Geoff Jenkins elected to Brewers Walk of Fame; other honors for Prince Fielder, Harry Dalton, Doug Melvin

PHOENIX – Geoff Jenkins, one of the top sluggers in Milwaukee Brewers history, will be inducted into the team’s Walk of Fame this year.

The Brewers also announced Thursday that another top slugger, Prince Fielder, will join former general managers Harry Dalton and Doug Melvin on the team’s Wall of Honor. Also, the Brewers and the Milwaukee Braves Historical Association will induct pitcher Bob Buhl into the Braves Wall of Honor.

Jenkins, a first-round selection in the 1995 draft, will be honored Tuesday, July 24, before a game against Washington at Miller Park. Three days earlier, before a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Fielder, the late Dalton and Melvin will receive their tributes. The late Buhl will be honored before the New York Mets game on Thursday, May 24.

Jenkins becomes the 20th member of the Brewers Walk of Fame. He received 73% of the votes (27 of 37) cast by media members and club executives, surpassing the required 65% for election. The next-highest vote total went to 1982 Cy Young Award winner Pete Vuckovich with 54.1% (20 votes). Former outfielder Ben Oglivie and right-hander Ben Sheets tied for third with 51.4% (19).

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Jenkins, 43, played 10 seasons for the Brewers before finishing his career with Philadelphia in 2008. He batted .277 with 212 home runs and 704 runs batted in over 1,234 games with Milwaukee, with a .496 slugging percentage, 1,221 hits and 661 runs.

"It's a really, really cool honor when you get that phone call and they tell you that you're the 20th person inducted into their Walk of Fame," Jenkins said. "It makes you think of all the things you've done and all the people you've met, and the journey you took.

"It's come full circle. It's a really neat deal. I'm very honored. ... When you see the names on there, and see (Robin) Yount and (Paul) Molitor, and Ueck (Bob Uecker), it's an incredible honor. Robin was a coach in my first camp as a player.

"Your job as a player is to learn from the people before you, and the knowledge you get, you try to pass on to the people after you. For me, it was not just about being a great player. You're kind of the elder statesman and you try to become a little bit of a coach and help the guys be major-league players."

Jenkins said he has been so busy watching and coaching his kids playing youth sports that he hadn't thought much about a post-career honor with the Brewers. But he said he's looking forward to returning to Miller Park and letting his children see what his time with the club was all about, including the transition from non-contender to contender.

"My kids didn't really get to see me as a player; they were so young," he said. "For them to come back for this ceremony is a neat deal because they'll get to see what their dad did."

The seventh overall draft pick in 2002, Fielder played for the Brewers in seven of his 12 major-league seasons before a neck injury forced his retirement with Texas. In 2007, he became the first Brewer, and youngest major-leaguer, to hit 50 home runs in a season and he led the NL with 141 RBI in 2009.

The only player in franchise history with five consecutive 30-homer seasons, Fielder played all 162 games of a season four times with Milwaukee and is the franchise leader with a .390 on-base percentage and .929 OPS.

Dalton was general manager of the Brewers for 14 seasons (1978-‘91, the longest tenure by a GM in franchise history. Milwaukee won more than 90 games in each of his first two seasons (93-69 in 1978 and 95-66 in 1979).

In December 1980, Dalton acquired Hall of Fame reliever Rollie Fingers, catcher Ted Simmons and Vuckovich in a trade with St. Louis, a deal that pushed the Brewers to the postseason in 1981 and 1982, including their first and only World Series appearance against St. Louis, which won in seven games. Dalton died in 2005.

The Brewers did not return to the postseason until Melvin became GM in September 2002 and began a large-scale rebuilding process. Milwaukee broke through with a wild-card berth in 2008, after Melvin acquired ace CC Sabathia. Three years later, after he engineered a blockbuster deal for right-hander Zack Greinke, the Brewers claimed their only NL Central crown and advanced to the NLCS, when again they lost to the Cardinals.

The Brewers won 1,024 games during Melvin’s 13 years at the helm. He moved into an adviser’s role after the 2015 season, when David Stearns became GM.

The Brewers Wall of Honor commemorates players, managers, executives and broadcasters that meet a set criteria based on service to the organization. Melvin said it was an honor to go in with Dalton and Fielder.

"I didn't know Harry real closely but I did know him," Melvin said. "I got to know him more by talking to Commissioner (Bud) Selig. When the earthquake happened in the World Series (in 1989), my wife and I didn't know how to get back to the hotel. Harry Dalton, his wife Pat and the Commissioner had this car and they said, 'You guys come back with us. I was working at that time with the Baltimore Orioles.

"Prince brought toughness to our organization. I've always said that. Our team had toughness that we lacked prior to that. The thing with Prince that I admired the most, that I'm not sure you see today, is he only missed six games in six years here. That's unheard of today."

Of the moves made to push the Brewers into playoff mode, Melvin said, "Those are trades I always thought this kind of market had to make. You can't get too involved in the big free agents. I thought we had two teams that could have won the World Series.

"If you don't have good players, you don't see these kinds of honors. I've got to thank (owner) Mark Attanasio. He inherited me as a general manager. Wendy Selig-Prieb was the one who hired me." 

Buhl becomes the 17th member of the Braves Wall of Honor. He went 109-72 with a 3.27 ERA in 282 games (220 starts) over parts of 10 seasons with Milwaukee. Buhl won a career-best 18 games in both 1956 and 1957, when the Braves advanced to the World Series and upset the New York Yankees.

Buhl, who passed away in 2001, was an all-star in 1960.

New look: Brent Suter spent the off-season lifting weights and bulking up to help him in his bid to make the Brewers' starting rotation.

Yovani Gallardo, on the other hand, is sporting a slimmer and sleeker look than he did the last time he suited up for the Brewers in 2014.

Now 31 years old, Gallardo checks in at 6 foot 2 and 205 pounds according to the team.

"I’m 10 pounds lighter than I was in 2014, and probably five pounds lighter than I was in 2011," he said. "It’s not much of a difference, but something like that can play a big part in feeling good and feeling healthy, feeling stronger."

Gallardo was always diligent about getting his running in during his first stint with the Brewers. That hasn't changed now that he's fighting for a spot on the staff rather than serving as the team's No. 1 starter, although he's tweaked some things over the years.

"I’ve changed it a little bit," he said of his off-season program. "Obviously the game has changed a little bit now than when I first came up.

"You make adjustments year after year and try different things, but I still go out there and run. That’s been one of my things."

Manager Craig Counsell – one of Gallardo's former teammates – was asked if he'd noticed the right-hander's new look.

"He’s got grey in his beard, too," he joked. "I think if you haven’t seen a guy for a long time and he looks the same, that’s a good thing."