In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the MLB Home Run Derby was Monday night to mixed reviews. Cal Raleigh won the event and remains one of the top hitters in all of baseball. It was a family affair for the Big Dumper, with both his father pitching to him and his brother catching behind him. Over 20 years ago, the event was held at Miller Park in Milwaukee, and none other than Tom Oates was there (he has the newspaper column the next day with his byline to prove it). In addition to almost getting nailed with a fly ball during batting practice, Oates made some prophetic statements after the 2002 on the state of steroid usage at the time. Thankfully, that part of the sport has mostly cleared up. 

Tuesday night was the All Star Game (taking place after the recording of this podcast), and Brewers pitcher Jacob Mizerowski is continuing to make headlines with his addition to the team. The problem is that this time, most of the headlines are negative, with people agree that a pitcher with only five starts under his belt made it to the All Star Game. Oates understands the anger a little bit, after all some players try their entire career to be asked to join the game. But at the end of the day, the All Star Game is a TV show, not a game that will decide who’s going to the playoffs. If the fans want to see the Miz (guess what, they do), then why not have him in the game! 

Meanwhile, the rest of the team in Milwaukee is staying red hot, putting the most wins on the board before the All Star Break in their entire franchise history. Both Lucas and Oates admit, they’re a little surprised. Go back a handful of episodes on this very podcast, and you’ll find them wondering whether or not the team did enough in the offseason. They didn’t make any big, splashy moves, but that doesn’t seem to matter. They have one of the best pitching teams in all of baseball right now, and even if their hitting isn’t on fire it’s still clearly doing enough. Oates gives the kudos to the front office, for everything from team culture to player acquisition and development. They’ll be just one game behind the Cubs coming out of the All Star Break, and hopefully they make some splashy moves then. 

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.