The View From Wisconsin

From the morning rag, it appears that one Mark Attanasio, he recently of Global Crossings and of Southern California, has agreed to purchase the Milwaukee Brewers.

Well, here's five suggestions on how he can get off on the right foot with fans:

1. SPEND MONEY ON PLAYERS. Heaven knows the Brewers are in need of quality major league players, not 4-A level players who are just hanging in there, trying to avoid being sent to the Expos. By the way, this means keeping our own players, like Geoff Jenkins. Lock him up and give him the ego strokes to stay a Brewer for the rest of his career. If it means you have to ego-stroke him and tell him that the number 5 will be his forever, do it.
2. KEEP NED YOST AND DOUG MELVIN. They have shown that they know what they're doing, and Ned is really that link to our team's past that we need. I'm sure that when you were talking to the owner of the Rangers, Tom Hicks, he told you that Doug was a bright man who really knew his talent. Give these guys some money that they can play with, and watch your investment grow.
3. BRING OUR HEROES HOME. There are these two guys, one in Arizona and one in Minnesota. They're both going to be looking for work soon. Do everything you can to get them to be something in your new front office, or in the clubhouse. Because the fans here will think you're the greatest if you can get those two guys who've got their names and uniform numbers up on the roof rails back in Brewer uniforms - even if it's just as a coach or assistant to the GM.
4. CUT PRICES AT THE BALLPARK. Prices for Brewers games are pretty reasonable, as it goes. But all those seats up in the Terrace are going unsold and unused. Here's a plan: Knock the price of Terrace Boxes down to $10 a game, and the reserved seats down to $8. Make the Bernie's Terrace seats (right behind his Dugout in LF) $2.50 instead of $5. Add a season ticket plan for the Family Section of the Loge Bleachers in Left. Keep the "Beer Pen" idea for the RF loge bleachers - make it an all-weekend thing. And speaking of beer, talk to your friends over at Miller and see if we can cut the price of beer at the game. That includes the vendors - who you might want to drop the prices of their bottles by a half-dollar, to encourage tipping. And, the most important thing you could do, Mr. Attanasio:
5. BRING BACK THE BALL-IN-GLOVE LOGO. You don't have to trash the Brewers script, or completely get rid of the M script. Save it for the warmups or the jackets. But put that "mb" back on the caps where it belongs. Fans relate to that logo; it symbolizes to them a winning team. Using the Navy and Wheat colors would update the logo while making a mint for you in the Fan Zone.

There are other things, sure, that he can do. A big one would involve bringing Harley-Davidson back as a sponsor. Another will be doing some sprucing up of Miller Park - though I really don't think that bringing back Bernie's Barrell and Mug is such a great idea. But the biggest thing he can do is put some money into this club and get it back to where we're actually thinking about playing in October, instead of thinking about the Packers' next opponent.