Tonight I had the pleasure of talking to the son of the late, great former Dodger player Jim Brewer. I want to thank him for sharing his family’s story with me. Since I have never done an interview with anyone before and this is my first attempt at writing in MS Word. I ask that you please bear with me and go light on my writing skills. We talked for over two hours on the phone tonight and he told me so many great stories, I'm going to have to do them in parts. We discussed everything from his fathers minor league days, steroids to the latest Dodger news of today. I hope you people enjoy them. I asked Scott if he would like to write some stories for the blog and he said he would happy to do so in the future. Seems he's getting married in 10 days and he's going to be a little busy.
For those readers who are too young to know the name Jim Brewer. Here is a link to his player page in the Dodgers encyclopedia
Scott and Mark Brewer had a childhood millions of young boys only dream about but very few ever have a chance to live. Unlike most kids, they went to work with their father almost every day. Their father was one of major league baseball's best relief pitchers during an era when pitching was king. Scott and Mark Brewer grew up in the Dodgers clubhouse alongside the some of the greatest Dodger legends of all time. Players named Koufax, Drysdale, Sutton and many more. Scott has some incredible stories to tell I hope to do them justice.
Scott starts off by telling me about Walter Alston and Walter O'Malley. "Respect, that is what you gave Mr Alston and Mr Omalley. The club house would grow quiet when Alston walked into the room. You did not say a word. It was like God had walked in." He spent quite a bit of time talking about Alston and O'Malley. You could tell by the our conversation that both Walters had a huge influence on him growing up. "You always addressed both as Mr." " You always said sir and thank you." "O'Malley instilled into the players and all Dodger employees that they were not just a team, but a family." A family that still keeps in touch after all these years. More on that in a later post.
Scott starts off by telling me about Walter Alston and Walter O'Malley. "Respect, that is what you gave Mr Alston and Mr Omalley. The club house would grow quiet when Alston walked into the room. You did not say a word. It was like God had walked in." He spent quite a bit of time talking about Alston and O'Malley. You could tell by the our conversation that both Walters had a huge influence on him growing up. "You always addressed both as Mr." " You always said sir and thank you." "O'Malley instilled into the players and all Dodger employees that they were not just a team, but a family." A family that still keeps in touch after all these years. More on that in a later post.
Scott the bat boy
One day in the locker room. Scott is standing in front of his fathers locker. He looks to his dad and asks him. "Do you think I can be a bat boy?" His father looks at him, grins and says "Better ask skip." The young Brewer heads off towards the managers office and knocks on the door. Alston is not there. Sitting inside is Junior Gilliam who knows what he is there for. Gilliam starts smiling, shaking his head left to right tells young Scott. "Oh My, not going to happen." A few minutes later Alston returns, looks at him and says" So you want to be a bat boy? Can you behave?" Scott promises than asks "Mr Alston, do you think Mr Goodman could make a uniform for me if my mom and dad pay for it?". Alston responds"I don't see that as a problem." A few moments later Scott is standing in front of his fathers locker crying. His father walks over and asks "What's wrong? Did Skip say no." Scott answers "Mr Alston told me I was a Dodger now." His father understood.
Being a kid with Dodger stadium as your playground. You can imagine there are quite a few places to get into. Later today I will tell you about some of the trouble young boys can find inside the inner workings of the stadium.
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