http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/04cactus/0228dbacks0228.html
Sexson enjoys change
Slugger adjusts well to new desert digs
Bob McManaman
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 28, 2004 12:00 AM
TUCSON - Richie Sexson said he couldn't wait to get his feet wet with the Diamondbacks. Perhaps it was only fitting then that thunderclouds broke overhead and threatened to disrupt his first full-squad workout with the team Friday at Kino Sports Complex.
Sexson and the Diamondbacks sloshed their way through batting practice and some fielding drills, and after a soggy but productive day, it is clear nothing can rain on his parade.
"It's nice to have a chance to win," the slugging first baseman said, grinning from ear to ear.
Sexson had all the individual success, including clobbering 45 home runs twice, he could stomach during his 3½ seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. The constant losing as a team ate away at his gut.
So when the Diamondbacks orchestrated a multiplayer trade Dec. 1, with the purpose of using his powerful swing to help a veteran club return to the World Series, the 6-foot-8 Sexson did cartwheels in his Vancouver, Wash., driveway.
"It's exciting, no doubt," he said. "I've got an opportunity to win again, and that's every player's dream, to get that ring. That's what we talked about in our meeting today. It's not just good enough to get there anymore.
"I enjoyed my time in Milwaukee, but losing gets tough after a while."
The two-time All-Star, who averaged 36 homers and 111 RBIs in his first five full seasons, will be a major influence on which way the season turns for the Diamondbacks.
He will bat cleanup behind leadoff man Steve Finley, fellow newcomer Roberto Alomar and Luis Gonzalez. He gives Arizona its first genuine No. 4 power hitter since Matt Williams hit 35 homers and drove in 142 runs in 1999.
"He's a bona fide home run hitter," Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson said.
"With Sexson in the lineup," Gonzalez added, "we're going to score a lot more runs."
"A lot of quick runs," Finley said.
If there was pressure on Sexson, 29, to lift a futile franchise out of the depths in Milwaukee, one might assume there's double the intensity here, where Sexson is seen as a final piece in a puzzle.
But if there's pressure, Sexson is hiding it. In just a few short days at the team's spring-training complex, Sexson has slid right in and become one of the more affable players in the clubhouse. Part of it, he says, is because he knows a handful of the Diamondbacks.
It's also his personality. He arrived at camp sporting a platinum-colored hairdo (he swears he lost a football bet to his brother), and manager Bob Brenly already suspects the club has a new practical jokester.
"I'm pretty easy to get along with," Sexson said.
He'll be downright family if he puts up huge numbers at the plate. Last year he finished second in the NL in homers (45) and fourth in RBIs (124). If the aging players in front of him perform to expectations, Sexson's numbers could skyrocket, especially at Bank One Ballpark, where he is a career .301 hitter (109 for 362) with 26 homers and 78 RBIs. Diamondbacks fans won't forget the day in 2001 at BOB when Sexson and Jeromy Burnitz became the first teammates to each hit three home runs in the same game.
"That was crazy," Sexson said. " . . . But with everything else that had gone wrong that year with how many games we lost, at least that was kind of a bright moment."
Why the success here?
"I think it's just the atmosphere," he said. "That, and it was always our goal to try to knock the contenders out of it, and every time we came in here Arizona was usually always in the stretch run or trying to fight for the playoffs.
"Plus the fans are out there yelling and the ballpark is like playing on a golf course. They've got the pool, everybody's going crazy. It's baseball. It's the way the game is supposed to be played. I'm going to love it, especially when they kick on the AC in August."
Sexson enjoys change
Slugger adjusts well to new desert digs
Bob McManaman
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 28, 2004 12:00 AM
TUCSON - Richie Sexson said he couldn't wait to get his feet wet with the Diamondbacks. Perhaps it was only fitting then that thunderclouds broke overhead and threatened to disrupt his first full-squad workout with the team Friday at Kino Sports Complex.
Sexson and the Diamondbacks sloshed their way through batting practice and some fielding drills, and after a soggy but productive day, it is clear nothing can rain on his parade.
"It's nice to have a chance to win," the slugging first baseman said, grinning from ear to ear.
Sexson had all the individual success, including clobbering 45 home runs twice, he could stomach during his 3½ seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. The constant losing as a team ate away at his gut.
So when the Diamondbacks orchestrated a multiplayer trade Dec. 1, with the purpose of using his powerful swing to help a veteran club return to the World Series, the 6-foot-8 Sexson did cartwheels in his Vancouver, Wash., driveway.
"It's exciting, no doubt," he said. "I've got an opportunity to win again, and that's every player's dream, to get that ring. That's what we talked about in our meeting today. It's not just good enough to get there anymore.
"I enjoyed my time in Milwaukee, but losing gets tough after a while."
The two-time All-Star, who averaged 36 homers and 111 RBIs in his first five full seasons, will be a major influence on which way the season turns for the Diamondbacks.
He will bat cleanup behind leadoff man Steve Finley, fellow newcomer Roberto Alomar and Luis Gonzalez. He gives Arizona its first genuine No. 4 power hitter since Matt Williams hit 35 homers and drove in 142 runs in 1999.
"He's a bona fide home run hitter," Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson said.
"With Sexson in the lineup," Gonzalez added, "we're going to score a lot more runs."
"A lot of quick runs," Finley said.
If there was pressure on Sexson, 29, to lift a futile franchise out of the depths in Milwaukee, one might assume there's double the intensity here, where Sexson is seen as a final piece in a puzzle.
But if there's pressure, Sexson is hiding it. In just a few short days at the team's spring-training complex, Sexson has slid right in and become one of the more affable players in the clubhouse. Part of it, he says, is because he knows a handful of the Diamondbacks.
It's also his personality. He arrived at camp sporting a platinum-colored hairdo (he swears he lost a football bet to his brother), and manager Bob Brenly already suspects the club has a new practical jokester.
"I'm pretty easy to get along with," Sexson said.
He'll be downright family if he puts up huge numbers at the plate. Last year he finished second in the NL in homers (45) and fourth in RBIs (124). If the aging players in front of him perform to expectations, Sexson's numbers could skyrocket, especially at Bank One Ballpark, where he is a career .301 hitter (109 for 362) with 26 homers and 78 RBIs. Diamondbacks fans won't forget the day in 2001 at BOB when Sexson and Jeromy Burnitz became the first teammates to each hit three home runs in the same game.
"That was crazy," Sexson said. " . . . But with everything else that had gone wrong that year with how many games we lost, at least that was kind of a bright moment."
Why the success here?
"I think it's just the atmosphere," he said. "That, and it was always our goal to try to knock the contenders out of it, and every time we came in here Arizona was usually always in the stretch run or trying to fight for the playoffs.
"Plus the fans are out there yelling and the ballpark is like playing on a golf course. They've got the pool, everybody's going crazy. It's baseball. It's the way the game is supposed to be played. I'm going to love it, especially when they kick on the AC in August."
