2-MINUTE DRILL SPEAK OUT

LETTERS FROM OUR READERS

Shut-eye and shutouts for MLB pitchers

Brewers manager Craig Counsell had to reshuffle his lineup last month after Pirates starter Francisco Liriano had to be scratched due to neck stiffness. Liriano was soon back in action, though, after it was learned that he had suffered no real injury but had merely “slept wrong.”

That suggests an interesting possibility: In an era rife with such absurdities as assistant bullpen coaches and given the value of starting pitching, perhaps teams would be wise to employ a sleeping coach, whose job it would be to stand watch over the next game’s starting pitcher throughout the night to make sure the hurler was engaging in proper slumber mechanics.

Later, both coach and pitcher could watch video and note how the pitcher’s REM (rapid eye movement) and his SWR (sleepwalk rate) correlate with his ERA and his WHIP.

The brave new world of advanced baseball metrics marches on. Jim Szantor Sturgeon Bay

National pastime has become a business

I have followed the Brewers since the 1940s when they played teams like the St. Paul Saints, Minneapolis Millers and the Toledo Mud Hens at Borchert Field. For those of you too young to remember the 1940s, this was an American Association team that was a farm team for the Boston Braves.

The natural transition in 1953 was to switch allegiance to the Milwaukee Braves and players who played for the love of the game such as Eddie Mathews, Johnny Logan, Andy Pafko and many more.

I cannot imagine manager “Jolly” Charlie Grimm taking Lew Burdette or Warren Spahn out of a game as they approached 100 pitches. Spahn actually pitched a 16-inning game.

If a pitcher was pitching a good game, he remained in the game. If not, he was out as soon as things were going bad. Likewise if a player was an asset to the team, he was there year after year, if not he was gone.

Judgments to keep a player or send them packing were not made on what money it would cost the team. As a result good players like Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers are gone, and Kyle Lohse and Matt Garza are still with the Brewers.

When did baseball go from being a game to being a business? Baseball was better at Bochert Field. Elizabeth Mueller

Waukesha