A poll being conducted on FoxSports.com currently has 71 percent of respondents answering "yes" to the query, "Should the Brewers fire Ned Yost?"

Now, it should be noted that the poll was attached to an article by Fox Sports contributor Dayn Perry that stated flatly it was time for Yost to go. And, while Dayn what's-his-name isn't exactly a noted voice in the baseball world, it's always been my feeling that the author's viewpoint in matters such as this is worth at least 10 polling points, because people either act impulsively or vote like lemmings, depending on your outlook on human nature.

That said, there were 2,393 respondents as of Friday morning, which is a large enough sampling size to rule out an orchestrated campaign by the Webmaster of firenedyost.com (of course that's an actual site ... and I'm actually insulted that www.fireadammertz.com is an unregistered URL).

So, using my advanced mathematical skills, that puts Yost's approval rating at about 29 percent ... which, upon some quick review, is within the statistical margin of error of the current popularity rating of President George W. Bush according to every major polling outfit.

However you want to weigh it, that doesn't look good for Ned. The Brewers pulled out all the stops in the offseason in a push to get to the 3 million mark in tickets sold this season. Locking up budding star Ryan Braun isn't nearly enough to quiet dissent among the masses amid the Brewers' 22-25 start and generally uninspired play.

Alas, managing isn't a popularity contest -- with the notable exception of Grandstand Manager's Night, the brainchild of the late, great owner Bill Veeck, who let St. Louis Browns fans determine strategy by cheering for placards held up at key moments of a game in the early 1950s.

So, I leave you with this anecdote about the positively non-populist nature of baseball, culled from George Will's classic book, "Men at Work."

"Once when (umpire) Babe Pinelli called Babe Ruth out on strikes, Ruth made a populist argument. Ruth reasoned fallaciously (as populists do) from raw numbers to moral weight: 'There's 40,000 people here who know that last one was a ball, tomato head.' Pinelli replied with the measured stateliness of John Marshall: 'Maybe so, but mine is the only opinion that counts.'"

In the case of Yost, his fate will be decided in much less democratic fashion -- namely, by owner Mark Attanasio and general manager Doug Melvin. Fans' opinions notwithstanding.