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Kevin Brown finally had it going. Earlier in the season, he had gone 9-0 in 10 starts, the Dodgers were cruising, hanging in with their hated rivals from the north and, seemingly, on their way to a postseason appearance.

Then it happened.

Running from first to third on a Wilkin Ruan double, something gave. Brown pitched another inning, then took himself out of the game.

An MRI revealed a lower abdominal strain.

Yet again, the Dodgers' savior was hurt.

Brown has been on the disabled list six times since signing a seven-year, $105 million dollar contract. The ace, who was talked of as yet another legendary pitcher to wear Dodger blue, joined the team with the record contract after two-straight World Series appearances with the Florida Marlins and San Diego Padres.

But it hasn't panned out the way Dodger management hoped it would.

Though he has shown his brilliance, his average of 220 innings per season his first 12 years in the majors is down to just 180 in the last two.

This season it looked as if the Kevin Brown the Dodgers had hoped and paid for was back. He was a dominating 10-4, second in the majors with a 2.30 ERA, and destined for Chicago and the All-Star Game next week.

"He's very deserving to be on that team," Dodger manager Jim Tracy said.

Then he injured himself.

A five-time all-star, Brown has played in the game only once since singing his mammoth deal. That was in 2000, when he went 13-6 with a 2.58 ERA. The previous season, 1999 was his most productive of his tenure with the Dodgers. He won 18 and had a 2.99 ERA, numbers that were nearly identical with his two previous seasons, where he led his teams to the World Series.

But it's been steep slope ever since.

Until this year, he had only won more than 10 games once. A more telling statistic is that 2001 was the last time Brown played in 20 games.

Now, of course, this disaster may still be avoided. As of this writing, Brown is listed day-to-day and he hasn't been scratched for Sunday, July 13th. But the Dodgers are 6.5 games back of the Giants in the West and are having problems generating offense. With Brian Jordan out for the season and Fred McGriff on the DL, the lowest-scoring offense in the league is talking about sending scouts to take a look at Rickey Henderson in Newark.

Basically, the Dodgers need Brown back.

Kazuhisa Ishii, 8-3 with a 2.94 ERA, is pitching well, and Hideo Nomo, 9-8 with a 2.71 ERA, is going for his third-straight win July 11.

But, if the Dodgers expect to contend, Brown has to be healthy. Even if he is, with 18 games already under his belt this season, the question will be how he fares as the postseason looms and the innings begin to add up.

If Jim Tracy knew the answer to that, he could rest easy, but if history has anything to say, he is headed for many sleepless nights.

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