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East AD wears dual hat as Brewers security guard

Dennis Semrau  —  10/06/2008 4:16 pm

MILWAUKEE -- A lifelong Brewers fan, Dave Kapp paused to appreciate his good fortune of being in the right place at the right time.

Saturday night, though, it was even better. The Brewers were hosting a National League playoff game for the first time in 26 years and he had a special view of the action.

Kapp, who was recently named the athletic director at Madison East High School, has a unique part-time job that is the envy of his friends and co-workers at his daytime job.

He gets to watch baseball games for free and, oh by the way, get paid for it. He performs on-field security for the Milwaukee Brewers, a gig he first latched onto in 1998 during the much celebrated home run chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

"When we first started, we literally just put on Brewer shirts and sat in the dugout," Kapp recalled. "It was started just as a precaution when McGwire and Sosa were in town so that they wouldn't have the two college kids running out on the field like Hank Aaron had after his 715th home run. Then the following year, we only worked big series and Opening Day."

That changed, though, on Sept. 24, 1999, when former Brewer Billy Spiers, while playing for the Houston Astros, was attacked by a 23-year-old man while standing in right field before the bottom of the sixth inning.

Spiers wound up with a welt under his left eye, a bloody nose and whiplash.

"Bodies were flying and there was a big scrum. There was so much confusion that the next season in conjunction with an edict from Major League Baseball, every team had to provide a full time on-field security crew," Kapp said.

"We have to be here 15 minutes before the gates open, which is two hours before the game, to about a half hour or 45 minutes after the game, when the place clears out."

When Kapp first began working for the Brewers, he was teaching seventh-grade English at nearby West Milwaukee Middle School.

"It's two blocks away so I would just come over after school," he said. "The only games I couldn't work were day games during the school year but in the summer I was off."

When he moved to West Allis Central High School to serve as athletic director, he had to cut back from working nearly all of the 81 Brewers home games to about 30 a season due to his full-time job.

However, when he moved to Madison in 2007 to serve as the east side athletic director covering East and La Follette High Schools, Kapp was able to work about half of the Brewers' home schedule.

He said his new work schedule will still allow him to commute to Miller Park mostly on weekends and holidays.

"I did exactly half, 41 of the 82 home games this season," he said. "That's about where I will probably stay. In September, I did Labor Day and the weekends. I tried to drive and do one game during the week and then the weekends. It's too good of a job to give up."

Kapp can usually be found working near the third base dugout, a site he prefers because he is able to meet players from the opposing teams.

He said that at the outset, opposing teams also tended to treat the Brewers' security force with a bit more respect than the hometown team.

"When I started, the Brewers had some guys like (Jeromy) Burnitz who weren't very nice," he said. "The visiting teams were actually nicer than the Brewers so I started working over there. I kind of like that spot by the third-base line."

Kapp said he has gotten to know the Brewers' pitchers well, particularly the relievers, because he has spent time working in the bullpen.

"(Bullpen coach) Bill Castro has always been great. He is really friendly. The pitchers have their own thing going on out there so when you're there you're part of the group. So if everybody gets a fist bump, then you get one. Everybody is pretty cool out there."

While Kapp said it is usually a pretty easy job, there is occasionally some excitement to get the blood flowing.

"Whoever designed the park thought it would be great to have the fans so close to the bullpens out there. But the fans aren't always so friendly to the other teams.

"At times it can be the easiest gig. You can actually sit down and not do anything and just hang out. Other games like when the Expos (now the Washington Nationals) came here, the fans were just all over those guys. Some teams ignore them and others bait the fans and escalate it and then ask you to get the fans out of there."

Then there are the times when a fan tries to enter the playing field. The topic draws a chuckle and a smile from Kapp.

"I'm 2-for-2 in tackles this year," he said proudly. "I missed a guy in '03. I went out there and missed him and I heard about it for four years, so now I have a renewed focus and in the open field I really concentrate on watching the belt buckle."

Booker Bennett, a police officer from Kenosha, began working security for the Brewers at the same time as Kapp. A New York native and baseball fan, he usually works near the visiting team's dugout. When Milwaukee Brewers principal owner Matt Attanasio is in town, Bennett works near his seats next to the Brewers' dugout on the first base side.

While Kapp is one of two members of the security detail who is not in law enforcement, Bennett is representative of the rest of the crew.

"The Brewers started using off-duty cops on the field because it was better for liability," he said. "We know how to handle someone because of our training -- unlike a security person who might get a little bit exuberant. We understand and are trained that you can only go so far. You do enough to stop the person. You don't do enough to hurt the person."

Kapp was excited to be at Miller Park on Saturday when Milwaukee hosted Philadelphia in Game 3 of the National League Division Series. He had signed up for every game through the World Series, which became moot when the Brewers were eliminated in four games on Sunday.

dsemrau@madison.com

Dennis Semrau  —  10/06/2008 4:16 pm