The Milwaukee Brewers opened the 2023 season this week with their 54th home opener -- well, 55th if you count the one as the Seattle Pilots in 1969. The 10-0 beat-down of the New York Mets gave the Brewers a 28-26 home opener record (and 3-0 at American Family Field after going 10-10 when it was Miller Park along with 16-16 at County Stadium).
By my count, Monday's opener was my 31st, and this third straight win puts me at 19-12. Monday was a sellout, with 42,017 on hand (capacity is 41,700). Trust me, there were NOT 42,017 witnesses to the game. Could see a lot of empty seats up on the fourth deck, which tells me a lot of people just stayed out in the parking lot, tailgating.
Gotta say, I was holding back on judgement of the new rules that Major League Baseball has put into place until I could see it in person. Those rule changes (pitch clock, limited throws to first base, no defensive shifts, larger bases) have shortened game length, in some cases by A LOT (like the Miami-Minnesota game on Wednesday that clocked in at one hour, 57 minutes!). Well, not all games are reduced by that much, but last year the average length of games in the MLB was just over three hours. Experimenting with the rules in the minors last year found games reduced by just over a half-hour.
Let's give it a until, say, June 1st to see just how much these changes have impacted the game and tightened them down. Personally, am thrilled not to see batters step out after every pitch to adjust every piece of clothing they have one, or for pitchers to walk around the mound getting mentally ready. Just play ball, fellas!
One wonders how that move impacts concession sales, especially beer sales which were traditionally given a "last call" in the seventh inning. But we digress...
This year's Milwaukee team featured six new starters, including three rookies -- centerfielder Garrett Mitchell (technically a rookie, though he had seen some playing time at the end of last year), second baseman Brice Turang and outfielder Joey Wiemer. Those three add a lot of speed to the lineup, as well as a shot of fresh enthusiasm.
As of this writing, after Mitchell's walk-off home run Wednesday led to a sweep of the Mets, the Brewers are on a five-game winning streak with a 5-1 record. The hated St. Louis Cardinals come to town for a three-game set this weekend.
Those very Mets that the Brewers just out-scored 26-6 in three games, in part thanks to 10-0 and 9-0 shutouts, have the biggest payroll in baseball as the 2023 season gets under way. spending $355,436,854 on their squad. The other New York squad, the Yankees, are second at $274,249,873.
Rounding out the top six are the San Diego Padres ($247,610.217), Philadelphia Phillies ($236,260,439), the Los Angeles Dodgers ($221,759,500) and Los Angeles Angels ($212,228,095). With the exception of San Diego, all are considered "big market" teams.
And where do our lowly small market Brewers fall? All the way down to 21st out of 30, with a payroll of $116,351,987. A large chunk of that goes to Christian Yelich ($22 million), and Brewer fans are hoping that he comes close to earning that salary this year.
At the very bottom are the Baltimore Orioles ($60,422,300) and the Oakland A's ($57,795,000). Let's toss in the fact that the Orioles are in a big, big rebuild and have brought a number of talented (and cheap) players up from the minors.
FYI those big spenders in Oakland attracted a whopping 4,930 fans to their Wednesday game. This is a franchise that is desperate need of a new stadium somewhere, though the odds of it staying in Oakland appear to be slim.
Johnny Davis, the 10th player taken in last spring's NBA draft, is finally getting significant minutes with the Washington Wizards. The former Wisconsin Badger star spent most of the season bouncing between the G-League and riding pines with the big club on home games. The past few games, he's been starting and scoring in double figures -- putting up 20 against the Bucks earlier this week and another 20 last night.
Meanwhile his twin brother, Jordan, has entered the transfer portal and will leave Wisconsin. This while Tyler Wahl has opted to stay for a final season, one granted via the COVID year.
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