Game 1:
Alas, Opening Day 2018 was upon us, and normally I would be excited just for that, but this year was different. This year we were going to be there! That's right, the Brewers were starting their season in San Diego, so it was a no-brainer, we had to be there! We were continuing our week-long baseball trip, and this, Opening Day, is what I was most excited about!
Opening Day of baseball was on Thursday March 29th, and the Brewers/Padres first pitch was set for 1:10 pm PST. The gates opened 2 hours prior to first pitch, and we the very first one's through the turnstiles! The energy around Petco Park was electric! Opening Day is always fun for me because every single team starts on an equal playing field, and anything can happen throughout the season. The World Series is totally up for grabs!
Being this was our very first Brewers Opening Day, we spent a little more than we normally would on tickets, but it was well worth it. Our tickets were first row right beside the visiting dugout, and we had a wait staff!
The Brewers were warming up on the field right in front of us, and as players walked by, we would wish them well and congratulate them on a new season. I could tell that the players were excited to be back at it too; there were smiles all around! There were 3 pitchers who were making their very first Opening Day roster (Brent Suter, Brandon Woodruff, and Josh Hader). Last year when they were in the minor leagues, we met all of them, so it felt more personal to us and we were really proud of them!
My old pal, Brent Suter made his first Opening Day roster!
The pomp and circumstance is so great on Opening Day, and the pre-game festivities did not disappoint. Before both full-team rosters were announced, the U.S. Navy Parachute Team, the Leap Frogs, made a grand entrance onto the field from a plane, complete with jet streams coming from their feet! It was awesome!
After the Leap Frogs entrance, they announced the full starting line-ups for both teams, encompassing all players, coaches and management. When they were announcing the Brewers starting line-up, they got to Lorenzo Cain, and I don't think he was ready yet, as he came out of the dugout while zipping up his pants, haha!
When the starting line-ups were done, they brought out a flag the size of the outfield for the National Anthem. It was beautifully done and it brought tears to my eyes. I don't normally get choked up during the Star Spangled Banner, but after the line "Land of the Free...", there was a brief pause and the majority of the stadium erupted in applause! We do live in a pretty awesome country!
Trevor Hoffman, the Hall of Fame closer who spent most of his years as a Padre (and also a few as a Brewer), threw out the ceremonial first pitch to a welcoming applause as well. It was cool to see this, as I'm sure both fan bases were happy about this first pitch selection!
Now, the moment we all have been waiting for, BASEBALL! The Padres took the field, the first pitch was thrown, and all was right in the world! Brewers pitcher Chase Anderson got the Opening Day nod this year, and he did not disappoint! Anderson went 6 solid innings with only 1 hit allowed, 3 walks, 6 strike-outs and no runs! He even brought a no-hitter into the 4th inning! I couldn't have asked for a better outing, and it made me excited about our pitching for once!
The balconies on this building were full of people wanting to catch a glimpse of Opening Day!
The new additions to our team this off-season, Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich, made their presence known as well. Cain is familiar in a Milwaukee uniform as the Brewers actually drafted him in 2004. He played with the Brewers in 2010, then went to the Royals from 2011-2017, and is now back where he belongs, signing as a free agent. Cain had 5 at-bats, recording 3 hits in the Opener. Christian Yelich came over to the Brewers in a trade from the Miami Marlins, signing with the Brewers the same day as Cain, coincidentally. Yelich provided 1 hit and the first RBI of the season on Opening Day. Cain and Yelich are going to be a great 1-2 punch in our line-up this year with so much power!
There was a lot more to cheer about on Opening Day, too, in addition to the game. A U.S. Navy Petty Officer sang God Bless America before the 7th inning stretch, and he did an amazing job; the best I've ever heard! We also ended up getting free baseball, as the game went to 12 innings! Free baseball is my favorite! The RBI that Yelich hit was in the 3rd inning. The Padres tied the game in bottom of the 9th, and in the 12th, another Brewers new-comer, Ji-Man Choi struck with a double, and our shortstop phenom Orlando Arcia hit him home right after that! It took Brewers reliever 17 pitches to strike out the side in the bottom of the 12th, and the Brewers snuck out the first win of the season! It was so nice to have the first win under our belts.
Robbie and I have been to 5 Opening Day games in the past, but none of them have been to see my beloved Brewers. And, this year marked the 3rd consecutive Opening Day for us as well. Last year we were in Phoenix for the Diamondbacks Opening Day vs. the Giants, in 2016 we saw the Cubs vs. Angels in Anaheim on Opening Day, and in 2015, we saw the Cardinals/Cubs Opening Day at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Now the only Opening Day we have left is to be AT Miller Park when the Brewers open the season. It will be then that my baseball life will be complete!
Game 2:
Friday, March 30th. New day, same story! We knew we were going to be attending the whole Brewers/Padres series, and the best thing about today was that we were still on vacation! Friday's game started at 6:40pm, so we had time to sleep in that day, but we were still out the door by 3pm! We were again, first in line at the gates.
It's always fun for us to see the Brewers at a ballpark other than Miller Park because the visiting team always takes Batting Practice last. Usually fans aren't allowed in yet when the home team is taking BP, so we always get to see the Brewers take BP, which is cool! For Friday's game, we had seats about 20 rows up, right behind homeplate. I really liked this view as it was more elevated and we didn't have that darn protective netting right in front of us, as we did the day before.
The Brewers got off to a quick start, scoring 2 runs in the first! I really liked that our bats were going right from the start. I was worried that we would start the season flat, but I was pleasantly surprised. The Padres put 3 runs on the board in the 2nd inning, and added 1 more run in the 4th, 7th, and 8th innings. It looked like the Brewers were out of luck.
Then the 9th inning happened. The score at the beginning of the 9th inning was 6-3 in favor of the Padres. The Brewers started the inning by stringing together 3 singles, and Arcia reached on an error amongst those singles as well. Manny Pina came around to score in that sequence. Then Cain grounded out, but it scored Jesus Aguilar. By this time, there were 2 outs with 2 on base still, the score was 6-5 still in favor of the Padres. Then Ryan Braun comes up to the plate and works the count 0-2. Padre fans were standing and cheering, and so were Brewer fans, but for 2 very different reasons. The stadium was rocking! The Brewers were down to their last strike, but Braun wasn't about to let us down. He launches the next pitch to deep left field for a home run! This may have only been the 2nd game of the season, but it had all the dramatics of a post-season win! I couldn't believe Braun had just hit a 3-run go-ahead and eventual game-winning homerun! Brewers fans went nuts! Brewers closer, Corey Knebel shut down the Padres in order with just 14 pitches, and the Brewers went home with the win, 8-6! This series was shaping up to a great one! After Robbie and I got home, we re-watched the 9th inning from both the Brewers TV feed and the Padres. We like hearing reaction of the opposing fanbase and announcers. Brewers announcer Brian Anderson had THE BEST call on that Braun homerun, and I will never forget it! Listen to BA's call HERE! Needless to say, it took a while for us to wind down and fall asleep that night!
Game 3:
Saturday was the last game of the series, and the Brewers had their sights on an Opening Series sweep for the first time since 2006! We got tickets behind the Brewers dugout this time. We found that many Brewers fans sit behind their dugout, and where we were sitting the day before was not Brewer Fan conducive. We wanted to be among the Brewers! Last season, we went to the Brewers/Padres series in May, and at the time the Brewers were leading the league in homeruns, so I made a sign with their homerun count. I decided to bring that sign to this series as well because I thought it was kinda cool that all teams were starting at zero. Well, that day I was able to change the "homerun" count to 1, thanks to Ryan Braun's dramatic homerun the night before. I also wore my Braun shirt with pride. We were still on last night's high for sure!
Just like the last 2 nights, we got to the stadium early, and we spotted an old Brewer, Richie Sexson, who played for the Brewers from 2000-2003. I remember that when he was with the Brewers, I was just becoming a fan (I have always been a fan, but this is when I really started to pay attention to how well they were doing), and he was the first era of Brewers I remember cheering for! Robbie and I saw that he was in front of the dugout in some VIP area. I'm not sure what he was there for, but I went up closer, shouted his name, and was able to get his autograph. I thanked him for his time as a Brewer, and told him that he was the first "generation" of Brewers that I remember cheering for. I'm sure he doesn't get recognized that often, and maybe I made his night! Haha! In the interest of autographs, on Opening Day, I saw one of our TV announcers, Bill Schroeder, in the dugout. Being we were sitting so close to the dugout and he wasn't really busy with anything yet, I went up to him and asked for an autograph. I told him that I love listening to him every day, and to keep up the good work with his side-kick, Brian Anderson. Bill Schroeder used to be a Major League catcher for 7 years in the 80's and 90's (5 of which he spent with the Brewers), and has now been announcing Brewers games for 23 years! I asked him to sign the sweet spot of the baseball I had for him, and he replied, "wow, sweet spot? I haven't done that in years!" He also thanked me for watching. Those 2 interactions with Richie Sexson and Bill Schroeder were pretty awesome!
Richie Sexson (left), and Bill Schroeder (right).
Bill Schroeder, middle, in the grey suit.
Back to the game at hand. The Brewers got off to another fast start in the first inning on a Christian Yelich single who eventually came around to score. That hit in the first inning would be the first out of 5 that he had on the night! Acquiring Yelich from the Marlins was the best decision the Brewers ever made! The Padres scored 2 in the 2nd, and I was worried for just a moment that we would have to work hard to win, but after scoring 2 runs in both the 3rd and 4th, and another 2 in the 8th, we cruised to a 7-3 victory! We had done it! We had just swept the Opening Series! That is not an easy feat! It felt so good to be 3-0!
After the game, the fans were treated to a laser and fireworks show. It was the perfect way to cap off a series sweep and our week-long baseball vacation!!
I will always remember this vacation and this Opening Day series. It was a full week of baseball and Brewers, and one of our favorite vacations that we have ever taken together. Sunday was an off-day for the Brewers, and it was much needed for us to gear up for the real world again. Usually we don't take full week vacations, but I wouldn't have traded this for the world. It was such a blast!
"How can you not be romantic about baseball?!" - Billy Beane in Moneyball
