Southern University baseball legend Rickie Weeks said he didn't know he'd be acting manager for his old team, the Milwaukee Brewers, until 20 minutes before the first pitch of their game Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
No problem. Weeks, in his debut (and cameo) as an MLB manager, led the Brewers to a 7-1 win, serving as an effective fill-in for suspended manager Pat Murphy.
"I don't want to downplay it so much, but it's baseball, honestly," Weeks said. "It's one of those things where, I think you've been through a lot of situations throughout your career where you kind of have to rise to the occasion."
Weeks had to fill in after MLB suspended Murphy for two games after a benches-clearing brawl between the Brewers and Rays on Tuesday night.
Weeks spent 14 seasons in the majors, 11 of them with the Brewers, who drafted him No. 2 overall in 2003.
He batted .246 with 161 home runs, 132 steals and 733 runs scored in his career. He was an All-Star in 2011, becoming the first Milwaukee second baseman to make an All-Star team since Hall of Famer Paul Molitor did so in 1988.
Weeks retired after the 2017 season and was hired by his old team, the Brewers, two years ago as an assistant to the player development staff.
Before this season, the Brewers named Weeks their associate manager on Murphy's staff.
Weeks made history in 2003 when he became the first player from a historically Black college to win the Golden Spikes Award, given to the best player in the nation.