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Vina Gets Warm Welcome But Says He's Happy The Brewers Traded Him To Cards
By Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch
August 12, 2000
MILWAUKEE - The Mayor returned to his former constituency Friday night.
"Get in and get out. Weekend Mayor," said Cardinals second baseman Fernando Vina of his three-day visit to County Stadium, where he ranked as the Milwaukee Brewers' most popular player from 1995 to '99 before he was traded to the Cardinals last December.
Vina was embraced by several Brewers employees Friday before the start of a three-game series. "There's a lot of great memories here," Vina said. "Having good years, making the All-Star team in '98 ... the fans were good to me always. They supported me big-time."
But, said Vina of his trade to the Cardinals for righthander Juan Acevedo and two minor-leaguers, "it was time to make a move. It's so much better to win. It's a lot better to come here knowing you're six games up."
Vina, who signed a three-year deal with the Cardinals, could have been a free agent next year, but he realizes that the small-market Brewers couldn't afford to keep him.
"They didn't want to pay anybody to keep playing there. I was gone, regardless," he said.
Vina has a .297 average and has been consistent. Since July 7, Vina's average hasn't been less than .292 or higher than .302.
"He makes more contact than .290," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "I can see him being a legitimate .300 hitter."
And in the field, Vina has made just two errors all season.
"Until you see him every day, you don't realize how good he is defensively," La Russa said. "He's been really outstanding. He goes after everything."
Vina has had to make concessions to the leg problems he has had this season. He has stolen just two bases since May 26 and has nine for the year.
"He's had sore legs for a long time now," La Russa said. "It doesn't make too much sense to lose him unless the (base) that he's trying for is the one that wins the game for us."
Red Schoendienst, the Cardinals special assistant to the general manager, is on the trip to Milwaukee and Chicago. One of the first people he encountered when he walked into the clubhouse was Johnny Logan, his double-play partner with the world champion Milwaukee Braves in 1957.
The visiting clubhouse at County Stadium is the smallest in the major leagues. La Russa, sitting at a small desk tucked into a corner, will make one more trip to Milwaukee before the new Miller Park opens next year. Asked if he was becoming nostalgic about leaving this yard, La Russa smiled and said there was another word involved.
Nauseous?
"That would be one," La Russa said.
Today's game has been moved from 7:05 p.m. to 12:15 for a Fox network regional telecast. The Brewers already had scheduled ceremonies honoring broadcaster Bob Uecker, who is in his 30th season on the Milwaukee network. Those now will have to start at 11:15 a.m.
La Russa said he anticipated that rehabilitating Mark McGwire would begin playing catch while he is home in St. Louis during this weeklong trip.
Asked for whom he was pulling in the Cincinnati-Chicago Cubs series this weekend, La Russa said he always pulled for the team farther behind in the standings.
Otherwise, he said it didn't matter. "We're either good enough or we're not," he said.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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