The Bucks try to catch lightning in a bottle a second time. A few years after taking a chance on a teenager from Greece named Giannis, Milwaukee has selected a 19 year old with an even odder background. Thon Maker is 7'1″ and already has the ability and agility to be a difference maker in the NBA. He comes from South Sudan via Australia and spent the last two years at a prep school in Canada. I like a pick with this much upside. One of their other picks is intriuging as well. Malcom Brogdon of Virginia is a shooting guard with a nice pedigree. He played four years of college and was the Player of the Year, as well as defensive Player of The Year in the ACC as a senior. maybe the biggest move the Bucks made was one they didn't. They refused to deal Khris Middleton to Boston. As I wrote on this page earlier, I believe Middleton is a budding star and should be a part of the Bucks re-build.
The WIAA Board Of Control voted on Thursday to institute pitch counts and mandatory rest for high school pitchers in the state. The vote was unanimous. The new rule says a pitcher can throw 100 pitches a day(not counting warmups) with a minimum of three days required. 1-30 pitches a day requires no rest, 31-49 requires one and 50-75 requires 2. The change comes in response to a study that showed 57% of Tommy John surgeries were done on high schoolers. More scrutiny is also being put on coaches that abuse young pitchers arms at both the high school and college level. I would suggest that 3 days rest is not enough for a young pitcher that throws 100 pitches in a game. In my summer coaching, starters pitch once a week…usually a minimum of six days rest between starts. The biggest change for the staffs of high school teams will be finding a person to keep track of the count…each team will have one…and will match up counts to make sure there is no fudging. Teams could forfeit games if found to violate the rule. It's certainly not a perfect rule but it should protect some players from the abuse by over zealous coaches that put winning one game ahead of a players future health.
The Woodchucks beat Madison last night. The Chucks will play in Madison again tonight before returning home for the weekend. Rockford comes to town Saturday and Sunday.You can hear the game on Foxsports Radio AM1390 & FM 93.9.
The Brewers have Washington in town this weekend. Max Scherzer pitches tonight vs Zach Davies. You can hear the game on WSAU.
The Wausau Post 10 American Legion baseball teams hit the road this weekend. The Junior Legion Polar Bears are at a wood bat tournament in Chippewa Falls. The Post 10 Bulldogs varsity team is playing in a round robin tournament at Beloit (although their games will be played at Riverside Park in Janesville)
Happy Birthday to Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Jeff Beck 72, and Mick Fleetwood 69
Songs Of The Day (from my I-pod)
