This new Brewers coach reminded us that Opening Day hits a little different for him

There are some dreams that start being imagined the first time someone picks up a ball and glove. Hitting a bases loaded, full count, walk off grand slam to win the World Series, pitching a perfect game, robbing a home run, and of course making the Milwaukee Brewers Opening Day lineup.

Opening Day comes with plenty of pomp and circumstance. The red, white, and blue bunting all around the stadium, the full roster and coaching staff being announced along the foul lines, and the eternal hope that this could be "our year." If you have yet to experience an Opening Day in person at your favorite team's stadium, it is absolutely a must do.

Being an MLB player is one of the rarest fraternities in all of sports. Since 1876 through today, according to Baseball Almanac, there have only been 20,791 players to ever appear in a Major League baseball game. For the Brewers, two players will join that fraternity, Chad Patrick and Connor Thomas, whenever they make their first appearance out of the team's bullpen. The team, will also have a different MLB debut being announced at Yankee Stadium, "rookie" coach Al LeBoeuf.

A Brewers debut that has been a long time coming

Al LaBoeuf has been in professional baseball since 1981, when he was drafted by Philadelphia Phillies in the 28th round of that year's MLB Draft. In 1985, Al was hit by a pitch that would change his life, but more on that later. He would make it as high as Triple A in his playing career, spending most of his time as a corner infielder, with a bit of outfield mixed in, and retired from playing without ever having reached the MLB after the 1988 season.

LaBoeuf went from player coach, to just coach in the 1989 season, still with the Phillies minor league system, eventually making his way to manager of then Batavia Clippers, then the Clearwater Phillies, and the Reading Phillies. LeBoeuf then jumped from the from the Phillies to the Mets system, followed by Royals and Blue Jays before reaching the Brewers minor league system in 2010.

A HBP that changed his life

Remember that hit by pitch in 1985? For the next 27 years, it was likely just a footnote, lost to the vast, seemingly never ending spaces of the game notes on Baseball Reference. However, in 2012, it came back with a vengence, when he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a result of a bone bruise on his hip from that fateful pitch, that turned into POEMS syndrome, a condition where the body makes too much protein.

In a piece posted by The Athletic by Tyler Kepner (which is an excellent read), LeBoeuf called it “A turbo sinker right into my hip, and then for like 30 years, apparently, it was producing protein into my body to try to heal it, and it produced so much protein that it kind of ate at the antibodies and gave me a blood cancer called multiple myeloma, which in turn gave me a neuropathy called POEMS syndrome, which, at the time, there were only 200 known cases in the world.”

It made his body lock up, and go numb. All the time. He battled through chemo, radiation, and even stem cell therapy. He was confined to a wheelchair for months before eventually making his way to a walking support that you may see clipped to his shoes when he takes the field at Yankee Stadium.

As for his baseball coaching career, he maintained that, first as a scout at the Brewers training facility in Arizona, and then an advisor, before finally returning to the dugout in 2016 with the then Single A affiliate, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Much like he did as a player, he progressed through the system, assigned to Colorado Springs in 2017, then Biloxi in 2018, and finally Triple A for the team's final year in San Antonio before returning the affiliate to Nashville.

The Call to The Show

2025 seemed destined to be more of the same, after the Sounds 2024 season LeBoeuf had signed a contract to return to Nashville, until big league skipper Pat Murphy called him in October. Ozzie Timmons was not coming back to the Brewers, and "Murph" needed a new hitting coach, specifically a lead hitting coach.

Much of the Brewers current, and very young, lineup spent at least a little time with the guy they affectionately call "Buffy". That was a major reason for the promotion. In that same piece from The Athletic, LeBoeuf said his greatest enjoyment came from seeing guys you worked with, countless guys, who would always be sure to call him to let him know that they made "The Show." But now, after 44 years, it is finally, his turn to hear his name called, and make his way down the handshake line on MLB Opening Day.

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