Macha makes the call

Ken Macha has never been in a situation like right-hander Yovani Gallardo and a clubhouse attendant found themselves in when they were robbed for cash and jewelry at gunpoint early Friday morning.
But the Milwaukee Brewers manager has found himself dialing the number Major League Baseball gives its players and coaches before each season in case of football jerseys an emergency or the threat of one. The number is to be called whenever they find themselves in trouble or a jam, whether the police have already been called or not.
Before his time in Milwaukee, Macha was getting random phone calls during the middle of the night. He called the number on the card from MLB and the calls stopped almost immediately, although he was unsure of what MLB did or why the calls stopped.
"The response was instantaneous," Macha said. "MLB security is right on top of it."
Before each season players are briefed on what to do if a crime is committed against them or if they find themselves in trouble with the law.
"MLB security comes in and talks to them about stuff (during spring training)," Macha said. "I mentioned to (Gallardo) he probably should have called MLB security right away. They give you a card and you're supposed to keep it in your wallet, but I imagine other things were going through his mind at the time."
Maturation process: Catcher Jonathan Lucroy's progress as he nears the end of his first major-league season has impressed Macha, a former catcher.
"For a guy straight out of Double-A," Macha said, "you have to be pleased with what you see."
As Lucroy has improved with his game calling and has been OK with the bat, Macha said the biggest challenge is one that comes with experience.
"When you're handling (pitchers) that are used to doing it a certain way, and you're starting to grow into the position and understand hitters and how to get them out at the major-league level," Macha said, "that's a long process - to be able to go out to the mound and tell a veteran pitcher that's been around for a bunch of best nfl jerseys years, 'Hey, your slider's not breaking so " well. Maybe we ought to go to something else here.'
Center-field carousal: With Lorenzo Cain, Chris Dickerson and Carlos Gomez all healthy and wanting to play, Macha has the unenviable job of trying to keep them happy with only one open position to do so.
All three have proven they can play center field, but playing time could come down to righty-lefty matchups. Left-handed hitting Dickerson started in center against Pittsburgh right-hander James McDonald on Friday night. With two left-handers coming up, Cain and Gomez are likely to find their names in the lineup.
"We've got a couple lefties the next two days and it'll be all right for Cain to watch a game, too," Macha said. "We'll get Gomez back in there, but he's going to have to have a little patience. He's been out here working and he'll get an opportunity to perform."
Giving to UW: A great week for Commissioner Bud Selig ended with a tremendous day for the University of Wisconsin. Selig, a graduate of UW, teamed with Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, other owners and Hall of Famer Hank Aaron to endow two scholarships and a chair for the history department.
A history and political science major at UW, Selig and wife Sue endowed the Allan H. Selig Chair in History, supporting a new faculty position that will focus on the relationship between sports and society from 1900 to the present. That scholar has yet to be chosen.
"This is something I've wanted to do for a long time," said Selig, who had a statue unveiled outside of Miller Park on Tuesday. "This means a great deal to me."
Attanasio joined with Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff, a former UW roommate of Selig's, and Boston Red Sox co-owner Tom Werner to establish a "Great People Scholarship" in honor of the Seligs. The first recipient of that scholarship is Maha Baalbaki of Milwaukee, a junior majoring in sociology.
"We hope after tonight she's a Brewers fan," said Attanasio. "If not, we'll have to make her one."
Aaron's Chasing the Dream Foundation endowed a "4 for 4" scholarship designated to help students with financial need from under-represented groups. The first recipient is discount nfl jerseys Marisa Aronson, a student from Milwaukee entering her freshman year at UW.
UW Chancellor Biddy Martin was on hand at the Miller Park news conference to accept the gifts and agreed it was a great day for the university.
"I can't say enough about the generosity they've extended," she said.