Milwaukee's Richie Sexson--Big Man on A Mission.

Brewers' 6-7, 225 pound slugger seeks to cut down on his strikeouts, raise his batting average and improve his run production

ON JULY 28, 2000, IN ONE OF THE biggest trades of the baseball season, Richie Sexson was dealt from the Cleveland Indians to the Milwaukee Brewers along with pitchers Kane Davis, Paul Ridgon, and a player to be named later in return for pitchers Jason Bere, Bob Wickman, and Steve Woodard.

While Cleveland received three pitchers in the trade who played important roles in the team's late-season playoff run, Richie Sexson became the Brewers' regular first baseman as well as a potent force in the Milwaukee lineup.

In the 57 games that he played with the Brewers in 2000, Sexson batted .296, hit 14 home runs, and drove in 47 runs. During the 2000 season, including his time with Cleveland, Sexson hit 30 home runs and knocked in 91 runs while batting .272.

Sexson also had a notable opening day for the Brewers this year: his eighth-inning home run off of Dennys Reyes of the Reds on April 6, 2001 won the first regular season game ever played at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Certainly Sexson's last two and a half seasons have put him among the game's dangerous young sluggers.

In 1999, Sexson was one of the most productive and one of the most underrated young players in major league baseball.

Playing in only 134 games for the Cleveland Indians that year, Sexson hit 31 home runs, third on the team behind Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome. Sexson's total of 116 runs batted in tied him for 12th in the American League in 1999, ahead of Bernie Williams, Alex Rodriguez, and A.L. MVP Ivan Rodriguez.