- Doug Melvin
A couple weeks ago, Milwaukee Brewers starting catcher Jonathan Lucroy broke a finger after his wife moved a suitcase that fell on his hand.
That's not even the strange part of the story.
"A reporter had tweeted it from the clubhouse," said Chatham native Doug Melvin, the team's GM and president of baseball operations. "I was at the grocery store at the time and one of the clerks said to me, 'I hear your catcher's hurt,' and I told him, 'that's news to me.'
"That's just the way it is now. Things move pretty quickly."
One moment, you're paying for produce. The next, you're trying to squeeze more production from your lineup.
There isn't much time to put up your feet, sit outside and tell old stories -- but that's what Melvin will do Saturday, June 23, when he's inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys with Rusty Staub, Rheal Cormier and last year's successful Canadian men's senior team.
Then, it's back to the frenetic business of trying to push an injury-ravaged club, who lost slugger Prince Fielder to the Detroit Tigers this off-season, into the playoffs again.
"Your team plays 162 games in something like 180 days," said the 59-year-old Melvin, the Brew Crew's chief for nearly a decade and recently signed to a three-year extension, "and when you're not watching them, you're watching someone else or a minor league game."
He'll still watch from the stands and even grab a hot dog -- just not at Miller Park in Milwaukee.
"On the road or in the minors, nobody recognizes me there," he said, "but you have to be careful.
"With cellphones, you could be in the stands and get a call, it could be your owner, and you don't know who's behind you."
In baseball, a GM's career doesn't hinge on one particular draft choice. There are 40 rounds of players picked each year and, though Melvin does extensive research, he must rely on and trust his team of scouts.
"About 7-to-10 days before the draft, we'll get together and I'll get what's basically a crash course," Melvin said. "You want to see the top prospects, of course, but there isn't enough time because we're the only sport that holds its draft during its season, and that's something I never really liked.
"You look at basketball, hockey and the NFL -- they hold the draft in the off-season. The (NBA's) Milwaukee Bucks here, there's two rounds in the draft and the player they get will probably make an immediate impact.
"Players like Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper don't come around every year. We make a player our first pick and we send them to Helena (Mont.) to play."
The GM's biggest responsibility is knowing when to push the button and go for it, or hold off and keep his prize prospects. The Brewers made Canadian Brett Lawrie their first round-pick a couple years ago, but dealt him to Toronto for pitcher Shaun Marcum in a playoff charge.
Now, Marcum and fellow starter Zack Grienke are approaching free agency -- so Melvin, with a team still under .500 and in a packed National League Central, has another big decision to make.
"That's why you watch your team so much," he said. "You have to know when your playoff window's about to open or close. You saw us get CC Sabathia in 2008? If your window is about to close and you don't take advantage of it, you might be waiting for another 30 years."
The Jays face that question right now. There's a bigger snag for National League teams, though, to add an extra bat.
"You look at Vlad Guerrero (who Toronto picked up)," Melvin said. "Pittsburgh's in first place and they've scored the least runs. They probably would love to add someone like that, but a lot of us can't do it. That's the difference -- with the designated hitter in the American League, you can. But I like the strategy in our league. You need to look at guys who are going to help you in the field. You need to be creative."
If you don't do the job, you'll hear about it -- even at the grocery store.
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DOUG MELVIN
(Milwaukee Brewers GM weighs in before his induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame June 23)
On the new major league playoff format: "I'm willing to give it a look. The only thing about a one-game playoff is you might not have your best 25 players in it. If you have a team clinch their spot earlier, they could rest their No. 1 starter and be facing your No. 4. But anyone can win one game. We'll just have to see how it works out."
On star Brewer Ryan Braun (still going strong after MVP off-season marred by steroid controversy): "He's proven to be a consistent player. He reminds me a lot of Larry Walker. He can steal 30 bases and hit 30 home runs. We needed a big year from him after losing Prince (Fielder)."
On baseball's non-salary cap rules: We're the only sport without one and we have the least number of teams make the playoffs. You think it would be the other way around. Most of the time, you see the cap leagues go in between $40-80 million. In ours, we could have $50 million teams with teams like the Yankees, who are over $200 million."
On Team Canada: "I'm always cheering for them. It's something I will have an interest in, and perhaps as I get older, there will be more opportunities (to become involved). Canada has done a better job lately in recent years producing talent and our guy (Brewers Canadian scout) Jay Lapp does a great job bringing them to our attention."
DH or not: "I don't know if it'll ever be the same in both leagues. It's something unique in our game. It would be loke one of the conferences in the NHL having different rules. The way we look at it, you have 27 outs to work with but with your pitcher getting three at bats a game and most hitting .100, you're really down to 24."
On his rooting interests as a kid: "I grew up a Detroit Tigers fan, but then really pulled for the Chicago Cubs because of (fellow Chatham native) Fergie Jenkins."
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London Salutes Canadian Baseball buffet breakfast
(Presented by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)
When: Friday, June 22, 7:30-9 a.m.
Special guests: Milwaukee Brewers GM Doug Melvin, Fergie Jenkins, Canadian ball hall of famers Steve Rogers and Ernie Whitt.
Tickets: $50 per person or $500 a table (plus HST).
More info: www.baseballhalloffame.ca or call (519) 284-1838.
Induction day: Saturday, June 23, 11 a.m., at the ball hall in St. Marys. 2012 inductees: Rusty Staub, Rheal Cormier, Doug Melvin, Team Canada 2011.
E-mail ryan.pyette@sunmedia.ca or follow RyanatLFPress on Twitter.
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