#11/30: American Family Field, Milwaukee

3:10 to Uecker

Monday, May 27, 2024

Memorial Day. The perfect time to visit the ballpark.

The season is in stride, but it's still early. You know what your team can do, but there's still a chance (or a fear) they could change course. For many baseball fans, this time of year is when things really get started.

But for me… I’m right on pace with the league. The season is roughly 1/3 complete. My count is 11 ballparks out of 30 since Opening Day. We’re into the 2nd trimester. The middle innings.

The Milwaukee skies were looking great and there was a perfect mild breeze. I couldn't quite understand why the retractable roof at American Family Field was closed. Maybe it was the 1% chance of a late afternoon drizzle? Not to sound superficial, but holiday games like this often feature an awesome flyover during the pregame national anthem. That can't happen when the roof is closed. Way to go, Brewers.

In fact… this roof can be closed mid-game. Why not have it open for an awesome F22 Raptor flyover, then close ‘er up? It can be done. Only takes about ten minutes. I’ve seen it happen.

In fact, I've seen a lot at Miller Park American Family Field over the years. This stop was a familiar one, like Busch Stadium and Wrigley Field. And though I've visited this ballpark multiple times, an honest 30/30 cannot consider visits from prior seasons. We gotta touch ‘em all. That's the rules.

Too bad. Because I don’t like the Brewers. Granted, I don't mind the place they call home, but it's neither new nor special to me. And with a division rival like the Brewers on the field, I will always be forced to root against them for the sake of my beloved St. Louis Cardinals. The only other team I have to consistently root against, for the same reason, is the Chicago Cubs.

And go figure… the Cubs were in town. Brewers vs. Cubs. To me, it feels like House Lannister vs. House Targaryen. I want both of them to lose!

Knowing that this game could not possibly end in a favorable outcome for me, I made a plan to get my business done and get out of there as soon as possible. Scorecard? I can fill out what I miss later. Ball? I didn't catch any during pregame (the cold streak continues), but they do sell ones from that game in the later innings. So, for the first time this season, I was planning to leave before the final pitch. And it felt great, in a devilish sort of way. I could stick it to these two division rival teams by turning my back to them.

Having said all that, I was still looking forward to the game. I was happy to be there. After all - what's better than a beer and some baseball on the tail end of a holiday weekend?

OK… so I got a soda, not a beer. And I bought a cheap standing room only ticket. And I grabbed this spot right behind a pole. But somehow all these self-inflicted discomforts added to the charm of the experience. All part of my peaceful protest for having to see these two rival teams.

Speaking of protests… this was the first game back for Craig Counsell, in his first year as Cubs manager after a long stretch in the same role for the Brewers. Chicago made Counsell the highest paid manager in MLB history with his new contract, more than doubling his prior Milwaukee salary. Regardless, most of the Brewers faithful had no love seeing him back.

Game-wise, things were going absolutely great (for me) from the start. Both pitchers had their best stuff and were working quickly. Through six innings there were only three hits total. 15 combined strikeouts. And at only 80 minutes since first pitch, this game was on pace to finish in two hours or less.

But that made little difference to me, because the batch of game-used balls had been sent to the authentics shop and I quickly grabbed one. By 4:45pm I was in my car and on the road back to Champaign. I turned on the radio right as they did the 7th inning stretch. The action was still calm for the moment, until the bottom of the 8th when the Brewers came alive. Their first two batters reached base, then so did the third on a costly error by Cubs third baseman Nick Madrigal. A run scored on that play. Two batters later, Willy Adames hit a two-run homer to put the Brewers up 3-0.

And so the Cubs had only the top of the 9th left. I was already darn near the Illinois state line and listening on the radio came with a nice treat. The legendary Bob Uecker, at 90 years young, is still part of the Brewers radio broadcast team. He was on the play-by-play for this 9th inning. Uecker is one of the few things about Milwaukee Brewers baseball I don't despise, but I know him as many do for his role in the Major League movies. “Juuuust a bit outside!” With Uecker on the call, I listened as the Cubs tried to rally. Their first two batters reached base and one then scored on a sacrifice fly, but ultimately the Cubs ran out of chances. Final score - Brewers 3, Cubs 1.

And I was home before sunset after a 3:10pm first pitch 230 miles away. OK, so I left the game a little early, but I will never regret it. A likely off day turned out to be a unique and fulfilling episode #11.

Extra Innings

I was on the road for this quick Minnesota/Milwaukee leg. No airplanes. Of course, there were stops in Minneapolis for #10 and Milwaukee for #11. But that’s a lot of road to cover, even if there are enough gas stations to keep your tank filled with gas and your belly filled with quality Wisconsin beef jerky and cheese curds. There had to be a proper pit stop somewhere.

Madison was the perfect place.

I drove through on a Saturday, which is coincidentally when they hold a massive producers-only farmers market. Vendors surround the entire outside perimeter of Capitol Square - around 1,000 yards.

Hard to capture the whole spread in one shot. You'd need a drone.

Hmm… maybe I need a drone…

The most common offerings were no surprise and geographically on theme. Cheese curds. Beef jerky. I took home a few different kinds of honey, a sampler of popcorn (unpopped), a bottle of fire roasted Bloody Mary mix that was unfortunately dropped on the driveway at home, some spicy jam, and a spicy brownie mix (which my mom baked for all to sample). There were tons of people but all the vendors were good about keeping things moving. No wait lines, except at the Stella’s of Madison booth. Apparently their signature Hot & Spicy Cheese Bread is the most famous item at this market. But I wasn't going to wait 20 minutes to get one.

But I'll keep that bread in mind for next time. And that farmers market, if I'm ever traveling through the north on a warm Saturday afternoon. As Bob Uecker said on the radio after that Brewers win: “We’ll get together again.”

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Next stop: June 9, Oakland