There are worse beers

DMZ · May 9, 2006 at 12:20 am · Filed Under General baseball 

Reader Chris sent us a heads-up on this. Go to this page for Northern League transactions. Scroll down to 5/1:

Assigned the contract of RHP Nigel Thatch (Rookie) to Fullerton of the Golden Baseball League in exchange for 1 pallet (60 cases) of Budweiser beer.

I wonder which M’s players we could get a pallet of beer for.

Comments

39 Responses to “There are worse beers”

  1. NBarnes on May 9th, 2006 12:41 am

    That’s cold. Even if I were a lousy semi-pro pitcher, I’d want to be traded for at least real beer. Being traded for Budweiser… man, I’d never live that down.

  2. D. James Corcoran on May 9th, 2006 5:39 am

    I would love nothing more than to be traded straight up for Budweiser-The Official Beer of The Corcoran Clan

  3. Churchill on May 9th, 2006 6:25 am

    Nigel Thatch is the actor “Leon” from the Budweiser commercials, so this is even funnier, or weirder, than it originally appeared.

  4. Adam S on May 9th, 2006 6:39 am

    http://tinyurl.com/z4zqo

    Pretty darn funny. More interesting (“interesting” == “depressing”) is the list of Mariners that we COULDN’T get a pallet of beer for right now, i.e., a team wouldn’t just assume the contract.

  5. pdb on May 9th, 2006 7:14 am

    Bud ain’t the worst. You know you’ve hit bottom when you’re traded for a pallet of Lucky Lager, and the GM of the team getting the Lucky gets all excited because he’ll finally know how to solve all the bottlecap puzzles.

  6. gwo on May 9th, 2006 7:29 am

    Sounds like a better deal than this one:

    “Two third division Norwegian soccer teams have agreed one of the oddest transfer deals ever. Vindbjart will sell striker Kenneth Kristensen to rivals Flekkerøy for his weight in fresh prawns.”

  7. pdb on May 9th, 2006 8:16 am

    At least they were fresh.

  8. robbbbbb on May 9th, 2006 8:20 am

    “There are worse beers”

    Like what? Bud Light? Budweiser is scraping the bottom of the barrel.

  9. BigB on May 9th, 2006 8:35 am

    Worse beers: Busch, Milwaukee’s Best, Natural Light, Keystone, Ginny Light, etc. Trust me, I know. I’m a college student.

  10. TorturedSoul on May 9th, 2006 8:38 am

    Don’t forget PBR, college boy.

  11. pdb on May 9th, 2006 8:49 am

    Lucky Lager, “Beer” beer, Keystone Light, PBR, Shaefer, Schmidt, Natural Light, and Miller High Life are all far worse than Budweiser.

    None of this makes Bud a “good” beer, just the best of the bad.

  12. Paul B on May 9th, 2006 8:54 am

    Things you will never see in a commercial #476:

    “Bud — the best of the bad”

  13. Brian Rust on May 9th, 2006 8:57 am

    With all the great microbrews in our corner of the country, we should be looking acquire players for our beer, not dump players for midwest swill. Hell, Auggie the Fourth ought to give us Pujols just for the RECIPE of a decent beer.

  14. plivengood on May 9th, 2006 9:02 am

    DMZ wrote:

    “There are worse beers”

    A highly dubious proposition.

    pdb wrote:

    “Bud ain’t the worst. You know you’ve hit bottom when you’re traded for a pallet of Lucky Lager . . .. Lucky Lager, “Beer” beer, Keystone Light, PBR, Shaefer, Schmidt, Natural Light, and Miller High Life are all far worse than Budweiser.”

    I have and would again drink any of those beers, with the possible exception of any light beer (which shouldn’t be compared to Bud, but to Bud Light) over Bud. At least Schmidt, Schaefer, PBR, Lucky Lager and “Beer” (generic) beer are priced according to the quality you get, and in the case of the latter two you get those interesting puzzle caps to entertain you when you’ve consumed other inebriants. In addition to not being very good even among the bad, one should not partake of Budweiser if only for its anti-competitive, semi-monopolistic business practices which make it difficult for truly good beers to grow a market. Boycott Bud!

  15. jtopps on May 9th, 2006 9:10 am

    All this talk is making me thirsty. Boy, could I go for a Genny now. Er, not.

  16. plivengood on May 9th, 2006 9:11 am

    As Churchill noted, this player is the actor who plays Leon in the commercials, which makes this thing smack more than slightly of a marketing/publicity stunt (though seven games and three starts is probably more than a publicity stunt):

    http://www.flyersbaseball.com/team_news/full_story.asp?ID=204

    “April 25, 2006

    SCHAUMBURG, IL- Nigel Thatch, the actor best known as ‘Leon’ from the highly successful Budweiser television commercial series, has been traded by the Schaumburg (IL) Flyers to the Fullerton (CA) Flyers of the independent Golden League. In recognition of the marketing partnership between the Schaumburg Flyers and Anheuser-Busch, Schaumburg will receive a pallet of Budweiser beer (60 Cases) in return for Thatch’s playing rights.

    Thatch put an accomplished acting career on hold last summer to sign with the Schaumburg Flyers and pursue a baseball dream in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago. He drew national publicity to Schaumburg by making the club and pitching in seven games, including three starts, over the course of the season. The right-hander posted an 0-3 won-loss record.

    ‘Nigel really gave us a unique presence in the sports marketplace last summer,’ said Flyers President-Managing Owner Rich Ehrenreich. ‘This opportunity puts him just a half hour from his home in the Los Angeles area. In the true spirit of “Leon Time”, we’ll have a cold one courtesy of Fullerton and thank Nigel for his time here.'”

  17. Mr. Egaas on May 9th, 2006 9:48 am

    Shame they didn’t score Budweiser Select. Tabbed with the slogan “Just good enough.” by my associates.

  18. dw on May 9th, 2006 9:50 am

    There was a soccer/association football team in Poland last year that transferred a player in exchange for sausage. Can’t find the article.

  19. Jim Thomsen on May 9th, 2006 9:52 am

    SEATTLE MARINERS — Sold out the next several seasons in exchange for the illusion of winning baseball in 2006 via veteran players with leadership skills.

    That, to me, is the weirdest trade of all.

  20. colm on May 9th, 2006 10:26 am

    Stop knocking Bud! It’s a palatable, very light tasting American lager. It has no real character. Even for an American lager there are others I like a better, but really it’s pleasant enough on a hot day.

    It’s way better than that Harp shite, which they make where I come from.

    And don’t even get me started on Tennants…

  21. daveblev on May 9th, 2006 10:44 am

    I’m pretty sure we can swap WFB for beer, but it would have to be one bottle of O’Douls, but since he is no longer “red hot” we’d be lucky to settle for a single beer nut.

  22. everett on May 9th, 2006 10:47 am

    I’m going to go with the others and say that compared to beers such as busch, keystone and natty, bud is actually drinkable (there’s a ringing endorsement if I’ve ever heard one).

  23. joser on May 9th, 2006 10:49 am

    With all the great microbrews in our corner of the country, we should be looking acquire players for our beer, not dump players for midwest swill. Hell, Auggie the Fourth ought to give us Pujols just for the RECIPE of a decent beer.

    A-B has stakes in Redhook and Widmer. They’re minority owners but given that they control the distribution of both brands they’re effectively running the show, and some of the dollars you might spend on your Winterhook or Widmer Hefeweizen are going into August IV’s corporate pocket. So they could give Seattle its own microbrews back in exchange for players (not that those players would be able to hit in Busch stadium either… or Coors field, for that matter).

  24. revbill on May 9th, 2006 10:57 am

    Lucky Lager and “Beer” (generic) beer are priced according to the quality you get, and in the case of the latter two you get those interesting puzzle caps to entertain you when you’ve consumed other inebriants

    But, alas, they haven’t made stubbies of Lucky for maybe five years, and generic “beer beer” is no more. The Full Sail brewery recently got permission from Miller to use the stubby bottle design for Session Lager, but they’re they only one using the 11 ounce bottles.

  25. plivengood on May 9th, 2006 11:16 am

    As joser implied, A-B has stakes in Redhook and Widmer — why do you think those tend to be your microbrew stadium choices? Because A-B dictates what must be poured with Bud if one wants to pour the U.S’s most popular beer. As someone who is involved in the management of a local microbrewery, I can tell you that is FACT from personal experience.

    But it’s also worse than that. Some of those beers mentioned by pdb as “worse” than Bud? Owned at least in part by Bud — including all the aforementioned Natural Light, and all Michelob products (in addition to companies like Widmer and Redhook). This kind of consolidation is not healthy for the brewing industry or good beer drinkers — it is only healthy for A-B’s bottom line and for promoting the sale of its #1 brand.

  26. plivengood on May 9th, 2006 11:17 am

    revbill — I guess my age is showing. I loved those stubbies (even though the beer wasn’t really any good).

  27. PositivePaul on May 9th, 2006 11:19 am

    Mmmm. Oly Stubbies!

    Damn You, SABMiller!

    I miss the whistle. And, in fact, I miss the beer. The stuff made in Milwuakee now (only available in cans) isn’t nearly the same. Different water, ya know!

  28. Gomez on May 9th, 2006 11:53 am

    I bet Willie Bloomquist and cash could get us a case of Pyramid Hefeweizen.

  29. Mat on May 9th, 2006 12:17 pm

    I bet Willie Bloomquist and cash could get us a case of Pyramid Hefeweizen.

    You mean by giving Bloomie some cash and telling him to run across the street? Willie Bloomquist–MLB’s best 25th man and official beer bitch of the Seattle Mariners.

  30. Gomez on May 9th, 2006 12:36 pm

    YES! GREAT idea, Mat. Bavasi, reassign Willie, plz.

  31. Brian Rust on May 9th, 2006 12:54 pm

    What?!?!? The stubby is no longer merely an icon of a bygone era, but someone’s “intellectual property”? What’s next, trademarking every simple slogan, like “12th Man?”

    Oh . . . . never mind.

  32. Deanna on May 9th, 2006 1:33 pm

    “Why don’t we trade Matt Lawton back to Pittsburgh for Craig Wilson and a pallet of Yuengling?”

  33. dw on May 9th, 2006 1:43 pm

    Heh. Most of the M’s right now have the value of 3.2 beer.

    Which, technically, under Oklahoma state law, is not intoxicating. Of course, if you slam a 12-pack and blow .08, you’re still going to get busted.

  34. Evan on May 9th, 2006 2:03 pm

    24 – How much Lucky would you have to drink to be inebriated? Like 20 cans?

    Though, all this talk of beer has me craving something…

    …maybe a Hoegaarden.

  35. plivengood on May 9th, 2006 3:54 pm

    Evan — As I was the one who was quoted discussing inebrients (se #14), let me say, uhh, that I wasn’t referring to the beer.

  36. Evan on May 9th, 2006 3:58 pm

    Other inebriants. Got it.

    Apparently I’ve had too much Hoegaarden.

  37. joser on May 9th, 2006 3:59 pm

    Mmmm Hoegaarden. Great summer beer. On tap across the street from my apt (no driving is a good thing). Though if you want to have fun with imports go to Prost! up in Greenwood and work your way through their Hacker-Pschorr taps. They have a couple TVs and the M’s game wil be showing if it is on. Of course you can go to Brouwer’s Cafe but the fratboy quotient can get rather high some nights (and they don’t show M’s games).

    But with that and all the great brewpubs around (the Jolly Roger and the Big Time are among the best for watching games over good food and great beer) I really don’t know why anyone would bother with fizzy yellow corporate water.

  38. revbill on May 9th, 2006 4:49 pm

    The best beer ever to grace the inside of a stubby bottle was Regal Select. On the label, it said “one of America’s two great beers.” It didn’t way what the other one was.

  39. Gomez on May 9th, 2006 11:20 pm

    Um, Regal Select Lite?

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