As we all know, teams that have walked Yuni B are 0-9. The strategy has never led to victory ever. But has it worked in-game? I happened to be looking at Yuni’s stats because, well, that’s basically all I do* and noticed that the first time he was walked intentionally on May 23^rd of 2007 against the Devil Rays, it actually worked out for the Devil Rays.

It happened in the top of the 6^th inning with the Mariners already up 3-1 and Casey Fossum pitching for the Devil Rays.  The Mariners had already scored once in the inning when Kenji Johjima doubled to drive in Jose Guillen. Adrian Beltre ended up on 3^rd and Yuni was walked to load the bases with one out. Jose Lopez promptly grounded into an inning ending double play.

So walking Yuni actually worked, though the Devil Rays still lost the game. Here’s the rest.

June 8^th, 2007, Mariners 6, Padres 5.

When was he walked: In the top of the 7^th with the Mariners already up 5-1. There were 2 outs meaning Yuni was walked not to set up a double play, but to get to the next batter. This was an interleague game so pitcher Miguel Batista was up next.

Did it work: Batista grounded out, so at least for this inning, yes it did.

June 12^th 2007, Mariners 5, Cubs 3.

When was he walked:  In the top of the 13^th inning with the score tied 3-3. Will Ohman retired the first 2 batters but Jose Vidro followed with a double. The Cubs then walked Yuni on purpose to get to Willie Bloomquist, who promptly singled to drive in Vidro. Ohman then intentionally walked Ichiro to get to the pitcher’s spot where the Mariners pinch hit Jamie Burke for Eric O’Flaherty. He singled and drove in Yuni.

Did it work: Hell no.

August 3^rd, 2010, Royals 3, A’s 2.

When was he walked: In the top of the 9^th of a tie game. Alex Gordon reached, and made 2^nd on an error. Mitch Maier Yosted him over to 3^rd. Yuni was then given a free pass to set up the double play.

Did it work: Nope. Gregor Blanco hit a weak grounder to short but the A’s couldn’t turn two and Gordon scored the eventual winning run. It didn’t necessarily fail, I suppose as Yuni was actually cut down at 2^nd, but I don’t think we can count it as a victory since a non-Yuni player was allowed to bat.

April 7^th, 2011, Brewers 4, Braves 2.

When was he walked:  In the bottom of the 7^th with the Brewers already ahead 4-2. Yuni was actually walked immediately after Casey McGehee grounded into a double play. This was a really strange decision. The bases were loaded and McGehee grounded into a 4-2-3 double play leaving runners on 2^nd and 3^rd. Jonny Venters, a lefty was pitching for the Braves and he put Yuni on to face Nyjer Morgan.

Did it work: Yes, Nyjer struck out with the bases loaded.

May 18^th, 2011, Brewers 5, Padres 2.

When was he walked: In the top of the 6^th with the score tied 2-2. Mark Kotsay was on 2^nd after driving in Fielder with a double to tie the game. Casey McGehee reached third. Yuni was then walked to load the bases with 1 out, setting up a potential double play.

Did it work: No, no it did not. Jonathan Lucroy was plunked on the first pitch from Ernesto Frieri driving in the go-ahead run. Gallardo was on deck and he and Weeks subsequently struck out.

May 28^th, 2011, Brewers 3, Giants 2.

When was he walked: In the bottom of the 9^th. You already can probably tell that it didn’t work.

Did it work: Hell no. With the game tied Guillermo Mota allowed a lead-off single to Braun. Prince followed that with an infield single (ha!). Casey then grounded out, but did manage to move the runners up 90 feet. Yuni was walked to set up the double play, and Lucroy pinch hit for Nieves.  Braun scored on what was almost definitely a suicide squeeze from Lucroy (bunt to weak 2b) and everyone was safe as the winning run scored.

April 8^th, 2013, Brewers 7, Cubs 4.

When was he walked:  In the top of the first with 2 outs, the Brewers had, by this point, already put up a four spot. Yuni was walked after a bases-clearing double by Maldy to get to Marco Estrada.

Did it work: Yes, but the damage had already been done. Marco struck out.

April 17^th, 2013, Brewers 4, Giants 3.

When was he walked: In the bottom of the 9^th with the score tied. Yeah, this again.

Did it work: Nope, but it wasn’t a bad move. Due to some fielding incompetence by the Giants the Brewers ended up with runners on 2^nd and 3^rd with only 1 out and the pitcher’s spot on deck. Santiago Casilla put Yuni on to load the bases and Blake Lalli hit a game winning single.

So that’s it! Final count:

Why: Yuni was put on to set up the double play 5 times, however this strategy only resulted in a double play once, the very first time it was tried. Teams walked Yuni simply to avoid him on 4 occasions, and this was successful 3 times, twice with pitcher batting next, and once with Nyjer Morgan batting next.

Success overall: Walking Yuni intentionally ultimately succeeded (meaning accomplished what the opponent intended) 4 times and failed 5 times, but really, I think we can all agree that the act itself is always a failure.

*besides looking at Rickie Weeks’ stats and Scooter Gennett’s stats.

On Friday the top of the 7th started with the Brewers and Dodgers in a 3-3 tie. Alex Gonzalez led off with a single and then was derped to 2nd on a bunt by Logan Schafer (free out!). Gonzalez then scored on a single by Nori who managed to reach 3rd on Dodger incompetence, which, when you think about it, is only fair.

So with one out and a 4-3 lead the meat of the Brewer order was due up in Jean Segura and Ryan Braun. With one out and a runner on 3rd your run expectancy is about .9, which is pretty great. There’s no double play and most contact will score the guy. Plus, meat of the order!  If anything that RE number understates your run expectancy with Segura and Braun batting. a Suicide Squeeze in this situation is HUGELY risky for the following reasons:

1. Jean Segura is very good at making contact. He was very likely to put the ball in play.

2. A botched squeeze would quite possibly deny Ryan Braun the chance to bat with one and perhaps two people on base.

3. It would instead, quite possibly result in Ryan Braun leading off the 8th with the rest of the struggling lineup behind hi,

4. It did not eliminate a double play.

5. It was a one-run strategy in a game where the Dodgers still have 9 outs remaining. That’s a lot of outs.

And indeed, Jean missed and Aoki was caught coming home which seems to happen more than 10% of the time. Jean then struck out and the promising inning ended. In the inning the Brewers provided the Dodgers with 2 free outs and recorded two hits.

It would have been a dumb idea in a “low run environment” too, (like against Kershaw on Sunday) but it was really dumb in a game that was into the bullpens and had already seen 7 runs score in 7 innings.

The Brewers would go on to lose 7-4. As usual, you know it was a bad move when I’d still be criticizing it even if it had worked.

Ron did not have a good weekend.

No internet access, no problem. Rubie Q on RRR with an afterword by myself:

A couple days back, Ron Roenicke offered some (relatively) amazing* insight when asked about the way he’s been using John Axford since Ax was removed from the closer’s role a couple weeks back. Quoth Ron:

“The way (pitching coach) Rick (Kranitz) and I have been talking  about it, we’ll have [Axford] in the eighth inning unless the seventh calls  for it. Sometimes, if somebody says this is your set-up (guy) and this  is your closer, and yet the game is on the line in the seventh and you  don’t bring in one of your best two guys, and you give up three or four  runs, you never get your best guys in. It doesn’t make any sense to me.

Saints be praised and hallelujah.

Maybe Ron’s finally realizing the folly of managing your bullpen as if it’s populated by highly-specifically-programmed robots who can only pitch in designated innings and whose CPUs would burst into flames if asked to pitch in a one-run game in the 7th inning instead of, say, a 3-run game in the 9th inning. Good for you, Ron. That’s real progress.

Oh. Wait.

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke was asked Wednesday what it would take to re-install John Axford as his closer.

“Probably not much,” replied Roenicke.

Alright: since he’s planning to return Ax to a ninth inning role, maybe we’re not witnessing a sea change in Ron’s thinking. “But at least he knows what he should and shouldn’t be doing,” you say. “Isn’t that a good first step?”

Here’s the thing: when I eat Indian food, I get terrible gas. Like: pets trying to burrow out of the house, 14-month-olds being outfitted in hazmat suits, this must be what mustard gas smells like-type gas. I know that Indian food gives me terrible gas. I’ve known for a long time. This hasn’t stopped me from eating Indian food, of course, since I love Indian food. So the next time Mrs. Q gets hot-boxed by one of my overwhelming, curry-fueled farts, I’ll try saying to her: “But at least I know that Indian food gives me a righteous case of the toots. Isn’t that a good first step?”

__________________________________________________________________________

An afterword by akschaaf:

Saturday the Brewers were up 2 going into the top of the 6th - Ron went with Kintzler, who pitched an easy 1-2-3. The Brewers got 2 runs in the bottom half to go up 4, so he brought Kintzler back for the 7th inning. Still with a 4 run lead Ron used Mike Gonzalez, then Bradenhop to close out the game, Brewers win by 4.

We’ll start with the bad and work our way to the good:

10. FSN Wisconsin Brewer hashtags - This season the FSN crew has been jumping into 2009 by embracing Twitter hashtags.  They’ve had hashtags with an & in them, dumb questions about Carlos Gomez, but really if you’re asking your fanbase to tweet #Milfingers for anything you should probably stop

9. Bill and Brian not knowing the Petco ground rules - Bill ranting like a crazy person was pretty fun, until 15 minutes later when we find out the rules. As a broadcaster, shouldn’t you try to know the park rules so you don’t sound like an idiot on air?

8. Ryan Braun’s 3TO streak – This was kind of cool, because it was like having a Super Branyan! But also kinda of a bummer, because a Super Branyan is fun for a while, but MVP Ryan Braun is fun all the time.

7.  Yovanni Gallardo drunk jokes when he pitches bad – I’ll admit, sort of fun for a while, but I hope we get them out of our systems

6. Ron Roenicke!  When you win every game its hard to nitpick (though even I’d move Rickie down in the lineup). I’ll take it.

5.  The Jean Segura era - .356/.397/.493, 6 SB with a jaw dropping defensive play every couple days. Sure, regression is probably on its way, at least a little, but he’s been a revelation to watch.  Mike Olt is hitting .147/.247/.250 in Round Rock. Small samples of course, but I think most people are very excited about the Greinke return right now.

4. I live in Chicago so every time the Brewers play the Cubs MLB.tv is blacked out and I’m forced to watch the Cubs feed on TV. This year it was actually tolerable thanks to NO BOB BRENLY.

3. Yuni Betancourt – He’s hitting  .316/.325/.658 the last 11 games. Its reached the point where he came up on Tuesday with guys on 2^nd/3^rd and I was reasonably sure he was going to drive both of them in. Madness

2. The Brewers winning a bunch of games in a row, that was awesome.

1. Derek from Superior – Was sort of a obvious pick to put the Brewers winning number one on the list, then Derek commented on a post. To the top spot he goes.

Look, I understand if you have better things to do than read Tom Haudricourt’s weekly chat on JSOnline. The thing about it is, I don’t.

Your winners and losers from the Haudricourt chat.

WINNER:

Behold, the greatest Haudricourt question in the history of questions. I have read this question 4,309 times this afternoon:

Q: Derek, Superior – Do you think there is anything football coaches could learn from Captain Ron’s pitching substitutions? For instance, instead of studying the opponent and tailoring specific situations to use Randall Cobb – maybe Mike McCarthy could just use Cobb as his “2nd Quarter Guy”. Then he wouldn’t have to go through all the trouble of watching film, trying to figure out the best spots to use him. Then if Cobb failed to score he could just shrug his shoulders and say, “what can I do? Cobb is my 2nd quarter guy. I can’t help it he didn’t score any TD’s.”

Derek from Superior, if you’re reading this let us know – we want you to write for us. We pay nothing and you get a bigger audience writing Tom questions on JS, but there is probably some benefit to ranting here if you look hard enough.

LOSER:

Unfortunately, not all Dereks are created equal:

Q: Derek, Neenah, WI – Carlos Gomez is the fastest person I have ever seen in person. I’m curious how he compares to other world class athletes. With his speed, would he be fast enough to qualify for the olympics in the 100M or 200M?

Derek from Neenah, go to a track meet, or a football game, or whatever minor league game Billy Hamilton is playing in.  Gomez is fast, he ain’t Carl Lewis.

WINNER: 

Q: Kyle – Have you heard whether Ramirez will require a rehab stint in the minors before returning?

Kyle – I wouldn’t let JS know where I’m from either, and this is a solid question.

LOSER: 

Q: Monteee – Hey Tom, Put Jean Segura and Aaron Rodgers at the 20-yard line @ Lambeau Field. Who throws the football farther

Montee – I’m all for asking Tom dumb questions too, but did you really expect an answer from Tom on this?

WINNER: 

Q: Bob, Hartland – How long is the Roenicke going to keep Gonzalez in the lineup? He’s the instant out machine. He can’t even get a walk. Going into last night’s game his on-base percentage was below .200. With the exception of his brief appearance last year with the Brewers, he hasn’t had an on-base percentage above .300 for a full season since 2007. Tom, please talk to Ron today

I mean, this is completely crazy, especially the “talk to Ron today” part. But man, I admire this guy’s passion and he is correct – Alex Gonzalez should send Rickie a thank you card for taking the meatball pressure off of him.

LOSER (Unrelated to anything category)

Q: steve, milwaukee – tuesday was warren spahn’s birthday. the paper said he was named after pres. warren harding. the brewers had a pitching coach, a former pitcher named cal mclish, who was named after calvin coolidge. what was up with parents naming their future pitcher sons after 1920s republicans? at least herb score wasn’t named after herbert hoover- i think.

Q: Nick, Readstown, Wi – Tom, I have an unusual question. Thinking about the Greinke/Quentin saga, there’s no question that Quentin could have been arrested and charged with an “assault.” Is there some kind of unwritten rule that neither baseball, football, or basketball players won’t hold each other legally responsible for each other’s actions? 

Nick and Steve…I just…I just don’t know anymore.

WINNER:

Q: Harcourt Fenton Mudd, Gamma Triangula 4, Wisconsin  - has anything happened so far that has surprised you, or caused you to change your season prediction(s)?

I assume by the name this person works at Fremulon insurance, but it’s a solid question I guess.

LOSER (Ricky Weeks category)

Q: Tom B, Madison, WI  - If we are sellers, can we see a team looking for a Ricky Weeks?

Q: Steve Cywinski – How bad does Ricky Weeks have to play to get replaced?

Q: Steve, Manitowoc, WI – About Ricky Weeks. Why are we so in love with this guy??

Q: Quentin Olson, La Crosse WI – Ricky Weeks is in a slump much more often than hes right and his defense even struggles at times. Why is he the only player (except Braun, rightfully so) that the will never be pulled from the lineup because hes struggling?

Steve, Steve, Tom and Quentin, you are on our list. We here at RRSMB are watching you.