a tale of two 'seasons'
The Brewers were seven games over .500 on July 1, but couldn't keep the
momentum going in the second half of the season and wound up with a third
straight last-place finish.
A month-by-month look back at 2004:
January
The new year brought good news for an old favorite, when Paul Molitor -- who
played 21 seasons for the Brewers, Blue Jays and Twins -- was elected to the
National Baseball Hall of Fame. "It's an overwhelming sight to see that group
of names collected on plaques in one room and to think that your plaque is
going to join that," said Molitor. "It's a little bit surreal." Ten days
later, Brewers officials announced that the team was for sale. Wendy
Selig-Prieb, chairman of the board of directors, and board member Michael
Grebe announced that the board had begun a process to sell the club, which
had been operated by the Selig family since 1970. Selig-Prieb promised that
the impending sale would not affect the club's day-to-day operations and
assured fans that the Brewers' "iron-clad" lease to play at Miller Park,
which opened in 2001, prevents new owners from moving the franchise. The
business of baseball went on. Within a two-day span, the Brewers signed
closer Dan Kolb and ace Ben Sheets to one-year contracts. Brewers fans showed
they were still interested in the club, despite its struggles, when 11,000 of
them packed a Milwaukee-area mall for "Brewers On Deck."
February
Police in the Dominican Republic issued a warrant for the Brewers' minor
league pitcher of the year. Left-hander Luis Martinez, who allegedly shot a
man three times, was never charged, but the Brewers waived him on Feb. 23.
Martinez remained in the Dominican Republic as Spring Training opened, and
Brewers fans got their first look at a new-look offense. The nine-player
Richie Sexson trade remade Milwaukee's offense and was by far the Brewers'
biggest move in a mostly quiet winter. "Is there a lot riding on it? I don't
know if I would say it like that," said general manager Doug Melvin. "There's
no doubt it will have an impact." One of the players acquired, Lyle Overbay,
boldly picked Sexson's No. 11.
March
In a deal that appeared in jeopardy just a few days earlier, outfielder Geoff
Jenkins agreed to a three-year contract extension with a club option for
2008. If he plays out the entire length of the contract, he would become the
11th player to spend at least a decade with the Brewers and the first since
pitcher Bill Wegman (1985-1995). He already has more than two years on the
team's next longest-tenured player, Sheets, who arrived in 2001. "It's
exciting. It's fun to put on that Brewers uniform, and I don't want to put on
anyone else's," said Jenkins, a first-round draft pick in 1995 who has spent
his entire career with the team. Two days later, infielder Keith Ginter
agreed to three-year deal. It was seen as a sign that the Brewers were trying
to lock up some of their young players. One of those young players, shortstop
prospect J.J. Hardy, got his first taste of big league Spring Training, but
his experience was cut short by a shoulder injury. Baseball America rated the
once-moribund Brewers organization No. 1 in its 2004 Talent Rankings, ahead
of the Dodgers, Angels, Braves and Twins. It was a quick ascension for the
Brewers, who were ranked last in both 2000 and 2001.
April
New Brewer Ben Grieve did not hit a home run all spring, and leadoff man
Scott Podsednik finished on an 0-for-20 slump, but the duo led the Brewers on
Opening Day. Each homered, and they combined for seven RBIs, leading the Crew
to an 8-6 victory over the Cardinals in front of 49,149 fans -- including
President George W. Bush -- at sold-out Busch Stadium. The news was more
somber the next day, when word came that George Bamberger, the longtime
Orioles pitching coach who managed the Brewers into an American League
contender in the late 1970s, had died at his Florida home after a three-year
battle with cancer. He was 80. April 10, 2004: Sheets' first career
10-strikeout game. Sheets, who battled back problems and illness last season
and won only one of his final 10 starts, followed what he called an
"embarrassing" Spring Training and a so-so start on Opening Day with the kind
of performance that warrants the label "ace." He struck out 10 Astros in six
scoreless innings of a 6-1 Brewers win, the first of nine double-digit
strikeout games. The Brewers could have used Sheets two days later in San
Francisco, when the Giants' Barry Bonds stood at the edge of home run
history. Brewers starter Matt Kinney served up Bonds' 660th career homer, a
homer that tied him for third with Willie Mays on the all-time list. The
Brewers were left to tip their caps. Ben Ford did not fare any better the
next day, when he allowed No. 661. In one of the better Brewers rookie debuts
ever, 22-year-old right-hander Chris Saenz jumped all the way from Double-A
to the big leagues. He pitched six shutout innings and outdueled Cardinals
veteran Woody Williams for a 3-1 Brewers win. Saenz, who had pitched only
three regular-season games in the minors above Class A, held the suddenly
struggling Cardinals offense to two hits and struck out seven in six-plus
innings. The biggest game of Chad Moeller's career came during the most
exciting two-day stretch of the Brewers' season. Moeller hit for the cycle in
his first four at-bats in a thriller against the Reds, then reached on a
ninth-inning error by Cincinnati third baseman Brandon Larson before
pinch-hitter Bill Hall delivered a two-out, two-run home run that powered a
9-8 Brewers win at Miller Park. "It was supposed to be. That's all I can
say," said Moeller, who finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Because his team
won, Moeller was able to properly celebrate a career night. He was the first
Brewer to hit for the cycle in Milwaukee (four had done it on the road). One
night later, Hall proved he could play small ball, too. The 24-year-old
infielder drove in the last four of 10 unanswered runs to cap the greatest
comeback in Brewers history. His suicide squeeze bunt in the 10th inning gave
Milwaukee a 10-9 win over the Reds.
May
Months of on-again, off-again discussions ended well in early May, when
Podsednik agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension through 2006.
Podsednik's numbers slipped from his fabulous rookie season, but he still
managed to lead the Majors in stolen bases. But there was bad news in the
minors. Hardy's balky left shoulder gave way, and he needed season-ending
surgery to repair a torn labrum. Sheets twirled the game of his life against
the Braves on a sunny Sunday at Miller Park, notching 18 strikeouts in a
complete-game three-hitter, leading the Brewers to a 4-1 win. He broke Moose
Haas' franchise strikeout record (14) and became the first Major Leaguer to
whiff at least 18 since Arizona's Randy Johnson fanned 20 over nine innings
of an 11-inning game on May 8, 2001. Sheets struck out the side in the eighth
and ninth innings to cap the fourth complete game of his career and help the
Brewers stay over .500 while avoiding a three-game sweep. Remarkably, Sheets
struck out eight of the final 11 hitters he faced and needed just 116 total
pitches, 91 of them strikes. Wet weather in Puerto Rico did more than delay
the start of a Brewers-Expos game by an hour. Third baseman Wes Helms, who
had started to climb out of an early-season hitting slump, slipped on a
rubber mat in a tunnel between the clubhouse and dugout at Hiram Bithorn
Stadium and injured his right knee. A few days later, Helms was slated for
surgery and never was able to bounce back.
June
The month began with some more looks toward the future, first when prospect
Ben Hendrickson pitched five innings against the Dodgers in his Major League
debut. The team then took a chance on right-hander Mark Rogers, making the
Maine high school student the fifth overall pick in the First-Year Player
Draft. On Day 1 of the draft, 12 of the Brewers' 18 picks were high
schoolers. It was the game that kept going and going and going. The Brewers
and Angels remained locked in a scoreless tie for 16 innings before
Podsednik's 17th-inning double scored Craig Counsell from first base and
capped an amazing 1-0 win in Anaheim. Sheets had a perfect game going until
Vladimir Guerrero golfed a single with two outs in the seventh, the only hit
Sheets would allow in nine innings of work and one of just four hits allowed
by Brewers pitchers. Jenkins struck out six times, and the Brewers combined
to whiff a record 26 times in the game.
July
The season's high point came on July 1, when the Brewers held off a Rockies
rally to complete a three-game sweep and move seven games over .500. Some
players wondered if Melvin would make a trade or two to signal that Milwaukee
was actually a contender. That momentum died in a hurry the next day with a
doubleheader loss at Pittsburgh, the beginning of the team's second-half
slide. That's not to say the team didn't show signs of life. When Doug Davis
pitched the Brewers to a 4-0 win over the Cubs on July 7, it capped a
three-game sweep in which Brewers pitchers surrendered only two runs. Sheets
and Kolb arrived in Houston as happy All-Stars, then reversed roles. Kolb, a
first-time All-Star, came on to relieve starter Roger Clemens in the second
inning and pitched a scoreless frame. Sheets then pitched a perfect eighth.
The team made its only pre-deadline trade on July 26, when it acquired
slugger Russell Branyan from Cleveland's Triple-A affiliate. Branyan supplied
some needed power to a slumping offense and eventually supplanted Helms as
the starting third baseman. That made the Brewers increasingly left-handed,
especially with the news a few days later that Junior Spivey would need
surgery to repair his injured left shoulder. Spivey missed the rest of the
season, and the team missed his bat. Another notable transaction was
finalized on July 27, when Melvin awarded Davis with a contract extension. It
was a sign that the club viewed Davis as a strong No. 2 starter behind Sheets.
August
Pitching coach Mike Maddux hailed his brother, Greg, when the latter recorded
his milestone 300th win. But no one was hailing Podsednik on Aug. 10, when
the slumping sophomore was dropped to No. 8 in the batting order. There was
strange news out of the minor leagues, when a Brewers prospect was treated
for a stab wound incurred in a late-night altercation. The news was also bad
for rookie lefty Chris Capuano, whose season was cut short by an elbow
injury. During that same series, in Philadelphia, manager Ned Yost addressed
his players in a rare closed-door meeting following an ugly 10-0 loss.
September
Podsednik's numbers slipped in most categories in 2004, but he was amazingly
effective in one: stolen bases. On Sept. 9 at Cincinnati, Podsednik notched
stolen base No. 55, eclipsing Pat Listach's Brewers record. Bonds was the
center of attention when the Giants visited Miller Park. He had tied and
passed Mays for sole possession of third place on the all-time home run list
against the Brewers back in April, and now stood at 699 career homers. But
Brewers pitchers held him homerless while giving him plenty of pitches to hit
during the three-game series. Sheets reached a milestone of his own on Sept.
22, when he whiffed eight Cardinals to set the Brewers' franchise record for
strikeouts in a season. He bested Teddy Higuera's previous franchise record
of 241, set in 1987.
October
After winning 11 games in each of his first three seasons, Sheets was coming
off three consecutive losses in bids for win No. 12 this year. He finally
earned it -- and set a career high -- in dramatic fashion, pitching a
complete game against the National League's top offense and beating the
Cardinals, 5-1, in front of 41,219 at Busch Stadium. Sheets' new boss
introduced himself the day after the season ended. Los Angeles investor Mark
L. Attanasio's bid to buy the Brewers was accepted by the club's board of
directors, pending Major League Baseball approval. "Once I realized that I
wasn't going to be able to hit a curveball, I gave up dreams of playing Major
League Baseball, and when I got a little older, thought maybe one day I could
own a team," he said. According to reports, he paid $220 million for the
ballclub.
November
Attanasio took another step toward formal ownership when the Southeast
Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District board of directors approved the
sale of the club. It took a bit longer than expected because of some medical
questions, but Damian Miller officially became a Brewer on Nov. 30, when he
finalized a three-year deal. The team hopes that Miller can be a legitimate
No. 1 catcher.
December
The Brewers team that entered December was certainly not the one that came
out. In a flurry of moves during and after the Winter Meetings, Melvin
addressed the team's primary offseason goals by getting a power bat and a few
power arms. In a high-profile deal with the White Sox, the Brewers got left
fielder Carlos Lee for Podsednik and reliever Luis Vizcaino. That gave
Milwaukee a power right-handed bat between Overbay and Jenkins, and also
opened the door for Jenkins to move to right. Pitching was also a priority.
The Brewers sent All-Star Kolb to the Braves but got one of baseball's best
pitching prospects in return, right-hander Jose Capellan, who will vie for a
spot in the starting rotation. About a week later, Melvin partly addressed
the loss of Kolb and Vizcaino when he acquired reliever Justin Lehr and an
outfield prospect from Oakland for backup infielder Keith Ginter.
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