Oct 4, 2008 6:21 pm US/Eastern
Phillies Hope To Advance To NLCS
MILWAUKEE (AP) ―
For Geoff Jenkins, the good-natured ribbing began right
after the Philadelphia Phillies arrived at Milwaukee's
Miller Park.
"The house that Jenks built!"
infielder Greg Dobbs hooted.
As far as his teammates are
concerned, Jenkins is the mayor of Milwaukee.
Jenkins, one of the more popular players in recent Brewers franchise history,
signed as a free agent with Philadelphia
in the offseason.
Now he's finally
getting his chance to see a postseason game in Milwaukee, something he always dreamed of but
never got in 10 seasons with the Brewers. In an odd twist of fate, he's now
trying to help send his former teammates home for the winter.
"You can't really write
the script any better than that," Jenkins said. "It's pretty crazy that would
be the scenario."
Jenkins' role with the
Phillies, however, is unclear. After signing a $13 million, two-year deal with Philadelphia as a free agent
in the offseason, Jenkins spent most of the year platooning with Jayson Werth
in right field.
Then he missed two
weeks with a hip flexor injury, returning in mid-September to find the Werth
basically had become an everyday player.
"Obviously, I got
injured at a weird time," said Jenkins, who hit .246 with nine home runs and 29
RBIs. "But for me, I went to Philadelphia
as a free agent to be on a winner, and here we are at this point in time with a
chance to close this thing out."
Despite facing Brewers
right-hander Dave Bush in Saturday night's potentially decisive Game 3, the
right-handed Werth started ahead of the left-handed Jenkins.
Now Jenkins figures his
best chance at contributing in the playoffs is as a pinch hitter or defensive
replacement.
"Sure, everybody would
like to be playing a bigger role, a more important role, whatever," Jenkins
said. "But you know, you just have to keep in mind that you are part of the
team."
And it's a team that
has a chance to win, something Jenkins certainly didn't have in his early years
with the Brewers.
"Early on in my career
here, during spring training, you were out of the playoffs already," Jenkins
said. "You just knew. We just didn't have the personnel to get the job done."
That's not the case
anymore. Despite blowing the 5 ½-game wild-card lead they held at the beginning
of September, the Brewers and their talented core of young players rallied in
the final week of the season to make their first playoff appearance since 1982.
"I'm sure he would have
liked to have done it here," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. "He put
in all the years in the losing years here, and we were getting close. Geoff's a
good guy. He plays the game hard, and
always has. He's in the postseason—no matter who he's with, I think it's
probably going to be exciting for him."
It was, but Jenkins
said he also enjoyed watching his former teammates finally break through.
"I was just as excited
for them as I was for us," Jenkins said. "I worked hard with them, played with
them, care a lot about them. And I was excited for them."
But Jenkins knows it
didn't come easily for the Brewers. Jenkins called the firing of Brewers
manager Ned Yost with two weeks left in the season a tough situation for
principal owner Mark Attanasio and general manager Doug Melvin.
"It's your worst
nightmare, having to pull that move with that few games left," Jenkins said. "You
know, tough decisions are part of the game, and I think whatever it may be,
they felt the necessary need to do that to try to get them over the hump."
Given his first-hand
knowledge of how hard it can be to make the playoffs, Jenkins couldn't help but
shake his head as he watched the Phillies' September call-ups celebrating a
division title.
"Their first go-round, they're popping champagne on the field. It's an unbelievable feeling for them,"
Jenkins said. "So you look at that and you think, 'Gosh, it took me that long
to get to that point."'
But now that he has, he
likes the Phillies' chances beyond simply winning one series.
"It took a while—almost
11 years," Jenkins said. "But obviously getting to this point, it's great. I
feel like we have a team that can go all the way, not just win the series, but
win the whole thing."
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
