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Hammonds time New Brewer signs team's richest contract ever
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds signed the richest contract ever for a Milwaukee Brewer on Thursday. "I wanted to play in a city where I could become part of the community," the 29-year-old Hammonds said at a press conference Thursday at the downtown Pfister Hotel. "Milwaukee has a long history of baseball. I always enjoyed coming here as an opposing player," he said. "I also wanted to play for a team that wanted me for my talent. I wanted to play where I could help a team, rather than be a fill-in. Playing in Miller Park and for Davey Lopes also were big factors." Hammonds agreed last Friday to a three-year deal worth a reported $21.75 million and signed the contract at lunch Thursday. He was fourth in the National League with a .335 average last season for the Colorado Rockies. In eight seasons in the majors, he has averaged .282 with 88 homers and 341 RBIs. He played in Baltimore and Cincinnati before Colorado. The two biggest questions about Hammonds are his health and his ability to produce outside the thin air at Coors Field. He has never played in more than 123 games in any season, in part because of a variety of injuries. "I needed to learn what I had to do to make it through a full season," Hammonds said. "I play the game hard, and early in my career I always went all out because I was trying to make the team. "But there is a difference between playing hard and playing stupid. You learn when to go up against a wall, and when a play will make a difference in a game or not." Hammonds, who hit 24 home runs last season, said he didn't think his overall hitting was enhanced by playing in Coors Field. "If I had hit 40 home runs, then it would be a question, but otherwise I don't think it's an issue," he said. Lopes also said he didn't think Coors was a factor in Hammonds' success. "Jeffrey and I go back a long way," said Lopes, who will bat Hammonds somewhere third to sixth in the order and start him in center field. "I see his production last season as a guy getting to play every day for the first time in his career. I think Jeffrey is just now tapping into what he is capable of doing in the major leagues." The Brewers are moving next season to the retractable-roof Miller Park, constructed near the old County Stadium, which is being demolished.
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