The winter after my Milwaukee Brewers won the National League Central title, I should have been ecstatic about getting back with my summer family and hitting up Brewers on Deck in 2012, but 15,000 people all seemingly not as big a fan as me totally turned me off.
The 2013 edition of Brewers On Deck may have saved the event in my eyes, however. The event still had longer lines than Six Flags with a ride that lasted just seconds watching a player sign a sheet of paper, but got me engulfed in the team I love and motivated me to write this.
After a tad of crazy bad luck both during the week and this morning, I actually went to the event by myself. Crazy, I know, but there were going to be friends there I could check in with and not be a complete loner the whole day, so it worked out OK.
Since I was shut out on the autograph front, I actually made a B-line to one of those long lines I was talking about. After two hours, I got a chance to greet and get an autograph from Carlos Gomez.
Waiting in line for the autograph actually made it easy on me to get in line for what could be the biggest surprise of the event, which is the success of these grab bags the team sells. Basically it's a bag of leftover bobbleheads from the year before. I know we all love bobbles, but I don't need another Randy Wolf, thank you. An Aramis Ramirez one, which I did not get last year, however, I will take! Make that one of the "rare" bobbles and it's an even bigger win. Add to that the 2011 commemorative DVD and a voucher for two free tickets Opening Week of the season, I'm I just found out why they are so successful. That's how you make $25 count!
After that, I pretty much lived at the Main Stage where the team had a Q & A with the newest Brewers, "Milwacky Squares," their play on Hollywood Squares, "Brewers Faceoff," a play on Family Feud and a media round table discussion with the beat reporters from the team (which in Milwaukee is about four guys). This was the one area I always thought the team did very well on throughout the years at their On Deck events. Well, that is if you don't count the inclusion with Dennis Haskins, who played Mr. Belding on Saved By the Bell eons ago.
There the storylines for Spring Training and the season were discussed. From Corey Hart's knee surgery and how Mat Gamel will fare at first base, to the revamped bullpen and the "Baby Brewers" starting rotation. I'll delve into all of them in the next couple of weeks as we get closer to pitchers and catchers reporting on February 12, but as the Journal-Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt said, "(GM) Doug Melvin and (owner) Mark Attanasio sat out here and are actually honest in saying they think those guys can get it done" in regards to the starting pitchers. I'm actually on board with the move, too, with the six guys vying for four spots heading to Maryvale ready to duke it out and earn their spot in the rotation. How that will fall, we have to see how it unfolds, but at least one is going to end up throwing out of the bullpen to start the season.
Things look promising for this team and there is flexibility if the team is in contention to make a move with a payroll under $80 million heading into the season. A good talk with my man +Brewer Nation motivated me to stay focused on this writing game and I'll try to focus on the Brewers, especially after the Super Bowl.
Be sure to click below for more of my photos from the day!
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