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All-Star notebook Molitor sees managing in his future; Sexson joins DerbyPosted: Sunday July 07, 2002 6:57 PM
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Paul Molitor teased Brew City's baseball fans Sunday when he donned a Brewers cap and actually managed in Milwaukee. "If only for a day," Molitor said with a grin before guiding the U.S. team in the All-Star Futures Game at Miller Park. Molitor spent the first 12 seasons of his spectacular career in Milwaukee, helping the Brewers to the 1982 World Series and captivating the nation with a 39-game hitting streak in 1987. He's taking the summer off after serving as a coach for the Minnesota Twins for two years. He took his name out of the running for the manager's job in Minnesota last winter, and in April he declined an invitation from Brewers owner Wendy Selig-Prieb to interview for the job after Davey Lopes was fired. "I have a strong desire to get back into the game on the field," Molitor said. "I've really enjoyed taking this year off. Having a year to step back and take a little time off has been kind of rejuvenating." Molitor knows he can't keep declining offers. "I've turned down some opportunities along the way, and you know that the risk is at sometime people are going to quit asking," Molitor said. "But I love the game, I still care about the game. I think I still have something to offer to the game. But I'm just being kind of patient." Although Molitor has turned down opportunities in all three cities he played -- Milwaukee, Toronto and Minneapolis -- he said if he ever did manage, he'd prefer to do so in a city that's not new to him. 'If I ever decide to manage, naturally I think some of the more appealing situations would be places that you're familiar with. And Milwaukee being my longest-tenured ballpark as a player, there will always be a connection there," he said. "To be honest, I'm not going to try to say because I'm sitting here in Milwaukee that that's a likely thing. But I will always be open to hearing about the Brewers' situation." Jerry Royster replaced Lopes as the Brewers manager but he could be out this winter, especially if somebody of Molitor's caliber and drawing power becomes available. Brewers general manager Dean Taylor said the managerial job won't be addressed until the offseason. Aside from occasional trips to the Metrodome, Molitor said he's spending his summer on lakes, links and leisure, "basic things I've missed out on for 25 years." "It's nice not to have to go in the Dome for eight, nine hours a day," he said. Molitor left Milwaukee as a free agent after the 1992 season when the Brewers drew a line in the sand to show that smaller market teams couldn't compete financially with the big boys. While Molitor won a World Series ring in Toronto the next season, the Brewers began a decade-long spiral in which they haven't had a winning record. In 1996, Molitor spurned a chance to return to Brew City and instead finished his career in his hometown of Minneapolis. But the Brewers retired his No. 4 jersey in 1999 and put him in their Walk of Fame last year. "There was a lot of healing over time and a lot of it had to do with the jersey retirement," Molitor said. "I thought that kind of brought things into closure."
Sexson's showMilwaukee Brewers first baseman Richie Sexson has accepted an invitation to participate in the All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday. Sexson, whose 33 homers are the most at Miller Park since the stadium opened last year, replaces Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who dropped out of the contest because of a sore wrist. Green ranks third in the NL with 26 homers, Sexson is ninth with 19. "He deserves to be here, there's no doubt about that even though he's been in a little bit of a home run lull the last two weeks," Brewers general manager Dean Taylor said. Sexson, a notorious slow starter and fast finisher, has 62 RBIs so far. "He really has had the best first half of his young career and if he can match his second half numbers of last year, it'll end up being a monstrous season," Taylor said. Sexson had a torrid second half in 2001, including 16 homers and 47 RBIs in the club's last 42 games. Green will still participate in the All-Star Game on Tuesday night. He put on his very own home run show at Miller Park on May 23 when he tied a major league record with four home runs.
Out of this worldAnd you thought Randy Johnson threw hard. Major League Baseball and RadioShack are planning an out-of-this-world ceremonial first pitch at the World Series -- providing there is a fall classic, what with the sport's discord. NASA astronauts Jim Voss and Bob Cabana threw out the ceremonial first pitches at the Futures Game on Sunday. They'll take them to Houston and hand them over to NASA, which will send them up in a space shuttle this fall. The balls will be delivered to the International Space Station, where a U.S. astronaut will toss one of the balls to a Russian cosmonaut before Game 1 of the World Series. In weightlessness, the ball will look like it's a real floater, but with orbital velocity being 17,500 mph, "the ball will be going really fast," Voss said "It's quite a fastball," Cabana concurred. |
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