Well, today is my final full day of Spring Training with the Milwaukee Brewers.  It was a fun-filled, exciting and interesting week.  It was so nice to meet many of the Brewers’ executives, the Brewers’ major and minor league players, Nashville Manager, Don Money and the list goes on and on.

I still continued my round with interviews in the Brewers’ clubhouse.  Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder were two of the players I interviewed.  Rickie is a class individual and he was a joy to speak to.  Fielder was also nice, albeit he didn’t say too much.

It was also nice to see some familiar faces on the Padres, who were with me when I broadcast for the Class AA San Antonio Missions.  A number of guys are expected to play for Portland this year, so they are looking forward to seeing me when the Beavers come to town in May.

The biggest thrill of them all was getting the opportunity to be part of the Brewers’ webcast for today’s game against the San Diego Padres on www.brewers.com.  I did a half inning of color and a half inning of play-by-play with a former colleague of mine from the Missions.  He is the current television voice of the Milwaukee Brewers and is a very talented individual.  His name is Brian Anderson.  You might have seen Brian as he also broadcast for TBS during a couple of National League playoff series over the last couple of years.  It was great to see BA again and a pleasure to work with him again.It was great to do a major league broadcast, even though it was an exhibition game and it was just on the Brewers’ website. 

Of course, the Brewers still have a few tough decisions to make, but it won’t be long before we know the final roster for the Sounds when the 2010 Pacific Coast League season gets underway.

I encourage all of you to tune in to www.nashvillesounds.com as I open the PCL season on Thursday, April 8th in Des Moines, Iowa vs. the Iowa Cubs.  Our first broadcast on 104.5 The Zone is on April 14th at Omaha vs. the Royals.  I’m excited about the season to get underway real soon.

Hope you all had a nice week.  I sure did.  Hope the rain didn’t discourage anyone this week.  I look forward to seeing all of you come out to Greer Stadium to support the Sounds during the baseball campaign.  Thank you again and let’s PLAY BALL! 

Well, today was a shorter schedule than I had imagined.  The weather has continued to be a pleasure here in Phoenix, Arizona.  It has been great getting to know the Brewers as well as the Nashville Sounds on-field personnel for 2010 as well.

Today, I got to meet some of the players on the major league club.  I had the pleasure of interviewing outfielder Corey Hart and pitcher Yovani Gallardo.  It was nice to discuss about the Brewers’ prospective season and where things are shaping up.  Everyone seems excited not only to have Alcides Escobar in camp, but also a healthy Rickie Weeks.  Rickie has worked hard at second base under coach Willie Randolph, the former major league second baseman and Milwaukee is confident they will have a nice double play combination in Escobar and Weeks. Willie would have a very good career as the longtime second baseman for his hometown New York Yankees.  He would help the Yankees to win a pair of World Championships with the Bronx Bombers.  I passed by him in the clubhouse and gave him a nod.  It would have been nice if I had more time to exchange words with the fellow Brooklyn native.  However, I just decided to wait for another time.

I had the pleasure of interviewing the Brewers’ General Manager, Doug Melvin.  I remember Doug from his days with the Orioles’ organization.  He also worked for the Texas Rangers.  Doug made some moves this past off-season when he acquired pitchers Doug Davis and Randy Wolf and reliever LaTroy Hawkins.  These moves should bolster a Brewers’ pitching staff that needed improving in the worst way.  He is happy with the moves that he made and mentioned to me that Nashville should have some great starting pitching staff.  The interviews with Doug Melvin, Corey Hart and Yovani Gallardo, will be made available shortly.  

George King, ,the Sounds’ VP and General Manager, came to town today.   He as well as Doug Scopel, the Sounds’ Director of Media Relations and myself, went to a Mexican Restaurant for lunch not far from our hotel.  There was a buffet available for only $9.95.  A lot of great dishes were on hand for us to try and explore.  A lot of great restaurants can be found at the Westgate Outdoor Mall, which is near the hotel we stay with.  The University of Phoenix Stadium is nearby and Jobling.com arena is right at the Mall.

The continuous amount of drills is the schedule of the day for the Brewers’ minor league players.  Tim Dillard is expected back with the club and I notice he is using the sidearm approach to pitching.  Milwaukee is trying to get Tim to do something different and Tim opted to try the sidearm approach.  Dillard is working hard with Sounds’ pitching Coach Rich Gale and only time will tell to see how effective the new delivery will be.

Tomorrow, I hope to get to interview Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, two former Sounds who eventually made the majors with the Brewers.  Anyway, have a nice evening and please stay tuned. As always, the interviews can be found on www.nashvillesounds.com.

Well, today was another day of Spring Training at the Maryvale Baseball Complex in Arizona.  The parent Brewer club had the day off today, so I continued to interact with the Brewers’ minor league players.

I continued to interview a variety of the players, including Angel Salome, Mat Gamel, Brendan Katin, Chuck Lofgren and Lorenzo Cain. 

I couldn’t believe how well-chiseled that both Salome and Katin are.  I thought I was witnessing a body-building contest when I saw these two.  They appeared to be more than just baseball players with their physiques.  However, on the field, they displayed why they are talented prospects in the Brewers’ system.  Katin was able to belt a few out in batting practice.  Both have been in Nashville before and of course, like everyone else, they are seeking a spot for the parent club in the future.

Lofgren came over to the Brewers from the Cleveland Indians and is excited to look forward to a new opportunity with Milwaukee.  He feels fortunate to be working with Sounds’ pitching coach Rich Gale, who is helping Chuck perfect his delivery and to prepare him to be in the starting rotation for the Sounds when the season opens up in a couple of weeks.

Today, the Sounds played the White Sox’ Triple-A affiliate, who play in Charlotte, North Carolina and go by as the Charlotte Knights.  Former Yankee First Baseman, Christ Chambliss was there as the Knights’ skipper.  Although I never brought this up to Don Money, it was back on April 14, 1976 when the Brewers were hosting the Yankees at County Stadium in Milwaukee.  Money hit what was an apparent game-winning grand slam home run and the Brewers thought they had a win.  However, unbeknownst to almost every umpire on the field, Chris Chambliss called time out while the pitch was being delivered and the first base umpire accepted Chambliss’ request for time.  The first base umpire conferred with the umpires, who reversed the call and disallowed Money’s home run.  Don would settle for a sacrifice fly and a run batted in and the Brewers wound up losing the ballgame by two runs.  You can imagine the frustration felt by Money.

Angel Salome had a two-run single in the game and Brewers’ promising lefty pitching prospect, Zach Braddock, pitched the ninth inning and did allow a run in the inning.  However, except for a double, the three outs were easy flyballouts and Braddock showed a lot of promise as Rich Gale urged him to try to keep his pitches down and he did after giving up a one-out double in the 9th inning. 

Lorenzo Cain was also very gracious as he was happy to chat with me during my interview with him.  Last year, Cain missed most of the season when he tore an ACL in his knee as he dove after a flyball.  He mentioned to me how great he felt and is just happy to be back on the ballfield.  By the way, you can listen to these interviews at www.nashvillesounds.com. 

Last but not least, the day ended on a personal positive note for me when two of my childhood friends and I got together for the first time in many years.  We all lived on the same block in Brooklyn, New York City, where I grew up.  My two friends have lived out here in Arizona for many years.  We ate at a restaurant in the Westgate outer mall, which also features jobling.com arena, where the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League now play.  Right next door was the University of Phoenix Stadium, where the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals play.  Glendale appears to be growing like weeds.

Tomorrow, I look forward to visiting the major league club and hope to speak with the likes of former Sounds’ players Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun.  That should be fun

Tomorrow, I will be on the radio for three interviews.  You can tune in to hear a report at 9:30AM Central Time on WJJM, 94.3FM with Jeff Haslett, 104.5 The Zone at 4:05PM Central Time with George Plaster and Willy Daumic and 105.9 The Rock with Joe Elvis at 5PM Central Time.

I hope you all had a nice day and as always, thank you so much for reading.

– Stu Paul 

After a great night’s sleep in my hotel yesterday, I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with my first day with the Brewers’ organization.  I was looking forward to heading to the Brewers’ Spring Training complex as Sounds’ Media Relations and Baseball Operations Director,  Doug Scopel and Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Brad Tammen and myself boarded into our rental car to head off to Maryvale.

There was plenty of traffic and activity as we entered the offices of the Brewers’ minor league camp.  I was introduced to our manager, former Phillie and Brewer infielder, Don Money along with former Royals’ pitcher and new pitching coach, Rich Gale and hitting coach, Sandy Guerrero.  There was plenty of banter of kidding when I chatted with these guys for the first time.  It was a get-to-know-you process and by chatting with these gentlemen, you can tell right away how much they really know the game of baseball. Not to mention they played it very well, too.

Money, Gale, and Guerrero were gracious enough to let me interview them for our website, www.nashvillesounds.com as we discussed about the prospects of the upcoming season.  There were still quite a few questions that needed to be answered.  Who will stay in big league camp?  Who will get demoted and assigned to minor league camp?  Who will get traded?  Who will get released?  These are the questions that baseball executives never like to easily address, since they know their decisions could very well determine the fate of the ballclub.  There are decisions that must be weighed heavily as to see who can provide any impact on the ballcub and what immediate needs must be addressed.

Players who are still on the “borderline” scheme of things know they must continue to make a positive impression if they want to represent the Milwaukee Brewers when opening day arrives in a couple of weeks or start the season in the minors.

Doug Scopel was extremely helpful on my first day at spring training.  He knew a lot of the players, especially the ones who were in Nashville last year.  Immediately, I felt at-ease with everyone I met.  All of the players whom I spoke to, were very congenial.  Players try to stay loose every day since the pressures of the game never let up.  Not only does it go for who gets the major league jobs or not, but how an athlete can deal with the day-to-day grind of a baseball season and trying to get results and help win as many ballgames as possible.

I didn’t get to interview the players yet as I was just about feeling everyone out.  I met Angel Salome, a very exuberant and friendly player.  It helped to meet someone who is from my hometown of New York City and pitcher Chris Cody is from Brewster, New York and that’s north of New York City.  It was nice to meet a couple of players who had something in common with yours truly.

Doug, Brad, and myself eventually went to lunch.  I kept hearing how popular In-And-Out Burger is on the West Coast, after seeing one in Las Vegas.  Like Doug, I ordered a Double-Meat Burger combo.  The burger reminded me of the “Big Mac” from McDonalds and it was delicious.  We had to navigate around some construction sites to get to the establishment.  We took I-10 to get to the burger joint.  Oh, a warning when you drive down I-10 in Phoenix.  You better not hope that a picture flash appears in front of you as you drive past it.  There are photo-enforced cameras that capture those drivers who do speed.  We saw a few flashes of cars driving along I-10.

In the afternoon, I went over to Goodyear Stadium to see the parent club, the Brewers play the Cleveland Indians.  Milwaukee wasted no time when they got to Indians’ lefty Jeremy Sowers for four runs in the first inning.  The Brewers tacked on five more runs in the second inning.  I was fortunate enough to stop by the Brewers’ broadcast booth and met their Number 2 radio broadcaster and fellow Syracuse University alum, Cory Provus.  Provus is one of the most promising young announcers in major league baseball, having spent time as the Cubs’ pre and post game host who did a little play-by-play for them.  In fact, I got to communicate with Cory before hand when he congratulated me on being hired by the Sounds.  We hit it off right away! I find him to also be one of the warmest, friendliest and classiest people on the planet.  Brewers’ TV analyst and former catcher, Bill Schroeder, provided the color.  He and Cory and the engineer could not have been more gracious and accomodating when I showed up in the booth.  Cory was kind enough to acknowledge me as the new voice of the Sounds and wishing me well.  I left in the 8th inning when the Brewers still leading big.  A crowd of 3,533 was on hand for the game in Goodyear, Arizona, which is the spring training home of the Indians and the Cincinnati Reds.  Well, as I finish typing this, I couldn’t help but feel like I was at home and a big part of things already.

Tomorrow, I will get a chance to chat with the players more and hope to get interviews.  You can listen to my interviews with Don Money, Rich Gale and Sandy Guerrero when you log on to www.nashvillesounds.com.  Thank you again for tuning in.  Until tomorrow, a good night!

–Stu Paul

For the first time ever, I will be going to Spring Training-Live! Of course, I won’t be swinging a bat or throwing a ball or running a base.  I will be flying to Phoenix on Monday night to spend a week, checking out the Brewers and their top prospects at Maryvale Spring Training Complex.

It will be exciting and exhilarating as I will acquaint myself to the Brewers’ organization and to meet Don Money and the near future Nashville Sounds this week.  It will be great to learn more about the players, what they can do, what they need to work on and how they can contribute to the table as far as the Sounds and the Brewers go.

Cut down days have started and will continue.  It will almost be like watching Donald Trump eliminate candidates one by one on “The Apprentice”.  It won’t be an easy task for Doug Melvin and Gord Ash as they must determine who will be the best 25 players to represent the Milwaukee Brewers.  Any player that doesn’t quite make the cut will most likely be sent to Triple-A Nashville. 

Not to narrow down one position, but the Brewers certainly have encountered a pleasant problem with the catching situation. Veteran Greg Zaun is the Brewers’ new starting catcher, having replaced Jason Kendall.  Kendall moved on to the Kansas City Royals.  There is still competition for the backup job to Zaun.  One of the players to most likely look out for in Nashville is Angel Salome, who shows a lot of promise and spent some time with Nashville.  Jonathan Lucroy is another great catching prospect, who had a great year offensively at Double-A Huntsville in 2009.  Lucroy is still hoping to improve on the defensive side.  It will be an interesting week.

As for the rest of the positions?  That is something for me to find out in Phoenix this week.  I look forward to the balmy desert air and the beautiful mountains, including Camelback.  I’ve been to Phoenix before and I look its vast valley and its marvelous scenery and real estate.  I can see why people like to retire there.

I will be looking forward to witness the daily chores of Spring Training with players conditioning themselves and getting themselves back into “game shape”.  Spring Training is certainly a tedious process in terms of getting ready, but going through the calisthenics, the drills and all of the other aspects of the game are extremely important.  It’s an audition for rookies and minor league prospects who are fighting for a job.  For the rest of the established major leagueers, it’s getting accustomed to another long grind of a 162-game schedule and hopefully the players.

The Brewers helped themselves when they acquired pitchers Doug Davis and Randy Wolf.  LaTroy Hawkins is a veteran relief pitcher, having spent time with the Twins, Cubs and the Yankees.  He will certainly be a great bridge between the starters and Trevor Hoffman, who at 42, is still looking to squeeze out another year of competition.  Hoffman has been a great closer over the years and he is bound to be inducted into the Hall of Fame one of these days.  How long will he continue to pitch?  That remains to be seen.  I wish him and the rest of the Brewers the best.  That’s why you always have Spring Training and that’s why you always have Minor League Baseball.  You want to look for answers and to fulfill future roles in the event that Hoffman decides when to hang them up.

Having a minor league system is the analogy of having a bank account.  You always want to make sure you have the resources in case you need to make changes/additions.  The same analogy of maintaining a car applies when you know one part may get old and you must replace it with a new part.  The same situation applies when it comes to players.

Please check in on my daily reports on Sping Training.  I look forward to a fun, yet busy week.  Thanks for reading!  It will be nice to get to introduce myself to the Brewers as they have a solid organization!

Well, folks, this is my first blog as the new radio voice of the Nashville Sounds and I am delighted to be here in the Music City and to make my move up the ladder after a marvelous decade of covering a variety of sports in San Antonio, Texas, including the play-by-play assignment as one of the radio voices of the San Antonio Missions, the AA affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

As a young man growing up in New York City, I have been fortunate to listen to many of the great voices of sport, especially in baseball.  My father, Uncles, Aunts and other old relatives listened to the likes of Mel Allen, Russ Hodges, Red Barber and Ernie Harwell.  There was Marty Glickman, who broadcast the New York Football Giants and the New York Knicks, Win Elliott doing the Rangers and Les Keiter doing re-creations of the Dodgers and Giants after they moved out to the West Coast in the late 50s.

For yours truly, it was Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner for the Mets, Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Jerry Coleman and Bill White for the Yankees, my friend, the late great Merle Harmon who did the New York Jets Football games (albeit he broadcast over sports locally and nationally elsewhere) and my fellow Brooklyn Native and Abraham Lincoln High School Alumnus, Marv Albert.  During my youth, Marv was the radio voice of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.  For a time, he also broadcast for the New York Football Giants.  Marv had moved on to bigger things with NBC, TNT and current does the New Jersey Nets on Television and NFL Football on Westwood One.

I also enjoyed the dulcet tones of Bob Wolff, who was the Knicks and Rangers’ TV play-by-play voice in the 60s and 70s.  Bob would just stick with the Knicks after the 1969-70 season (their first championship year) and Jim Gordon would eventually wind up being the TV voice of the Hockey Rangers and the radio voice of the Football Giants when Marty Glickman moved to the Jets in 1973.

As a youngster growing up in New York City, these great men were my “friends on the radio and the tube”.  I relied on these broadcasters to keep me abreast on what is happening with the sports teams.  This inspired me to want to become a broadcaster and I am glad that I have been able to follow my dream and be on the same path as these great announcers before me.

I saw Championships in New York City in the late 60s and early 70s and again in the late 70s.  I was energized by the great Sam Rosen’s call of “This one will last a lifetime”, meaning the New York Rangers ending a 54 year drought with their 1994 Stanley Cup Championship on June 14, 1994.  Sam had replaced Jim Gordon as the Rangers’ TV Voice in the late 80s and has been at it since.  He also has done play-by-play for NFL Football on Fox Television.

I have been fortunate enough to broadcast in places like Eugene, Oregon, Salem, VA, Hagerstown, MD., Jacksonville, Florida, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Davenport, Iowa and San Antonio, Texas and I was thrilled to see 3 Texas League Championships during my tenure in San Antonio and two Southland Conference Championships with the UT-San Antonio Women’s Basketball team capturing the honor in 2008 and 2009.

Now as I begin my quest as the Sounds’ radio voice, I wish the same for the ballclub and I know they are in good hands with Don Money leading the way.  Money had a long career with the Philadelphia Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers and what lies ahead for the club, remains to be seen.  Cutdown day to trim the rosters is coming up and I will be heading to Spring Training next Monday night and I will have daily blogs on my experiences at Brewers’ camp in Phoenix, Arizona.  Please feel free to follow me next week and all season long as I capture the excitement and great moments as I continue on as a Scribe for the Sounds on this blog!  Please feel free to address any comments/suggestions you may have.

I look forward to meet the Sounds fans and to continue to make friends here in Nashville.

As for those great announcers that I mentioned, I hope that i can leave an indelible mark in the broadcasting field for years to come.  Still, I am here for you, the fan.  To inform, entertain, report and to share my passion of this great game of baseball with you fans. 

Thank you for reading! I will speak out again real soon!

–Stu Paul