Who Is This Guy?

The most unlikely name among the National League batting leaders
is Scott Podsednik, the Brewers' 27-year-old rookie
centerfielder, who in nine years as a minor leaguer had a career
average of .265. At week's end the 6-foot, 170-pound Texan, whom
the Brewers picked up off the waiver wire from Seattle last
October and became an every-day player in May, ranked 10th with a
.318 average and was also second in the league in stolen bases,
with 36. He could become only the sixth rookie in major league
history to hit .300 and steal 40 bases.

What's more, Milwaukee had won 14 of its last 19 games, with
Podsednik hitting .375 over that span. "He's a late bloomer who's
just starting to understand what it takes to hit at the big
league level," says Brewers hitting coach Butch Wynegar.

Adds manager Ned Yost, "I always felt there was something there,
but I can't say that I thought he'd be in the running for rookie
of the year."

COLOR PHOTO: DAVID DUROCHIK/SPORTPICS (PODSEDNIK) Podsednik