How did you become a Brewers fan

[schmidty]

Please tell your story on how your eyes were opened to the greatest team in the MLB and you became a Brewers fan, and also what year did that happen?

[davego]

Birth. Can't choose your family.

[trwi7]

I like baseball, I grew up in the Milwaukee area. The Brewers were the natural choice. Probably happened in 1992 or 1993.

[hawing]

I paid little to no attention to baseball, including the Brewers, until the start of the 1982 season, when I was 16.

 

My theory is that, being a teenager, I no longer wanted to follow what seemingly everyone else in my life was following, i.e. the Packers. So I picked something else.

 

I'm sure it helped that 1982 turned out to be a pretty good season for the Brewers, but I have diary entries from 1982 that show I was paying attention early in the season (before the Brewers really took off), so I don't think I was turned on solely by the win-loss record. I don't remember following the 1981 Brewers, so I don't think their half-season success was what lured me.

 

I do remember making a chart for the family refrigerator numbered 1-240, and crossing off a number after every Brewer home run. (They were on pace to break the then-major league record of 240 home runs in a season; they got to 216.) Maybe back then, I was a chick who dug the long ball. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[hurricane3184]

Moved from England and the first game i saw in 1992 was Yankees-Brewers. Everyone I went to school with was a Yankee fan and the Brewers won so I became a Brewers fan.

[JoeHova]

Born and raised in Milwaukee, dad took me and siblings to games, played little league, always liked the stats (I got one of those giant phone book sized stat registers that they used to have when I was 7 and probably memorized every number in there). Pretty normal story.

[stoops17]

When I was younger, neither of my parents were big baseball fans. My mom would listen to wgn and the Cubs, my dad could care less, a baseball game is just a big bar for him. So I didn't really get into baseball much. But in middle & high school with long summers and good friends, we would go to occasional games or listen to Bob on the radio. Then when we were able to drive ourselves, those county stadium general admission tickets were sweet. And the link to the Brewers was complete. Now that we are able, my friends and I all have 20 packs and have converted a few significant others into not only Brewer fans but also baseball in general fans.

[mothershipconnection]

In a trailer park in Wisconsin, late 1979, a produce department manager/rock musician and a hair dresser conceived a child. Because the child would grow up in Wisconsin, he had no choice in what teams to cheer for, especially when the only other big league team near him played in a giant bubble that was less appealing than that trailer.

[edod]

I was born in Madison and not to baseball fans. My father wanted me to take up a sport as I was a fat kid with no interests. So I played pony ball and my father took me to a few Brewer games over the years. I collected baseball cards and distinctly remember being at the game were Yount hit 2500. But more, I remember my father's grumblings about how much it cost to go. Then hormones hit I was again completely disinterested in any sport.

 

In 1996 I moved to Milwaukee to go to UWM and my first dorm roommate was a huge sports guy and so kind of payed attention, though he never had a good thing to say about the Brewers. The following year I realized two things. I had free cable and was 4 miles from the stadium that once took an hour and half to get to. (A U-pass plus 4-8 dollar tickets aclerated the process). The switch to the NL in 1998 sealed the deal.

 

So I got to soak my self in 8-9 years of losing before basking in the success of the last two years.

[sdcheezhd]

My 1st year as a fan was the Braves' last year. Then some tough years waiting until 1970. Ted Kubiak. Jerry McNertney. Gene Brabender. Gus Gil. Lew Krause. Resistance was futile.

[jason21nl]

Moved from England and the first game i saw in 1992 was Yankees-Brewers. Everyone I went to school with was a Yankee fan and the Brewers won so I became a Brewers fan.

Mine is similar...I moved from England in 1989 and we went on a school field trip when I was in 5th grade. If I remember correctly it was a starting line up give away day and I got a Yount. Every year since my Brewers love has been growing and growing.

 

Every game I watched or listened to I would get out my baseball cards and put the players in their position, even if they were batting, on deck, or in the hole.

[BrewCrewForever]

Born and raised in Southeastern WI so pretty much born into it. My Dad was a fan and he passed it on to me.

[AJAY]

I was 9 years old in 1982, and I remember seeing an ad on TV that they were giving away a Brewers vinyl gym bag at one of the upcoming Sunday games. Having the mindset of a 9-year-old, I was completely fascinated by the idea of getting a free bag while also getting to see a game. I didn't know much about baseball other than you are supposed to hit a ball with a bat. My dad had some old Pittsburgh Pirates memorabilia around the house (from his days in grad school in Pittsburgh), so I knew the sport was kind of important.

 

I asked my mom about the ad on TV, and I remember her telling my dad "you should take him sometime". So one fine Sunday, we went to County Stadium and I was completely blown away by the atmosphere. Seeing all the tailgaters was incredible. Seeing the pictures of the players on a giant black and white screen was amazing. Seeing the grass field and the players hitting the ball hard was just awesome. And yes, I got the free vinyl gym bag with the ball and glove logo on it.

 

Jim Gantner hit 2 homeruns that day, and Ben Oglivie also hit one too. The Brewers beat Minnesota 6-2, and I was hooked for life. Of course, I had no idea at that time that the Brewers were going to the World Series several months later. The whole thing was just incredible.

 

Thank you mom and dad.

[ILuvDaBush]

Growing up, I was actually a fan of the Pale Hose, and, especially, Frank Thomas. My parents would bring me to Brewer games, and I would pout and wax about how my beloved White Sox would trounce the hapless Brewer fodder we were laying witness to. Then Frank Thomas began his original descent, and I became more fixated on football (as that was the sport I primarily played in HS). However, my freshman year of college (actually the summer after), I was a parkie in Green Bay and many of our young patrons were fans of the Brews. They said I reminded them of a young Richie Sexson because of my height and power, so I slowly gravitated back to the team I grew up loving to hate, but it was more a passing fancy. I would go to games, but only because other friends were going. Then the Brewers drafted a player whose power was comparable to the great ig Hurt, as well as his plate discipline. Well I immediately fell headfirst back into baseball. Then, Richie was traded, and instead of losing all interest, I was enthralled. How could a team trade away the only premier player it possessed? The fact that the Sexson trade became "The Giving Tree" for the organization probably amplifies its importance in my ascension to baseball freak. Since then, Prince/Rickie/Yo/Hart/Bush have become my perpetually underrated faves. What's funny is that I would expound in length about how Ryan Braun was going to take the league by storm, only to have him do so, but to such an extent, I can't help but call him overrated now. And because of this belief, there is nary a fan amongst my friends who thinks I am a "true blue fan" as I would trade Braun at the first FAIR offer (ie, Paps/Ellsbury/Buccholz/Bay...how is that NOT fair?).

[phxMILWfan]

Born into it. Grew up in Greenfield, WI. My parents like to tell the story about how disappointed I was when my dad took me to my first tee-ball game that it wasn't at county stadium. My favorite player was Molitor. I've been a die hard since I was like 4.

[AmyintheSouth]

I chose it.

 

In 2005, I drafted Capuano for my fantasy team. He did well for me, and since I had Extra Innings anyway, I started tuning into the games. I just found the team interesting and very easy to root for. What I had intended to be something to watch when the Sox weren't on ended up being a team I was soon living and dying with. Or, to quote that old country song, I fooled around and fell in love. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[And That]

Brian offered me more money than DodgerBlues. And I really liked Dave Krynzel.

[Patrick425]

Born and raised in Milwaukee. Don't have a turning point or single game to point to, but I really fell hard for the Brewers in the mid to late 70's at the age of around 10 to 12 years old.

[JohnBriggs12]

I was a Brave fan. I attended my first Braves game at age 5 in 1958. In the heartbreaking year of 1965, I saw 7 Braves games. While at one of those games (the Braves were in their lame-duck season), I searched the out of town scores to pick a team to follow. I picked the Kansas City A's as I figured them to be the most obscure. Later either that year or the next The Sporting News ran an article titled "Finley dickering to move A's to Milwaukee". That possibility (it turned out nobody in Milwaukee wanted Finley) sealed it. I became an A's fan. I saw the A's in Milwaukee in 68 and 69 play the White Sox. I still remember seeing a young Reggie Jackson blast a long one off of Hoyt Wilhelm in 1968.

 

When the Brewers came to town, I was excited but still emotionally attached to the A's. Frankly the Brewers didn't have any players that I really latched on to. That changed in 1971 when Johnny Briggs came over from the Phillies. By 1972 I was getting serious about the Brewers. Of course that was the year my former team, the A's started their 3-peat.

[NeedMoreFans]

I was born in Iowa my family's allegiance is split amongst the Twins, Cubs, and Cardinals. We moved to Wisconsin in 1982, and my parents got into the lottery for playoff/series tickets and won. They were hooked on the team and became fans. They taught me how to say "Go Brewers" before I was 2, and I grew up a Brewers fan.

 

The best part about them getting to go to the playoffs and World Series was that they took my great grandfather, who had played professional baseball back in the 1930s (for the Cards), and was perhaps the biggest baseball fan I ever knew.

[BuckyBrewer61]

I grew up in SE Wisconsin and always considered myself a Brewers fan, but honestly I was really one of those "baseball is unbelievably boring to watch and the Brewers suck anyways" type guys that only really cared about the Packers. That is, until 2003, when the Brewers had that unexpectedly good first half after the Sexson trade. I was working my college summer job at Summerfest at the time and had managed to work my way to a position in the security department there where I could start volunteering for posts around the grounds that I knew had a radio nearby. I started listening to games religiously, and there was nothing better than getting paid to sit lakeside, people watch, and listen to Ueck and Powell. Then, even after the Crew fell into their monumental nosedive later that season, I still found myself living and dying with every pitch (though mostly dying). At that point, I finally understood what it was to be a Brewers fan.

[logan82]

My grandpa took me to a couple doubleheaders when I was younger. I collected baseball cards and kept track of the Brewers in the paper every Sunday until around '93. Then I had only a small interest in them until the end of the 2003 season when Scott Podsednik had a good rookie year. The next year I started to go to Brewers games more often and watched many games on FSN. Since then I hardly ever miss a game on TV.

[RightFieldCoder]

I grew up in Milwaukee. I became a huge fan in college when my best friend and roommate was a Cubs fan. Combine that with the Brewers just moving to the NL, and the great home run chase and I started watching almost daily. In 2001 a friend mentioned that he scored opening day tickets by buying a 20-game pack and the price was way less than what I thought it would be. The next year I became a full season ticket holder and started searching the net for other rabid fans.

[bork]

My parents had lived in Milwaukee before I was born, but moved to Montana where I was born. My dad taught me how to play baseball and that made it my favorite sport. But being in Montana in the 70's there really wasn't much baseball to watch. My family moved back to Milwaukee in August of 1982 (7 years old). I remember the excitement of the pennant, and I know it was my dad's love of baseball that got me hooked on the Brewers.

 

After that, we went to many games every year, as members of the Brewers Pepsi fan club. Molitor was the president and was my favorite player.

 

As an aside, my dad and I were both heavily influenced by my great grandfather. He followed the Brewers religiously and could tell you anything about the team right up to his death at age 103. In the early 20th century, he was offered a contract to be catcher for the Chicago White Socks, but he turned it down because he made more money with AO Smith.

[Blindcheck]

Sadly, I am just another Bandwagon Brewers Fan....The First year that I followed Baseball was the Summer of 1982, I was 9 years old....I jumped on what looked like a Winner in the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

I followed along as the Brewers clinched the Division and came back and beat the Angels in the American league championship series....Losing the heartbreaker in the World Series to the Cardinals..I was hooked, but was not disappointed in the Brewers...having seen all this in about four months of being a fan...I figured the Brewers would simply just win it all the next year....

 

Well, the next year came and then the next year and the next year and now we are awaiting 2009 and I haven't lost faith, but it sure has taken a long time for "next year" to get hear.....

 

I always tell some of my friends who ask how a guy from Nebraska would ever become a Brewers fan....(cause in the 80's, you saw no Brewers games, read no Brewers articles, and the only thing I ever got about the Brewers was a box score or a radio broadcast of the Brewers playing the Royals)....I tell these friends that I simply am a bandwagon fan (that never jumped off) and that the Brewers just happened to be good when I was 9 years old.....No it couldn't have been the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Dodgers....it had to be the Brewers and 1982.........

 

Stupid Brewers!