Welcome to Saturday Scorecard, a great place to keep warm until pitchers and catchers report.

Memory lapse: The Brewers made one of the more bizarre off-season transactions in franchise history Friday and it did not involve Franklin Stubbs, Sean Berry or Jeffrey Hammonds. General manager Doug Melvin announced that the club had exercised the 2009 contract option on manager Ned Yost ... in October.

During his annual "week before spring training" lunch with baseball writer Tom Haudricourt, Melvin was asked if he planned to exercise Yost's option in order to avoid the appearance of having a "lame duck" manager in the dugout.

That's when Melvin revealed that Brewers had exercised the option. In fact, he discussed the move with team owner Mark Attanasio and informed Yost of the decision right after the regular season, which the Brewers finished with an 83-79 record.

He just forgot to tell anybody else.

Melvin planned to announce the extension at the Winter Meetings, but got so busy trying to improve the roster that it slipped his mind.

The Brewers issued a press release Friday to announce the "news" that was more than four months old.

"That's not even on the radar," Yost said. "I don't worry about that stuff."

That's probably a good idea. Contract security aside, Melvin and Yost both know that fan expectations are high and Attanasio is eager for a winner.

Cox clone: When the Brewers named Yost, then Atlanta's third base coach, to be their manager on Oct. 29, 2002, several baseball insiders predicted that Yost would be a lot like his mentor, Braves manager Bobby Cox.

Though he doesn't get thrown out of nearly as many games, Yost's career managerial record is strikingly similar to Cox's.

In five seasons, Yost has managed 809 games and guided the Brewers to a 374-435 record and .462 winning percentage.

Because of the player's strike in 1981, Cox didn't manage his 809th game until about one-third of the way into his sixth season, his first with Toronto after being fired by Braves owner Ted Turner. His record after 809 games: 376-433, a winning percentage of .465.

Like Yost, Cox had one winning season in his first five tries (81-80 in 1980). In his sixth season, the Blue Jays went 89-73.

Change of scenery: The over-under is Feb. 25. That's the date of the Brewers' second full-squad workout of spring, which we think will mark the point when Yost and his players officially tire of talking about Bill Hall's return to third base from center field and rookie of the year Ryan Braun's move from third to left.

"It might be long ignored by then," Yost said when informed of the prediction. "You can only talk about it so much. I think it's going to be really beneficial to us. It wasn't a decision that we made haphazardly. There was a lot of thought; a lot of trying to figure out what is the best for our team and what puts us in the best position to compete for a championship this year. They're both tremendous athletes. It's going to be a bit of a challenge for Braunie, but I think he's going to be OK."

Yost, who saw Rickie Weeks make tremendous strides at second base two years ago, said he "would have loved to have given Braun another year" to get acclimated at third.

"We don't have time for that," he said. "We have to try to put our best defensive team on the field and go for it."

Bold prediction: In a rare light moment, Yost said he wasn't expecting much from free agent centerfielder Mike Cameron early in the season. "I think Cameron is going to be a real slow starter," he said. "He probably won't get a hit for the first 20 or 25 games. After that, he should be OK."

Yost was referring to the fact that Cameron will serve a 25-game suspension for using a banned supplement. Yost isn't planning to limit Cameron's playing time in spring.

"We'll play him just like we would normally," he said. "We'll mix in Tony Gwynn and Gabe Gross and everybody else."

When camp ends, Cameron will spend time in extended spring training in Arizona, and then he will play five games with Class AAA Nashville before joining the Brewers.

"We're hoping that it's a quick 25 games," Yost said. "I think those other guys will do a good job."

Clear view: The Brewers will televise 150 games this season between FSN Wisconsin and WMLW. It appears that most home games will be available in high definition, which is a welcome upgrade. The first spring training telecast is March 14 against San Diego.

Aloha: Even with Packers coach Mike McCarthy and his staff on the sideline, the Pro Bowl holds little appeal. It's the worst all-star game in sports for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that 20 percent of the all-stars decline the invitation. (Imagine that happening in baseball or basketball). The NFL needs to move the Pro Bowl to the week before the Super Bowl or scrap the idea altogether.

Upon further review: In announcing his own contract extension this week, McCarthy told reporters he still hasn't watched the film of his team's loss to New York in the NFC Championship Game, but plans to get around to it next week. "There's some things I want to talk about with the staff about the football game and our future," he said.

Historical perspective: NFL Films guru Steve Sabol told an interviewer this week that Giants quarterback Eli Manning's scramble and David Tyree's "top of the helmet" catch Sunday added up to the greatest play in Super Bowl history. It's hard to argue.

Just wondering? Do you think Michael Vick watched the Super Bowl? Will Barry Bonds be in front of a TV next week when Roger Clemens testifies in front of Congress?

A matter of Hart: It turns out that Nevada high school football player Kevin Hart was not the victim of a cruel joke. Hart is the offensive lineman who called a press conference to announce that he had chosen California over Oregon in a recruiting battle that never existed. He made the whole thing up because he wanted the attention that comes with being a Division I prospect. You'd think that the sad, bizarre tale would cause some media outlets (like ESPN) to examine the excessive attention placed on recruiting. It won't.

Call from the Hall: Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl will be inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Museum during a ceremony June 8 at the Suffolk Jewish Community Center in Commack, N.Y.

Pearl, who spent time at UW-Milwaukee, will be join seven other honorees including Kerri Strug (gymnastics) and Tony Kornheiser (sportswriter/broadcaster), Ron Mix (pro football Hall of Famer), Lenny Krayzelburg (Olympic swimmer), Sam Rosen (broadcaster), Hy Gotkin (basketball) and Daniel Bukantz (Olympic fencing judge).