1982 Memories

[rickh150]

The Brewers tv station (channel 18?) ran the 1981 2nd half clinching Fingers moment throughout the year to begin/intro telecasts. I would jump into my dad's arms like Simmons did to Fingers, and likewise I would mess up his hair.

As a kid, asking my uncles and dad to pitch to me while watching the 1982 World Series... they grudgingly wanted to watch the game.

Getting scolded for cheering when Andujar got injured a bit on a comebacker in the World Series..... a lesson that stayed with me still

[reillymcshane]

I've shared this before, but I'll add it. I was at Game 5 of the WS in Milwaukee. I was 18 at the time. Don't remember a ton - just that it was packed and crazy. Remember Robin hitting the HR. Caldwell almost going the distance. And I remember the fans pouring on the field when we won.

 

On the negative side, I remember people peeing in the sinks it was so crowded. Lines at the urinals were 5-6 deep.

[Dead Simmons]

My memories of that WS is warped. I was psyched but if memory serves, my boy Ted, who Whitey had ran out of town hit a HR in his 1st AB! Very perplexing. I remember wondering why we EVER pitched to Yount. Still the best post season performance ever in my book. Right up there with David Freese.

[Yount19]

On the Brewers facebook page, they had a live session with Cooper, Thomas, Yount and Fingers.. it was pretty cool on some of the stories they told.. you can still see it on a playback..

[dlk9s]

Related tangent: my wife bought me a Robin Yount rookie card for Father's Day, so that's cool.

[StearnsFTW]

I was at Game 3.

 

I am not a fan of Willie McGee.

[Patrick425]

Like reillymcshane, I've have also shared my 1982 stories before on this board. I was a junior in HS and at all the games in the bleachers with my friends (ALCS and WS). When they won the ALCS we all jumped on the field and went nuts, then hopped a city bus downtown and "high-fived" countless people as we made our way up Wisconsin Avenue. Not sure where we ended up (somewhere back near the stadium) but eventually one of my friends then called his Dad to come pick us up. Was also at the post-world series parade and stadium celebration with Robin on the motorcycle. Looking at the ticket prices now for the games is unbelievable....

 

Tried to share a picture of the tickets, but I can't figure it out. I made a shareable link from google drive and then tried to share that as an image...apparently that's not the way to do it.

[Est1970]

I was working for a central Wisconsin radio station and had press credentials that put me in the locker room following the AL championship series clinching game. It was madhouse! Gorman Thomas opened a jar of mustard and was dumping it on anything and everything. I got some on my jacket. Never washed that jacket again! What an unbelievable moment.

[Thurston Fluff]

I was never a huge baseball fan as a kid. If it was on tv I liked watching the games but didn't follow or know any teams. In 1982 as an 18 year old just out of high school i worked at a factory on the night shift. I basically put a nut on a bolt for 8 hours straight all summer. The dude next to me was a huge Brewers fan and he always had the games on. Trying to think of one memory outside of the obvious ones is hard. I remember almost to the moment when I was hooked as a fan. I was standing there listening to a late game and thinking, I'm perfectly happy standing here putting a nut on a bolt when the Brewers are on.

[Thurston Fluff]

I was never a huge baseball fan as a kid. If it was on tv I liked watching the games but didn't follow or know any teams. In 1982 as an 18 year old just out of high school i worked at a factory on the night shift. I basically put a nut on a bolt for 8 hours straight all summer. The dude next to me was a huge Brewers fan and he always had the games on. Trying to think of one memory outside of the obvious ones is hard. I remember almost to the moment when I was hooked as a fan. I was standing there listening to a late game and thinking, I'm perfectly happy standing here putting a nut on a bolt when the Brewers are on.

[Baldkin]

On the Brewers facebook page, they had a live session with Cooper, Thomas, Yount and Fingers.. it was pretty cool on some of the stories they told.. you can still see it on a playback..

 

https://www.facebook.com/Brewers/videos/10154816537815003/

[Dead Simmons]

I was at Game 3.

 

I am not a fan of Willie McGee.

Understandable. At least you are spared seeing that highlight clip every single time the word McGee or the number 82 is mentioned on the broadcasts for the last 35 years!

[pacopete4]

Every year I ask for two things:

 

1. A no-hitter so we can hopefully stop hearing Rock talk about catching our only one in history. *Sabathia is noted in this thinking.

2. Win a World Series because I just want to experience it AND so we can hopefully move on from celebrating the 1982 every single season.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I remember waiting outside some shoe store in a long line to get Robin Yount's autograph. It was so crowded it was like the Beatles were there. They said he'd only be there 2 hours and there was no way I was going to make it. One of the security guys was from my HS...the only reason I knew him was he used to pick on me all the time. He sees me and snuck me up to a point in the line where I made it. I still have that SI Cover with Yount's autograph up in my study. I never saw that guy again, but I always think of that moment. I think it was his way of apologizing...apology most definitely accepted.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Every year I ask for two things:

 

1. A no-hitter so we can hopefully stop hearing Rock talk about catching our only one in history. *Sabathia is noted in this thinking.

2. Win a World Series because I just want to experience it AND so we can hopefully move on from celebrating the 1982 every single season.

 

 

Yeah. Wholeheartedly agree with this. I have super fond memories of the 82 season, and the early 80's Brewers in general, but man, I don't know ANY team in sports that celebrates *not* winning a championship like the Brewers do.

[trwi7]

Losing the World Series and celebrating like we won because we've been a loser franchise for nearly 50 years.

[rickh150]

Every year I ask for two things:

 

1. A no-hitter so we can hopefully stop hearing Rock talk about catching our only one in history. *Sabathia is noted in this thinking.

2. Win a World Series because I just want to experience it AND so we can hopefully move on from celebrating the 1982 every single season.

 

 

Yeah. Wholeheartedly agree with this. I have super fond memories of the 82 season, and the early 80's Brewers in general, but man, I don't know ANY team in sports that celebrates *not* winning a championship like the Brewers do.

 

I am glad that we remember that team and celebrate them. Most of that team was not just 82, remember. Many played together for several years, were Brewers for several years. That year represents the best of that era. The fact that Milwaukee celebrates a World Series loss, unlike any other franchise, should be a badge of honor for our fan base's dedication and loyalty in good/bad times. It should also tell how special those guys were to this city as a whole... very unusual.

 

That being said, they have been celebrating this team every 5 years for a while now. I'm really ok with it, but I probably would have skipped the 35 year celebration and waited til 40 and then 50.

[JimH5]

I remember driving home (to Brookfield) from UW-Whitewater on a Friday, it must have been game 3 of the ALCS, with the Brewers facing elimination.

 

Listening to the end of the game, when Pete Ladd got the save and the hometown crowd cheering, I was weeping with joy and relief.

 

I didn't get to go to any of the playoff or WS games, but was glued to the tv or radio during that stretch. Hope that Milwaukee gets to experience that again soon.

[gregmag]

82 was kind of bad timing for me. I became a fan during 77, so 78 was my first real season. Those first few years were magic. But the 81 strike alienated me, and by 82 -- beginning of my sophomore year in hs -- I was a little less into baseball, a lot more into girls (the feeling wasn't mutual yet), theater, and music. But I fondly remember hanging with my best friend in his room, listening to the ALCS clinching game. The Series -- I think I repressed it. Losing hurt too much.

[Invader3K]

I was two years old, so no 1982 memories for me. Really hoping I see the Brewers in the World Series in my lifetime.

[davego]

Wish the 2011 group could have made it. It would be fun to bring that team back, periodically.

[A Swing and A Drive]

I was 8 in 1982 and had just starting getting into baseball.

 

I remember watching the last game of the season against the Baltimore Orioles. I believe the Brewers only needed to win one

game of the final series in Baltimore to clinch the AL east but their backs were against the wall going into that game.

 

My biggest memory was Ben Oglives awesome slidding catch in the LF corner. I saved the game and the season and yesterday never happens without that play. Amazing.

 

The next summer I would ride my bike down to the corner store a couple of times a week and buy 3 packs of 1983 Topps baseball cards for a buck. Still my all-time favorite set. I collected all the Brewers, which had their 1982 stats on the back.

 

I still get warm fuzzies from looking at these. Great memories.

 

What a team of colorful characters!

 

[torts]

I was 2 my brother was 7 days old when the ALCS began