Sheets upbeat, pain-free on Day 1
Right-hander enjoys first day of camp with teammates
PHOENIX -- Ben Sheets is two steps into the room, and already he's screaming.
"Kieschnick! Let's get on the computer!"
About an hour later, after the Brewers' ace and reliever Brooks Kieschnick
had plundered a laptop for whatever was so urgent, Sheets is tossing a
football around the clubhouse. Then more screaming.
"Yeah! Yeah!" Sheets bellows, racing toward a television.
The real target is Iowan Wes Obermueller, who is trying desperately to watch
his Hawkeyes face the No. 1-ranked University of Illinois in a midday
basketball game.
"Illinois! That's my team, baby!"
No, it's not. Sheets is from Louisiana, and cares as much about Illinois (he
made sure to emphasize the "s") as he does about the British decision to ban
fox hunting. It's all about getting under Obermueller's skin.
Judging by the huge smile that washes over Sheets' face while Obermueller
buries his, Milwaukee's 26-year-old ace was feeling spry as Brewers pitchers
and catchers officially reported Saturday for the start of Spring Training.
Sheets has plenty of reasons for feeling good.
For starters, he enjoyed a breakthrough 2004 season despite pitching with
searing pain in his lower back and one functioning leg. Sheets set a
franchise record with 264 strikeouts -- second in the National League to
Randy Johnson's 290 -- and ranked third in the league with a 2.70 ERA.
That performance led to a one-year, $6 million contract for 2005 that was
settled one day before a scheduled arbitration hearing. It was the richest
one-year deal for a pitcher in Brewers history.
But all of that is secondary to Sheets, who is the kind of guy who says,
"It's not about the money" and you genuinely believe him. The real reason
Sheets is feeling so good these days is that he can strut around the
clubhouse and not feel every step in a bulging disc in his lower back. He
underwent back surgery in October and hopes to pitch 2005 pain-free.
"But look at the stats, and I didn't have a bad back," he said. "I made 34
starts. Look at Brett Favre. Does he feel great on the days in between
[games]? Probably doesn't have many."
Sheets says that in 2004 he did not have any. The bulging disc caused
numbness in his left leg, and there were days when he was unable to move his
left foot.
Sometimes he could barely walk, yet he finished in the NL's top 10 in more
than a half-dozen categories, including strikeouts, ERA, fewest walks per
nine innings (1 2/3, second), complete games (five, tied for second), innings
pitched (237, tied for third) and strikeouts per nine innings (10, tied for
third).
Along the way, Sheets pitched some legendary games. On May 16, he tossed a
three-hit complete game at the Atlanta Braves and set a franchise record with
18 strikeouts. Three weeks later, he pitched nine scoreless innings, allowing
one Vladimir Guerrero single, in an eventual 17-inning win at Anaheim.
"Last spring, it was tough to know what Ben was capable of," said catcher
Chad Moeller, who gets heaps of credit from Sheets for the duo's success in
2004. "By the second game of the year, against Houston, it was like, 'This
guy really has something different.' That's one of the best fastballs in the
game and probably the best curveball. That's Cy Young stuff."
Considering that he essentially was pitching on one leg, how did he do it?
"I don't know," Sheets said. "My left leg didn't work. It was my left leg, so
it just had to hold me up a little bit."
Sheets says he is certain that had the numbness affected his right, push-off
leg, he would have required in-season surgery. Instead, he was able to finish
the year before undergoing surgery in Dallas on Oct. 12.
"It's quite remarkable that he was able to pitch like that and not miss a
start," Drew Dossett, a back specialist, told a Milwaukee newspaper after
performing the surgery. "He must have a high tolerance for pain."
Judging by the way he was running around the clubhouse on Saturday, the
procedure was a success. But the Brewers have vowed to be careful with their
young ace, and will limit his participation in throwing and fielding drills.
Better to have Sheets healthy and ready to go on April 1 than on March 1,
manager Ned Yost said.
"It's like a wrecked car," Sheets explains. "It's fixed, but it ain't new. I
just gotta be smart about it. It would be too easy to go out there thinking
everything's feeling good and not thinking anything can go wrong."
While Sheets and his teammates prepare for the Brewers' 36th season,
negotiations will begin between his agent, Casey Close, and Brewers officials
on a multiyear contract. Sheets is eligible for free agency in 2006, and
assuming the back is healthy, the team would like to lock him up now.
General manager Doug Melvin made that clear weeks ago, and was happy to avoid
an arbitration hearing with Sheets. Sheets had asked for $6.5 million in
arbitration while the team offered $5.5 million, and until about 24 hours
beforehand, it appeared both sides were headed to Tampa for a hearing.
Then, in the final hours, Sheets agreed to settle at the midpoint.
"How can you talk about a multiyear deal after going through something like
that?" Sheets said. "I didn't see it happening. They knock you down [in an
arbitration hearing] and then come right back and say, 'Oh, you're a big part
of this. We want you long-term.'"
Both sides have declined to set a timetable, and Sheets said he was open to
the idea of negotiations extending into the regular season. He and Close will
wait for the Brewers to make the first move.
"I'm not going to go beg for one," Sheets said. "Whenever it's time, they'll
reward you."
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