Midwest Visit Part 3: Second Row Sandy

We watched almost every Brewer game in 2023

I think Door County is a cool place. It's very pretty and there are a lot of cool restaraunts and shops to visit. But I have to admit I was a little glad to be leaving. After getting very sick there, for the second time in two visits, I decided that maybe it wasn't for me. But by the time we left I had recovered from whatever bug had hit me this time. Next stop was in Stoughton, Wisconsin to visit Sandy's mom. The drive was only a couple of hours and we got there mid-afternoon.

We checked in to the Tru by Hilton. It's right next door to Kettle Park, which is where Sandy's mom lives. It's a really nice place. It's quite new. On google maps the street view doesn't even show it. It was taken before it was built. The people who work there seem nice and all the residents are very friendly. I've visited twice now and every time when people meet me in the hallways they stop and chat. The apartment that Sandy's mom has is very nice too. And I like the fact that there is a WalMart right across the street, so I could run over to get my favorite pretzels to snack on late at night.

The three of us drove a few miles north to McFarland where we had dinner at Angelo's. Lynn and Dan drove down from Sun Prairie to meet us there. We had a good dinner. You know that I am never going to complain about eating Italian food. The only negative was that there was virtually no parking and Dan and I both ended up parking quite a ways away. Not a big deal though.

Linner at Barbierie's before the game

Back at the hotel I stayed up to watch the replay of that days Brewers game on MLB.TV and see them beat the Cardinals 3-0. For me, there is nothing better than when the Brewers beat the Cardinals. I am still mad about 1982.

The next day we were heading to Milwaukee. If we travel back to the Midwest during baseball season, we always try to go to a Brewers game. Both Sandy and I are big fans. We have a subscription to MLB.TV and this year we watched about 95% of their games. With 162 games in a major league season, that's a lot! Since we had our September trip planned way in advance, I decided to do something special. I went on StubHub and bought some really good seats and gave them to Sandy for Mother's Day. They were right behind home plate in the second row. They were expensive but I figured it would be worth it as a special treat for one game. Sandy was pretty excited when she got the tickets.

Since it was a night game we had plenty of time beforehand. When I go back to Milwaukee, I always like to eat at Barbiere's Italian Inn. I used to go there and hang out all the time when I was in college. It's still there and it's close to the ball park. Of course we had to go there in the middle of the afternoon for linner (combined lunch and dinner = linner). Almost fifty years later, and it hasn't changed a bit. The food was just as good as I remembered. Thomas Wolfe was wrong - sometimes you can go home.

Second Row Sandy takes her seat

Even after eating dinner we were still at the ball park before it opened. We had paid a lot for these seats and we were going to sit in them every minute that we could! When we got to our seats, they didn't disappoint. We really were right behind home plate, and only a few feet away. Unlike most games I have been to where the players are far away, we seemed to be close enough to reach out and touch them. It was pretty cool. All the players that we were used to seeing on tv were right there. They were real people.

We were also hoping to be on tv. The tv camera in center field looking at the batter usually shows some of the people right behind home plate. Unfortunately, at the Brewers home park, you can usually only see the front row and maybe the second row. In Milwaukee, there is a woman who has season tickets right behind home plate. She is at most games and always wears a really low cut top. She is known as "Front Row Amy". I told Sandy that with these tickets, she was now "Second Row Sandy". We told all our friends and relatives to watch the game and look out for us. Turns out you could see us, but our heads were cut off. So several times during the game, we would bend down and wave when we thought the camera was on us. People said they could see us. It was our fifteen seconds of fame.

Sal Frelich steps into the batter's box

The game was exciting. The Brewers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning, the key hit a two run triple by Carlos Santanna. But the Cubs didn't give up. They scored two runs in the eighth to make it close. Late in the game, the Brewers bullpen was tired so they brought in Caleb Boushley, who had just been called up from Nashville. It was his first major league game and since he had played college ball in LaCrosse, there were about forty relatives and friends at the game to root for him. Practically a whole section. He got the last out in the eighth but then gave up a home run to Ian Happ in the ninth to tie the game for a blown save, so we had extra innings. He got in a jam in the top of the tenth, with runners on the corners with only one out, but struck out the next two batters to strand them. The Brewers scored the winning run in the bottom of the tenth and he got the win. If he never pitches again in the major leagues, the guy went home with an exciting win. Pretty cool.

Garrett Mitchell in the on deck circle

It was a good game. I thought the expensive seats were worth it for a one time splurge. Sandy really liked them too. Unfortunately, she said that since we don't go to many Brewer games, we should always get special seats. I think that maybe next summer I will be in trouble if we go back to the midwest and go to a Brewer game.

After the game, we drove back to Yorkville. Late at night, it was an easy drive and we got there about midnight. Unfortunately I only had a short night. I was up super early to catch a ride at 5 am to go to O'Hare to fly back to Boise the next day. Sandy stayed longer to play Gramma some more. Even though I had been sick up in Door County, we had done a lot and it had been a good trip.