2009-04-10 Cubs (Harden) at Brewers (Looper): 3:05 PM CDT (Brewers Opening Day) [Brewers win 4-3]

[sdcheezhd]

Having seen Hoffman a bunch in SD I wouldn't use him in that situation either. Especially recently he has not been good in non-save situations.

[TheBwaz]

Where that ball was hit, I don't think they get the DP there. Braun is pretty swift and that ball was kinda deep in the hole. Hill was griping because he thought he kept Rickie from tagging the plate, but no. That play even survives instant replay.

Good win, good use of Villy in the non-save sitch, and good use of "clutch". Now lets take the next two.

[tyguy20204]

Yeah, Rickie's run into a lot of bad luck as far as balls put into play. He's made solid contact many times so far, only to have the ball go straight to a defensive player.

 

He's looking good, both on offense and defense. Some great play out in the field today. If he can keep it up, that'll mean we'll have either average or above average defense at every position except for 1B.

[Ennder]

It almost looked like he thought about going back to 3rd at first and then decided to go for home.

[TooLiveBrew]

Normally I'd say 'sorry if this has been posted' ... but I just don't care

 

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zUex6mwjFTc/SK2aaQXx3vI/AAAAAAAAACA/R-QbbYqZUac/s320/Choke+Cubs_02.jpg

 

 

DFA WEEKS!

 

[davego]

I have a $10 per game wager with a Cub "friend" of mine. He is a good guy, save the brain damage. +$10 to Dave...

[logan82]

He was a hack out there in left today.

 

Soriano helped us into the postseason last year with his outfield play. He allowed a ground rule double in the Friday game we won.

[BadgerFan]

If those who went to the game today would be kind enough to share some thoughts on what the atmosphere was like, were there a ton of Cubs fans, traffic, any funny stories, etc. I think many on this board would appreciate it.

[dabrew141]

crowd was electric in the 9th....lots of cheering after the game

[trwi7]

I wonder if Theriot could have turned the DP on that?

I don't think he would've been able to. My brother said he can't believe Theriot didn't go to second, but I thought it would've been nearly impossible to turn with Theriot ranging towards third, Hart bearing down at second and Braun running to first.

[Darnell Junior]

Just got back from the game, it was crazy. 2nd largest crowd in Miller history. Surprisingly, there weren't as many Cubs fans as one would expect. Crowd got taken out of it a little bit with all of sweet Lou's slow walks to the mound but once Duffy got on it was nuts. Great game.

[Nottso]

I wasn't at the game, but it sure was great to see Rickie come up big in so many ways today. I just love the guy's hustle and hard work. Attaboy, Weeks!

[thablingster]

This was definitely a fun home opener to be at. The crowd was pretty into the game until McClung gave up the HR to Hill. That killed a lot of the crowd's energy until the 7th when the Brewers tried to rally. The split of Brewers/Cubs fans wasn't as even as I'd expected, it seemed to be overwhelmingly Brewers fans.

 

After the Cubs pinch hit for Marmol I felt more comfortable about our chances to come back, even though Kendall-Duffy-Weeks didn't look like a recipe for success on paper. From where I was sitting it looked like Weeks was going to be out easily at home, but he made a great slide.

 

I love how Telly Hughes referred to Gregg as one of the most feared closers in the game. That made me chuckle.

[Outlander]

There were not really a lot of Cubs fans in the parking lot or the stands, I was kind of surprised but it might have been a 90/10 split.

[LaprilOne]

Definitely was our park today.

 

I was with a group that had the Air Tran warning track section (interesting, food and all is great, but view is not great, IMHO) and we had a few Cub fans with us. They were fine, but again, they were with Milwaukee friends/family.

 

Yes, and someone says, Lew can really slow a game down.

 

As you can imagine, the crowd went insane in the 9th.

[craigharmann]

I am soooooooo happy the Brewers won! I really didn't think it was going to happen, but wow! It's like a switch has clicked in Rickie's head. He's had his moments of RicKiE, but, much improved at the plate and in the field. I hope that sticks around for the rest of the year! What a great opening day! Oh, and what an awesome slide by Rickie to win the game!

[hawing]

Hill was griping because he thought he kept Rickie from tagging the plate, but no. That play even survives instant replay.

 

I didn't get home in time to see the game-ending play live, but I did turn on the TV just in time to see the first replay of it on Brewers Live. At first I thought it was a Brewers Live replay of the game's first run (also scored by Rickie off a Ryan hit), but then Brian A. gave the final score and I shouted loud enough to startle the cats.

 

I'm not sure I would have had 'the angle' from our seats, and might well have been hiding my face out of nervous anticipation - but with the FSW angle Rickie was plainly safe. Koyie Hill's reaction took me right back to Ted Lilly vs. Arizona in the 2007 NLDS.

 

Thanks, Brewers, for saving us the possibility of cubs fans smuggling in brooms Sunday night. (That's bulletin-board fodder for Dave Bush.)

I'm looking forward to hearing more tales from people who attended...once they're able. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[yount19.u]

What an awesome game! I would agree with Outlander that it was about a 90/10 split in favor of Brewers fans. If you were not looking closely, it was hard to tell there were any Cubs fans at all. They made a little noise during the 2 home runs, but were really quite otherwise. Every time I went to the restroom, there were 1-2 Cubs fans catching hell from Brewers fans, and it was great. After the victory it was nothing but smiles and high fives all the way the parking lot. It was the first Brewers/Cubs game at Miller Park that I truly enjoyed the whole way through. I even said to myself in the 9th that I would be ok if they lost since they pitched well. What a difference a lack of Cubs fans makes!

[MillerParkSouth]

truly an awesome game. I too was surprised at how few Cubs fans were around, although they were definitely there. People seemed to be just as pumped up after this as they were after game 3 last year. High fives and 'go Brewers' all over the place. Such a fun atmosphere, especially in the late innings and post game.

[owbc]

I enjoyed Opening Day but it was definitely a different experience than last year.

-The crowd in the right field corner of the terrace was much tamer than last year. I am convinced this was directly correlated with the lack of group sales to bars. People were actually watching the game this year and although there was still plently of drinking, I saw very few extremely intoxicated people. Good to see.
-There were very few Cubs fans, even less than a normal Brewers/Twins game. Great to see, but I'm sure they will be out in force tomorrow night. There were a few confrontations--some Cubs fans got thrown out of the bleachers, a few Brewers fans near us were arguing about seating locations, and there were some Brewers fans trying to instigate Cubs fans.
-The crowd was generally quiet but woke up after Duffey got on in the 9th. I would like to see Brewers fans be more proactive at other times in the game also, but it was hard with all the pitching changes. Still, the crowd went crazy after Rickie's double. I haven't been to any Brewers game with such a sudden turn of events in a really long time. I lost my voice yelling after that hit which hasn't happened at a Brewers game in a long time.
-The improved clubhouse RF corner fanzone store looked nice, but we didn't go inside because of the long line. My favorite improvement was that there were also a number of framed pictures added around the ballpark depicting scenes from last year--inluding the confetti after clinching the WC and the Brewers ready to mob Braun at home plate. It's great to have those memories up on the walls.
-Finally, they seem to have the parking system down to a science. We had no problems getting in or getting out.

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

I've been to the last 6 home openers, and I'd have to say this was the best "baseball crowd" of the bunch. Yes there were a lot of drunk people, but folks were into the game. I was in the LF bleachers and it was all about the game, not a lot of the typical sideshows of an Opening Day/Cubs game. Only one time did some drunks try to start the wave, and they got shut down quick.

 

I thought it was the perfect balance of baseball and festive atmosphere. Certainly a ton of fun to be at. And having a 90/10 split helped http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[AJAY]

Things felt very different this year. First of all, the ballpark was mostly full by the time the lineups were being introduced. Usually the opening day crowd is slightly late-arriving. But the fans did a better job of making it in on time. Second, there were hardly any Cubs fans there. I was a little surprised because I was expecting a lot more Cubs fans to buy tickets on the secondary market. Third, it was interesting to see a lot more people wearing Brewers cold-weather apparell. Usually you see a little bit of Badgers or Packers clothing when the temperature is as cold as it was. But not this year.

I am starting to like the fact that it's mostly season ticket holders who are there are now on Opening Day. It has a better baseball feel to it.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, great crowd. We had a group of drunks in front of us (section 210), but for the most part they were harmless. I wish it hadn't been as windy before the game for tailgating, but you have to take what you get with the Wisconsin weather.

 

As far as Cubs fans, I think maybe even 10% would be stretching it. Definitely they were in the extreme minority, which was nice.

 

Minor annoyance: Was it just me, or were there fewer porta johns in the lots than last year? There was a huge line at Helfare (sp?) Field, and didn't see too many other options around.

[RightFieldCoder]

I was up in 415 instead of my normal seats so it was hard for me to judge the crowd's actions, but it seemed like there were less drunks than a normal opening day.

 

From the Terrace Box, it looked like Weeks was out and the ump had made a bad call.

 

I have a great story from the day. I walked up to MP at 12:58, two minutes before they openned the gates. Naturally, there was a line there waiting to get in. All seemed to be Brewer fans, but two Cubs fans came from a different direction to get in line right in front of us. After about 30 seconds, they turn around and say, "This is the line to get in if you want to buy tickets, right?" Well they were heckled something fierce for not knowing the difference between a ticket booth and a door, and for thinking you can just walk up to a park on Openning Day and buy a ticket. Someone yelled that they can buy a ticket if they stroll about 90 miles south down to Wrigley.

[hawing]

Wow, Robin19, that's quite a bump (assuming your regular seats are where they have been the last few seasons).

 

It's heartening to hear/read that the cub fans were truly in the minority. I think I'm not going to assume this for the rest of the weekend, though.