Batting Average Leaderboard

Name Team Name BA

Kevin Brunner Lil Phux 1.000

Robb Slak Dauntless Warriors .800

Chris Greatens Corner Boyz .700

Dennis Inderdahl Corner Boyz .700

Tim Webber Gumby's Woody .700

Dan Zier Corner Boyz .700

Gary Anderson I'd Hit That .667

Brad Polczynski Dauntless Warriors .667

Gary Polczynski Dauntless Warriors .667

Tom Curtis I'd Hit That .600

Tim Duex Corner Boyz .600

Dan Kuenzi I'd Hit That .583

Tim Adamany Gumby's Woody .571

Bruce Gilbert Corner Boyz .556

Douglas Johnsen Storm Damage .556

Mike Wallace Storm Damage .556

Dan Borchardt Lil Phux .545

Wade Brogdon I'd Hit That .545

John Clark Storm Damage .500

Michael Ejercito Corner Boyz .500

Jake Gasser Lil Phux .500

Tom Grzeszczak Storm Damage .500

Dave Maruska Gumby's Woody .500

Kevin Schlice Corner Boyz .500

Steve Hepp Lil Phux .455

Don Quinones Lil Phux .455

Mike Zimmerman I'd Hit That .455

Mark Courchane Gumby's Woody .444

Robert Dobratz Dauntless Warriors .444

Robert Grass Dauntless Warriors .444

Dan Tomlinson Storm Damage .444

Bryan McRoberts Dauntless Warriors .429

William Morley Gumby's Woody .429

Ben Albregts I'd Hit That .400

Chris Grossmann Dauntless Warriors .400

Bruce Kirby I'd Hit That .400

Lew Krisberg Corner Boyz .400

Steve Lendosky Gumby's Woody .400

Larry Pedrazoli Gumby's Woody .400

Matt Varney Storm Damage .400

A BIG THANK YOU TO SCOTT ABRAMS

FOR COMPILING THE STATS.

Fantasy Camp StandingsAfter 4 games

W L

I’d Hit That 3 1

Gumby’s Woody 2 2

Corner Boyz 2 2

Dauntless Warriors 2 2

Lil Phux 2 2

Storm Damage 1 3

Brewers introduce Stearns as new GM

Grasshopper (cont.)

MILWAUKEE -- As he pushed deeper into the pro-cess of choosing the Brewers’ next general manager and found more and more to like about the 30-year-old assistant GM of the Houston Astros, principal owner Mark Attanasio focused not on David Stearns’ age, but on other attributes. “In our interview process, we focused on his experience,” Attanasio said. “He’s got quite an impressive resume.” That resume includes a degree in political science from Harvard, front-offi ce positions with the Pirates and Mets, as well as positions with the Arizona Fall League and the Major League Baseball Commissioner’s Offi ce. Combined with an intangible “something special” that Attanasio recognized during an in-person interview that spanned more than four hours, it led to Stearns becoming baseball’s youngest current GM on Monday. Stearns, who was introduced as the ninth GM in franchise history during an hour-long news conference at Miller Park, will visit the team in San Diego next week but won’t formally take over the job until Oct. 5. Doug Melvin will continue to run the team until then before transitioning into an advisory role on a multiyear agree-ment struck with Attanasio last month, when the two announced Melvin would step aside from the post he’s held since September 2002. Craig Counsell will continue as the Brewers’ manager, as expected. Stearns said he would make other staffi ng decisions in due course.

The Brewers did not reveal the length of Stearns’ con-tract, but new general managers typically receive multi-year commitments. “I don’t think it’s really a secret. You need to acquire, develop and keep controllable young talent -- quality Major League talent,” Stearns said. “If you look at the sustainably competitive teams throughout the industry, regardless of the market size, regardless of the city, that’s what they have to do. You can’t build a team through free agency. Even the biggest-market teams in baseball can’t do that. “The trick is to develop a process and a system that allows you to consistently generate that pipeline, even as you are competitive at the Major League level. There are a couple of teams that appear to be able to do that, and that’s certainly our goal here in Milwaukee.” Stearns’ introductory media session covered every-thing from his childhood in New York, where he fell in love with baseball watching the Mets at Shea Stadium, to his place in baseball’s trend toward young Ivy League-edu-cated executives, to his pending engagement to Whitney Ann Lee (they plan to be married in early 2017) to his cur-rent task: Rejuvenating an organization currently fi nishing a lost season at the Major League level. The fi rst question was this: How long until the Brewers are competitive again? “That’s a good question, and it’s interesting,” Stearns said. “I’ve worked for a couple of organizations, and we’ve gone into seasons where we expected to win a division and we had very disappointing years. And I was recently with an organization [Houston] where there weren’t a lot of external expectations as we went into the season, and right now, they’re in the middle of what is turning out to be an extremely special year and on pace to make the playoffs. “I am a big believer in not setting limits for any team, for any year. This is a game with a tremendous amount of variability, and we’re going to take each decision as it comes. We’ll make the decision in the interest of the over-all health of the organization, and the product on the Major League fi eld is certainly a large component of that.” Attanasio shed some light Monday on the process. With organizational assistance from the executive search fi rm Korn Ferry, it began with an initial list of 44 candi-dates. In order to whittle that list to a manageable number of fi nalists, Attanasio was presented with a list of 40 crite-ria and asked to rank them all by importance. It produced a top 11 of data points from which to score potential candidates. The No. 1 criteria, Attanasio said, “Has the vision, intelligence and strategic mindset to build the alignment necessary for consistent postseason play.” In the end, there were “a handful” of candidates -- Attanasio declined to be specifi c -- who went through three-hour interviews with Attanasio, ownership advi-sory board member Eric Siegel, COO Rick Schlesinger and a representative from Korn Ferry. At the end of each session, Attanasio spent at least an hour one-on-one with each candidate. Attanasio would not name his fi nalists, but published reports indicated the interviewees also included Pitts-burgh’s Tyrone Brooks, Tampa Bay’s Chaim Bloom, Oak-land’s Dan Kantrovitz and Milwaukee’s amateur scouting director, Ray Montgomery. “I wanted to drive to a decision, because I didn’t want to wake up and fi nd the candidate we would have maybe preferred had signed with another team because we were moving too slowly,” Attanasio said. “So we had a very in-tensive week last week, and here we are.” Stearns spent the past three seasons as right-hand man to Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, who relied heavily on advanced analytics to build Houston into an ahead-of-schedule contender this season. Stearns laid out a similarly bold vision for Milwaukee. “We want to be industry leaders and employ best practices across every function of baseball operations,” he said. “We want to have the best scouting information. We want the best player development department. We want to use all the new information sources at our dis-posal, and we want to be able to combine them in an ef-fective and coherent manner to help our decision-making process. That’s what the best organizations in baseball are doing.” It is a big task for a man one year younger than the Brewers’ best player, 31-year-old outfi elder Ryan Braun. Stearns had a direct answer to a question about his age.“Throughout my career, I’ve always been on the younger side for positions I’ve held,” he said. “It’s never proven a hindrance for me, and I certainly don’t anticipate the youthful appearance to hurt me in this one. Trust me, I’ve had plenty of text messages in the last 24 hours to tell me that I will age tremendously over the next couple of years.”

Written by Adam McCalvy, a reporter for MLB.com.

The Brewers did not reveal the length of Stearns’ con-

Wednesday’s ResultsMorning Games

Corner Boyz - 9 Gumby’s Woody - 8

Lil Phux - 5Dauntless Warriors - 8

Storm Damage - 5I’d Hit That - 6

Afternoon Games

I’d Hit That - 7 Lil Phux - 8

Gumby’s Woody - 9Dauntless Warriors - 4

Storm Damage - 7Corner Boyz - 6

Grasshopper

I’m sure many of you have heard the ancient advice, “Patience, Grasshopper.” For Mike Martin, his patience may be growing a bit thin, and that would be understandable. Martin, whose nickname is “Grasshopper”, has been to six championship games during his 11 previous Fantasy Camps, but has yet to bask in the Arizona sun as Fantasy Camp champion.

Martin’s love for baseball goes way back to his time growing up in Illinois. His favorite baseball memory is deeply rooted with a time he spent with his father. “My dad took me and the 1967 Freeport Pee-Wee League champions to a Cubs/Dodgers doubleheader in 1967,” he said. “(I) got to go on the fi eld and have my picture taken with Rich Nye (Cubs pitcher),” he also remembers. To celebrate this special day, Martin has a brick commemorating the day at Wrigley Field. Martin, 58, a life-long Chicago Cubs fan, also has an allegiance to the Milwaukee Brewers. What? Is that legal? So how does a Cubs fan, become a Brewers fan too?

Martin said, “I moved to North Carolina in high school (from Freeport, Illinois), and my parents moved back when I was in college. One summer, my old friends took me to a Brewers doubleheader against the Tigers (circa 1979)”. Martin, who had never been to Milwaukee before recalls “it was love at fi rst sight! The tailgating, the Cheezers, and Bambi’s Bombers.” It’s that love of the Brewers that brought Martin to Fantasy Camp for the fi rst time in 2005. His inaugural year at camp is like many other fi rst-time campers who go to play baseball and meet the former players who are coaches for the week. It was also there, at his fi rst camp, where the 5’ 7” Mike Martin became ‘Grasshopper.’ “Gorman Thomas nicknamed me the Grasshopper Jockey — but I’ve been called worse — due to my vertical challenges. Over time, it basically morphed into the kinder, gentler “Grasshopper”, and some folks even have translated it to more of the TV show Kung Fu’s “Grasshopper,” he said. (continued on back)

Entering his 12th camp, ‘Grasshopper’ has played every position on the diamond except third base. And It wasn’t until he was 55 that the Vice President of Manufacturing for Baxter Healthcare, began squatting behind the plate while donning the ‘tools of ignorance,’ and he loves it. “It allows me to use my biggest strength, my mouth, as I chat up the batters,” he said. “Sometimes the banter gets a little ribald,” he added. (BEEP) We interrupt this article for the writer to look up the word ‘ribald.’ Merriam-Webster defi nes it as referring to sex in a rude but amusing way. We now return you to your regularly scheduled reading. Thank you. (BEEP) Since 2005, Martin has seen many changes at Fantasy Camp. The main one, though, for him is that the “players have gotten younger, and I’ve gotten older.” He’s also met and has been coached by many former players. Picking his favorite coaches is like asking a parent to name their favorite child. “I don’t want to diss any of them,” he said. “Guys like Gorman (Thomas), Cecil (Cooper), (Pete) Ladd and Augie (Jerry Augustine), I’ve become friends with. (I) love that I can see eye to eye with (Mike) Felder and (Fernando) Viña,” he added. Fantasy Camp coaches will sign a lot of autographs during this week, which the campers will treasure as part of their week-long experience. But when it comes to a having a trove of autographs from major league players, Martin has a ton. The self-proclaimed ‘geek’ when it comes to autograph collecting, scored his fi rst signature in 1968 when he received Ernie Banks’ signature. “I have over 2,000 MLB autographs. I still send SASE to players with cards...they think I’m a 10 year old kid,” he quipped. The 2016 Fantasy Camp Hall of Famer’s most-prized piece is his collection of hall of famers. “I have 162 signed HOF Plaque postcards and a 1968 Cardinals team signed ball from Steve Carlton’s collection,” he said. ‘Grasshopper’ believes he’s “gotten just about everything imaginable signed by Gorman Thomas except maybe my toilet at home.” Gorman is also a part of Martin’s most-memorable memory at camp. With Thomas coaching third base, Martin hit a triple off camper Matt Varney. “When I got to third, Gorman...hugged me, and told me “Mikey, this is what it’s all about,” he remembers. “Of course, the next night at the banquet he accused me of humping his leg like a spider monkey.” Campers, it’s memories like those for ‘Grasshopper’ that bring him back year after year. Whether you’re a one-time camper or a veteran camper, you make your own memories. Martin says you are all bonded by two loves, “baseball and the Brewers.” When asked why he returns to Fantasy Camp year after year, he says, “...this is where I belong. It feels like home.” Welcome home, Grasshopper. Welcome home.

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YOU WIN ONE...YOU LOSE ONE Going into Wednesday, I’d Hit That was riding high as the camp’s only undefeated team at 2-0, and Storm Damage was hoping to pick up the pieces and get off the schneid. The two teams faced off in the morning and the Damage gave I’d Hit That everything they could handle, but it wasn’t enough. I’d Hit That took an early 1-0 lead courtesy of an RBI single from Tom Curtis in the fi rst inning. The Damage’s Tom Grzeszczak tied the game up with a solo home run in the third inning. Not to be outdone, I’d Hit That’s Ben Albregts blasted a three-run homer capping off a four run fourth inning, giving them a 5-1 lead. The Damage chipped away at the defecit with a run in the fi fth inning and two more runs in the sixth. I’d Hit That got an insurance run in the seventh inning thanks to an RBI from

Tom Curtis, pushing the lead to 6-4. The Damage scored a run in the seventh, but fell short, losing 6-5. This extended I’d Hit That’s win streak to start the season at three games, while Storm Damage remained winless at 0-3, losing their last two games each by one run. In the afternoon game, the Damage squared off against the Corner Boyz who were coming off a 9-8 victory over Gumby’s Woody in the morning and defeated them 7-6 to secure their fi rst victory of the season. Lil Phux proved they weren’t going to be intimidated by I’d Hit That. The Phux pounded out 15 hits, including a three-hit day by Kevin Brunner, and a three-hit, three RBI game by Steve Hepp, leading the Phux to knock off the previously undefeated team. Brunner now sits alone atop the leaderboard with a 1.000 batting average. In other games, Dauntless Warriors

defeated Lil Phux 8-5 in the morning, highlighted by a two-hit, three RBI game by Brad Polczynski. Robb Slak had two hits in the game, three overall for the day, and is second in batting with an .800 average. The Corner Boyz also won in the morning by defeating Gumby’s Woody in walk-off fashion, 9-8. With the game tied at 8-8, Bruce Gilbert singled to right fi eld driving in Chris Greatens to seal the victory. In the game, the Boyz had 15 hits, including a three-hit morning by Dan Zier, and two-hit games by Greatens, Gilbert, Dennis Inderdahl, and Michael Ejercito. Gumby’s Woody gave it hard to the Dauntless Warriors in the afternoon game, pounding out 17 hits, including three-hits each by Tim Webber and Steve Lendosky, beating the Warriors 9-4. This Fantasy Camp season, as usual, is proving to be an exciting one.

BRUCE GILBERT’S WALK-OFF SINGLE - CORNER BOYZ

The Offi cial Newspaper of the 2016 Milwaukee Brewers Fantasy Camp Thursday, February 4, 2016Volume 10, Issue 5

TODAY• Still basking in the afterglow from last night’s visit by Hall of Famers Robin Yount and Bob Uecker. A night to remember.

• REMINDER: Camp photo will be taken this morning at 9:45. Please wear your game jersey.

• SPORTSEYE camp photos are posted on Camp.Sportseye.com

QUOTE OF THE DAY“You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time.

Jim Bouton

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Snapshots of CORNER BOYZ

Snapshots of I’D HIT THAT