Milwaukee Paper Takes Swipe At Jeffrey Hammonds
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"A Sucker Punch -- Light Hitting Hammonds Hurts Brewers Once Again" read the headline in this morning's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Jeffrey Hammonds, whose illfated $21 million dollar contract helped sink the previous regime, inflicted more damage Wednesday night" lamented writer Tom Haudricort.
The Brewers in fact did sign Hammonds to a 3 year, $21 million dollar contract after his only year in Denver, when he hit .335 with 20 home runs and 106 RBIs. Previous to his stint in Denver, Hammonds had hit more than 17 home runs only twice in a career that began in 1993.
Hammonds' poor showing in Milwaukee was somehow his fault?
The year before, in Cincinnati, Hammonds batted .279 with 17 homers and 47 RBIs in 262 ab bats. Throughout his career, Hammonds had shown an inability to play an entire season. In an article in that same Milwaukee Journal Sentinel written the day after Hammonds signed his long term contract, the paper pointed out that Hammonds had never played more than 123 games in a season, making his signing doubly dubious. Hammonds was injury prone, and his only quality season came in the rarefied air in Denver.
What happened was inevitable. Hammonds played 170 games over his two seasons in Milwaukee, hitting 15 homers while batting .254. He did what his career indicators suggested he would do. Hammonds is a talented player who can't stay healthy and produce on a regular basis.
The then Brewers General Manger knew all of this going into negotiations with Hammonds and his agent, and yet signed him to that large free agent contract. There was no way that he was going to be able to live up to the contract that he signed. The Brewers set him up to fail.
And fail he did.
This year, he started the season in the minor leagues while playing for a team that lost 95 games last year. That says a lot about where is career has gone since his days in Milwaukee.
Note to the Journal Sentinel: The Jeffrey Hammonds contract was but one of many strange and convoluted player moves the Brewers have made over the past decade. I suggest that Jeffrey Hammonds was your big free agent signing in 2001 because you couldn't get anyone else to come play from you.
Jeffrey Hammonds played for the Brewers as he had played for the Orioles and Reds before going to Denver: with all he had, which was usually limited by injuries. So don't blame him for your mistake. Blame the Brewers for a flawed signing.
The fact that he won the game for the Nationals Tuesday night did make it more sweet, though. Didn't it?
# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 8:31 AM 
