Let's remember some Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers return to the World Series tonight for the first time in 44 years. The last time the Brew Crew won a pennant they were in the American League, the Twins had just completed their first season in the Metrodome, tonight's opponent was still 16 years away from playing its first game and Jacob Misiorowski's dad was 12 years old.

I was hoping to use the occasion to re-run one of my past columns – specifically, the one I wrote for Miller Park's first Opening Day. On Friday, April 6, 2001, the Brewers hosted the Cincinnati Reds in front of 42,024 crazed fans. The audience also included President George W. Bush, a mere 2.5 months into his first term and still five months away from the date that forever changed his presidency and the world.

It also included little ol' me, a humble Minneapolis sportswriter who was on hand to assist Milwaukee's WISN-TV (click the link to see their pregame broadcast that day) with its coverage of the game. WISN's website, creatively dubbed themilwaukeechannel.com, was part of the network of news station sites built and maintained by the company I worked for. And because I'd struck up a good relationship with our employees in Milwaukee who handled all the local news for their site, I was a logical fit to go help cover Opening Day.

Alas, the column I wrote that night appears to be lost to the wind. I have a folder filled with printouts of many of my columns from that era, but the Miller Park one was not part of the stack. And pretty much everything from those days has been scrubbed from the Internet to make room for your uncle's Facebook screeds about Ilhan Omar, so we're SOL.

I do remember referring to Bush as "the ol' righty" (because he threw out the first pitch right-handed and he was a Republican, get it?) and I also remember being overwhelmed by the level of security at the ballpark that day, absolutely a precursor of what was just around the corner for all of us.

One other item of note – that celebration was supposed to take place one year earlier. The ballpark was originally slated to open for the 2000 season, but tragedy struck during the construction process. On July 14, 1999, a crane at the stadium site collapsed, killing three workers and delaying the project long enough to force the Brew Crew to play one more season at their rickety but beloved old dump, County Stadium. (I say "dump" with all due respect – County Stadium was like a comfortable dive bar compared to Miller Park, a flashy airplane hangar where you could get a beer for 10 bucks.)

Minnesotans love the local angle, so here's our local tie to Miller Park: the company that designed their retractable roof and moveable outfield walls, Uni-Systems, is located right here in the Twin Cities. It was the first of many stadiums they've worked on and they did a hell of a job. Why do I know this? I took a break from journalism and spent a year working for a local PR firm, and one of our clients was Uni-Systems. As I recall, their owner was an eccentric millionaire (back when a million bucks meant something) who didn't want to spend any money on PR. Why he contracted us, I have no idea. The year I worked with them, the Super Bowl was played at Houston's Reliant Stadium – making it the first to be played in a retractable-roof stadium. Guess who designed that roof? And guess who didn't let me pitch any stories related to them designing that roof to local or national media? I even told the guy, the Super Bowl pregame show is six hours long – they're going to be looking for something to put on the air. But hey, you don't get to be a millionaire by writing checks, and they're still in business so what do I know?

Anyway, since that column is history, let's turn to another favorite standby of the Internet – Remembering Some Guys. Specifically, let's Remember Some Brewers.

Of course you've got your old standbys:

Who could forget Gorman Thomas, one of the 1982 AL Champion Brewers, aka Harvey's Wallbangers because Harvey Kuehn was their manager and they hit a lot of home runs?

I had completely forgotten that Jimmy Wynn played for the Brewers. Turns out the Toy Cannon spent the tail end of his final season there and hit zero home runs in 36 games.

Sixto Lezcano, one of baseball's all-time great names. It just rolls off the tongue. Try it, it's fun!

Dave Parker spent the penultimate season of his Hall of Fame career with the Brewers. He's not a huge part of team history. But when you come across a baseball card featuring a player swinging a sledgehammer, you post it. I don't make the rules.

Don Money had the first-ever sideburns bonus in his contract. Don't look that up. It feels true, and that's what counts.

Finally, Ray Sadecki, whose entire Brewers career consisted of 37 1/3 innings out of the bullpen in 1976. But he left us this beauty of a card.

There you have it. We have Remembered Some Brewers. Next week, we just might Remember Some Rays, although their history is not exactly as rich and entertaining. Enjoy the World Series, everyone!