Pitching has kept the Brewers over .500 and in the National League Central race, but Geoff Jenkins and Scott Podsednik have to get going if the Crew is going to complete what until now has been an encouraging season.
Both were hitting a little over .250 at the time of this writing. That's not enough. Podsednik needs to be about 30 percentage points higher, and needs to improve his overall on-base percentage (around .325) by that much or more. The Brewers need him to be the 21st Century Igniter at the top of the lineup. Jenkins also needs to get at least 25 percentage points higher and cut down on his strikeouts.
They both have shown signs of breaking out at times. Podsednik had a three-hit game at Wrigley Field on Sunday. Jenkins hit his 14th homer Monday. But, neither has gotten going on a consistent basis.
Interestingly enough, both players seem to have suffered from the same syndrome - trying to jerk too many pitches to right field for homers. Podsednik, who came close to earning the Rookie of the Year award last season as a slap hitter, got a couple homers early and seemed to like it too much. If he is going to be more than a good-looking flash-in-the-pan, he needs to hit the ball on the ground and send liners to left and center.
Jenkins always has had to fight the tendency to open up and try to pull the ball. Many power hitters do, but Jenks is at his best when he hits the ball to left center at times. He is not strictly a power hitter. Perhaps playing on a team that does not have much power has put pressure on him.
Both Podsednik and Jenkins need to watch Lyle Overbay, who has been one of the most consistent hitters in baseball this season by just hitting the ball where it is pitched.
This criticism is not to say that Podsednik and Jenkins haven't helped the Brewers in other ways. Podsednik is one of the best base stealers in the game and has played a good centerfield. Jenkins has turned himself into perhaps the best fielding leftfielder in baseball. Both play hard every game.
But, if the Brewers are going to complete what they have started, the offense has to pick up. Po and Jenks are keys to that. They know it as well as anybody. Now, they just have to do something about it.
U.S. Bank Championship
The U.S. Bank Championship, the former Greater Milwaukee Open, warms up golf fans this week for the PGA Championship, when the real big boys of the game come out.
Some of the finest golfers in the world start play at Brown Deer Thursday in the U.S. Bank tourney. Unfortunately, many of the real finest in golf will not visit Wisconsin until the PGA Championship is held at Whistling Straits next month.
You won't find Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and other big names at Brown Deer this weekend. Despite the name and date changes, the local tourney still suffers from some of the same things that plagued the GMO for all its years.
The tournament is played too close to the British Open, although it is after that major tournament this year rather than before. Many of the big name golfers will linger in Europe or just want to rest after playing on the other side of the real big salt water pond.
For many of these big guys, Milwaukee is just off their beaten path of major tournaments. Perhaps Woods is the most irritating to this writer, since he got his professional start at the GMO. We haven't seen him since.
So, the U.S. Bank tourney will be held in the shadows of the real biggie, the PGA, which will bring the superstars of the tour to the state. That doesn't mean you won't see some fine golf at Brown Deer through this weekend.
To steal from the PGA slogan of a few years ago, "these guys are good." Kenny Perry, the defending champ, will lead the field. Steve Elkington, Scott Verplank, Jeff Sluman, Fred Funk, Steve Lowery, Mark Calcavecchia, Mark Brooks, Paul Azinger, Steve Allan and other tour veterans have won multiple tournaments and are in the field. You also always have a chance to see an up-and-coming star of the tour before he actually starts to move up.
Jerry Kelly, Skip Kendall, Mark Wilson and Steve Stricker lead a contingent of Wisconsin golfers who always add some local interest to the tourney.
The tournament officials from Dan Croak at the top down to the volunteers who help you get around the course have always done a topnotch job. Brown Deer is groomed beautifully every year and gives you a chance to see how the pros play the same holes you have played. (How come they are never in the trees?)
Selling of the GMO naming rights to U.S. Bank came after years of agonizing. Many people resisted selling off the name, preferring to have Milwaukee the prominent word in the title. But, in perhaps the most "corporative" of an increasingly corporate-dominated sports industry, it is likely the only way the tournament would have survived was to obtain a major sponsor. U.S. Bank should be commended for stepping up.
Tournament officials also vehemently deny a rumor that U.S. Bank bought the sponsorship rights to the tourney so it can eventually move it to Minneapolis, where the bank headquarters are.
It's not every year that one of the PGA tour majors will come to Wisconsin, only an hour north of Milwaukee, only a few weeks after the local tourney. The U.S. Bank Championship will have a chance in upcoming years to get its just recognition.
Hot Tix
The golf tournament is not the only event that will create the Weekend Sports Buzz. Festivities already have started at The Milwaukee Mile, where the Menard's Infiniti Pro Series and the A.J. Foyt 225 will be held Sunday. Concerts and other entertainment started Wednesday. Practice runs start Saturday morning. The Pro Series race is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Sunday. The Foyt 225 follows at 2:30 p.m.
On Saturday, the Milwaukee Bombers Aussie Rules football team is at home, which will be at the Polo Grounds in Merton, not Brown Deer Park, because of the golf tournament. The Curtain Raiser against the Sharks starts at 1 p.m. A game against Atlanta follows.
The final weekend of the International Cycling Classic Superweek tour wheels through the lakefront and Downer Avenue on Saturday and Whitefish Bay on Sunday. The lakefront races start at 9:30 a.m. and the Downer Avenue event at 5 p.m. The Whitefish Bay races start at 11:15 a.m.
Wave United is on the road this weekend, where it will put a seven-game unbeaten streak on the line in Canada and the Pacific Northwest.
The Brewers also are on the road at Houston. On Monday, the Brewers return home to host a four-game Interstate-94 Rivalry series against those Cubbies again. The Pirates and Mets follow the Cubs into Miller Park.
In Green Bay, the Packers open training camp next week. Their first pre-season game is Aug. 16. You can keep up with the Pack during the pre-season in this column and then read about them weekly during the regular season in On the Pack.
Several Wisconsin athletes have qualified for the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in Athens in August. You can check them out in The State Sports Buzz on Aug. 5.
Finally, the previously-mentioned Mark Wilson has joined with the MACC Fund in establishing the "Making a Mark Fore MACC" program. Through it, Wilson will donate $100 to $1,000 depending on where he finishes in each tournament that he plays in. Those donations will be enhanced by matching donations from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.
