BF: Hi Brooks! Thanks for taking the time...

BK: Are you kidding? This is my pleasure... let's do it!

BF: Tell the truth now, are you familiar with Brewerfan.net?

BK: Oh, absolutely. I never had time to read through the threads or anything when I was playing, but my mom visited a lot when I played for the Brewers. All of the players are aware of the site, there's no doubt about it.

BF: Brooks, you're probably the second-most popular Brewer ever at Brewerfan... would you like to guess who's first?

BK: Oh man... I'd have to say Leskanic.

BF: Leskanic? Nope... it's Russell Branyan, then you.

BK: I can see that with Branyan, that's probably because of those bombs he hits.

BF: Why Leskanic.

BK: Oh wow, that guy's a character. I lived in the same apartment building with him one year, he's really something else.

BF: Brooks, let's talk about college... you won the Dick Howser Trophy twice - I think that's incredible.

BK: Yeah, it is pretty cool, looking back at it. At the time, I was honored to win it, but I really didn't grasp how special that is. I never won the Golden Spikes, but I won that one two times... it means a lot more to me now.

I was also part of the inaugural class of the NCAA Baseball Hall of Fame – that really felt good, and I won the Baseball America Player of the Year.

BF: That goes to show, your college career was amazing.

BS: Yeah, I loved the whole experience, playing for Texas, having grown up there, two trips to the College World Series... that was awesome.

BF: OK, so college goes great, and then you get picked tenth overall by the Cubs...

BK: Yep, I was the tenth pick in '93.

BF: You didn't have the success everyone projected with the Cubs... why not?

BK: You know, honestly, I knew my career was in trouble the minute the Cubs drafted me. (laughs)

BF: Brewer fans will love you for that one, Brooks. You said that with a laugh, did you mean it?

BK: Oh, absolutely. I spent one week in Rookie ball, and one week in A ball, then I went right to AA. The first day I was there, the first half of the season was winding down, and the team was right in the race. Two of the guys went around saying, "Hey, let's see if we can get a losing streak going, so we can go home on time." These guys did not want to make the playoffs because it would extend the end of the season.

In college, everyone plays to win - it's all about school pride, making it to the College World Series, all of that. Nobody ever talked about trying to lose. When I got to pro ball, there were all kinds of different agendas. Some guys were hoping for a release so they could hook on somewhere else, some were just glad to be there, some were trying to move up, and some knew they never would... it was just a major culture shock for me.

BF: OK, so you feel as though the Cubs mishandled your career?

BK: Yes, I do. I was drafted by Larry Himes, then after that first season, the team changed GMs, they changed managers, they changed over everybody, and it was like they forgot I was there. It happened again too, before I knew it, the team had been through two GMs and three managers – I felt like I got lost in the shuffle.

BF: How so?

BK: They told me they wanted to be their left fielder for ten years, and then when I did get called up, they gave me 70 At-Bats, and then sent me back down to Iowa. They told me they had a kid down there who was swinging a hot bat, that was Robin Jennings. The same thing happened to Jennings, neither one of us ever really got a chance to show what we could do.

BF: OK, walk me through that.

BK: I made the team in '96, when Dave Magadan got hurt. Jim Riggleman was the manager. I got six At-Bats, Todd, then they sent me back down. Now come on, if you're supposed to be the left fielder for ten years... how can you show anyone anything in six ABs?

BF: Good point.

BK: So, they brought me back up in August, and I hit like .391. They told me left field was mine to lose the following year. In '97, they had myself, Robin Jennings, and Brant Brown... they sent Jennings and I out, and went with Brown. They told us he had the best glove of the three. I'd had a big spring, Todd, and they had told me it was mine to lose... it was a real slap in the face.

I got called up, and I started well, I think I was leading the team in homers and RBIs when we went out west. I went about 2 for 22, and they sent me down again. I said, "Anyone can go into a slump but me?" It was just one of those things, I just never got 500 ABs to prove myself, and they labeled me as a guy who couldn't field, and couldn't hit lefties.

BF: Could you hit lefties?

BK: Not as well as I hit righties, but that's true of most guys. Yes, I could hit against lefties, I did it my whole life - it didn't matter to me who was pitching, left, right, whatever.

BF: I hear you, Brooks, who knows what might have happened for you if the Cubs had just plugged you in and let you play your way into things. Are you saying that's all on the Cubs?

BK: OK, no. Honestly, looking back, I could have worked harder. I could have gone to Arizona in the off-season, to work with their outfield instructors, that's true. It's not like I was sitting around, I went and played winter ball, but I suppose I could have done some things differently too. It's just that I never got my 500 ABs to prove I belonged... I still don't understand why.

You know, one other thing about my time with the Cubs - I grew up in Texas, as an Astros fan. They had the 11th pick that year, and they were going to take me, my agent had a deal already worked out with them – then at the last minute, the Cubs took me 10th.

BF: Do you think that affected your career?

BK: No, not the draft part, I really just wanted to play, it's just an interesting story... for me at least. (laughs)

BF: Brooks, when you were first drafted, did you ever think about pitching.

BK: Never. None at all, hell, I was 21, I just went out and hit. They told me I would be a left fielder, and that was that.

BF: So, when did you start pitching as a pro?

BK: I decided to try it in '97. I went and threw five bullpens in ten days. I said, "If I'm going to throw this much, use me in a game." That was wearing me out.

I threw an inning in a game in '99, and one inning in 2001, but my first real shot at pitching came with Charlotte, in 2002. That was with the White Sox.

The Indians had me in camp that year, and they released me. I said, ok, I'm released, but let me stay around and pitch. They told me ok, but that they wouldn't be liable if I got hurt. I went out and Kd the side, I was throwing 90-92. The next morning, I show up and they tell me, "We can't use you, plenty of guys can throw ninety." I remember, I said, "Yeah, but can they get anybody out?!"

I first signed with the Brockton Rocks, in an Independent League, and I wound up DHing for the White Sox in AAA. When they asked me to sign, I said, "Only if I can pitch."

BF: How did that go?

BK: I got in a game against Richmond, I faced Matt Franco, Tim Unroe, and Wilson Betemit, all of whom played in the major leagues. I knew Franco real well, he had told me he'd seen my "weak stuff", and he knew he could hit me. I Kd him on two fastballs, and a slider, and then I Kd Unroe and Betemit... that was when I knew I could pitch in the big leagues. I was throwing 92-94, with a hard slider, I knew it right then.

I went on to throw 17-18 scoreless innings, and just like that, I LOVED playing baseball again, I could not wait to get out there each day.

BF: So, the White Sox had you in their system, pitching scoreless innings, and they let you walk... how did that happen?

BK: Late in the season, they offered me a AAA contract for the following year. I knew I had opened some eyes with my pitching, so I told them, "Hey, I think some doors might open for me, there's no way I'm going to sign a AAA deal right now. Doug Melvin called my agent the minute I became a free agent.

Doug was adamant that he wanted me, and that I'd get a fair shot to make the team in the spring. I went to Puerto Rico, and threw 10 scoreless innings, then I had a GREAT spring... but still, they sent me down.

Doug told me personally, he said, "Brooks, you did everything we asked you to do, but we've got a couple of Rule 5 guys we've got to keep... go down to AAA and do your work... you'll be the first one up.

BF: I know you wound up in Milwaukee, you must have done well in AAA...

BK: Honestly, no. I went down there and had two horrible weeks. The day I got called up, I pitched in the rain in Indianapolis, and I got shelled. I'm in the clubhouse throwing my glove around, and Cecil Cooper walked past me – he was the manager that year. All he said was, "Keisch, you're goin' to the big leagues." He never stopped walking, and didn't show any emotion about it at all. I was like, "Wow, OK."

I rushed to Milwaukee, and almost got into the game that night, after pitching in AAA that afternoon... that would have been wild.

BF: Tell me about Milwaukee.

BK: I LOVED that city. I LOVED that city. Milwaukee, I miss you and I love you, if Doug Melvin would call me, I'd get in shape and suit up right now! Milwaukee treats their players so well, I just felt right at home. Those people are so relatable, they aren't full of themselves, they aren't pushy or rude... they're just real people, and they make sure you know they're on your side.

BF: Brooks... we loved you too.

BK: Oh yeah, I always knew that... people there were awesome to me.

BF: How did it go for you once you got up here?

BK: First of all, I love Yost and Maddux. Those two guys were so good to me, they made sure they used me right, which was tricky, given the hitting and pitching combination. That whole staff was great.

This is the funniest part. Sometimes they'd have me get up and get loose, then I'd run around on the concrete, being careful in my spikes, and come into the dugout to go up and hit, and then pitch the next inning. Here I was... I'm not a small man... and I'd be running all gingerly in spikes, across the concrete – it must have looked hilarious.

They wound up having a golf cart ready for me out there, with a driver, to make sure I got into the dugout without breaking my neck.

One time, they had me get loose, and I came around to get ready to hit, but the guys scored 4-5 runs. So now I'm all loose, behind the dugout, and they don't need me to hit. Ned had me get loose again right there in the hallway... it was hilarious. Trent Durrington warmed me up right there in the hallway, and one got away from me... I put a hole in the wall... BAM! When that happened, Ned yelled down... "Go down to the pen!", so Durrington and I had to run back out to the pen to get me loose.