By Dave Reardon
Wednesday, July 24, 1996Mike Fitzgerald is on vacation.
His column returns July 31.
Mike Fitzgerald is on vacation.
His column returns July 31.
The two Milwaukee Brewers' pitchers with Hawaii ties opened and closed a 7-3 victory at Seattle last night. And they're thinking playoffs.
"If you look at what else happened around the league tonight, all the teams ahead of us lost," said Karl, the former University of Hawaii ace who improved his record to 10-5. "This West Coast swing is really important for us. We usually don't do that well out here."
There are a little more than two months left in the season, and Milwaukee is 9-1/2 games out of first place in the American League Central Division. The Brewers are chasing three teams for the wild-card spot.
Fetters, the closer who was a multisport star at Iolani while growing up in Ewa Beach, also believes Milwaukee is in the postseason hunt. But the question is, will he be a Brewer for much longer?
There are money disagreements and trade rumors, and Fetters - who has 18 saves and a 2.06 ERA - becomes a free agent at the end of the season. He wants a slight raise from his $1.7 million a year. Milwaukee management doesn't want to give him that much.
"I'd like to stay. But I'm not going to stay and hurt my chances of making the money I'm capable of making," Fetters said. "People will read that and say it's a money thing. Well, it is a money thing."
FETTERS said there is no animosity between himself and the Brewer ownership, and denied published reports that negotiations have closed.
"Things are being done to try to make things work out," he said. "I just have to go out and continue to pitch my best."
Pitchers who can get anybody out are at a premium these days, especially in the American League.
Small strike zones, big hitters, juiced baseballs . . . there are many theories as to why ERAs have climbed to record highs.
"I think it's a little bit of all those things," Fetters said. "And the wood used for the bats is better, too. Also, if you look at the rule book, you'll see that the bat's supposed to be unfinished. But they use lacquer. It's a rule they don't enforce."
Fetters didn't explain how a bat's finish can finish a pitcher, but it does seem the odds are definitely stacked against the hurlers even more than usual.
Karl is mystified as to how the offenses have become suddenly supercharged. He finds it strange that he has a better winning percentage but higher ERA than during his rookie season of a year ago.
"It's better hitting, or the pitching's thinned out, I don't know," Karl said. "Regardless of what's going on, I can't get by with an ERA around five. I'm lucky the team's been hitting well behind me."
LAST night he got a three-run first inning and two home runs from Dave Nilsson. And, as he has done most the season, he pitched just well enough to win. He became the first Milwaukee left-hander to win 10 games since Teddy Higuera in 1990.
"He really learned how to pitch well at the University of Hawaii," Fetters said of Karl. "He doesn't panic when he gets into situations."
Karl came out of last night's game in the sixth inning because of recurring pain in the big toe of his left foot. He said it's a stress fracture that has been bothering him his last five starts.
"It hurts quite a bit," Karl said. "But I'm pitching well enough to win and the team's playing great, so there's no way I want to take any time off now."
Neither does Fetters, who was bothered by arthritis in his right (pitching) elbow last season, but hasn't suffered any flare-ups this year.
In the off-season, Fetters lives in Gilbert, Ariz.. But he still has family in Hawaii, and keeps in touch with some of his Iolani teammates.
"Hey, (Red Raider classmate and football star) Albert Tufono's in my room right now," Fetters said last night. "He lives in Seattle now."