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Milwaukee's best Rising Brewers show cyclical nature of game
Updated: Thursday May 10, 2001 11:46 AM
For Bud Selig, the Brewers' early success has to seem bittersweet. On one hand, the commissioner must be proud of his family's stewardship of the franchise he ran for decades. At the same time, Selig must cringe when he considers the ammunition the Brewers' example could provide the Players Association in upcoming labor negotiations. Remember, this is a club that suffered through eight straight losing seasons before moving into Miller Park this season. In that eight-year span Milwaukee was a combined 97 games under .500 and finished a combined 176 games out of first place, an average of 22 games back. Now the Brewers are back near the top of their division, showing once more the cyclical nature of the sport. The turnaround, second-year manager Davey Lopes explained, began last season, when the team went 32-29 after July 27. It continued through the offseason, with the signing of free-agent center fielder Jeffrey Hammonds and with the extensions granted to Jeromy Burnitz, left fielder Geoff Jenkins and first baseman Richie Sexson. "Those signings have given us continuity and stability within our organization," Lopes said. "There's a positive kind of vibe here now. There's a lot of energy." The biggest factor, by far, in terms of generating energy has been Miller Park. Average home attendance has doubled to nearly 32,000 since last season, and the Brewers opened with 12 wins in their first 17 home games after starting 6-10 at home last year. Thanks to the retractable roof, the team was not forced to play April games in temperatures more befitting an assault on Mount Everest. With the touch of a button, the roof closes and the home runs fly. "Miller Park has meant everything to this team," Burnitz said. "It gives us some energy, especially here early in the season. People didn't want to sit out there in the cold at County Stadium, and I don't blame them. "You know, everybody ragged County Stadium. It just wasn't a very nice place to play. There were a lot of memories there, but it wasn't a very nice place. Cold weather is not real conducive to baseball. It's a finesse game." Cyclical, too.
If they build it, he will stayNo player is more affected by the Marlins' flagging push for a new stadium than catcher Charles Johnson. Thanks to agent Scott Boras, Johnson is the only player in the sport with a stadium clause in his contract.If the Marlins fail to secure funding for a baseball-only home by season's end, Johnson can opt out of the five-year, $35 million deal he signed this winter. If the team announces plans to move out of state, Johnson can void his contract as well. The latest stadium plan was shot down last week in the Florida legislature, when the state senate adjourned for the year without debating the Marlins' bill. Owner John Henry says the team needs "a miracle" in the next 30 days to build a new stadium in time for Opening Day 2005, the purported cutoff date for such a project. Plus, Henry says he can't take mounting losses beyond 2004. Johnson, a four-time Gold Glove winner and a member of the 1997 World Series champions, is extremely popular in South Florida. Losing him for a second time could be a death blow to the Marlins in terms of public interest. "It's sad," left fielder Cliff Floyd said. "I'd feel let down, betrayed, if I were C.J. Not by the team, not by Mr. Henry. Things did look good when C.J. signed. Whatever choice he makes, whatever decision he comes to, we have to deal with it and understand that. Period. You can't blame C.J. for wanting to leave." Johnson, on pace for career bests of 47 home runs and 125 RBIs, says he has no idea what he'll do at season's end. "I haven't really thought about that whole process," Johnson said. "It's just a clause in my contract that my agent and I put in there. It's just one of those things you deal with at the end of the year. To deal with it now, it's almost too early. It's the second month of the season. ... When you've got two kids and a family, you've got to worry about what's happening in the present. That's all we're worried about: the present. And the present is, we're here and we're going to enjoy it." As best anyone can enjoy what looks to be an abortive homecoming.
Hope springs eternalSeparation has been hard to achieve in the NL standings over these first five weeks. While the Mariners have run away in the AL West and the Twins and Indians have trashed their competition in the AL Central, NL clubs remain bunched up, especially in the West. Only the Phillies and Cubs are more than three games over .500, and nobody expects those longtime doormats to cruise through the summer."There does not appear to be a superteam in our division," Marlins manager John Boles said of the NL East. Brewers right fielder Jeromy Burnitz gives a similar scouting report on the NL Central, where there are flaws aplenty as well. "There's no dominant team in our division," Burnitz told me. "The whole league seems like that this year. That's been a refreshing change. There's nobody you go, 'Oh, they look really good.' Our division is definitely up for grabs." All that clustering means it could take longer for clubs to bow out of the race and move high-salaried players to the usual suspects. Even the Padres, supposedly in rebuilding mode, are right in the thick of the NL West race. What will they do when Sterling Hitchcock comes back from elbow surgery? Keep him, perhaps. Mike Berardino covers baseball for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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