CLEARWATER – John Flaherty caught Kevin Brown yesterday for the first time and insisted afterward there are more painful experiences, even if the Yankee backup never has given birth or dressed next to David Wells.
“Kevin has been very relaxed in the clubhouse this spring,” said Flaherty. “This is the first time I’ve seen him with his game face. And he was like I was told he was going to be.
“When a guy is that intense, I try to go the other way as much as I can.”
When clubhouse men see Brown open the door after getting yanked, they try to go the other way as much as they can, as fast as they can, too. The most loathed and self-loathing man in baseball – a pitcher so driven he has ripped team logos from walls, put fists through dugout drywall, kicked in doors and insulted teammates and media persons from sea to boiling sea – hasn’t come to New York, the birthplace of high anxiety, to tone down his act, even at age 39.
Yesterday, when he pitched four shutout innings and hit a home run on Bill Wagner’s first pitch as a Philly in the Yanks’ 12-3 win, Brown did allow that the disappointment of giving up four hits in his third spring outing wasn’t anything worth self-mutilation. But he added: “Part of that has to do with the adrenaline difference in spring training.”
Perhaps that was Wagner’s reason for smiling as he watched Brown’s homer fly. “Are you kidding me?” the Phils’ new closer said to himself, when actually, Brown has rarely been known to kid anybody.
“You’ve heard about the blind squirrel,” he tried when asked about his blast. “I’m Mr. Squirrel.”
That’s a little Kevin Brown humor there. Enjoy it while you can before Opening Day.
“He’s pretty driven,” said Joe Torre, his eyebrows rising like they rarely do after all these years. “When [the game’s] over, he’s a different guy, but his game face is pretty good.”
So was Brown’s breaking stuff yesterday, even though he would rather walk barefoot across coals heated with smoke from The Boss’s ears or watch a musical comedy than admit it.
“I think it’s just the nature of the beast,” said Brown, just using an expression, of course. “It’s great to have results and say, ‘That’s as good as I can do it,’ but you can always push yourself to do better. Although you give me a perfect game and I’ll figure it out from there.”
In 1997, but for one errant cutter that hit Marvin Benard with two outs in the eighth, Brown would have found himself in that terrifying unknown. In the end, the no-hitter didn’t elude him, only euphoria, but that’s the way he likes it.
“I did good things that day, but a lot of times it’s easier to have the things that don’t go well stick in your mind,” he said. “One more good sinker instead of overpulling the cutter and it might have been [perfect].
“I’m happy with my career, but not satisfied. There is a lot of stuff to be accomplished yet, and that’s the reason for being here. The good years I had meant more when the team was successful.”
The 197-game winner, holding the fifth-lowest ERA active, won the 1997 World Series with the Marlins, the 1998 pennant with the Padres, and not many friends in either place. Better late then never, Yankee haters everywhere say: The unlikable, if sometimes unhittable, Kevin Brown finally, fittingly, has landed on its most despicable team.
“I haven’t signed up for a popularity contest,” he said. “You try to treat people with respect, but some don’t like the truth and it hurts some feelings. From that standpoint, there’s not a whole lot I can do about it. That’s the way it is.”
Certainly it’s the way he is. But the Yankees aren’t paying Kevin Brown one penny of the $30 million left on his seven-year Dodger deal for his thoughts.
