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Waupaca native to make Major League umpiring debut this weekend (AUDIO)

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It can take eight to ten years for an aspiring professional umpire to make it to the big leagues.  So things are right on time for 29-year-old Waupaca, Wisconsin native Nathan (Nate) Tomlinson.

After graduating from Waupaca High School in 2009, Tomlinson went right to professional umpires school in Florida.  That is when the long grind of trying to make it to the big leagues started.

Fast forward a decade and Tomlinson will make his Major League debut on Friday night.  He is scheduled to work the entire three-game series between the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington, TX.

“It’s obviously an honor and a privilege,” said Tomlinson.  “It’s something that I’ve worked toward for the last, this is my tenth season, so it sort of feels like it’s all become worth it now.  Not that it wasn’t before, but this is sort of a little cherry on top.  Now the goal I guess is to stick, to stay.”

Tomlinson’s first assignment after umpiring school came in the Northwoods League, a summer collegiate wood bat league that has a number of teams based in Wisconsin.  From there, he went to rookie league ball, followed by a stint in [Read more…]

Brewers home opener postponed

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The Milwaukee Brewers home opener this afternoon against the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park has been postponed and rescheduled as a doubleheader on Sunday.

The rescheduling is the result of two positive COVID-19 tests in the Cardinals organization.  Major League Baseball made the move to allow enough time for additional testing and contact tracing to be conducted.

Saturday’s game between the two teams will remain as scheduled at 6:10 p.m..

The Cardinals are in Milwaukee, but have been instructed to self-isolate in their hotel in Milwaukee.

Major League Baseball will continue to provide updates as appropriate.

Brewers release 2021 schedule

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Even before the 2020 Major League season begins, the Milwaukee Brewers entire 2021 season schedule was released on Thursday.

The Brewers will open the 2021 season on Thursday, April 1 against the Minnesota Twins at Miller Park.  It will be the first time the Brewers will open a season with interleague play.

The Brewers get the next day off (Friday) before wrapping up the three game series on Saturday and Sunday.

Following the season opening home series, the Brewers will then head to Chicago to face the Cubs at Wrigley Field.  It’s the first of two trips to the Windy City for the Brewers in the opening month of the season.  The Brewers and Cubs will play a total of nine games against each other in April.

The Brewers will face teams from the American League Central during interleague play in 2021.  They’ll close the regular season with six road games, at St. Louis for three and in Los Angeles against the Dodgers for three.

The Brewers longest home stand will be 10 games from Sept. 17-26 against the Cubs (3 games), Cardinals (4 games) and Mets (3 games).  Their longest road trip also covers 10 games from Aug. 9-19 against the Cubs (4 games), Pirates (3 games) and Cardinals (3 games).

 

2020 Minor League Baseball Season canceled

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Fox Cities Stadium

Major League Baseball has informed Minor League Baseball that it will not be providing its affiliated Minor League teams with players for the 2020 season.  As expected, the result forced Minor League Baseball to officially cancel its 2020 campaign.

“These are unprecedented times for our country and our organization as this is the first time in our history that we’ve had a summer without Minor League Baseball played,” said Minor League Baseball President & CEO Pat O’Conner.  “While this is a sad day for many, this announcement removes the uncertainty surrounding the 2020 season and allows our teams to begin planning for an exciting 2021 season of affordable entertainment.”

The cancellation of the season comes at a difficult time for Minor League teams, many of which are simply trying to stay afloat financially.

“Each club is different as you know, but overall, we are in need of some help,” said O’Conner.  “We’ve [Read more…]

Minor League teams waiting for season to be canceled (AUDIO)

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Fox Cities Stadium

As Major League Baseball and the players association continue to negotiate a possible return to the field this summer, minor league teams have been left behind with little hope of a baseball season.

The Milwaukee Brewers single-A affiliate, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are among the teams around the country that are expecting to hear of a cancellation to the season soon.

Timber Rattlers President Rob Zerjav told WRN on Monday that there’s no way minor league teams could have a season without fans in the stands.  Zerjav said they’re already losing money and it would be worse playing games without fans.

The Timber Rattlers officially opened back up on Monday, but Zerjav said they’re focussing their efforts on finding other ways to generate revenue, other than playing baseball games.

The Timber Rattlers home field (Fox Cities Stadium) has banquet facilities and has hosted weddings in the past.  They’re cooking up fish fry’s on Friday nights and doing other meal deals for fans.  They also own and manage the Northwoods League team in Fond du lac (Dock Spiders) and Zerjav is confident that team will start play on July 1.

In the meantime, the Rattlers are waiting for Major League Baseball to pull the plug on their season.  Zerjav said it’s not a matter of if, but more likely when.

AUDIO: Rob Zerjav said there’s too many things stacked against minor league teams to play this season :15

AUDIO: Rob Zerjav says they can’t afford to play games without fans :07

AUDIO: Rob Zerjav said it hasn’t happened yet, but cancellation is pretty much a done deal :09

Yelich voted to start 2019 MLB All-Star Game

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Christian Yelich (File Photo)

Baseball fans around the country, including those in Wisconsin, have voted Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich into the starting lineup for the 2019 MLB All-Star Game, which will take place on Tuesday, July 9 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio.

It’s the second career All-Star nod and the first All-Star Game start for Yelich, who finished as the top vote-getter in the National League.

Yelich becomes the first member of the Brewers to start in the Midsummer Classic since 2014, when Carlos Gomez (left field), Jonathan Lucroy (catcher) and Aramis Ramirez (third base) earned starting spots.  Yelich is also the sixth outfielder in franchise history to start in the All-Star Game, joining Ben Oglivie (1980), Jeromy Burnitz (1999), Ryan Braun (2008-10, 2012), Corey Hart (2010) and Gomez (2014).

Second baseman Mike Moustakas and catcher Yasmani Grandal also represented the Brewers on the MLB All-Star Starters Election ballot, with both finishing third at their respective positions.

The rest of the All-Star rosters for both squads, totaling 24 for the NL and 23 for the AL, will be determined through a combination of “Player Ballot” choices and selections made by the Commissioner’s Office.  The balance of the rosters will be announced on ESPN at 4:30 p.m. CT this Sunday, June 30.

Fiers tosses second career no-hitter

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Mike Fiers

The game was delayed more than 90 minutes because of a lighting malfunction, but the Oakland A’s eventually blanked the Cincinnati Reds 2-0 as starter Mike Fiers tossed his second career no-hitter.

Fiers pitch count was at 109 after seven innings and he was told by manager Bob Melvin that one more baserunner would end his night, even if he still hadn’t allowed a hit.

The former Brewers pitcher managed to breeze through the final two innings for his second no-hitter.  The first came in 2015 when he needed 131 pitches to lead the Houston Astros past the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Fiers is just the 35th pitcher in major league history to toss multiple no-hitters in his career.  It’s the first no-hitter of the 2019 season.

Fiers walked two and struck out six.  He improved to 3-3 on the season.

Brewers open season with record payroll

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The Milwaukee Brewers open the 2019 Major League Baseball season on Thursday afternoon with a record payroll.

The offseason additions of Yasmani Grandal and Mike Moustakas, saw the Brewers payroll climb to $122.5 million, the largest opening day payroll in franchise history.

The Brewers’ previous high-water mark was $104 million in 2015.

The Brewers started a rebuild following that 2015 campaign and saw their payroll drop to less than $60 million, then saw it climb back up to just over $90-million last season.

The Brewers 2019 payroll ranks 14th in the majors but remains below the league average of $132 million.

Inside the Central Division, the Chicago Cubs have the majors second highest payroll at $214 million.  The Cardinals rank sixth at $160 million.  Cincinnati ranks 17th at $121 million and Pittsburgh is 27th at $75 million.

The Boston Red Sox have the highest payroll at $225 million.  Tampa Bay is the lowest in the majors, coming in around $55 million.

Brewers Crush Cardinals 11-3 in Series Opener

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Brent Suter – File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

Brent Suter allowed just two hits and two runs over seven innings as the Brewers drubbed the Cardinals 11-3 in Milwaukee.  Eric Thames contributed a bases-clearing triple and Manny Pina homered for Milwaukee.  The Brewers lead the Cubs by one game in the NL Central at 44-and-30, after the Cubs lost to the Cincinnati Reds Thursday night.  Carlos Martinez was the losing pitcher, giving up seven runs in four innings.  Matt Carpenter led off the game with a first-pitch home run for St. Louis, his fourth in the last five games.  This was the second consecutive start where Suter has gone seven innings, and is now 8-4 on the season.

The Cardinals are 2-and-7 in their last nine. The second game of the series is Friday at Miller Park.  Junior Guerra throws against Jack Flaherty.

Brewers select shortstop in first round of draft

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The Milwaukee Brewers landed prep shortstop Brice Turang with the 21st overall pick in Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft on Monday night.

Turang played high school ball for Santiago High School in Corona, California.  The Brewers were excited to get Turang, who was projected to go higher in the first round after playing for two years for Team USA’s 18U national team.

Turang has a scholarship to LSU and said he is willing to honor that commitment, but Brewers Amateur Scouting Director Tod Johnson said the Brewers are confident they can sign him.

Brice Turang’s father, Brian Turang, was a 20th round pick of the Brewers in 1987 out of Long Beach City College who didn’t sign and was taken again two years later in the 51st round by Seattle. [Read more…]