The Oshkosh Northwestern from Oshkosh, Wisconsin • Page 11

A oorts Tuesday, July 9, 2002 www.thenorthwestern.com Oshkosh Northwestern Mike Woods MJf Giambi wins title, but Sosa steals Derby's spotlight By Frank Schwab for the Northwestern Players feel for fans, but not too much So you're probably wondering what those overpaid, overpraised, ego-inflated, out-of-touch baseball players are thinking right about now. You want to know if they're even thinking about you at all. You're wondering if, before they slip the Rolexes off their wrists, before they reach for that chocolate mint on their pillow, before they slip under their satin sheets, are they concerned about you, the fan? Major-league baseball players may be taking an early vacation again you more commonly know it as going on strike to protect the millions you help put in their chubby wallets. The World Series, just as it was in 1994, might be eliminated. The players, along with the equally greedy owners, are messing with your emotions yet again.

And you can't help but wonder if they even care about the people that without whom, there would be no billions to bicker over. Well, after chatting up the rich and famous Monday, you get the feeling they do, in a big-brother-taking-the-last-cookie-from-little-brother sort of way. "I think the fans are really the ones who are the victims of this whole deal," Houston outfielder Lance Berkman said. "It's like you paint yourself into a corner, both owners and players, and then you've got this mess and the people who really get hurt by it are the fans, the people who you should really be trying to protect. I think it's a very unfortunate situation Unfortunate because these guys, while they feel a certain (-a 1 -v 'i" x- i MILWAUKEE They could have stopped Monday's Home Run Derby after the fourth hitter.

Sammy Sosa won the event. The Chicago Cubs outfielder lost in the final round and they gave the trophy to the player who officially won by the traditional rules, Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees, but the event will be long remembered for Sosa hitting homers to places in Miller Park that the builders of the stadium may not have even reached. And it will probably be a while before a baseball hit from home plate sees those areas in the park again. "I never thought the windows (at the back of the stadium) were reachable, and he did it twice," said Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Richie Sexson, one of the eight participants. "That was incredible Giambi said: "He's a After the first round, I was thinking, 'Oh my It was ridiculous." In the final round, Giambi hit seven home runs and Sosa countered with only one, giving Giambi the title.

Giambi may have hit the most home runs in the final round, and had some impressive shots of his own, but Sosa was the one that wowed the crowd through the event, especially in the first round. Sosa's first long home run was his second in the first round, on his third swing, and it reached the upper deck in left field just next to Bernie Brewer's slide. He was just getting started. After three more outs, Sosa hit a ball over the Pepsi sign next to the center-field message board. He hit it to just about the same spot two swings later, a 502-foot blast that was the first ball ever to go out of Miller Park on the fly.

And he kept going. There was a 520-foot blast over Bernie's Dugout in left field. Then a couple of homers off of the slide in left, the second one going 524 feet, his longest of the first round. And his last home run of the first round might have been the most impressive, a towering shot that hit off of the Kohler.com sign just next to the video screen at the top of the scoreboard degree of sympathy for fans, are still more than willing to bite off the hands that help feed them. Can you feel the love? "I think it's very difficult for the fan to relate on our level what's really going on because we're fighting over a lot of money, fighting over a lot of issues that don't pertain to them going to work 9 to 5, and it's not naturally fair trying to explain that," San Diego reliever Trevor Hoffman said.

Associated Press THE YANKEES' JASON GIAMBI hits one of his 25 home runs Monday in the Home Run Derby at Miller Park in Milwaukee. In the finals, Giambi defeated the Cubs' Sammy Sosa, who stole the show with mammoth blasts. DERBY, PAGE C2 Sexson taking spotlight in complete stride The answer fans crave is why By Frank Schwab for the Northwestern baseball can create a level playing field where their hometown heroes aren't out of the race before opening day. You would think that would also be a rather pressing issue with the players, too. Or it should be.

But you get the feeling that the players on teams getting their brains beat in every year, when it gets down to it, are more concerned about money than winning. If there was a salary cap, do you think a Sexson basically brushed off his encounter with Jordan when asked to recall the story. He does that a lot. He has the laid-back West Coast thing down pat (he grew up in Washington), ahd if he were any more nonchalant, he might fall asleep while stand Inside Hinske turns some heads. Facts and figures lor tonight's game.

Page C2 better in the second half of the season. And if he does, perhaps he could reach the magic number of 50, something that has been largely predicted he will do at some point. Of course, Sexson doesn't get too excited about any of it. "It's tough to hit 50 home runs," he said. "I just want to be a guy who every year is going to get 30-35 home runs and 100 RBI.

I think I'm happier when I hit a single and drive in two runs, than with a solo home run." Brewers fans haven't really embraced a player since Robin Yount retired after the 1993 season, but the 27-year-old Sexson is slowly becoming a bona fide star for Milwaukee. He's happy about that. Maybe. Like, you know, whatever. "I haven't really thought about that or anything, and if that's the case, that's great," Sexson said.

"I don't mind." was bound to happen. When Milwaukee acquired him in a deal that sent Jason Bere, Steve Woodard and Bob Wickman to Cleveland near the trading deadline in 2000, he immediately became one of the most popular players on the team. "The first day he got here, people loved him," Royster said. Since Sexson came to the Brewers, outfielder Geoff Jenkins' injuries have kept his career from taking off, outfielder Jeromy Burnitz was traded and, after a torrid start to his career, some of the luster has left pitcher Ben Sheets as he has lost 16 of his last 21 decisions dating to last year. Sexson, on the other hand, has continued to get better.

He hit 45 home runs and drove in 125 runs last year, tying the club's single-season home-run record and coming up one short of the RBI mark. This year, he's on pace for about 40 home runs, but he has usually played MILWAUKEE There are different levels of stardom. When Michael Jordan knows who you are without ever meeting you and offers an invitation to hang out, you're probably pretty high on the A-lisi So it goes for Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Richie Sexson. "(Jordan) called him out, pointed him out without any introduction," Brewers manager Jerry Royster said. "(Sexson) has that celebrity about him you don't have to generate." Sexson will be exposed even more tonight at the All-Star Game at Miller Park, as one of the two Brewers representatives to the National League team, along with Jose Hernandez.

"I'm really going to enjoy it," Sexson said. "I'm fortunate for my first (All-Star Game) to be at home. It's going to be nice." reserve like Milwaukee infielder Mark Loretta, and many others like him, would be making $5 million a year? Of course not. There won't be a salary cap. The players will make 6ure of that.

They'd much rather go to ing up. "I met up with (Jordan) he rented a place out and watched the fight (between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis on June 8, when the Brewers were in Pittsburgh on a road trip) and hung out with him for a little while," Sexson said. "It was a cool time." Being the most recognizable face in the Brewers franchise kind of crept up pn Sexson, although in retrospect, it the bank, and their talk of wanting a ring rings hollow. So does Hernandez savors moment cf this constant rhetoric between the two sides. And quite frankly, you've had enough.

You don't fully understand the complexity of the issues at hand, and you don't care. You just want a team with a legitimate chance to win a championship and one that will play every season, start to finish, with no interruptions. But signs again are ominous. The owners and players continue to carry on like children. And you, the fan, the ones whom they publicly praise, are privately being discounted.

They will continue to argue. And you will watch and, perhaps, root for a winner. "If I was a fan, I would have a hard time cheering for anyone," Texas shortstop Alex Rodriguez said. A introductions and then when they give me the chance to play." But Hernandez contract is up at the end of the season and no deal with the Brewers is imminent. "We've been staying in touch," Hernandez said.

"I might stay here. I don't like to move a lot. I have my whole family here in Milwaukee. If we stay, it's going to be nice." But with the trading deadline fast approaching, Hernandez said he wouldn't be surprised if a deal is made. "I hope in the second half, we improve our club a lot," Hernandez said.

"There are going to be a lot of trades. I JOSE, PAGE C2 Brewers shortstop enjoying his first All-Star Game trip all-star team here in Milwaukee. I'm sleeping in my own bed. I don't have to travel anywhere, just my house to the' park. I've got my family here, too.

It's going to be exciting." Like most reserves, Hernandez isn't sure if or when he'll play, but he's ready. "I just want to be out there," he said. "I don't care if I play or not. I just want to be there in the dugout with the guys. If they give me a chance, it's going to be an emotional game for me.

I think the biggest moment is going to be the By Dan Kohn of the Northwestern MILWAUKEE Tonight's All-Star Game at Miller Park could be an emotional event for Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Jose Hernandez. Forget about the labor strife or the talk of widespread steroid use. For Hernandez, there's nothing better than a night out at the ballpark with baseball's best. And besides it being his first it may be his last All-Star Game in a Brewers' uniform. "It's a dream come true being at the All-Star Game and being an all-star," Hernandez said.

"I think it's going to be a lot of fun. "It's special that I made the It's good advice, but a recom Mike DeSistifor the Northwestern mendation the tans certainly don't need. THE BREWERS' JOSE HERNANDEZ, left, shares a light moment with the Cubs' Sammy Sosa on Monday. Mike Woods writes for the Appleton Post-Crescent..