Best Games I Attended in the Last Decade (Part 1 of 15)

One of my hopes with the New Year is that I will post more to this blog. With that said, I decided to borrow an idea from a Milwaukee radio show called the D-List. Once per week, they do what they call the "D-List list of the week." Last week, they did the top 5 sporting events you attended over the past decade. As most of you know, I've been to MANY sporting events over the past 10-years and beyond! So, as I made my list, I had well over 5 that I felt needed mentioning. And, instead of simply listing them, I decided that some words were needed to explain why I felt they were worth remembering. As I started to write a "few" words about them, I realized that this was a larger undertaking than I originally planned. I started researching details about each game and I also wanted to provide background about the game. And so with that said, I am going to try to post one game I attended each day until I reveal the #1 game I attended the past decade. In all, I will reveal about 15 games that I felt were worthly of including under the title of "Best Games I attended in the Last Decade." That includes my top-5 and about 1o honorable mentions. Without further ado, here is the first of my honorable mentions (which will be in no particular order)...



HONORABLE MENTION #1...

Cincinnati Reds at Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee County Stadium (September 28, 2000)

-- Last game ever at County Stadium --

Of course, this game shouldn't have ever been played during this past decade. County Stadium was set to close following the 1999 season however the "Big Blue" crane collapse which killed three workers caused considerable damage to the first-base side of the new Miller Park, causing the new stadium's opening to be delayed by one season. County Stadium will forever hold a special place in my heart... I practically grew up there! Living within a few miles of the stadium, I attended over 100 games at that old stadium, which opened in 1953 and was built for $5 million. Of those 100 games, the most memorable included seeing Robin Yount’s 3,000th hit and watching Reggie White sack quarterbacks! One of the unique aspects of the stadium is that it served as a home venue for an NFL team (the Green Bay Packers), a National League MLB team (the Milwaukee Braves) and two American League teams (the Milwaukee Brewers & Chicago White Sox). It hosted three World Series (1957 & 1958 - both Braves v. Yankees, and 1982 - Brewers v. Cardinals), one NFL conference championship game (1967 - Packers v. LA Rams, which was one week before the Ice Bowl) and two MLB All-Star games (1955 & 1975). It was also the site of the movies "Major League" & “Mr. 3000” and hosted performances by many greats including: Bob Hope, Rolling Stones, Eagles, Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Journey, Paul McCarthy, Billy Joel, Elton John, The Temptations and even Hulk Hogan v. Andre the Giant in a steel-cage match! The legendary Hank Aaron hit the final homer of his career at County Stadium, #755.

The final game at County Stadium itself was awful, as the Reds defeated the Crew 8-1. However, the most memorable parts of the event that was the final game occurred with the introduction of famous athletes who once played at the stadium (after the game) and an introduction of an athlete who would never actually play at the stadium (during the game). The later turned out to be the loudest the crowd would ever get during the pathetic game. Ben Sheets, a Brewer prospect at the time, was introduced to the crowd in-between innings. Sheets had just returned back to the States that day following an 18-hr flight from Sydney, Australia, where he had just pitched the United States to victory in the gold-medal game over Cuba! In that game, he pitched a complete-game shutout to give the U.S. it's first-ever gold medal in the sport! It was only the second loss ever for Cuba in the Olympics. Sheets came out of the dugout to the Olympic theme song and all of the fans rose to their feet and gave him a thunderous and long ovation! I can honestly say, listening to that music, and remembering the old stadium and thinking about the future with Sheets and Miller Park... I was very emotional and had a few tears in my eyes. It wouldn't be the last time that day! After the game, a lot of the great athletes who played at the stadium where introduced to the fans and they came out from the left field opening and walked/ran to the infield. This half-hour was probably the most emotional I've ever been at a sporting event, as I reminisced about my time at the ballpark and while watching the emotion on the players faces to how they must have been feeling. I think they were shocked at the huge ovation that they each got! The list of players introduced included... Warren Spahn, Hank Aaron, Frank Torre & Bob Buhl (the Braves)... Willie Davis & Fuzzy Thurston (the Packers)... Paul Moliter, Rob Deer, Dave Sveum, Jim Gantner, Rollie Fingers & Robin Yount (the Brewers). All of it was great, but the best part was Robin Yount entering the stadium on a Harley Davidson (a la when he did this following the 1982 World Series)! The saddest part was the end of Bob Uecker's speech, when he said "... so long old friend, and goodnight everybody." I went with two friends (Mike and Jen). It was an amazing day/night! I will never forget that old stadium. My love of sports started there.