When the Brewers traded Scott Podsednik to the Chicago White Sox last winter for Carlos Lee, observers wondered who Milwaukee General Manager Bob Melvin had in mind to fill Podsednik's dual roles in center and the leadoff spot.
Melvin and Brewers manager Ned Yost anointed understudy Brady Clark as the man – although, at the age of 32, Clark was three years older than Podsednik and had never been an everyday starter.
|
Quotable
"Say 1-2-3 . . . Dodgers."
STEVE GARVEY, while posing for pictures at the Renaissance Marriott in Detroit during the All-Star break . . . apparently oblivious to what team retired his number.
Numbers
.429 Ichiro Suzuki's batting average after the All-Star break last year (143-for-333). He was hitting .321 at the break in 2004, .311 this season.
11.7 Runners reaching base per nine innings against Cardinals starting pitchers, the lowest mark in the National League.
27 Game hitting streak for Johnny Damon. The Red Sox record is 34 straight games by Dom DiMaggio in 1949.
29-11 Oakland A's record since shortstop Bobby Crosby returned from the disabled list.
39 Percent of Preston Wilson's homers and RBI produced away from Coors Field since he joined the Rockies in 2003. Now he's in Washington, the league's toughest park to hit homers.
|
|
Clark, a USD product, has answered with a breakout season.
He ranks among the National League leaders in batting average (sixth, .320), runs scored (fourth, 62), hits (second, 118) and multihit games (second, 35) in addition to carrying a .385 on-base percentage.
Clark's previous career highs – a .280 average, 41 runs scored and 99 hits – came in 2004 when only 89 of his 138 appearances were made as a starter.
"It's been what I thought it would be," Clark said of his season. "It's another steppingstone in my career. There are many more things to accomplish. I just want to keep going in the right direction."
Clark is no overnight success.
He was signed out of USD in 1996 as an undrafted free agent – and released less than three months later due to a fractured hamate bone in his left hand. The Reds re-signed him the following February and he made his major league debut with the Reds in 2000.
Clark was traded to the Mets in 2002 and waived by New York at the end of that season. He was claimed by the Brewers, with whom he had batted .277 over two seasons as a backup.
"When I sat down and thought what Brady could do for us, I didn't really think he'd be near the top of all those categories," said Yost. "I just knew having Brady at the top of the order, that he would do things to help us win ballgames."
Yost is concerned about one Clark trait, however.
"As hard as Brady plays and as hard as he works, it creates a lot of wear and tear. Thus far, he hasn't missed a beat."
NEEDS MORE SEASONING: The tale of another National League Central center fielder was not so pleasant. The Cubs last week optioned 25-year-old Corey Patterson – hailed as the poster child of their rebuilt farm system – to Triple-A Iowa.
Patterson had been the Cubs' regular center fielder for much of the past three seasons and hit .266 last year with 24 homers and 72 RBI. But he was hitting .232 this season with a .270 on-base percentage.
Patterson said he "wasn't OK" with his demotion. "Based on my performance, I understood. But I don't think anyone is OK with being sent down. That's not the kind of attitude you want to have. All I know is that I'm a pretty quick learner and a great athlete, so it won't take too long (to get back to the major leagues)."
WORLD IS WATCHING: His first All-Star Game experience was not exactly notable for Pirates outfielder and former Padres prospect Jason Bay. Not only was he the only player who didn't hit a homer during the Home Run Derby, he was the lone National League position player not to appear in the game.
As the representative of Canada in the "international" Home Run Derby, Bay put up a zero that immediately followed the first-round, 24-homer record assault of Philadelphia's Bobby Abreu.
"As if I wasn't nervous enough before the thing started, I had to sit there and watch Abreu hit one ball after another over the fence," said Bay. "He's getting up to 15, 16, 20 and I'm thinking, 'Oh, man!' That was one tough act to follow."
Bay managed only one drive to the warning track in center.
ROGERS REDUX: It was American League manager Terry Francona who talked Kenny Rogers into meeting with the media before the All-Star Game.
Francona, who was the Texas Rangers bench coach before becoming the Red Sox manager, met with Rogers in Texas the week before the All-Star Game and emphasized that Rogers needed to address his assault on two television cameramen and pending 20-game suspension beforehand if he planned to play in the game.
"I have a lot of respect for Terry Francona," said Rogers. "When he said this is the best way to handle things, I had no problem with it."
Speaking of Rogers, if his 20-game suspension is upheld, he will miss only three starts. His appeal is scheduled for Thursday.
The Rangers have set up their rotation so that he is scheduled to pitch Wednesday. If he starts his suspension on the 21st, because of days off, the Rangers will lose him for only three starts rather than four.
ABANDON SHIP: Phillies closer Billy Wagner says he wants to be traded if Philadelphia drops out of the NL East/wild-card races and opt to dump talent.
"If the Phillies are out of it and I wasn't traded, I'd definitely be disappointed," said Wagner. "They didn't bring me in here to pitch for a team that's selling. It's unfathomable to think I wouldn't be traded if we don't have a chance for the playoffs."
Meantime, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel sees better days ahead. "Teams I have managed have always played better in the second half," said Manual. And he's right. Including the minor leagues, nine of 10 teams Manuel has managed played better in the second half of the season.
SPEAKING UP: The return of Bobby Crosby isn't the only reason the Oakland A's are streaking.
A week after Crosby returned, some of the A's were apparently too jovial on the team bus as it headed to the airport from RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., where Oakland had just been swept.
Normally soft-spoken Eric Chavez became irate and made a short but emotionally punctuated speech directed mainly toward some of the younger players on the bus. Chavez wanted everyone to know the first priority on the road was winning, not having fun.
"The bus was huge," said A's outfielder Bobby Kielty. "It kind of shocked us and brought us together. Hearing that from Chavvy, he's not real vocal. Then he took off with the bat, too. He's the driving force."
Bill Center: (619) 293-1851; bill.center@uniontrib.com
