Brewers ‘On Deck’, A Huge Success

This weekend, the Brewers held their annual fan-fest, or what we now call “Brewers On Deck”.  According to early estimates, a little over 12,000 people attended the event, which was held at the Frontier Airlines Center today.  Twenty-seven current Brewers were in attendance to take pictures with fans and sign autographs.  According to the Twitter Universe, it was a great time for everyone.  From players, to former RtB writers, there seemed to be a lot of fun stuff going on.

According to Tom Haudricourt of the MJS, Nyjer Morgan had the longest line of all the players.  While this is surprising, I am not surprised…wait, that doesn’t makes sense.  Anyway,  Brewers fans have certainly taken a liking to the vocal centerfielder.  Some of it has to do with his play last season, another piece is probably his personality(ies) and the way it seems to fit with the Brewers, but my guess is that it has something o do with him having the second most important hit in team history (I would still say that Cecil Coopers two-run single to win the 1982 ALCS is number one). 

Regardless of whatever happens the rest of his career, Morgan has cemented himself as a legend in Milwaukee for the rest of his life.  Long after he has retired, he will be coming to Brewers On Deck’s to sign autographs and talk about his game winner in last seasons NLDS. When Nyjer was asked about the event he said, “This is one of the best events I’ve ever attended”.  Suck on that Pittsburgh and Washington D.C.

Zack Greinke also received a great deal of attention today.  During an interview, the oft quiet starting pitcher talked about how high his expectations for the 2012 season are.  Zack said a lot of great things, but my personal favorite:

"The team is great.  When you go to the stadium, it just feels real comfortable.  Everything feels real good.  I like the whole coaching staff and front office too.  The owner is probably the best owner in baseball, maybe.  He’s incredible."

This was in response to questions about his current contract situation/lack of agent.  Greinke is currently representing himself, which makes it difficult to work out any kind of long term deal.  Last time I checked, Zack did not go to college and has no experience in finance or business, so he probably will not be doing any negotiating without representation.

Corey Hart was of course asked about playing first base.  In the past he has said that he is not really interested in it, but today he said that while he would not be excited about it, he is willing to do whatever the team asks him to do.  Hopefully it will not come to that, but it is nice to know that it won’t come as a surprise to Corey.

All of this is fine and dandy, but the highlight of the day came from Bob Uecker.  Thank you to Tom Haudricourt for reporting this wonderful story.  Bob was handling the moderation for a Q and A with Attanasio, Melvin, and assistant GM Gord Ash.  At one point, the microphone landed on a little boy.  Mr. Uecker then asked the young man what his name was, to which the boy replied “Tyler”.  Then Bob said “Poor kid” as a jab at Brewers VP Tyler Barnes.  Sadly, the little boy does not know who Tyler Barnes is, he began to cry and buried his head into his mothers arms.

Bob Uecker is so clever and quick that he noticed Tyler wearing a Craig Counsell jersey (not my first choice, but a good role model for a young kid).  Since Craig is now a member of the front office, Bob brought him up on stage to meet Counsell and have him sign Tyler’s jersey.  As an added bonus, Aramis Ramirez and Ale Gonzalez where there so they signed the kids jersey too. 

Then, just to make sure that everything was smoothed over, Bob told Mark Attanasio to give the kid 20 bucks.  This cute story just goes to show how comfortable and close knit the Brewers (and the organization as a whole) are with their fans.  Bob Uecker is always on his toes, I tell you what.

From everything I have heard, it was a great time.  However, there was one unfortunate incident that took place today.  Former RtB staff writer Lynda Schneider was in attendance today.  She attended the event with her mother.  Their mission was to meet Robin Yount.  Sadly, they were 30 numbers away in the raffle.  Lynda, tell your mom I’m sorry.  I’m sure if Robin knew how much it meant to your mom, he would have met her and signed something for sure.  Hope you both had fun regardless.

There were a few other things going on, but I will save those for discussion over the coming days…as we wait for the ruling on Ryan Braun‘s suspension.  Topics will range from Aramis Ramirez to Shaun Marcum‘s arbitration negotiations.