Best Games I Attended in the Last Decade (Part 2 of 15)

HONORABLE MENTION #2...

Atlanta Braves at Milwaukee Brewers, Miller Park (May 16, 2004)

-- Ben Sheets strikes out 18 --

I wound up going to this game by myself, as everyone seemed to be busy and I really wanted to catch a Brewer game. It was great from the standpoint that I was able to roam around the park and I wound up watching Sheets warm up as I stood over the bullpen before the game started. Even watching him warmup, I noticed he had good "stuff." I recall pitching coach Bill Castro even saying so to a fan he seemed to know after Sheets finished getting ready. Of course, as known to most baseball fans, Sheets was assisted by the infamous daytime shadows of Miller Park. That said, Sheets' curveball that day was wicked and I've never seen as dominating of a start by a pitcher in person before or since. Once the crowd realized how many K's Sheets had, the crowd rose after he got to 2 strikes on each batter from the 7th inning on. Sheets' 18 K's was four more than the previous Brewer's record of 14 by Moose Haas in 1978 and only 2 shy of the all-time MLB record for a 9-inning game (held by Roger Clemens, Kerry Wood & Randy Johnson). When healthy, Ben Sheets was one of the best pitchers in baseball during his stint with the Brew Crew. That fun spring Sunday afternoon proved that.