[BirdWatcher]

A little late-season clubhouse drama hits the Brewers. Young outfielder Tom O'Donnell, known for his high work ethic and fiery spirit (Sparkplug) calls out Erik Shelton, with whom he came up in the Brewers farm system, for his lack of effort (Shelton is Unmotivated). It has created a tricky situation for management as O'Donnell, in spite of all of his efforts, has been a minus on the field for the Brewers whereas Shelton, although experiencing an offensive downturn this season, provides solid defense and versatility (1B and outfield) and is expected to continue to have a role on the team in 1968. O'Donnell may not be around next season with the emergence of better outfield options. Still, given Shelton's violent reaction, a message does need to be sent that this behavior will not be tolerated. (Three options for response were to release Shelton, to suspend him for 5 games, or to do nothing. I chose to suspend him for 5 games as releasing him wasn't an option at this point and it seemed doing nothing might be a bad idea.)

Interestingly, in spite of this minor kerfuffle, all indications are that the Brewer's clubhouse, even with the team having been eliminated from contention, is quite happy (Ecstatic). Captain Sam Rogers provides great leadership and it is generally a group of solid characters.