Sunday, July 07, 2002
Choosing stars no highlight for Brenly
'One of the worst things I ever had to do'
Enquirer news services
ST. LOUIS — Arizona manager Bob Brenly was looking forward to making his selections for the National League All-Star team. He did the usual, calling around the league to get input from other managers and doing the math to ensure everyone was represented, and then he made his selections public.
The result?
“I challenge anybody out there who thinks this is easy to try to do this and try and face the criticism afterward,” Brenly said. “This is one of the worst things I ever had to do. Last time I checked, I was the only guy in America asked to pick the National League All-Star team. I did, and there it is, and if you don't like it, too bad.”
Brenly was ripped for not taking Colorado outfielder Larry Walker (.348, 20 homers, 67 RBI), Dodgers catcher Paul Lo Duca (.324, 5, 38), St. Louis outfielder Albert Pujols (.291, 20, 62) or San Francisco closer Rob Nen (3-0, 1.70, 22 saves), to name a few. It didn't help that Brenly selected six of his own players, including catcher Damian Miller (.265, 9, 36), outfielder Luis Gonzalez (.279, 16, 58) and closer Byung-Hyun Kim (3-1, 2.37, 22 saves).
“It hasn't been as much fun as it should be,” Brenly said. “This is a no-win proposition for whoever has to pick this ballclub, and you're going to get criticism from a million different directions no matter who you pick. I think that's kind of taken some of the luster off what I was hoping would really be an enjoyable experience.”
DEVIL RAYS: Third baseman Russ Johnson left the team Saturday morning and returned home to Baton Rouge, La., until after the All-Star break for personal reasons.
Manager Hal McRae said Johnson received permission from the club to leave and is still on the active roster.
“Russ Johnson left the club for personal reasons, but he'll be back on Thursday. That's all I'm going to say,” McRae said before Saturday night's game against the Anaheim Angels.
“It's personal reasons. That generally covers it. I see that in the papers all the time. So there is no reason to pursue it.”
The club would not say whether Johnson's departure was related to anything that occurred inside the Devil Rays' clubhouse following Friday night's 6-5 loss in 10 innings to the Anaheim Angels.
The clubhouse doors were closed to the media for an hour and 17 minutes after David Eckstein's game-winning infield hit against Rays closer Esteban Yan, though McRae and individual players spoke in the corridor.
Devil Rays Chris Gomez, Jason Conti and Steve Cox all reacted as if they didn't know anything about it. Assistant general manager Scott Proefrock and media relations assistant Greg Landy stood nearby.
“We're going to treat it separately. Last night was last night,” McRae said.
When asked if the players were under a gag order, Conti said: “I don't know exactly if that's a simple yes-or-no answer. I don't know exactly what our responsibility is, as for talking. But I really don't even know what went on, or why the press wasn't allowed in here last night.”
The Devil Rays, who entered Saturday trying to end their club-record nine-game road losing streak, were a major league-worst 28-55 and spiraling toward their sixth straight last-place finish.
“We're in this thing together. Everybody knows that. So there's no reason to point fingers,” McRae said Saturday. “The losses have been tough, but there's a game every day, and each day we make an attempt to right the ship.
“We haven't always played well and the results have not been good, but the effort is there and the desire is there. The guys have always played hard. And that's what they continue to do.”
Johnson, 29, joined the Devil Rays in May 2000 in a trade with Houston for pitcher Marc Valdes.
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Choosing stars no highlight for Brenly