25 Brewers in 25 Days : 2010 Season Countdown

One night I had a drunken epiphany - to do a profile of every player on the 25 man Milwaukee Brewers roster in the 25 days leading up to Opening Day. Sounds pretty easy, right? Well maybe for the person who has a lot of time on their hands. I already work a full time job, and by this point working on Pookon.com, Pookon's Ill Blog and the Back Alley Burners is like having a second job. I bet I spend at least 15-20 hours a week on the Pookon Empire, but not all of it shows because the majority of it is behind the scenes fixing, templating, and archiving things. So that's why it surprises me that I'm actually going through with this idea. I've only once had an idea this big that I followed through with, and that was the magical Summer of 2008 when I did a wrap-up of every series that the Brewers played that year. We all know how the season ended (with the first playoff appearance in 26 years) but during the year I was stuck working 2nd shift at a call center. I only got to work weekend games, and for the night games I was only able to follow the games online with MLB Gameday online. In the rest of the downtime at work (because I was only busy when someone called the help line) I would write about the Brewers on this blog. You can check out those posts in the "From the Archives" panel on the right.

Back then I actually had time to do things like this because I was bored at work. Now that I actually work at work between the hours of 9-5 and miscellaneous things like watching every Bucks game occupies the time I would normally spend updating. I'm also trying to have more of a social life because I can't spend my entire life sitting in front of a computer screen. And I have also started working out after work, which results in me being quite tired by the time I actually get home. I know that it's not a good excuse, but to me it helps explain the magnitude of this undertaking that I am beginning tonight. To be quite honest, with the exception of schoolwork, I have never had such strict deadlines in place in which to complete a project. To stay true to my promise, I need to have a new post every day until April 5th. It's going to be wicked.

To those of you who do not know, each Major League team has an active roster of 25 players, 9 of which start on a given day. The other 16 players are the remaining starters, the bullpen and the bench players. For the Brewers, 21 of the 25 spots on the 2010 Opening Day Roster are already "set". I use quotations because there is always a possibility (and knock on wood that it doesn't happen) of someone getting injured like Chris Capuano a few years ago or traded during Spring Training. Those last few spots up for grabs for this team are all back-up spots. I won't name all of the players here (because what would the purpose of doing 25 in 25 if I introduce them right now and talk about them) but I will point out a few positions to keep your eye on during Spring Training. There are no less than 4 players battling for the back-up catcher position, which should be the most exciting thing to watch. More so than in previous years because new catcher Greg Zaun is only expected to catch around 100 of the 162 games (compared to to Jason Kendall's 150ish) so the back-up will have to play more often and contribute. There is an open spot for a back-up infielder and a back-up outfielder, which could provide some great competition in camp. The final open spot is for a pitcher which will round out the bullpen. At the start of camp, there was like 57 players, although a good amount of them are minor league players who are there mainly for the experience of practicing and playing with and against major league talent. I'll save spots 22-25 for the last few days before the Brewers open the season, because there's a pretty good chance that they won't even be decided until then.

I'll try to keep these brief and devoid of tiresome statistics, but you know how passionate I am about the Brewers and how I can often go on for hours (see my posts about Corey Hart). But I hope that this will provide you with this fan's perspective on the 2010 Brewers so that you either have a better understanding about the team or you can use it to assist in your opinions. And if you totally disagree with me, feel free to comment below. I'm always open to debate, and talking Brewers is my absolute favorite thing to do. So comment below or bring it up the next time that you see me.

As well as doing 25 Brewers in 25 Days, I will also be drinking 25 beers in 25 days. As a little added bonus to me, I have labeled 25 cans of PBR with the names of whom I think will be on the Brewers 2010 Opening Day roster. While working on the article for that player, I will be drinking the PBR with their name on it. It's just a little incentive to keep me working on this thing, much like that Advent countdown to Christmas calendar that has chocolate behind the doors. But since I am a chocoholic but for beer, PBR will fuel my fire as we get ready for 2010. The dwindling pyramid will be a physical reminder that the season is just days away and that I am an alcoholic.

In closing, I hope that both you and I make it out alive. This is going to be quite a process, so bear with me as the 2010 season looms over the horizon. It's going to be exciting. After finishing 2009 with a 80-82 record despite having the worst team ERA in the NL, changes have been made to the pitching staff to improve it, while the offense returns mostly intact from last year. So now I will make some predictions for the 2010 season:

• The Brewers will finish in 2nd place (behind the St. Louis Cardinals) in the NL Central with a 88-74 record and win the NL Wild Card, returning to the playoffs once again.
• The Cubs will finish 3rd, Reds 4th, Astros 5th and Pirates 6th.
• The Brewers will once again draw over 3 million fans.
• Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Yovanni Gallardo and Rickie Weeks will make the NL All-Star Team.
• Alcides Escobar wins NL Rookie of the Year
  

I'm going to make predictions for the individual players on the days when I highlight them, so I will leave you with that information for now. And I have to go and say nice things about the Bucks now, because they are trying so hard to distract me from baseball season. Damn you Bucks! Why did you have to pick 2010 to once again be relevant? Now I'm going to have to start writing about you too!

- pookon -

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email: pookondotcom@gmail.com