Game #18-American Family Field-Milwaukee Brewers vs. San Francisco Giants (Shannon's favorite!)

It was a rather chilly and windy day in Milwaukee on Thursday, May 25 with high temperatures in the low 50s. I know for my Canadian family that's not cold, but for this SO CAL girl it's cold. When we arrived to American Family Field they must have thought it was cold too because they closed the roof. Actually when the temperature is below 60 they keep the roof closed. I have to admit I was not unhappy at all about the cold because I have a new Giants jacket that will keep me warm. American Family Field opened in 2001 with a fan-shaped retractable roof that can open and close in less than 10 minutes. It is a marvelous work of engineering. When we arrived to the stadium two hours before first pitch, the Brewers fans were setting up their tailgates in the parking lots complete with saugages and beer. Boy did those sausages barbecuing smell good! We walked around the perimeter of the stadium to look at the statues, monuments, and dedications to former Milwaukee players. We learned some new things about the Brewers on our journey. Jim discovered one of his long-time favorite players, Rollie Fingers played for the Brewers. Jim remembers when Rollie Fingers played for the Oakland A's and won three World Championships. I learned about Allan (Bud) Selig the former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. I remember hearing his name as the former Commissioner of Baseball but did not know his story. More on Selig later in this blog. The Brewers have statues of Robin Yount "The Kid" who played for the Brewers for 20 years holding many records and having 3,142 career hits and Hank Aaron "The Hammer" who is one of the most iconic players of all time playing for the Brewers/Braves for 23 seasons. These men have made so many contributions to baseball history it is fitting for there to be large statues outside the gates of American Family Field. Also outside the front entrance, is a statue of Bob Uecker, longtime radio broadcaster and former Milwaukee Braves player. That is not a typo....Milwaukee's team used to be the Braves before they left for Atlanta. Bob Uecker was known as "Mr. Baseball" and appeared on many late night talk shows. This year is his 53rd season calling the Brewers games. From the front gates we walked around to view "The Walk of Fame." There are 22 home plate shaped granite stones commemorating players, coaches, executives and broadcasters who have made significant contributions to Major League Baseball. Each granite stone has the names, uniform numbers, signature and years associated with Milwaukee baseball. I say Milwaukee baseball because the first team was the Braves from 1953-1965 before the Brewers began playing in 1970. Additionally they have a "Brewers Wall of Honor" honoring those players, coaches, excutives and broadcasters who have made significant contributions to the Milwaukee Brewers Major League Baseball team. See our Instagram for pictures @ourfieldofdreams2023. It was getting close to the gates opening so we made our way to the gate. While at the gate we made a few friends, you know how shy and introverted we are. There were several Giants fans whom we made it a point to speak with and find out their story of what a Giants fan was doing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was getting close to the gate opening when we were approached by a woman named Mary. She asked us if this was our first time to American Family Field to which we said yes. That is when Mary's eyes lit up and the information began to pour. Now Mary looked very official sporting her bright yellow safety vest, thus Jim and I both assumed she was a guest services employee. After about 10 minutes of free-flowing information from Mary the gates opened and she quickly said meet me on the other side after security and I will take you to those places I mentioned. My thoughts were how nice that American Family Field has such friendly and helpful guest services employees. Once we got through security which took a little extra time due to having to explain the very large hot dog hat hanging out of my bag, we met up with Mary. She quickly wisked us off to Guest Services to pick up our First Time Certificate and other gifts from a Guest Services employee. It was at that time that we realized she was not an employee at all but what we would call an ambassador for the Brewers. Mary LOVES the Brewers and it was as if she was showing off HER own house. She took us from place to place giving us many details and even pointed us in the right direction of the hot dog stand that was recommended from Bob at Guest Services. We graciously thanked Mary for her escorted tour and were off to buy our hot dog from Topped Hot Dog. Once we got to our seats Jim did his hot dog review of the Badger State Dog, topped with Wisconsin Sharp Cheddar, Cranberry, Jalapeno, Ketchup, Bacon and Tater Tots. He gave it a 7.5. See his reel on Instagram. I tasted it too and it was delicious, but not as delicious as my Johnsonville Bratwurst! That "Brat" was a 10 in my book. After we settled the beasts in our bellies because we had fasted all day in preparation for some great ballpark food we went to the Selig Experience. The Selig Experience is an exhibit inside the ballpark that shows a 15-minute documentary of Bud Selig's life and work for the Milwaukee Brewers. As a young boy Selig grew up loving baseball and attended many minor league baseball games with his mom. When the Boston Braves relocated to Milwaukee in 1953 Selig became a major stockholder. Selig was devastated with the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1965 and thus began his mission to get another major league team to Milwaukee. He fought tirelessly for five years and in 1970 he bought the bankrupt Seattle Pilots bringing them to Milwaukee and renaming them the Brewers. Following the documentary a screen went up and a life-sized 3D encounter took place where it appeared Selig himself was talking to us from his office. It was amazing! When we exited the theatre there stood the office that was behind the screen which was an authentic reproduction of Selig's office and a smoking cigarette in the ashtray. All I can say is that technology is fascinating! In fact, this 3D technology is only found in a handful of exhibits around the world. If you are ever in American Family Field this is a MUST see! Another fan favorite feature is Bernie's Chalet complete with a slide that Bernie Brewer, the team's mascot, slides down when the Brewers hit a home run. Years ago Bernie would slide into a huge beer mug of beer now he just slides onto a platform. The mascot stands on the platform the entire game holding up signs to lead the crowd in cheers. It is a great crowd pleaser. The Brewers proudly display their retired numbers on the left and right field walls. Retired numbers are: #1 Allan "Bud" Selig, founder; #4 Paul Molitor; #19 Robin Yount; #34 Rollie Fingers; #44 Hank Aaron; and #42 Jackie Robinson. Something unique to the Brewers games is during the 7th inning stretch they not only sing, "Take Me Out To The Ball Game," they sing, "Roll Out The Barrell." It was great to see the fans cheerfully singing this song. Now on to the game with 24,536 in attendance of a 41,700 seat capacity stadium. The rule is we cheer for the home team but not tonight because the Brewers are playing one of our teams. This is the second time on this road trip to see the Giants. They won in Miami so we were hoping for another win by the Giants. Well at least I was hoping for a win not so sure about Jim. LOL The Giants were coming off a tough loss the night before to the Minnesota Twins. But as they say in baseball PLAY BALL! It was all about the pitching tonight and first pitch was at 6:40pm. Starting pitcher for the Brewers was Julio Teheran who kept the Giants off the board for four innings. The Giants have lost their fifth spot in their pitching rotation due to an injury so they had to rely on their bullpen to essentially fill that fifth spot. Scott Alexander pitched a perfect 1st inning for the Giants before passing the baton to Taylor Rogers in the 2nd inning. Jakob Junis came out in the 3rd inning to replace Rogers and would stay until the 5th inning. In the top of the 5th inning it was a scoreless game until Giants Casey Schmitt hit a single. Schmitt stole a base just before LaMonte Wade Jr. came to the plate. "Late Night LaMonte" had a hard hit single that brought Casey Schmitt in to score. Giants 1 - Brewers 0. Bottom of the 5th inning Giants pulled Junis and put in Sean Manaea to strike out the side. Brewers brought in a fresh arm replacing Julio Teheran with Hoby Milner who did not last long before being replaced by Trevor Magill. In the bottom of the 7th inning Giants brought in Tyler Rogers, twin brother of Taylor Rogers who did a fantastic job. Can you imagine being the parents of twin boys who not only pitch in the majors, but are on the same team! Top of the 8th inning the Brewers pitching just could not control the bats of the Giants. First to bat was Michael Conforto who hit a deep home run to center field. Score Giants 2 - Brewers 0. Mike Yastrzemski hit a single to get on base and then Blake Sabol was hit by a pitch. With runners on first and second Casey Schmitt hit a double bringing the runners home. Score Giants 4 - Brewers 0. Next up Giants newbie catcher, Patrick Bailey who hit a double bringing home a run. I love this kid! Score Giants 5 - Brewers 0. John Brebbia replaced Tyler Rogers to close out the game. Giants pitching served up a shut out! Giants fans and especially me were delighted! We are off to Minneapolis where we will see the Twins take on the Blue Jays on Saturday. We have seen the Blue Jays play more than any other team on this trip. Until next time PLAY BALL!