CHICAGO -- Go old school or stay in the now? That's the choice facing Brewers fans when they pass through the turnstiles at Miller Park on Friday.

It's part giveaway, part focus group. Every fan in attendance will choose a free T-shirt for Friday's Brewers-Pirates game; one is navy blue and features the team's current script "M" logo accented with barley, and the other is bright yellow and features the old "ball and glove" logo that adorned Brewers caps from 1978-1993.

"It is an informal focus group," said Rick Schlesinger, the Brewers' executive vice president of business operations. "We certainly are interested in our fans' preferences regarding logos, and Battle of the T-Shirt Night is just one of several ways we are polling our fans. We have not made any decisions on logos at this point."

During Spring Training, new Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said that the he was reviewing the team's overall branding and marketing, including the uniforms. The Brewers have a number of options, from a complete change to special jerseys for batting practice or selected home games, or they may simply stick with the current look.

The old logo, designed by a University of Eau Claire art student named Tom Meindel, features a lower-case "m" and "b" that combine to form a baseball glove and has gained prominence recently with the explosion of the vintage uniform business. In recent seasons, the Brewers have increasingly used the "old school" logo in promotional giveaways.

"I miss the old logo," said Andy Tarnoff, a Milwaukee native and co-owner and publisher of OnMilwaukee.com, a website that polled fans on their preference and found near-unanimous support for the old-school look. "I think the Brewers need to embrace the things that fans love about the team. One of those things is that logo."

Guys in the clubhouse have opinions on the issue, too. Several players, including ace Ben Sheets, said they prefer the current logo.

"Let's do something with this one," Sheets said.

Others, like bullpen coach Bill Castro, would like to see the team go retro. Castro was a Brewers reliever from 1974-1980, and was in uniform when the team switched from the simple gold "M" to Meindel's design for the 1978 season. The Brewers won 93 games that season, shattering the previous best of 76 wins, and finished above .500 for the first time.

"Guys had to figure out what it was," said Castro. "I thought it was a '6' at first, then I figured out it was a 'b.' Pretty cool."

The T-shirt giveaway is sponsored by SportsRadio 1250 and Piggly Wiggly and, according to assistant vice president of ticket sales Jim Bathey, plenty of seats remain. Right-hander Tomo Ohka is scheduled to start for the Brewers against Pirates lefty Mark Redman.

Just get it done: The close confines at Wrigley Field and a 1:20 p.m. CT first pitch prevented the Brewers from doing much early work on Thursday. Had there been more time, manager Ned Yost might have ordered some bunting practice.

Sheets and J.J. Hardy failed to execute sacrifice bunts in Wednesday's 3-2 loss to the Cubs, and Trent Durrington failed to advance a pair of runners in a botched bunt in Tuesday's 2-0 loss. That's despite a lot of practice; pitchers practice bunts every day and position players work on bunting with a pitching machine once a homestand.

"I think baseball has gotten away from bunting the last couple of years, and these kids, throughout the Minor League system, they don't work on it like we used to when we played," Yost said. "It's not as big a part of the game as it was before. The game has evolved a little bit, and guys are afraid to give up an out just to move the runner over."

But that's no excuse, Yost said, especially for a team like the Brewers. Going into Thursday's series finale, 64 percent of Brewers games (49 of 77) were decided by two or fewer runs. Every tally is crucial.

"It irks me," he said. "Fundamental baseball is winning baseball. You have to be able to play sound, fundamental baseball to consistently win baseball games. We haven't gotten over the hump, and that's why. We don't get runners over, we don't get runners in from third base. The little things are big things. We always tell guys, 'Don't let little things turn into big things.' Now, something as simple as a bunt has turned into something big for us."

According to Yost, it's as simple as: "You're given a job, you're asked to do your job. Go out and do your job."

Cubs killer: Going into Thursday's game, Brewers reliever Ricky Bottalico had not allowed a run to the Cubs since Sept. 20, 1999, when he pitched for the Cardinals. That's a span of 14 games and 15 1/3 innings, including nine games and 9 1/3 innings this season. Cubs hitters were batting .133 (4-for-30) against him.

"I don't know," Yost said when asked for a reason. "He just pitches good against them."