My 1982 Brewers

It's weird how something that seems as if it occurred in another lifetime can also seem like it happened just yesterday.

That's the feeling I got from seeing the Brewers World Series team reunited after 25 years, gathering for a celebration at Miller Park last night.

Recognizing milestones like that doesn't make me feel old or wistful. Remembering those times makes me feel grateful for what was. I look back happily.

Unfortunately, I wasn't at the Tuesday night game, but I wasn't at any of the World Series games either; so I guess that was fitting.

Seeing those players on the field together again was really special.

They seemed a bit out of place at Miller Park though. They belong in County Stadium. As great a facility as Miller Park is, it wasn't the site of that glorious '82 season.

After Harvey Keunn's widow Audrey threw out the first pitch to Ted Simmons, it was so touching when he hugged and kissed her. Genuine emotion.

As I said, I wasn't at any of the Series games, but I was at the post-Series parade.

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The stories might seem a little corny to those hearing them for the first time.

But to anyone who was there in 1982, Ted Simmons' memory is accurate.

Yes, the Milwaukee Brewers came one victory short of winning it all. But they came home winners in the hearts of every one of their fans in Wisconsin.

"When we came back, it was like a New York City ticker-tape parade," Simmons recalled. "The cars were going down Wisconsin Ave. and they couldn't move. The people were lined up, not just on the sidewalks but in the street, so that if you weren't careful somebody was going to get run over.

"So we just crept along. The whole city was there, and I think we ended up at the stadium and there were 30,000 people there. It really was a remarkable expression. It really was, because we came back from St. Louis having gone in there up, three games to two, and to come back after losing both games we just felt bad.

"But these people took that away immediately. It was like we'd won, and they treated us as though we'd won."

...[Gorman] Thomas remembered being not exactly on board for a parade just a few hours after the Brewers had flown home the night before.

"We were notified that they expected us to be at the First Wisconsin building at a certain time the next day for a parade," Thomas said. "And we said, almost to a man, 'Well, why? We lost. There's not going to be anybody there. It's going to be kind of embarrassing.'

"So we go underneath, and Wally Rank used to have that collection of (old) cars, and so we get up underneath there and we're, like, 'Oh, these are neat. Who's riding with who?' And they said, 'You and Vuke are riding in that one.'

"So we said, 'All right.' We jumped up in the back of the car and we come up underneath from the underground parking and pull up on Wisconsin and it was, like, 'Holy (expletive)! What the hell is all this? Must be a fire someplace or something.'

"We started heading west on Wisconsin and it was unbelievable. People were handing you a beer and cigars. It was just unbelievable.

"It's just a shame we didn't win, but even if we had won I don't think it would have been any bigger or any better. It would have been just the same. It was kind of like the fans' way of saying, 'Thank you for what you did.' "

The stories aren't corny.

Simmons' memory is accurate.

No embellishment necessary.

It was a joyous celebration. I can't imagine it being any different if the Brewers had returned as the Series champs.

Here's more.

From SI.com:

The 1982 Brewers fell short in the World Series, but the city of Milwaukee once again made them feel like winners.

The Brewers hosted a 25-year reunion of what remains the only World Series team in franchise history before Tuesday night's game against the St. Louis Cardinals, honoring 26 former players and coaches - including the team's current manager, Ned Yost - at Miller Park.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who owned the team in 1982, spoke of the joy the Brewers brought to the city despite falling short of their ultimate goal.

"I'll tell you this: The 1982 Milwaukee Brewers will go down as one of the great teams in baseball history,'' said Selig, who received polite applause from the crowd.

It's nice that the commissioner of baseball was in Milwaukee for the occasion. I wonder if Barry Bonds is jealous that Selig showed up for this. His hands were even out of his pockets. He was applauding, giving applause where it's due.

...The heavy-hitting, hard-charging, mustache-wielding 1982 team was nicknamed "Harvey's Wallbangers'' in honor of manager Harvey Kuenn. Broadcaster Bob Uecker introduced Kuenn's widow, Audrey, to the crowd.

"I cry every time I talk about it,'' Kuenn said of the 1982 team. "But anyway, I hope you fans stick by the Brewers we have now, and I think you'll have a winner too.''

..."I don't think I'm going out on a limb here when I speak for most of us in saying that this team here would probably be the highlight of all our careers,'' Hall of Famer Robin Yount said.

Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton described the team as "two altar boys, four guys that had just escaped from Attica State Prison and the rest of us.

"It brought a collection of personalities and people, from the quiet guys to the rambunctious guys to just about any personality you wanted to find,'' Sutton said.

It was a very diverse group of personalities. The colorful cast of characters added to the fun.

What a great team it was!

1982 was a wonderful year. After all this time, it's still one of my favorites.