Crap in a Hat

My heroes have apparantly decided to take the rest of the year off. As noted last week, I figured it would be rough sledding with Soriano out for a month. But I didn't figure them to go off on an impromptu vacation the last two weeks.

If there's a bright side...well, not really a "bright" side as much as a "less dark" side...it's that the Brewers aren't playing much better. The NL Central has become a war of attrition.

Losing A-Ram for a week was in many ways worse than missing out on Fonzie. I've said for years that Ramirez is the best player on the team (and the amount of grief he takes lends credence to my theory that the best player on the team takes the most crap from the fans and the punditocracy); without him, the lineup is significantly less than impressive.

However, it appears that no deadline deals are forthcoming, so we're stuck with the Jones and Kendall sucking plate appearances into their black hole of bad offense, and hoping that Murton, Theriot, and Fontenot can hit enough to make them worthwhile.

The Cubs relying on unproven youngsters? After the Baylor and Baker years, who'd've thunk it? Things change, indeed...