Still feeling the baseball fever

If you mention Robin Yount and Paul Molitor and the Milwaukee Brewers' run to the 1982 American League pennant, a prominent member of the team's current front-office staff can tell you exactly where he was and what he was doing.
Tom Flanagan was in elementary school in the suburbs of Milwaukee, rooting for the "Brew Crew" as it prepared to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
"Brewers fever was everywhere," he recalled.
Thirty-seven years later, Flanagan feels an even more intense rooting interest in the franchise as Milwaukee's fourth-year farm director.
It's been quite a ride for a former Milwaukee area high school baseball player, who not only cheered for the Brewers in his childhood, but got his first job with the club at age 17 as a bat boy.
Talking by telephone earlier this week, Flanagan, now 46, admitted that his life has been intertwined with the fortunes of the Brewers for as long as he can remember, from his days in the visitors' clubhouse at Milwaukee County Stadium, to his current position as a team executive at Miller Park.
"I always liked a lot of sports," he said. "But with the Brewers being a very good team when I was growing up, and now that they're playing well (again), it makes it all that much sweeter. It's good to be a part of it."
For the first time since the early 1970s, San Antonio's minor-league ball club will be affiliated with the Brewers, which means that Flanagan will be a key figure in the Missions' transition to Triple-A in the Pacific Coast League.
He'll have a say in all player personnel moves, whether it involves Missions players who are on the move to the major leagues, or those who are getting bumped up from Double-A Biloxi in the Southern League to San Antonio.
Flanagan said he expects San Antonio's roster to include many of the organization's highest-rated prospects, including second baseman Keston Hiura and shortstop Mauricio Dubón.
Hiura, who hits for average and power, is considered the Milwaukee franchise's No. 1 prospect. Dubon, a slick-fielding native of Honduras, is rated fifth. The field manager is veteran Rick Sweet, a former big leaguer who played with Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry.
"I think they're going to be a young, prospect-laden club," Flanagan said. "So, I think the fans will really be able to get into that. The first year at Triple A, I think, will be a treat for fans to see these guys coming through."
Meanwhile, on the major league level, the Brewers are reloading in an effort to reach the World Series for the first time since Flanagan was in grade school.
They nearly made it last year, taking the Los Angeles Dodgers to seven games in the National League Championship series.
Earlier, the Brewers claimed the NL Central Division crown with a one-game showdown victory over the Chicago Cubs, followed by a riveting 3-0 sweep of the Colorado Rockies in the NL Division Series.
This year, they're counting on another big season from reigning NL Most Valuable Player Christian Yelich, but they've also added catcher Yasmani Grandal, formerly of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Flanagan said he sees "a solid group" preparing daily under manager Craig Counsell's watch at the team's Arizona-based training complex.
He senses that good things could happen with the core of a 96-win squad returning.
"As a local guy, as a Milwaukee person, it feels good to get to see this team up close," Flanagan said. "It feels good to be a part of it."
After all these years, he's still got the fever.
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