* I’m on the fence about the “fire pit” at the Twins’ new ballpark, but the Brewers coming up with the idea to use their parking lot for drive-in movies is brilliant. The initial movie selections are good (Anchorman and Jaws the first night, The Sandlot and Major League the second night) and I can only imagine the number of bratwursts that will be consumed by all the tailgating veterans.
* Speaking of the Brewers, they aren’t sure what to make of Manny Parra. He got off to a great start as a rookie last year, going 8-2 with a 3.65 ERA through mid-July, but since then the 26-year-old southpaw is 5-13 with a 5.97 ERA in 129.2 innings. “I’m trying to figure him out, a little bit,” manager Ken Macha said. Somewhere, Al Bethke is shaking his head.
* And speaking of movies, Brad Pitt has started pre-production work on the Moneyball film, which apparently involves wearing hats and boarding private jets.
* I was watching the Twins-Indians game last night when Asdrubal Cabrera went down in a heap following what appeared to be a fairly low-impact collision with Brendan Harris at second base. Despite how benign the play looked Cabrera writhed in pain for several minutes before being helped off the field with his left arm dangling at his side, and he’s been diagnosed with a separated shoulder.
* You’ll never believe this, but Milton Bradley is out of the lineup again with another “day-to-day” injury.