Sad Day Today At Miller Park

[rickey24]

Hey Folks-

 

I'm sure this will be released soon, but my heart goes out to the family of the staff member of the Brewers who passed away today at the game. I wasn't at the game today and my heart aches for what went on today. He was a great guy, and someone that I will certainly miss.

 

I'm not sure if the Brewers will be having some kind of memorial fund set up, but I certainly hope they do.

 

DM

[PrinceEatMeat]

I was at the game today, and I know everyone around me was concerned at what was going on. I'm very sad to hear that he passed away. That is just a shame. Puts everything into perspective. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

[joepepsi]

What happened? Please don't be so vague and explain...

[berniebrewer4life]

What happened? Please don't be so vague and explain...

 

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/brewers-employee-collapses-during-game-b65vh48-161027495.html

 

I received a call from another former coworker today who heard about this before me. I knew him pretty well from my years of working with him(Out of respect for the family, i think it's best not to reveal his name at this time) at Miller Park. He truly was a great guy, and someone who was the first person to show me the ropes on my first day. Always was nice, and always put me in a good mood when i was having a bad day. Very sad day, and my prayers go out to his family.

[1992casey]

The game was delayed at the start of the second inning while paramedics tended to a "non-uniformed" employee in the bullpen area. Other than rickey24's news that this person has passed away, that's about all we know.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Thanks for the update Rickey. Pretty obvious the Brewers family is shaken up by this. Thoughts and prayers go to his family, and anyone else who is grieving at this time.

[JohnBriggs12]

I was at the game, and it comes as no surprise to learn the man had passed away. From where I sat on the club level, it was clear the paramedics were working to revive him and just weren't able to. I lost my dad many years ago in a similar sudden fashion so my heart goes out to his family and the entire Brewer organization. That had to be a very tough afternoon for everyone that witnessed that in the bullpen.

 

Throughout the game, I thought about the contrast between this beautiful summer afternoon at Miller Park full of fans enjoying the day and the tragedy that had occurred and all I could think is to embrace and enjoy life. We're all only here a short time.

[hawing]

We sat in section 411 yesterday, so we had a pretty decent (maybe too good) view into the Brewers' bullpen. I noticed some blue shirted people kneeling in the bullpen and realized, hey, those are paramedics...and they're clearly doing chest compressions on someone, and it wasn't just for a few minutes.

 

Until it was apparent that it was not a Brewers player or coach, I was thinking, man, how much more bad can this team absorb? Of course, a non-roster loss is bad too. Someone in our group hoped out loud that Yovani could go deep in the game, because how would a reliever keep his mind on the game after witnessing something like that close up?

 

Like others in this thread (and I'm sure others reading it), I feel bad not only for the employee and his loved ones and colleagues, but for the bullpen occupants who were present when he took ill. I know they're paid to focus on the job when needed, but that's a hell of a distraction to overcome. I'm pretty sure I'd be thinking about it at least through the rest of this homestand, while occupying the same bullpen.

[Invader3K]

Very sad to hear about. I understand he was a Brewers employee for quite a while. Hopefully they can do a memorial fund or some other type of tribute like someone mentioned.

[pepsimax23]

anyone think that was COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE during the onfield delay how the party music was pumping (I like to move it) and folks on jumbotron were dancing while this man was fighting for his life?

 

oh well, i guess thats part of the learning curve for the current staff of miller park whos involved with game-time production. i'm sure someone has written a letter to the stadium.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yeah, that was really inappropriate. I agree. Most people were just dancing around, not caring about the situation. It was way too serious of a situation for stuff like that to be going on. Wasn't very respectful in my opinion. But maybe a distraction is what they were going for, I don't know. Either way, I don't agree with it.

[brewmann04]

wow very sad to hear my prayers go out to his family.

[owbc]

Really sorry to hear this news, just terrible for him and his family/friends.

[PrinceEatMeat]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/161091065.html#!page=0&pageSize=10&sort=newestfirst

 

The Brewers released info on the matter today.

[LaprilOne]

Agree with the comments on the music. I was there, and mentioned it at the time. Getting people up to dance/jump while someone is getting CPR? Clueless and classless.

[JohnBriggs12]

Yeah, that was really inappropriate. I agree. Most people were just dancing around, not caring about the situation. It was way too serious of a situation for stuff like that to be going on. Wasn't very respectful in my opinion. But maybe a distraction is what they were going for, I don't know. Either way, I don't agree with it.

 

There was a lot of similar sentiment expressed in my section on the club level. We all recognized the seriousness immediately. I immediately thought of the Daryl Kile situation 10 years ago. But I'm sure like always, some fans weren't paying much attention and wanted to amuse themselves. I suppose too on a Sunday afternoon with lots of kids in attendance, that was a consideration.

[Invader3K]

In defense of whoever was running the PA, it didn't seem like the whole team/staff knew what was going on at first. Listening to Uecker on the radio, it didn't sound like they had much info to go off of, at least at first.

[hawing]

I suppose too on a Sunday afternoon with lots of kids in attendance, that was a consideration.

Sunday was our annual "take the SO's family to the park" game, so I for one was a little grateful that the kids with us were distracted enough by the dance music to have no idea what was going on.

 

I wasn't watching the clock, but it seemed like we noticed the paramedics in the bullpen a good while before play was stopped. I don't know if the end of the first just happened to be when the mobile ambulance was ready to enter the field, or if they wanted to wait for a more natural stoppage in play to bring it out. Waiting in a situation like this just doesn't make sense, so I'm leaning toward the former.

 

This does add to my respect for public safety staff at large venues such as MP. Just imagine the sheer number of things that can go wrong in a tens-of-thousands crowd. You can train for a lot, but you can't predict everything.

[MillerParkSouth]

I was at the game too, just awful. I think the music and video during this tragedy was done on purpose as a way to distract people from what was going on in the bullpen. A friend of mine knows someone who works as an event planner and they were doing an event with people parachuting in to the a staging area and there was a plan in place in case something went wrong and one of them crashed and it was something along the lines of what happened at MP yesterday - keep everyone entertained and do whatever you can to divert the attention from what's going on. So to that extent they were just doing there job (and did it well), even though I couldn't help but think about the dichotomy in what was going on on the screen and in the bullpen. My thoughs go out to gentlemens family.

[pebadger]

One problem, at least from my perspective as a TV viewer, was that we as TV viewers KNEW that there was a serious medical situation, having been so informed on the broadcast, and yet coming back from the second commercial break, TV viewers were greeted by a "Get Up and Dance" message on the Miller Park jumbotron.

 

I can't speak to the needs of the folks in charge of keeping things under control at the park, but in this day and age the need to control perceptions outside the immediate audience in the park is also very important. I noted my thoughts on this matter in teh game thread yesterday. I'm sure that many, many folks in the wider broadcast audience made similar observations wherever they were watching.

 

It was a horrible situation all around, and I'm not going to kill the Brewers for everything that happened. I just hope they and others will continue to evaluate every angle of response to situations like these for when, God forbid, response is again needed in the future.

[LaprilOne]

Well, I am not going to beat the Brewers up too badly. However, in the park, the ambulance by the bullpen door was a clear indication of a problem, along with stoppage of play, the players standing in the outfield.

 

Maybe something less goofy than "get up and dance" could have been a diversion, like highlight plays or something along that line.

 

I am sure they did not mean to offend, but they could have made a better call.

 

I wonder if they have a "go to list" for such things.

[FVBrewerFan]

I'm sure all the music is pre-programmed. So either you turn it off, or go with what you have. My guess is anything in betyween is a bigger ordeal. Whoever works the scoreboard, music, etc. may have had no idea what was going on, as they were focued on their job. I'm sure management was focused on the situation and not the music. If they had to do it over again, I'm sure they would have wanted someone to radio up to turn off the music.

[AZBrewCrew]

This does add to my respect for public safety staff at large venues such as MP. Just imagine the sheer number of things that can go wrong in a tens-of-thousands crowd. You can train for a lot, but you can't predict everything.

 

When I worked the Super Bowl here in Phoenix in 2008 we had to undergo about a weeks worth of training for different kind of scenarios we possibly could encounter. The hardest part usually is navigating the carts through the concourses to get to a scene. But thats also why we have people on foot with gear bags too.

[hawing]

The hardest part usually is navigating the carts through the concourses to get to a scene. But thats also why we have people on foot with gear bags too.

I'm not surprised to hear that. One thing we wondered after Sunday's incident was where the nearest cart was to the bullpen, and how quickly it could practically get there. At least at MP Sunday, there was no lack of first responders on foot.

[The stache]

I am very saddened to hear of this. My prayers go out to Jeff's family, and the entire Brewer organization.

 

To his credit, after the game, Ryan Braun didn't want to talk about his selection to the All Star team for the fifth time.

 

After the game, which the Brewers won, 2-1, in the bottom of the ninth inning, players and team staff were noticeably subdued and did not talk about the incident. Ryan Braun wouldn't even address his all-star selection, saying, "I think there's constant reminders in life that there's things that are far more important than this game that we play."

 

As for the jumbotron playing what it did, it probably should have been something else. But I don't think anybody purposely selected something disrespectful to the situation.