David Encounters a Recent World Series Winner, and Chats with Him

A CHANCE
ENCOUNTER

One Day At Work David Runs Into Troy Brohawn, Left-Handed Relief Pitcher, and Talks Shop With A World Champion

     Okay, it's another typical Saturday, around 1 pm, at Domino's Pizza in Cambridge, Maryland. I'm in the front area of the store, and see a guy about my age, 6'3" or so, brown hair, goatee...
      He looks like... a guy I used to write about in the late 1980s. As many of you good readers know, I worked for the Daily Banner, a 7,500-circulation newspaper in Cambridge, from 1989-90, and covered sports, including high school baseball. Namely, North Dorchester High School, and Cambridge-South Dorchester High, which was the alma mater of...
      "Troy? Troy Brohawn?" I ask the man.
      "Yeah. Hi," he answers, with that 'I have seen you before but can't remember you' kind of look.
      So, I re-introduce myself and then he remembers me, sort of. We met maybe three or four times during the end of his junior and most of his senior year of high school at CSDHS. He was the star of the football and baseball teams- but was, as my editor described him, "humble to a fault."
      My first assignment, matter of fact, was covering a baseball game in which he was the starting pitcher- CSD beat Colonel Richardson High School of nearby Federalsburg, MD, 7-0, with Troy hitting two homers. He was also the quarterback of the CSD Vikings football team that was a state contender in the 1989 football season.
      I remember seeing Troy's number 51 in the pile of jerseys in the infield at Bank One Ballpark in early November of 2001- with him in it- specifically, about 40 seconds after Luis Gonzalez singled in the World Series-winning run off New York Yankees (boo! hiss!) reliever Mariano Rivera to beat the Yankees in an amazing seven-game World Series. So, naturally, I turn back into David the Sportswriter, and like the Gollum of Baseball, my first question is:
      "You wearing The Ring?" meaning his World Series win from last year.
      "Nah, not today," he says with a smile.
      "So, how ya doin'? I see you were a Giant this year- but I didn't see you in the postseason." I knew he had pitched about a dozen innings all year, and except for the rookie phenom Francisco Rodriguez for the Angels, I know no one with as little time in the regular season was on a postseason roster.
      He confirms that by telling me he hadn't made the 25-man playoff team- or he would have gone to two consecutive World Series with two different National League pennant winners.
      Well, if he played for the Giants, three names come up instantly. Bonds. Kent. And, of course, Baker- Dusty, the manager.
      But more about Troy. "In town long?"
      "Just a few days." Probably visiting family, I figure, since he had rented a place out west to live, according to my co-worker and fellow former media member Bucky Parks, who worked for WCEM-AM radio, 1240 AM, when I was at the Banner.
      "What are ya up to? Looking forward to another year in Frisco?" Troy was drafted by San Francisco in 1994, out of the University of Nebraska, where he broke a few records and was an All-American. He was in the Giants system till 1998, when he went to Arizona, and suffered some arm problems, including having to have ligament replacement (aka "Tommy John") surgery. But he was up to par in 2001, and was in the pen for nearly 60 games with the Diamondbacks during their drive to the World Series. I vaguely remembered him signing with San Francisco as a free agent just before the 2002 campaign began.
      "Actually, I just signed with the Dodgers."
      "Oh, cool." As it turns out, he's going to be there left-handed setup man in the bullpen, and it's "my job to lose," he tells Bucky. Good for him. At 29, he looks to be making a bigger move than in 2001- as if you could top a World Series win.
     "Did you look at the Orioles, to see maybe if they were looking for help in the pen?" After a 67-95 train wreck of a season, they could probably use it.
     "My agent checked into it, but they want all their young guys to take over everything, so there wasn't much chance of it," he said.
     "I have believed for several years that they need a change of ownership, Troy," I respond, "I had heard through the grapevine in August of 2000 that Mussina wasn't going to re-sign with the Birds. Word was he hated Angelos' guts."
     "It's possible," Troy said diplomatically. A smart player always leave his options open.
     "So, I have to ask, Troy- you owned Barry Bonds." In 7 meetings in 2001, Bonds drew a single walk and was 0-for-6; and, ironically, he became BB's teammate the next summer. "Was he nice to you? I hear a lot about how he's not a nice guy. What's your take on him?"
      "He IS a nice guy. He's BUSY, though. He's got so many people making demands on his time, he never has any peace and quiet."
      "I'll be honest," I say, "I have NEVER heard an arrogant thing from his mouth, and he's always pleasant when he's interviewed. I figured he was ok." (As my last column indicates.)
      But then I think of the well-documented dugout shouting match Bonds had with Giants second baseman Jeff Kent in midseason. "What about Jeff Kent? I know those two butted heads a few times."
      "Very quiet guy," Tory responds. A wry smile, as he adds, "unless you talk about hunting, fishing or motorcycles, he doesn't have much to say."
      Ironic, that last pastime. Kent broke his wrist last Spring- he claims he fell down, but unconfirmed rumors were circulating that he earned it by crashing his motorcycle- after trying to pull a wheelie to impress his friends.
      Back to Troy. I can't focus on OTHER players. That's rude. "So, how did you feel when you saw Gonzo's blooper sail over Soriano's head last November?" By that, I wanted his reaction to the play that earned his then-team, the Diamondbacks, their first World Series conquest. I remember watching him pitch a scoreless ninth in the D-backs' 15-2 romp over the hated Yanks in Game 6, the night before.
      "I never ran so hard from the bullpen to the infield," he said with a laugh. "It was great."
      "I know Soriano must have wished he was nine feet tall just then, huh?"
      "Yeah." A chuckle.
      "Get a lot of champagne on you?"
      "Yeah. Drank a little too." Another smile.
      "I remember the first time I saw you pitch on TV," I continue, "I think it must have been against Atlanta..." I say, baiting him. I remembered it well.
      "Yeah, when I got my save last year. (B.J.) Surhoff got a single, then I got a double play ball (from Rafael Furcal) to end it."
      I remember applauding, in an empty living room late at night, seeing someone I knew and had interviewed succeed in the Bigs. "Yep. That was it. Nothing like a Pitcher's Best Friend."
      "So, you didn't pitch as much in the Show this year, but did you get a good impression of Dusty Baker?"
      "Excellent guy. Very nice."
      We chatted about a couple of other minor details as well, but eventually, I had to leave on a couple deliveries. I shook his hand again, told him I'd be watching him in 2003, and wished him luck.
      I am of the opinion that, assuming his arm holds up, which it should, Eric Gagne of the Dodgers will have a good deal of support from the left side of the mound next season.
      Bon chance, Troy. Mow 'em down.

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Troy Brohawn delivers for the Giants this past season