Scooter Gannett looked up at the nameplate above his locker in the Milwaukee Brewers clubhouse, a contagious Duchenne smile narrowing his eyes. It’s a keepsake, even if he goes on to play a decade in the major leagues. It’s the first one, and it’ll always be special.

"Scotter Gennett" – welcome to The Show.

Sitting in the Nashville Sounds bullpen in late May, Donovan Hand was suddenly told in the bottom of the eighth to start warming up for a very specific batter in the Albuquerque lineup – the second batter of the ninth – but he’d only pitch if he got a certain signal. So he warmed up, but caught himself doing so too quickly. He wanted to slow down, but was told to keep firing.

He got himself ready, but when he saw the manager walk out to the mound, the signal came to stop throwing.

Shortly thereafter, he was calling around Nashville trying to find a sitter for a dog named Danky.

Every major leaguer has his own, unique story about being called up to The Show for the first time. The minor league coaching staff and his teammates often know ahead of time, leading to pranks or emotional send-offs.

The 23-year-old Gennett thought he was in trouble when he was called in for a meeting in the manager’s office – and was told he was going to sit the next day’s game. After a pause, he was told it was because he would be heading out to Milwaukee on June 3. He would make his major league debut as a pinch hitter that night against the Oakland Athletics.

A week prior, the 27-year-old Hand received a more veteran farewell after being the last man sent down to the minors in spring training.

No matter how many times a player may be optioned back and forth, or if they get called up once and stick in the bigs until they retire – the first time is always intensely personal and filled with moments that will be remembered for a lifetime.

Like having your name spelled wrong.

"I noticed when I first got here – I like it," Gennett said with that smile. "I don’t mind if it stays but they said they’re going to get me a new one. It’s the first one, so gotta keep it.

"It was pretty funny."

Hand and his new bride, Haley – the couple married in December – scrambled around to pack, to find a sitter for Danky, and then try and get her and his family up to Milwaukee in time to potentially see him make his debut on May 26 against Pittsburgh.

It was important they make the trip because Hand had been around long enough to see fellow relievers get called up, and he figured his emergent warmup session had more to do with him being needed to pitch right out of the gate in Milwaukee than anything else.

The mini Boston Terrier ("I wouldn’t call it mine," Hand said with a laugh) was passed off to an aunt and uncle, Haley barely made her flight into Chicago as a standby, and it was a race against time for Donovan’s parents Don and Betty, who went from Nashville down to Alabama to get Donovan’s brother, and then drove 11 hours through the night to Milwaukee.

Then, in the fifth inning, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke signaled for him to come into the game in relief of starter Yovani Gallardo. His family had arrived in the second inning.

Working on less than two hours of sleep, he came in and pitched two innings of one-run ball, striking out three and walking one.

"Forty thousand (fans) makes your adrenaline go pretty good when you go in," Hand said. "It was crazy. That’s what you dream of."

Gennett was in Round Rock, Texas when he found out – so he had no clothes other than his Sounds gear and his road clothes. He left at about 4:30 in the morning, arrived in Milwaukee and went straight to Miller Park.

"It was pretty cool though," he said. "There wasn’t a whole lot of time for me to sit in the hotel or what not but I wouldn’t want that anyways. I just wanted to come here."

Gennett’s family beat him to the Milwaukee, taking off from Nashville as soon as they could. His parents, Joe and Tina, and sister Kristen greeted him at the airport and then were in the stands when he made his debut.

"I knew where they were sitting, they were right behind home plate, up a little bit – got to wave at them," Gennett said. "It was a good experience. When I told my mom she was crying right way and when told my dad he was excited and pumped up and really happy for me."

It’s a dream wrought with reality – booking flights, coordinating family, finding clothes to wear. Hand only had dress clothes with him for the first couple days, leaving him somewhat overdressed for a burger run.

The two players felt the weight of the moment at different times, too.

"It really didn’t sink in until I got here and saw my locker and stuff," Gennett said. "It’s just one of those things where you don’t know how you’re going to react. You think about it before hand but you never really know. I don’t have too much emotion, but I was happy. It’s a dream come true."

"Actually, probably after the game," Hand said. "I didn’t sleep that much. Everybody was like how did you celebrate Sunday night? I went to bed at 8:30 and slept until 8 the next morning. That’s how I celebrated. I actually had breakfast by myself the next morning because everybody was sleeping. It was great to just kind of exhale."

The Day After was memorable for both, too. Gennett made his first major league start on June 4 – but he struck out all three times he came to the plate.

It was the first time it had happened in his entire life.

"Couldn’t have picked a better time to do it," he said afterwards, somewhat facetiously. But, he still couldn’t suppress the smile after a 4-3 Brewers win.

He swung his chair around and looked at his lockermate, Norichika Aoki, swarmed by about a half dozen Japanese reporters.

"Is it like that every day?" he asked.

As for Hand, he woke up on May 27 and watched himself throw for the first time in a Brewers uniform.

"Got a chance to take it all in, which was nice," he said. "I was sitting there at breakfast in The Pfister watching myself pitch. Hey, I’m in the big leagues. It’s real now."