The Brewers Scuffle Becomes Clearer

Usually a clubhouse shoving match like the one seen in Milwaukee today is met with a whole bunch of "we're going to keep this in-house" quotes, with variations like "we'll handle this internally". And initially, after the Johnny Estrada/Ned Yost public argument, that's exactly what we got.

But to Yost's credit, he clarified what happened in that dugout later on, and basically took his catcher off the hook:

What actually happened was that infielder Tony Graffanino, then Estrada, came to the defense of a teammate who they thought had been unfairly singled out by Yost for poor play. In an interview with the Journal Sentinel later in the day, Yost confirmed that Graffanino and Estrada were defending a teammate. Yost said it was unfortunate the incident was being interpreted by some as a problem between him and Estrada.
"Nothing could be farther from the truth," Yost said. "For Johnny Estrada to be portrayed as the villain in this, as somebody who instigated it, is not even close. To be honest, Johnny stepped up to protect his teammates."

Yost then goes on to open up his heart to us some more after the jump.

Yost admitted that he castigated his players for not playing with enough intensity and focus but said he didn't mean to single out one player. It was interpreted that way by Graffanino, however, and Estrada then joined the fray to back both Graffanino and his other teammate.

"That's what happened," Yost said. "I was upset with the way we were playing, not just in that game but over the last 10 days. I was frustrated; everybody was frustrated. It was my frustration boiling over to the team." Then, referring to Graffanino and Estrada, Yost added, "To their credit, they said something about it."

I've got to give a ton of credit to Yost for defending his players, and making sure they're accurately portrayed. It's like that scene in Miracle where the players finally found the courage to stand up to Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks outside the bus that snowy night, and Brooks knew that was the moment that his team became a real team, and then they won the gold medal. So maybe Ned Yost has us all fooled, with players standing up to him being the plan all along. Kinda brings a tear to my eye.

Previously on FanHouse:
Milwaukee is Burning

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-03-2007 @ 5:57AM

YOWza said...

This entire "Brew-ha" started after Ricky Weeks was sent down to the minors to work on his hitting. Ricky is in a super slump and needs to work it out. Besides that, the Brewers have way too many pitchers and not enough every day type players. This wears on a team. The Brewers will bounce back. If you're a CUB FAN,,don't go "bonkers". They still may make the playoffs?? AS A WILD CARD TEAM.

8-03-2007 @ 7:41AM

Wildman said...

Finally, Yost actually said something negative! I've been waiting for THREE FULL YEARS for a single negative word to come out of Coach Optimism's mouth. It sounds like the team is beginning to be real with one another, and showing some signs of life after two months worth of .500 ball. The Brewers are a better team this, and from what I've seen out of the rest of the Central, they are the division champs come October.

8-03-2007 @ 6:58AM

Bruce Ciskie said...

Dude, you're giving Yost too much credit. I'm waiting for the day he walks out to the mound with his shoes untied.

8-03-2007 @ 7:01AM

B Ces said...

Take this to the bank ... by the time the Brewers play the Cubs at the end of August, the Brewers will be 1 or 2 games above .500 and after playing the Cubs they will be at or below .500 and season OVER!!

Sorry .... but the Brewers strength at the beginning of the season - their starting pitching - has fallen apart. And, they just do not have the run producing consistency to get it done without top notch starting pitching.

8-03-2007 @ 1:12PM

Mullet said...

Bruce, you're probably right. As long as the stream of toilet paper isn't stuck to his spikes at the time.

8-03-2007 @ 3:42PM

Gary Mayer said...

I'm from Wisconsin and have been a Brewer fan since they arrived in 1970; but, they always slump after the All-Star game and I see no exception this season. As good as he is (he may be rookie of the year) Ryan Braun swings lazily at outside pitches, strikes out too much and hits into double plays. Corey Hart is not a good contact hitter for a lead-off man, J.J. Hardy lost the long ball because pitchers have figured out that he can't hit outside pitches, Prince Fielder's home run production and RBI's are way down, Ben Sheets is always getting injured and Jeff Suppan just plain sucks. I think he wants the Cards to win the division.