Rastall Ramblings: Three Cheers for the Brewers Alumni Home Run Derby
The vibes around this year’s Milwaukee Brewers team are already great thanks to their big surge over the past couple months to cement themselves as one of the best teams in baseball this season, but a celebration of some of the team’s former players this past weekend did a fabulous job of tapping into fan nostalgia in the best way possible.
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of American Family Field (it’s still Miller Park to me), the Brewers brought back 10 former players to take part in an alumni home run derby after last Friday’s game against the Miami Marlins. Carlos Gómez and Ryan Braun served as team captains. Team Gómez featured Prince Fielder, Keon Broxton, Yovani Gallardo and Nyjer Morgan while Team Braun included Bill Hall, Corey Hart, Casey McGehee and Eric Thames.
It was Broxton who wound up stealing the show, winning both the individual title and sealing the win for Team Gómez with a final booming home run. After the clincher, he did a celebratory run around the bases and capped it off with all the other participants joining him at home plate for a bowling ball celebration — a callback to Fielder’s similar celebration after a walk-off home run back in 2009.
Sure, the guys acting as the pins falling down for the Broxton bowling ball had to go to the ground a tad more gingerly than they would have in their playing days, but it was the perfect end to an event that had to exceed anyone’s expectations.
It was obvious how much the guys participating loved it and the fans clearly reciprocated. Even after a frustrating loss to the Marlins, almost all of the 40,000-plus fans at the ballpark stuck around to watch the home run derby and were fully engaged.
Longtime former coach Ed Sedar and another former player, George Kottaras, were the pitcher and catcher, respectively, for the derby. On top of that, there was a smattering of other former Brewers around the ballpark on Friday and over the weekend for the festivities. Brian Anderson and Bill Schroeder in the TV booth were clearly having a blast calling the action as well.
Other teams have obviously held events like Old Timers’ Day over the years that serve the same sort of purpose, but this was a first for the Brewers and it hopefully isn’t the last time they hold this kind of event.
Time marches on, players and coaches change and certain eras end, but it’s always special to celebrate the people from years gone by that helped create indelible memories and foster many fans’ love for the game of baseball.
