It was a cold, dreary day in December in Milwaukee (probably) back in 2003. Brewers’ GM Doug Melvin was out of the office–at the Winter Meetings, picking a young, prospect from the Pirates in the Rule V draft–Jeff Bennett.
For all of ’04, the Crew had to keep Bennett on their parent club roster if they wanted to keep Bennett and not return him to Pittsburgh. Bennett stood out like a sore thumb–at a time when every MLB player was putting a crease in their caps’ bill, Bennett kept his straight and low over his brow.
At first, Bennett was impressive…but as the season wore on, he reverted back to a young, but inconsistent, reliever.
Pretty sure that Bennett stayed in Milwaukee the whole season, and spent part of it in AAA for the Brewers the next year. Somewhere along the way, Bennett’s stay with the Crew ended…and Atlanta acquired him. Last night, Bobby Cox & Co. opted to go to the ex-Brewer to make his first MLB appearance in almost 3 years (maybe they’re still mad at us for the Danny Kolb trade…or sending Wes Obermueller to him to take Kolb back).
Bennett delivered, fanning 8 over 5.33 IP and only allowing 1 ER to hand the Brewers a 3-1 loss…only Rickie Weeks’ homer in the 3rd provided any glimmer of offense.
The loss was even more damaging, in that it meant the Cubs expanded their lead in the NL Central to 1½, without even having played a game. The Cubs now have complete control of their destiny–if they win their last 9 games, they win the division…and the Brewers are at the mercy of the Pirates, Marlins, and Reds to beat the Cubs at least once. Odds are, the Cubs will lose at least a few of those games…but the Brewers still face the Braves for three more, then host an angry and eliminated former World Champion Cards’ team, before four against San Diego, who is also in the hunt for a postseason berth.
Carlos Villanueva gets Tim Hudson tonight.
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