{image1} PHOENIX -- If it's spring in Milwaukee, it must be time for the annual OMC Milwaukee Talks with Brewers announcer Jim Powell. Now entering his 10th season as one-half of the Brewers broadcasting team, Powell offers as much or more insight on the club as anyone in the organization. His attention to detail, his knowledge of up-and-coming prospects, and his ability to work seamlessly with Hall of Famer Bob Uecker, make Powell a top talent in his field.
And this season could be an exciting one for Milwaukee baseball fans, says Powell. So get ready to talk Brewers in this latest Milwaukee Talks, from Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix, Ariz.
OMC: Is this the year we should see real improvement from the Brewers?
JP: Maybe. I think so. It's hard not to be optimistic this time of the year for anybody. It's that time of the year when your starting line-up doesn't have any holes in it, your starting rotation looks like it could be OK. You can always look at your bullpen and think this could be the year for them to have a strong year.
But I guess this is why I'm more excited about the Brewers than I have been in my 10 years at Spring Training camp: because the Brewers actually have some depth. Every year, we say, "Boy, if they can stay healthy ..." This year, you can take that caveat out, at least to a certain extent. They couldn't afford to lose Ben Sheets, maybe Doug Davis or Carlos Lee. But for the most part, the Brewers can sustain a number of normal injuries that all Major League teams seem to suffer and continue to play, and play well. Just from watching in the camp, Rickie Weeks, JJ Hardy, Dave Krynzel and Prince Fielder, you think that if someone goes down in the outfield, for example, you can move Overbay out there and bring up Prince Fielder.
OMC: Is that a possibility?
JP: Yeah, I think Overbay could play in the outfield. He wouldn't be an ideal guy. But I think the first thing that would happen if they lost an outfielder is that they'd use Dave Krynzel or Corey Hart. There are two good options already, but Prince Fielder has just looked so good in camp it's hard to not think, "Boy, how can we get him on the field in '05?" I think the Brewers have a strong lineup, a good-looking rotation, a nice bullpen -- all the same things fans of all the teams are saying. But the Brewers this year have the depth where they can suffer some injuries and continue to play, and we haven't seen that here in a long time.
OMC: What about the Jeff Cirillo story?
{image2}JP: He's making a real strong bid to win a spot on the club, and I can't say that I'm not rooting for him. Unfortunately, he's going against Trent Durrington, who's also a great clubhouse guy. It would be easier if Durrington wasn't a great guy, because we know Cirillo would help the clubhouse.
Here's a guy who has all the money he will ever need, has a great family, doesn't need baseball anymore because he's accomplished so much. Why play the game? Because of the love for the game, he went to Mexico this off-season and worked his way back up. He's a minor league contract guy here in camp and has already said that if he doesn't make the team, he'd be willing to go to AAA and suck it up. When you see a guy who loves the game that much, you want to put him in your clubhouse. You want that to spread to the other 24 guys.
But Durrington is also a great clubhouse guy, so it will be the toughest battle in camp. Both guys are playing really well. The decision will come down to when Ned Yost is thinking about the eighth inning in a tie game at Miller Park, with a runner at second and two men out. Will he want to put Durrington in to pinch run to score the run, or will he want to put Cirillo in to drive in that winning run? In the end, it's gonna be which of those buttons does Ned want to have next to him?
OMC: Have you had a chance to talk to the new owner, Mark Attanasio, this spring?
JP: Yes, I have. I wouldn't say I've gotten to know him very well, as he's a little overwhelmed right now with everything, but he seems like a really nice guy. Everything I've heard him say to me personally and to other fans, he seems like a really genuine guy. He's a really smart man who, at a very young age, has made a huge pile of cash. He did the same thing with his money that I would have done with it if I was smart enough to do that -- he bought a baseball team! I always said that my job is the No. 1 fantasy job of most males in the United States, but that's misleading, because the No. 1 fantasy would be Mark Attanasio's gig. He seems like he's got a little bit of that kid-in-the-candy-store attitude.
He knows baseball is not his area of expertise, though he's a savvy baseball fan, but he understands he's got good baseball men in his organization who are doing a really nice job trying to turn this thing around. He doesn't sound inclined to get in the middle of all of that and impede the progress of the franchise. That's all the fans of the Brewers really care about.
{image3} OMC: Amen to that. What do you think of Doug Melvin's decision to trade for Carlos Lee?
JP: Every time I see him swing the bat, and the ball travels about 800 feet, I think it's a really good move. I thought it was a good move on paper, and now that I'm seeing the guy out there on the field and what he is doing, it's going to make a huge difference in this line-up. You know, Geoff Jenkins has fairly or unfairly been the focal point for this offense for quite a few years, and I really think Geoff might be better suited as a guy that is part of the Brewers line-up, but is not the guy. I think Carlos Lee has broad enough shoulders to be the guy. You put Overbay, a left-handed bat, in front of him, and Jenkins, a left-handed bat, behind him, and you have some more talent around those guys. I think you have a good line-up.
I think Lee will be a better fit for the Brewers in the middle of the line-up than Sexson was, because he doesn't strike out nearly as much, and he will carry a much higher batting average. He'll set a little different tone in the line-up. I still can't believe the Brewers got Carlos Lee for Scott Podsednik.
OMC: Last winter, there were a handful of baseball broadcasters moving to new teams. You stayed put. Are you happy to be here for your 10th season?
JP: Yeah, I am. I have no regrets at all. I was really excited to see my friend Len Kasper get the Chicago Cubs job on WGN. There are a lot of guys that like to pursue all the jobs, there's nothing wrong with that. Given the same set of circumstances that I have compared to other guys, they would be making similar sorts of decisions, at least if they were family-oriented like I am. Milwaukee is a great place to raise a family. If I'm fortunate enough to be able to stay in one town my whole career and work for one team, I think that's ideal. Whether or not that will really happen, I don't know. But it's been great while it's lasted so far.
OMC: Do the Brewers and WTMJ tell you they'd like to see you spend the rest of your career here?
JP: Some things have changed, namely the ownership of the club. I certainly don't have those kind of understandings with the new ownership group. They don't know me, they've barely heard me do any games. Nobody offered me a lifetime contract, not the old ownership or the new ownership, nobody ever would. There's a new group that's taken over the team, so we'll have to cross that bridge when it comes.
OMC: But Attanasio seems to have a hands-off style of ownership so far. He hasn't cleaned house or anything like that, right?
{image4}JP: You hope that he leaves those decisions to the same people who were making them before. I know that WTMJ treats me really well, and they go out of their way to tell me a lot that they really appreciate the job that I do and that they're glad to have me. That's all you can ask for.
OMC: Did you have a nice off-season?
JP: I had a great off-season. I played a lot of tennis, a lot of fun with my kids. I helped coach my oldest daughter's basketball team. Unbeaten, by the way. Perhaps an omen for this Brewers club. OK, maybe not. It was just great family time. That's really the payback for being gone for fourth months out of the year, total. I miss a lot of events, but in the winter, I get it all back. It's a bit of a shock for the kids when I pack that bag for Spring Training. They're 9, 7 and 4 now, and the 9- and 7-year-olds definitely know that Daddy is gone a good bit certain times of the year. But I don't think they remember how much he is gone. It kind of hits them once I take off. It's a unique lifestyle, and I think over the years, they'll definitely appreciate (the winters) more.
OMC: Anything else exciting going on in your life?
JP: Not really. I get to be on OnMilwaukee.com once a year, and that, to me, is the No. 1 thing I'm concerned about. The Brewers ownership may change, and TMJ may look to dump me, but as long as you guys come talk to me every spring, I'm happy.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
