Former boxing champ Arturo Gatti found dead

And the vicious cycle continues...

Arturo Gatti was found dead in his hotel room while vacationing in Brazil. No, indication on what happened. Follow the link for more info.

Ex-champ found dead in Brazil (SI.com)

The State of the Brewers

Saving the best for last, we will now conclude our six part look into the NL Central by taking a look at the Milwaukee Brewers and where they stand going into the second half of 2009. Pardon me if this one is longer than the rest.

Milwaukee Brewers: The only roster moves the Crew have made so far have been the signing of Frank Catalanotto trading Tony Gwynn Jr. for Jody Gerut. Milwaukee sits at second place in the division and is above .500 with a legitimate chance to make the playoffs. Entering the season the biggest concerns were starting pitching depth, middle relief and third base. After the first half the only one of those trouble spot has been somewhat resolved. So let's take a look, position by position, player by player, at the first half of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Catcher: Jason Kendall has done exactly what you could have expected of him. After a slow start he has been hitting better, but his .234 average is still a sore spot. As long he keeps calling a good game and playing good defense, the Crew can live with the low batting average. Mike Rivera is a serviceable backup, but I don't really want to see more of him than we do.

First Base: Prince Fielder has had one of the best first half in recent Brewer history. If he can maintain something of he his first half pace we might finally see someone break the franchise record for RBI's (Cecil Cooper had 126 in 1983). The best numbers for Prince are the .312 batting average and .433 OBP.

Second Base: Ugh, what a mess. Rickie Weeks' injury has been very costly. Yes, Craig Counsell has been an excellent fill-in and Casey McGehee actually looks like a better defender at second than at third but you really can't say that the Brewers are a better team without Weeks and the strides he made this season.

Third Base: Also a problem spot. Entering the season with Bill Hall as the starter, he is now completely out of the picture as a starting Major Leaguer. Mat Gamel looks like the future at third, yet he doesn't receive consistent playing time. McGehee has been plugged in fairly consistently and performed but nothing drives fans crazy like a platoon.

Shortstop: Don't get me wrong, I like J.J. Hardy, but he's taken being a streaky hitter to another level. When he is on, he is dynamite, but when he is off, he is flat out terrible. Hardy is hitting .223 halfway through the season, that is unacceptable. If you want a bright side, he's a career .286 hitter after the break.

Left Field: The only complaint about the Left Fielder is that he doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. Other than that, Deputy Braun has had a fantastic first half. He's hitting .321 and is on pace to set career highs in runs, RBI's and walks. They may not keep pitching to Prince Fielder but Braun will still get pitches to hit, you can't walk them both.

Center Field: Yea, Mike Cameron is only hitting .252, but that's ok. Cam is only a career .250 hitter, and at this stage of his career you can't expect him to be astronomically better. His defense has been outstanding on he's walking more than he has in a long time. If you want more from Cameron, it would be to see him hitting better with runners in scoring postion, he's only hitting .164. He needs to better than that if he's batting sixth in the order.

Right Field: The only player more frustrating than Hardy would have to be right fielder Corey Hart. Coming up you always heard about how Hart may not hit for big power but he should always be keeping his average near .300. Well, this season he's doing neither. The worst part is that his history does not set him up well for the second half. After the All-Star break Hart is a .261 hitter, which would actually be an improvement this season.

Bench: We've already talk about what Casey McGehee and Craig Counsell have done. Also Mat Gamel has been a big piece off the bench, even though he should be a starter. Frank Catalanotto has been solid, giving good at-bats from the left side of the plate so no complaints there. The other two guys on the bench have been flat out terrible though. You can't find a worse aquisition than Jody Gerut, since joining the Brew Crew Gerut has gone 4 for 37. That's beyond bad, he's basically been a wasted roster space and you have to wonder how long Doug Melvin & Company are going to live with that. As for Bill Hall? Do I even need to go into detail about his phenomnal suckiness?

Starting Pitcher: Well, we know Yovani Gallardo has been good. He has definitely established himself as the ace of the pitching staff. Jeff Suppan has been himself, some good, some bad and we can't really expect any more than he's done. Braden Looper has had some blow up starts but overall there isn't much to complain about. Manny Parra's awful first was interrupted by a demotion to Triple-A. In his start on Thursday against the Cardinals he pitched asa well as we've seen him pitch in his career, if that's a sign of things to come than we could see big things out of Parra. As for Dave Bush? He had a poor first half. Once he comes off the DL he'll need to pitch much better than he has if he's going to help the team.

Relief Pitcher: Mitch Stetter, Todd Coffey and Trevor Hoffman have all done their jobs extraordinarily well. If they can keep doing what their doing, than the bullpen will be in good shape for the remainer of 2009. Mark DiFelice has been very good as well, but you have to dread seeing him face a left-handed hitter. Lefties are hitting .286 against him with a 1.44 WHIP. Also, what the hell is wrong with Carlos Villanueva? His command is off, and he has been completely ineffective as a setup man. It'll be important for him to not only find the strike zone, but to pitch like we know he can.

Outlook: The fact is, things aren't as bad as some people seem to think. But they aren't as good as some seem to think either. The Deputy and Fielder have been fantastic, but the other hitters just haven't been there. Hart and Hardy's first halves have been awful and completley unacceptable. If the Brewers want to contend, one of those two is going to have to step up their play, if they want to do more than make the post-season both players will have to produce.

Starting pitching is a problem, if Manny Parra steps into the role that Brewers people think he could they'll be in a much better place. Otherwise you're left with three pitchers who can't pick up the slack. Looper and Bush can be much better than they've shown, and they'll have to better for the Crew to either catch the Cardinals or win the Wild Card.

July has to be a good month, the Brewers have series againt Cincy, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Washington. All very beatable teams. August is also a friendly month, after a west coast swing the Crew will play the Pirates twice, the Astros twice and the Padres and the Nationals. If there is going to be any serious discussion of the postseason they will have be in first place or holding the Wild Card by Labor Day, because September will be tough.

Bill Hall Update

Bill Hall in for defense in extra innings. Bill Hall breaks a cardinal baseball rule and doesn't see if the ball is going to go foul down the line on a slow roller. Instead he tries to barehand it and drops the ball. Take out that massive chew and get your head in the game, A$$bag.

A Must Read!

This article is on the front page of MSNBC.com. Check it out!

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/31853150/ns/sports-baseball/

Dodgers vs. Brewers Series Preview

Its a great time for the LA Dodgers and Mannypalooza to roll into the Brew City. The Brewers lost two out of three earlier this week to the NL Central leading St. Louis and can't seem to score any runs. This is not the case for the Dodgers as Manny Ramirez has returned and the Dodgers look to beat up the Brewers pitching staff. Los Angeles sits atop the NL West with a 54-31 record and 6-4 in their last ten games. While the Brewers are the opposite with a 4-6 record the last ten games.

Game 1 - Friday 7:05PM
Chad Billingsley (9-4, 3.14 ERA) vs. Braden Looper (7-4, 4.78 ERA)

Game 2 - Saturday 6:05PM
Jeff Weaver (5-2, 3.32 ERA) vs. Mike Burns (1-2, 5.57 ERA)

Game 3 - Sunday 1:05PM
Clayton Kershaw (6-5, 3.27 ERA) vs. Yovani Gallardo (8-6, 2.95 ERA)

The Brewers are currently two games back from the Cardinals, and realistically should have only been one game back. But, after the amount of work the bullpen has worked in the last few weeks, they eventually choked a victory away from Parra yesterday. Props off to Parra yesterday for pitching very strong. Hopefully, Manny can stay confident and throw well in his next outing.

The Deputy and Crew need to start swinging the bats and scoring some runs. If the Brewers lack offense this weekend, they will be swept by this strong offensive machine that is the Dodgers. Not to mention, Billingsley and Kershaw starting in the series. Lets see if the Brewers can put up 4 or 5 per game in this series, otherwise the Crew will be looking for more answers going into the All-Star Break.

The State of the Central: St. Louis

We're nearing the end of the our week long look at the NL Central, today's team is the St. Louis Cardinals and their awful, awful mustaches. Seriously, who thinks that would be a good idea, what's wrong with shaved heads and mullets? I guess they had to "70's porn star" it up a bit.

St. Louis Cardinals: St. Louis can't really have any complaints about the first half of their season. After taking two of three against the Brewers this week the Cards held a two game lead in the Central and sat seven games above .500. They've made a move to get better, adding Mark DeRosa and as they've gotten healthy they've gotten very, very good. They do have some holes, but everything has gone right so far.

The Good: Starting pitching has been dynamite in the first half. Led by Chris Carpenter(left), Adam Wainwright and Joel Pineiro their rotation boasts the best top three pitchers in the division this season. As a team St. Louis has walked less batters than any team in the National League. Closer Ryan Franklin has had an amazing first half, converting 20 of 21 saves with a .83 ERA. Offensively, Albert Pujols is on pace to have his best season yet and Colby Rasmus seems to be living up to his top prospect status, hitting .280 with 11 home runs.

The Bad: The Redbirds have had a hard time finding any consistent production out of the third base spot. Joe Thurston (.224), Brian Barden (.233) and Khalil Greene (.200) just haven't done the job. Even DeRosa went hitless in his three games with the Cardinals before getting hurt. Really, that's the only complaint one could have about St. Louis' first half.

What to Expect: Trading for DeRosa was a good move, however it may backfire entirely if he indeed does have a torn sheath in his wrist, as Brewers fans know well that can be a season ender. Kyle Lohse will be returning from injury soon and that would make an already good rotation even more formidable. As far as filling in production at third base, don't expect too many moves to be made. DeRosa was the only addition this team will be making via the trade market. If they play like they have been lately St. Louis could run away with the division (especially if no one else gets their act together).

Outlook: The Brewers have the misfortune of playing St. Louis nine times in the second half, six of which are at Busch Stadium. Based on how the last couple series have gone between these two teams the Crew would be lucky to win three of those. But, if Milwaukee can get it's act together and make a legitimate playoff run they will have to take five if not six of these games.

The State of the Central: Chicago

I'll get this over with quick, I like writing about the Cubs about as much as I like being stabbed in the eye.

Chicago Cubs: At 41-41 you can say that they are underachieving, but are they really? I'm more inclined to say the Cubs just aren't as good as they were made out to be. Injuries have been a problem in the first half, with Aramis Ramirez missing a substantial amount of time, Reed Johnson missing time and now Ryan Dempster breaking his toe. Chicago has gotten some good looks out of rookie Jake Fox though, he just needs a place to plant his below average defense.

The Good: Derrek Lee(left) overcome his monumental early season struggles, in an attempt to prove his still has some game left. Ryan Theriot has hit seven home runs and kept his average at .291. Rookie pitcher Randy Wells has been dynamite so far, with an ERA of 2.48 in his eleven starts, he has been one of their most consistent starters.

The Bad: This may take a while. Let's start with GM Jim Hendry, who traded away Mark DeRosa and gave up Casey McGehee for nothing, both of those players would have been a big boost when Ramirez was hurt and could have helped an underperforming bench. He also signed Milton Bradley(right) to a multi-year deal, which looks to be the worst free agent signing of the offseason. Rich Harden has been terrible, with and ERA over five and giving up 15 home runs in 69 innings. Alfonso Soriano has struggled mightily and is starting to look old. As a team Chicago has the worst batting average in the Central, and has scored the least amount of runs. And in the NL Central, there is only one team with a worse road record.

What to Expect: Aramis Ramirez will be returning to the lineup soon, that should give the Cubs a big boost. The injury to Ryan Dempster could be very damaging, if he does end up missing the next month the Cubs will be hard pressed to replace him. While Derrek Lee has had a nice run over the last month or so, don't expect that to last, he's not getting any younger. It doesn't seem like the Cubs will be active in the trade market this year, because they don't have the prospects and because their just aren't many players to be had.

Outlook: The Brewers will see the Cubs seven more times, all in September, including a four-game set at Wrigley Field. If a second consecutive postseason appearance is in the cards, Milwaukee must go 5-2 in those seven games.