Posted By:
Rob DewolfDan,
The funny thing about that trade was that it happened in spring training. I had played only two seasons with the Brewers, the highest at Class A in the Midwest League. Steve was a former first-round pick (I think) with the Giants, and I was coming off a .252 season. So I was feeling pretty good that the Giants liked me a lot. Anyway, I made the trip from Phoenix (Brewers) to Scottsdale (Giants) and played pretty well for the last two weeks of spring training. I was slated to break camp with the Fresno team, and on the last day of camp, our manager, Steve Swisher, called me in to tell me they were releasing me. I was shocked.
The irony of it is that Bob Kennedy was the Giants farm director. My main collecting passion is Cleveland Indians memorabilia, and he was a member of the 1948 Indians, the last time Cleveland won the Series (my license plate is 48TRIBE). So here was a former Indian from their last glory days giving me the boot.
It all worked out OK, because the Brewers re-signed me the same day, and I ended up going to the California League anyway, just like I would have with the Brewers. So, in reality, the Brewers got Stanicek for nothing.
(Later that season I homered against Fresno when Kennedy was in town to watch them. Easily one of the highlights of my career.)