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The Woelfel World of Sports
September 2007
Thursday September 27, 2007
Posted by: gwoelfel at 1:54PM CST on September 27, 2007
BY GERY WOELFEL On Tuesday, Brewers manager Mark Attanasio cleared the air on the status of Brewers manager Ned Yost. Attanasio said Yost would return next season, adding, “Ned is safe.’’ I wonder if Attanasio would have responded in such a decisively swift manner after Wednesday night’s game, though? That’s when the Brewers’ hopes of winning the NL Central Division faded into oblivion – with no help from Yost. After all, it was Yost who brought in reliever Seth McClung in the eighth inning with the Brewers trailing by one run. McClung immediately proceeded to plunk Cardinals star Albert Pujols, thus opening the flood gates for a four-run inning. Yost denied he instructed McClung to hit Pujols, and McClung denied he intentionally threw at him. Yet, that wasn’t the perception of most people who observed the game. To virtually everyone else who was at Miller Park or watched the game on TV, McClung’s pitch was a retaliatory one. It came in response to Cardinals pitcher Brad Thompson beaning Brewers star Prince Fielder in the second inning. The eighth-inning incident was the latest in a lengthy list of questionable incidents involving Yost, who has been getting lambasted almost all season on talk radio. And, yes, I have questioned some of Yost’s decisions as well, most notably his insistence on constantly changing the batting order. But while I still harbor some reservations about Yost’s managerial skills, he has one quality – one critically important quality – that has unquestionably served the Brewers well this season. And that’s his intense competitiveness. Yost is a no-nonsense manager who takes his craft seriously. He doesn’t play games. When he’s at the ballpark, he’s all business. And that type of leadership has had a positive, trickle-down effect on his players. Several times this season the Brewers have been knocked to the canvas but quickly bounced back on their feet. Just this month, there were three occasions where the Brewers faced some serious adversity and overcame it. On Sept. 7, the Brewers were smoked 11-4 by the Reds. The next day, the Brewers countered with a 4-3 victory. On Sept. 10, the Brewers were blasted by the Pirates 9-0. The next day, they responded with a 6-1 victory. And last weekend in Atlanta, the Brewers suffered stinging, back-to-back losses to the Braves. Considering how young this Brewers team is – their entire starting infield alone is 25 or younger – it looked like they were going into the tank for the rest of the season. But they didn’t. The Brewers showed their resiliency yet again, winning back-to-back games against the Cardinals. And while their odds of winning the division are about as good as Yost and Tony La Russa getting together for dinner, the fact of the matter is the Brewers are still battling. That shouldn't be surprising, though. Most teams are a reflection of their manager, and the Brewers definitely reflect Yost's competitive spirit. And that's a good thing. Monday September 24, 2007
Posted by: gwoelfel at 5:31PM CST on September 24, 2007
BY GERY WOELFEL Lynn Greer believes he’s going to be “set for life.’’ And, ironically, he can thank Charlie Bell for that. Greer, after being granted his request to be released from his contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, has verbally agreed to a two-year, $7 million contract with Olympiakos in Greece. Olympiakos is the same team that extended an almost similar offer to Bell several weeks ago. Bell instead opted to re-sign with the Bucks, getting a five-year, $18 million deal. “They wanted Charlie or Sarunas Jasikevicius (of Golden State) and, when they didn’t get either of them, they called my agent,’’ said Greer, referring to his Cherry Hills, N.J.-based agent Leon Rose. “It’s tough to leave Milwaukee, but compared to what I was getting in Milwaukee, I had to make that move. “It set me up for life.’’ Greer, who was to make $770,000 this season, played in 41 games as a backup for the Bucks last season. Greer, 28 averaged 4.1 points and 1.3 assists. His biggest game came against New Orleans/Oklahoma City when he scored 15 points. Greer had been playing in Italy before signing with the Bucks. He has also played overseas in Russia, Poland and Greece. Greer was in Milwaukee when he was contacted by Rose last Friday about Olympiakos’ offer. Initially, Greer said he was going to pass on the offer because of his desire to keep playing in the NBA. “I wasn’t going to take the offer; I wanted to stick it out here and do my best to get a long-term deal,’’ Greer said. “But I didn’t get no sleep that night. “And when I looked at those numbers … man … I had to take it.’’ Greer said Bucks general manager Larry Harris and Dave Babcock, the team’s director of player personnel, were quite supportive of his decision. “Larry was very helpful,’’ Greer said. “He didn’t make me buy out my contract. He wasn’t trying to hold me back. “He said if he was in the same situation as I was, he’d probably do the same thing.’’ While Greer has reached a verbal agreement with Olympiakos officials, he has yet to formally sign a contract. But Greer expects to do that Wednesday, when he flies from his hometown of Philadelphia to Greece. Thursday September 20, 2007
Posted by: gwoelfel at 2:15PM CST on September 20, 2007
BY GERY WOELFEL Journal Times Charlie Bell will remain with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks opted Thursday to match a five-year, $18.5 million dollar offer sheet from the Miami Heat to retain Bell’s services. Bell, a combo guard, had been a restricted free agent. Bell has a player-option clause for the fifth year. “The Bucks have matched the offer,’’ Mark Bartelstein, Bell’s agent, said Thursday afternoon. “The rule of being a restricted free agency made this a long, arduous and difficult process. “But Charlie is a professional. This (free agency) waa a roller-coaster for him. But Charlie’s ready to go.’’ Bell began a free agent on July 1. The Bucks had offered Bell a two-year, $6 million offer before Bell went to Greece, where he was offered a two-year, $8 million deal by Olympiacos officials. Bell told the Journal Times that he came "very close'' to signing with Olympiacos, but didn't at the urging of Bartelstein, who wanted to explore other options. The Bucks then upped their offer to $9 million over three years, only to see the Heat up that offer. Bell said he was bothered by how the Bucks' handled his contract situaiton and said publicly he had hoped the Bucks wouldn't match Miami's offer. Bell couldn't be reached for comment. Bell figures to be the primary backup to Michael Redd at shooting guard and Mo Williams at point guard. Besides those aforementioned players, the Bucks' backcourt crew also includes recently signed Royal Ivey, along with Lynn Greer and second-round draft pick Ramon Sessions. While Greer and Ivey have guaranteed contracts, Sessions has a "make-good'' contract.
Tuesday September 18, 2007
Posted by: gwoelfel at 11:23PM CST on September 18, 2007
BY GERY WOELFEL Journal Times When I spoke with Charlie Bell last Saturday night, I asked him where he was at. "I’m at the circus,’’ Bell said. How fitting. After all, it seems ever since the commencement of NBA free agency on July 1, Bell has been part of the circus surrounding contract talks between his agent, Mark Bartelstein, and the Bucks’ passel of negotiators which, at last check, includes three lawyers. For more than two months, Bucks negotiators didn’t seem compelled to present Bell with at least a legitimate contract offer or attempt to quickly seal the deal on what should have been a relatively-simplistic contract. It wasn’t until Bell and his wife recently traveled to Greece and received a two-year, $8 million offer from Olympiacos officials that the Bucks’ negotiating team finally woke up and made Bell a sound offer of three years for $9M. But by that time, the damage had been done. They had thoroughly alienated Bell, who has been nothing but a model employee the last two seasons. Unlike his teammates who were in the final year of their contracts last season, Bell almost unfailingly played within the team concept. Unlike those same teammates, he didn’t launch the basketball every time he touched it. Bell even did the unthinkable: He played defense, something most of his teammates didn’t feel was part of their job descriptions. The Bucks’ indifference toward Bell miffed him and rightfully so. Instead of quickly resolving his contract situation, the Bucks made him an afterthought while devoting every waking minute trying to concoct ways to make money off their top draft choice, Yi Jianlian of China. (By the way, with the myriad of problems we have in this state like the frightening inner city violence in Milwaukee, high unemployment, exhorbitant taxes, etc., doesn’t Gov. Jim Doyle have anything better to do than spend time posing with Yi for the paparazzi in China?) But back to Bell. The Bucks should have embraced his work ethic, his team-oriented attitude and, as mentioned earlier, his defense. Last season, when I did a story on the Bucks’ considerable woes, some players candidly acknowledged defense wasn’t a priority for them. Why? Because they said the NBA doesn’t reward them monetarily for it. Sadly, as Bell has learned, that is the case. In hindsight, with the way the Bucks have dealt with him this summer, Bell should have looked out for himself because his dedication and commitment to the organization on and off the court apparently meant nothing to the Bucks, If it did, the Bucks would have signed Bell a long time ago. And they certainly would have immediately matched the Miami Heat’s offer sheet of five years for $18.5 million. But they didn’t, leaving one to assume the Bucks' lawyers are on vacation.
Friday September 14, 2007
Posted by: gwoelfel at 12:24PM CST on September 14, 2007
BY GERY WOELFEL It’s commendable Ned Yost has publicly supported his players, but at this crucial stage in the season with playoff implications on the line, the Brewers manager needs to cast aside his emotions. That’s especially the case with starting Dave Bush. The veteran right-hander has virtually been a fixture in the starting rotation all season. But now, after back-to-back horrific outings, Yost can ill afford to let Bush stay in it. On Wednesday, against Pittsburgh, Bush pitched only four innings. He surrendered four earned runs. That came on the heels of an even worse showing against Cincinnati five days earlier. In that game, the Reds rocked Bush with eight earned runs in just one inning. With the Brewers battling the Cubs for the NL Central Division title – and with just 17 regular-season games remaining heading into Friday night’s action – Yost has little room for error and can’t afford to take any chances on a pitcher who simply hasn’t proven to be reliable. So who should be Bush’s replacement? I suggest Yost just tightens the starting rotation. Go with four starters the rest of the way. Go with the four starters who can give the Brewers a legit chance to win. Go with Ben Sheets, Jeff Suppan, Yovani Gallardo and Carlos Villanueva, who pitched reasonably well in his last two outings by allowing a combined three earned runs in 11 innings against Pittsburgh and Houston. Needless to say, there’s simply too much at stake now for Yost to keep rolling the dice with Bush. Advice for Yost: Take Bush out of rotation
Posted by: gwoelfel at 12:18PM CST on September 14, 2007
BY GERY WOELFEL It’s commendable Ned Yost has publicly supported his players, but at this crucial stage in the season with playoff implications on the line, the Brewers manager needs to cast aside his emotions. That’s especially the case with starting Dave Bush. The veteran right-hander has virtually been a fixture in the starting rotation all season. But now, after back-to-back horrific outings, Yost can ill afford to let Bush stay in it. On Wednesday, against Pittsburgh, Bush pitched only four innings. He surrendered four earned runs. That came on the heels of an even worse showing against Cincinnati five days earlier. In that game, the Reds rocked Bush with eight earned runs in just one inning. With the Brewers battling the Cubs for the NL Central Division title – and with just 17 regular-season games remaining heading into Friday night’s action – Yost has little room for error and can’t afford to take any chances on a pitcher who simply hasn’t proven to be reliable. So who should be Bush’s replacement? I suggest Yost just tightens the starting rotation. Go with four starters the rest of the way. Go with the four starters who can give the Brewers a legit chance to win. Go with Ben Sheets, Jeff Suppan, Yovani Gallardo and Carlos Villanueva, who pitched reasonably well in his last two outings by allowing a combined three earned runs in 11 innings against Pittsburgh and Houston. Needless to say, there’s simply too much at stake now for Yost to keep rolling the dice with Bush. |
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