April 6, 1999 baseballhistorian.com Opening Day In Los Angeles - Baseball's first $100 Million Dollar man wasn't worth a plugged nickel but Kevin Brown was still flashing a broad-smile thanks to Raul Mondesi. In Monday's home opener, Mondesi tied the game with a 2-out, 3-run home run in the 9th, then connected for a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 11th to give him 6 RBI's as the host Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-6. Who can deny??? A lot of $$$$ Changing Hands: Baseball History Kevin Brown who signed with the Dodgers for $100 million dollars was shelled for 5 runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Brown gave up two solo homers to Bernard Gilkey and a 3-run blast to Jay Bell that put Arizona ahead 5-2 in the 6th. The sell-out crowd of 53,109 booed the rich, Kevin Brown as he left the field. After the ball game, Brown said, "It gave me chill-bumps," of Mondesi's homers. "I'd have booed my pitching, too. It's not the way I wanted to pitch. But if you pitch bad and your team wins, it's a lot easier to take." Mondesi's blasts saved the Dodgers' new mound star from losing his marquee matchup with Arizona's fastballer, Randy Johnson. The also wealthy Johnson allowed only 5-hits, 2-runs in 7 innings and fanned 9 Dodgers. The History of Baseball by baseballhistorian.com |