Milwaukee Brewers

Marc Newfield is the perfect Brewer: young, talented and not eligible for arbitration. The 24-year-old leftfielder is going to be an important player in Milwaukee for years to come, provided he makes it past July 31. That date—the last day to trade players without securing waivers—has been a dicey one for Newfield. On July 31, 1995, the Mariners shipped him and reliever Ron Villone to the Padres for pitcher Andy Benes, whom Seattle needed for its pennant push. Then last July 31, with San Diego in the National League West race, Newfield, Villone and pitcher Bryce Florie were swapped for Milwaukee slugger Greg Vaughn. "Being in the wrong place at the wrong time on two teams," says Newfield. "They were two teams that needed to win now, and they went out and got veterans. Being traded for guys like Benes and Vaughn is a compliment."

This year the Brewers are making their own push to win, and they figure that Newfield can help them do just that, even though he has only 614 big league at bats. He has crossed over from being a prospect to what Milwaukee general manager Sal Bando calls an untouchable. "Marc is the kind of guy we're all about," Bando says.

Newfield impressed the Brewers not only with his numbers—he hit .307 and drove in 31 runs in 49 games with Milwaukee—but also with how he handled himself in the late innings. He beat the Twins with a 12th-inning homer, crushing an outside pitch to the opposite field, and he foiled Indians closer Jose Mesa in the 11th with a two-out single that drove in a runner from third. "I knew exactly what he was going to do—try to bust me inside with a fastball," Newfield says of Mesa. "So I stepped in the bucket and pulled it. That was a good at bat."

Newfield must continue to work on driving those inside heaters if he is to develop into the 30-homer man that his size (6'4", 205 pounds) suggests he could be. He also is an average fielder who has difficulty going back on balls, frailties he discusses as disarmingly as another flaw—one that didn't wind up in an advance scout's report but on a police blotter.

On Sept. 27, as the Brewers were about to start their final series of the year, against the Tigers, Newfield, from Huntington Beach, Calif., was arrested at his suburban Detroit hotel after signing for a courier package that police reports said contained two ounces of marijuana. "A couple of friends from home and I were going to have a little so-called party," he says. "I'd been doing stupid things with my friends in the off-season when I was in the minors. I deeply regret it. But it made me smarter. I don't do that anymore."

Newfield, who pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of possession, spent two days doing community service near Detroit after Christmas. He shoveled snow for six hours on the first day. On the second, one of the officers recognized Newfield, so he wound up signing baseball cards and talking. If he stays smart at the plate and off the field, the Brewers are betting that everyone soon will know Newfield.

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