Was Saturday's Brewers game the best Brewers game of all time?
Of course not.
But considering everything that it meant for the franchise, the fans, the city, and selfishly – for me –it's right up there.
In 2008, I said right around this time that I'd been waiting for this moment for 26 years. But this is better. The Brewers didn't sneak into the playoffs, they charged in, setting a franchise record with 96 wins.
And, by the time the Brewers made it home after getting pounded by Philly in '08, we all knew that they weren't going to advance much further.
Today, from top to bottom, it just felt so right.
I got to the game quite early, and spent the pre-game up in the jam-packed press box. The mood was electric, but once I took off my press pass and headed to my seats, the excitement really began.
Miller Park felt as crowded as Lambeau Field during a playoff game, and the look on fans' faces was priceless. Everyone was just ... smiling.
Me, too.
The game turned out to be an absolute gem, also. As someone who has watched this team since March in Phoenix, I saw and felt their jitters alongside them. Yovani Gallardo looked like he was trying to hit the backstop instead of the strike zone in the top of the first, but that assist from Ryan Braun to cut down Willie Bloomquist at the plate got him off the hook. And it might be the play that I'll never forget. Milwaukee's next future Hall of Famer deserves the MVP this year, and he continues to prove it game in and game out.
And then there was that home run by Prince Fielder. With Arizona's starter Ian Kennedy running out of gas, the Diamondbacks chose to pitch to Prince. Bad idea. I called it, but I can't imagine his bomb was a surprise to anyone. John Axford's perfect ninth was the icing on the cake. We witnessed a dominating performance, even if it took a few innings to realize it.
As the Brewers slowly found their groove, so did the fans. I found it eerily quiet during the early pitching duel, but Miller Park started rocking once Jerry Hairston put the Crew on the board. Gallardo pitched a gem, and the team never looked back.
I'm not saying this team will win the World Series, but once they found their rhythm, they played with confidence and swagger, and the fans reacted in kind. I can barely wait to go back tomorrow for more.
This is a different, better team than what the Brewers fielded in 2008. They're making us all proud and giving us memories to last a lifetime.
October baseball is a beautiful thing. It's even better when it starts with a win from home.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
