PHOENIX (AP) – Jeff Suppan kissed the Pope’s ring, hoisted the World Series trophy and signed the largest contract in Brewers history, all in a 13-month span.

He called his meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in November 2005, during a Pontifical Council of Church and Sport, a life-changing experience.

“It was tremendous,” Suppan said. “Meeting someone of that stature, just for a brief moment, was special. I could just see the sincerity in his eyes, I could feel the holiness of his presence. It kind of inspired me.”

Now Suppan is getting ready for the much more mundane task of lead a pitching staff that’s been hampered with injuries the past two seasons, a group that does include former All-Stars Ben Sheets and Chris Capuano.

“I don’t know what they were lacking last year, that’s not for me to judge,” Suppan said. “I thought they were a very good team but for whatever reason, maybe injuries, they weren’t able to play where they wanted to play at.”

Suppan, the NL championship series MVP with the St. Louis, will earn $42 million during the next four years. He said he can’t worry about the perception that he’s being overpaid.

“The contract, has it sunk in? I really even haven’t thought about that,” he said. “However people perceive it, I mean I have no control over that. The only thing I can do is control what I have control of, that’s going out, making good pitch selections and trying to hit a location.”

Suppan made at least 31 starts and pitched 188 innings or more each of the last eight seasons. Sheets has made just 39 starts over the past two seasons – he went 6-7 with a 3.82 ERA in 17 starts last year and was hampered by shoulder problems that sent him to the disabled list twice.

When Sheets and last year’s fourth starter, Tomo Ohka, missed their turns due to injuries, Milwaukee went 6-17. The rotation was 48-58 with a 4.73 ERA last season, nearly three-quarters of a point higher than in 2005.

“We’ve got more guys to choose from, more guys that are productive,” manager Ned Yost said. “There have been times when I write the lineup up and really hope that we can score a lot of runs today and win a baseball game. You put certain names down, and you just feel like you’re going to be in this game, and you’ve got a great chance of winning it. I think this year we’re going to be able to put five names down on five consecutive days and have that feeling.”

Suppan, 12-7 with a 4.12 ERA with the Cardinals last year, also has played for Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Boston. He attributed his health to the consistency of his pitching motion.

“When you’re able to repeat and understand your mechanics and why you do what you do, I think it helps for durability,” said Suppan, who has 301 career starts and went 12-7 with a 4.12 ERA with the Cardinals. “I think some of it is luck, and just how it is, but you never take that for granted.”

You always continue to do your work.”

Yost hopes Suppan’s experience will benefit the rest of a rotation that includes right-handers Dave Bush and Claudio Vargas. He said all work hard.

“If they’re not pitching, they’re in the computer room looking at their next opponent, looking for weaknesses, trying to formulate their game plan,” Yost said.