under the mound

don sutton crowned 1982's second half
as the best baseball time of his life
and he pitched with some good ones...
koufax, drysdale, tommy john, charlie hough
and then with nolan ryan as an astro in 1981.

but it was the trade the following year to milwaukee

that sticks with the hall of famer.

who can blame him?
i don't think the party in 82 ended until 1984
and the brewers didn't even win the world series.

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there's a fan whose name i don't remember.
he was there in 82
and is still there today.
he wears dark rimmed glasses and looks a heck of a lot like cal tjader.
he told me about vuke,
sleeping off a drunk in the bullpen
and waking up to the sound of his name,
"and now today's starting pitchers."

vuke probably tucked his shirt in during the long walk out to the mound
and started up his smoke and mirror "hargrove rain delay" psych out.

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i don't know what's become of axford's mustache,
but man oh man is he ever easy to like.
as a matter of fact,
i can't think of anything more amazing than a spring training invite to a canadian
and the wash up making the opening day roster
and then performing beyond any scout's or statistician's recommended expertise.
it's an absolute revolution to me.

the brewers have a scout stationed in quebec.
his name is JP Roy.
he shows up at the local tryout camps put on by major league baseball.
most major league teams probably have one scout for canada
and rarely one specifically for quebec.
no surprise with the brewers since melvin and ash are both born in ontario.

the brewers currently have 12 canadian born players in their system.
only the blue jays have more.

one of them is from montreal. 

--Philippe Valiquette, Montreal, Que. (0-1, 8.49) double-A Huntsville; 

-- (0-0, 4.00) Single-A Brevard County Manatees.

i like dreaming when it's snowing outside. 

this town of montreal is still made for baseball!
it's got vuke's grit.