Bill Batterman is the The last time the Indians visited Milwaukee was in early June of 2000 when the Tribe sported a lineup that included Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, Roberto Alomar, Jim Thome, David Justice, Sandy Alomar, and a young Richie Sexson. Coming off five consecutive division titles, Cleveland was in their first year under Charlie Manuel and was without superstar Manny Ramirez, who was on the disabled list for the first time in his career thanks to a strained hamstring. The Tribe entered play at 29-23, a game-and-a-half back of the White Sox, while the Brewers were just 23-33, losers of eight of their last eleven.
In a trio of night games at County Stadium, the Indians swept the Brewers by a combined score of 21-11 and sent the Brewers on their way to a 10-16 June and on pace for a 99-loss season. Winning months of August and September helped avert disaster but the Brewers finished at 73-89, 22 games behind the first-place Cardinals in the National League Central. The Tribe, meanwhile, sputtered to a 13-16 record in June and a 12-12 record in July before turning it on over the last two months of the season, winning 38 of their last 60 contests. It wasn’t enough, however, as the White Sox won 95 games to take the Central pennant and the Mariners bested them by a game for the Wild Card.
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Back in June, though, the Indians looked poised for yet another playoff run. With a lineup loaded with power, the Tribe cracked six home runs over the three games including three by Justice, who was traded later that month to the Yankees for Ricky Ledee, game two starter Jake Westbrook, and Zach Day. At that point, the 34-year old had swatted 21 home runs in just 46 games and he went on to club another 20 in pinstripes to finish the season with a career-high 41. Fryman and future-Brewers Sexson and Russell Branyan also homered for Cleveland, who mashed 221 homers on the season while posting a league-best .367 team on-base average.
The Brewers, on the other hand, managed just four extra-base hits and not a single homer, business-as-usual for a club that finished the season with the second-fewest runs scored and the lowest team batting and on-base averages in the National League. On the mound, both D’Amico and Jason Bere were knocked around while Steve Finley outdueled John Snyder and the Brewers wasted a rare quality start from their troubled rotation. On the same day that the Indians completed the sweep, D’Amico was placed on the disabled list with shoulder problems and 1998 first-rounder J.M. Gold went under the knife for season-ending elbow surgery, a procedure he never really recovered from.
“That’s part of the game,” Brewers manager Davey Lopes told Drew Olson of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel of his team’s struggles. “You deal with the good and the bad. Right now, I’m dealing with a little bit of the bad. We all are. … That’s been the story of the year 2000.”
It was also the story of the years 2001 and 2002, when the Crew finally jettisoned Lopes.
Later in the 2000 season, the two teams completed what would prove to be a decisive trade that sent Bob Wickman, Steve Woodard, and Jason Bere to the Indians for Kane Davis, Paul Rigdon, Marco Scutaro, and Sexson. Just 25 years old, the 6-foot-8 slugger soon became Milwaukee’s franchise player, swatting 133 home runs over the next three-and-a-half seasons and earning a trip to the All-Star game in 2002 and 2003. The subsequent trade of Sexson to the Diamondbacks on the first day of December in 2003 was also instrumental to Doug Melvin’s rebuilding of the woebegone franchise, a process that has continued into the current season.
The Indians and Brewers of 2006 are in similar positions, loaded with young talent but underachieving a bit from preseason projections. In both cases, pitching has been primarily to blame. Despite the struggles, both teams have accumulated a core of future stars that includes Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, and Victor Martinez for the Tribe and Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder, and Bill Hall for the Brewers. A speedy center-fielder with excellent range, Sizemore is hitting .299 with a 910 OPS and nine steals in ten tries while the slugging Hafner has thumped 18 bombs and posted a .303/.454/.620 line. Martinez got off to a rough start but is now hitting .293 with an 844 OPS and ten homers from the catcher’s spot.
Two former Brewers will be returning to Milwaukee wearing red and blue. Belliard, a member of the Brewers organization from 1994 through 2002, has resurrected his career with the Tribe and was an All-Star in 2004. Wickman, a Wisconsin-native who played his college ball at UW-Whitewater, was the Crew’s closer from 1998 until he was traded in 2000 and is tied for third with Mike Fetters on the team’s all-time saves list, behind only Rollie Fingers and Dan Plesac. The burly right-hander has a 2.49 ERA in 19 and a third innings and is nine-for-ten in save chances this season.
Milwaukee is 199-201 against their one-time division rivals including 99-92 in Milwaukee and 5-7 in interleague play.