8.15.2007

The Brewers: Then & Now

... Kates and I went to the Brewers game last night. It was the second in my stretch of three games in seven days. Three different ballparks. Five different teams. But this was the one I had been looking forward to all summer long...

The game to mark the silver anniversary of the Brewers 1982 American League Championship and only World Series appearance ...

I beat it out of the office as soon as I could. We picked up our friend Tiffany and off we went, on a mission get our spot in the lines at the gate ...

See, I had learned yesterday morning that members of the 1982 team would be signing autographs in the stadium concourses for the first 45 minutes that gates were open. And one of the items I've yet to replace from our little burglarization is a 1988 Score card that Robin Yount had signed for me on top of the photo of his picture-perfect swing. I had re-purchased the card, now I just need the signature. So I grabbed it over my launch break, along with an extra Don Sutton card and an official baseball that I had lying around, just waiting for someone to sign ...

We made excellent time getting up to the park. Got parked. And speed-walked to the front of the ballpark. It was then that my heart sunk and I realized deep down: there would be no autographs for me today. The lines were so long -- at every entrance -- they twisted and turned around the statues and into the car lots. And we arrived about a half-hour before gates opened. The people at the front of the lines had to have been staked out since early afternoon ... But I held out hope.

The gates opened at 5:30, and of course our line was moving the slowest. It took Kates and I another five or 10 minutes before we actually passed through the doors. Kates went to get our seats, and I searched for the tail of the line to get Yount's autograph. It became obvious at this point that you'd have to pick one player and go for him, because you were likely going to spend all your time in that line. And even if you did manage to get that one autograph, the lines were so long for every player -- Simmons, Caldwell, Augustine, Moore, Money, you name 'em, they were at the front of long lines -- that you'd never get through another one.

I caught a glimpse of Robin as I passed by the front of his line ... and then the long, long walk to find the end of the line. And there it was, extending all the way down the first base side toward the outfield, up the ramp to the second level, and around the corner. In about 40 minutes of standing in the line -- surrounded by sweaty, smelly, large bodied men and women, under a low ceiling with very little ventilation -- I managed to get to the bottom of the ramp. And the security man came through, announcing that the autograph session had ended.

I should have gone for Don Sutton.

* * *

... I got my customary brat and Mountain Dew in the 1982 World Series souvenir cup, and then found Kates in our customary seats in section 217 ...

On the field, rows of chairs were being set up behind home plate, and people we assumed were family members and dignitiaries from the 1982 Brewers were starting to filter on the field. There also was a awkward, gray-haired man in a beige suit milling around the area, and it took us awhile, but after watching his mannerisms closely for several minutes, we confirmed it was indeed the commissioner himself, Bud Selig ...

Soon enough, the stadium was packed and the on-field ceremony was beginning. Brewers owner Mark Attanasio stepped to the podium and reminisced about being a New York resident watching the Brewers beat up on the Yankees in 1982. Bob Uecker spoke eloquently, as usual, in his description of the odd collection of the guys that made up the 1982 team. And Selig reflected on the joy the team brought to Milwaukee ...

Then Uecker retook the podium and it was time for the moment we'd all been waiting for: The introduction of the 1982 team ... Four of the players, including Cecil Cooper, could not attend the game because of responsibilities with other teams, Uecker told us. But once the introductions got rolling, the crowd didn't seem to mind ...

First, the coaching staff. Then the pitching rotation. Each of them took stands on the infield grass, forming an arch inside the base paths ...

With each player the cheers grew louder and louder. Jim Gantner. Moose Haas. Don Money. Ted Simmons. Ned Yost. Charlie Moore. Larry Hisle. By the time they announced Gorman Thomas, I was having so much fun my eyes were welling up. And then came the real rush, the final three. Rollie Fingers. Paul Molitor. Robin Yount.
As the ceremony came to a close, each of the players took the positions they played during that 1982 season. And Audrey Kuehn, the widow of the great manager Harvey, threw the ceremonial first pitch to Ted Simmons. Then they came off the field, throwing baseballs into the stands ...

And like that, it was all over. But it was worth every second.

* * *
If only the excitement could've lasted beyond the first inning ...

The stadium was packed. The crowd was electric. The original 1982 pennant flag was hanging by the scoreboard. The Brewers and the Cardinals were in their 1982 jerseys (The Brewers have been wearing them for much of the season, but can you imagine the Cardinals players going to their lockers in the afternoon, seeing that light blue V-neck and saying "We gotta wear this!?"). And with the Brewers trying to hold down first in front of the charging Cardinals, it was a playoff atmosphere. And, oh there were a lot of Cardinals fans in the seats last night ...
Chris Capuano hit Albert Pujols with a pitch in the first, but the Brewers got out of it without a run. Then in the bottom of the inning, Prince Fielder launched a solo homerun to the deepest part of the park (no doubt about it!) to put the Brew Crew on the board. Ryan Braun followed that with a single and then Geoff Jenkins smacked a homerun to nearly the exact same spot Fielder hit his (no doubt about that one either!).

But that was all we'd get ... from the Brewers ... for awhile.

Kip Wells retired 12 consectutive Brewers between the second and sixth innings, while the Cards put up two runs in the third and six runs in an ugly fifth inning, during which they sent 10 batters to the plate. Pujols beat out an infield single (though J.J. Hardy did makee a heckuva diving play just to get to the ball). Ryan Ludwick got hit by a pitch. Then two runs scored when Scott Rolen's chopper got past Ryan Braun at third base and bounced into left field ...

Now I love Ryan Braun. He's a pure hitter. And he's been a grrrrrreat addition to the Brewers lineup this season. I've got a pretty good feeling he has a, dare I say, Hall of Fame career ahead of him. But let me go on the record saying: I think he needs a little more work on his defense ... In the two or three games I've seen him play live and in person this year, I've been less than impressed with his abilities at third base. He's been lackadaisical at times, letting several balls that I thought he could have fielded roll into the outfield. And that ground ball he botched last night didn't appear to be hit that hard. But to his credit last night, he did make a couple plays that raised some eyebrows, including his snare of a lightening line drive down the third base line ...

The Cardinals added two more in the eighth and Braun, (better late than never, I guess) delighted the crowd with a homerun of his own in the bottom of the inning. Aaaaaaaaand the Cardinals added two more in the ninth.

Final score: Cardinals 12, Brewers 4.

I've been saying it all season long: Don't count out the Cardinals ... Now the Brewers are faltering, the Cubs are losing, and lo and behold, the Cardinals are 4 1/2 games out ...

Ay yay yay.

No comments: