The "Brew Crew", aka "Harvey's Wallbangers". The roster comes natural to me: Future Hall of Famers Robin Yount and Paul Molitor, Stormin' Gorman Thomas, Cecil Cooper, Ted Simmons, Ben Oglivie, Jim Gantner and others. A pitching staff made up of guys like Pete Vukovich, Moose Haas (what a great baseball name), Rollie Fingers and Don Sutton- all names I'll forever remember. This group was led by a gritty manager named Harvey Kuenn, whose tobacco wad in his cheek looked like he was chewing ON a baseball. The voice of the team was none other than the hilarious Bob Uecker. I think what struck me most about this team was everything BUT the games they played. The characters and their appearance- Those powder blue uniforms trimmed in bright yellow, the "MB" mitt logo on their hats, the beards, mustaches, long hair, eye-black, high stirrups, and odd batting stances. It was the first time I paid any attention to any of that stuff.
1982 was just like any other baseball season I remember, but towards the latter-half of the season, I started to hear more and more about the Brewers. The baseball season is a grueling 162 games, with many highs and lows, but my favorite part is in August and September when you find out what team is the "IT" team- and that year, for me, it was the Brewers.
Then came October 1982, the MLB postseason. Luckily, baseball was always on tv in my house. These were the days before there were 25 different ESPN channels, and an entire network dedicated to MLB. The MLB playoffs were prime-time television. Playoff baseball put popular network shows on hold, and made local news broadcasts even start behind schedule. Damn, I thought, these are important games!
Milwaukee Brewers vs. California Angels, 1982 American League Championship Series, 5 games to decide who represents the A.L. in the coveted World Series. The series was a great one, marked by a dramatic comeback by the Brewers, who lost the first two games of the series and were trailing late in the final game. I knew in my heart the Brewers would win the series. By that time, I also knew this team was special to me. This series also made me more familiar with some well known names from the Angels team: Fred Lynn, Tommy John, Bob Boone, Rod Carew, Don Baylor, and former Yankee great Reggie Jackson. The Brewers won the 5 game series 3-2 and were off to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
Milwaukee Brewers vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 1982 World Series. The Fall Classic. This World Series was aptly named the "Suds Series", because of each home teams association with the beer industry-Milwaukee/Miller Brewing and St. Louis/Anheuser-Busch. Two teams with very contrasting styles of play also. The Brew Crew, who hit for power, contact, and scored alot of runs. The Redbirds, managed by MLB legend Whitey Herzog and featuring the likes of Ozzie Smith, Lonnie Smith, Willie McGee, Kieth Hernandez, and closer Bruce Sutter were a speedy, scratchy team that played great defense. The games themselves were awesome. The series went back-and-forth like a heavyweight fight. With each game, I drew closer to the Brewers- wanting them to win! The players who were supposed to hit home runs, steal bases, make great defensive plays and get hits- did. Baseball the way it should be played, managed, umpired, and broadcasted. In the end, the Brewers came up short- losing on the road in an excellent Game 7.
The Brewers losing did not disappoint me at all. For the first time, I felt what it was like to identify and pull for a team. I had learned how great the game of baseball is, and how entertaining a World Series can be.
As I got older, I idolized different MLB players, rooted for different teams, and aligned myself with my hometown team through thick-and-thin. To me though, whenever I think of when I became a fan of MLB and my favorite World Series, the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers immediately come to mind.
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