doug” was a true team-player and was someone who obviously really wanted a job in baseball.

One night after a game “Doug” returned to the office to take care of his post-game duties. That season, we had a catcher from Elon University playing for us by the name of Drew Davis. Drew had had a great night for us and was the central topic of that night’s recap. However, being a complete Milwaukee Brewers homer, “Doug” referred to Drew throughout the story as Doug Davis (a former Brewers pitcher). The next morning as we all began to read the story online, the mistake was clear as day, and “Doug” was embarrassed. Then the email came in…it was from Drew’s mother. Now, I don’t have the exact quote but I believe it was something along the lines of “we appreciate the great write-up about our son; however his name is DREW, not Doug. Can you please make that change?” From that day forward, “Doug” became our intern’s official name. When we would introduce him to people, it was always this is “Douglas our media relations intern,” other mistakes were affectionately referred to as a “Dougie” in our office and to this day I still have his phone number saved as Douglas.

As the summer continued, Doug and I actually became very good friends and went on to have quite a few more memorable moments. At the end of his internship he even stayed in Mankato for several weeks looking for a job in baseball. Later, at an career fair put on by the Minnesota Twins, we found him a job working for the Frisco RoughRiders, (Class AA affiliate of the Texas Rangers) and he has been there ever since.

I have gone to visit him several times and he has traveled back to visit me. I have spent Holidays with his family and I recently attended a CD release party for his younger brother. All of this because of one summer in the Northwoods League.

One of the reasons I told this story is because we are currently searching for our 2009 interns here and want to let everyone know, that yes there are long days and trials and tribulations that go along with the job, but there is also tremendous opportunity to further your career in sports and make life-long friendships.

Oh, and Douglas, since I know you are reading this…….“MAN DOWN!”

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!