Who's On the Call Here? (1982 ALCS)

[Warning Track Power]

 

I read an article the other day and it said this was not Bob Uecker on the call as he was on the field to interview the players after the game. I was only 4 months old at the time so I always assumed it was Uecker. If this wasn't him, who had the call?

[Jimbo]

 

I read an article the other day and it said this was not Bob Uecker on the call as he was on the field to interview the players after the game. I was only 4 months old at the time so I always assumed it was Uecker. If this wasn't him, who had the call?

 

Dwayne Mosely. I *was* disappointed with that call. He wasn't highly regarded by Brewer fans. I believe he replaced Merle Harmon(?)

[Patrick425]

Somewhere in that throng of fans on the field is a 16 year old version of me!

[Madhawk23]

Question: let's say the Brewers win game 6 or 7 at home against the Dodgers to clinch our 2nd World Series appearance. What's to stop the fans from hopping out onto the field and rushing the field like they did back in '82? Yeah, I know there is security down there, but if hundreds of fans started to run onto the field, could they really stop everyone? Would they really ticket everyone and cart them away to the police department? Especially in as big of a moment as that would be for Milwaukee Brewers history?

 

Maybe this is a stupid question as it would probably never happen in today's landscape, but just thought I would pose the question after watching that video. I would say that it would be pretty sweet if Milwaukee fans rushed the field just like they did in '82 (of course if we are fortunate enough to win this series).

[Patrick425]

That was a thing for all every team winning a series back then. It was expected and there really was never an attempt to stop the fans by security. In 1976 Chris Chambliss hit a HR to win the 76 ALCS for NY and it's still debated as to whether or not he touched home plate because of all the fans that stormed the field as he was rounding the bases.

 

Not sure when exactly that "tradition" ended, but it was always one of my favorite parts of watching a team win a series in October. Still happens in college sports for big games and upsets.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Question: let's say the Brewers win game 6 or 7 at home against the Dodgers to clinch our 2nd World Series appearance. What's to stop the fans from hopping out onto the field and rushing the field like they did back in '82? Yeah, I know there is security down there, but if hundreds of fans started to run onto the field, could they really stop everyone? Would they really ticket everyone and cart them away to the police department? Especially in as big of a moment as that would be for Milwaukee Brewers history?

 

Maybe this is a stupid question as it would probably never happen in today's landscape, but just thought I would pose the question after watching that video. I would say that it would be pretty sweet if Milwaukee fans rushed the field just like they did in '82 (of course if we are fortunate enough to win this series).

 

I've thought about this exact thing and wondered what I would do if I'm there, especially if everyone else starts running on to the field. There is more security nowadays, and the price of the closer seats are way more expensive. My guess is that there would be no storming the field. But I really don't know.

[Outlander]

Storming the field in baseball really died down in the mid to late 80's. The last time I can recall was when the Mariners won a tie breaker game to get to the post season for the first time. Not a big fan of storming the field especially in college basketball where it happens all the time but wouldn't be surprised to see it happen again if the Brewers made the World Series.

[Madhawk23]

I asked this question as I am admittedly an Iowa Hawkeye grad and fan. In 2002, Iowa finished off an 11-1 season up in the Metrodome, and as you would expect we probably had 30K+ fans in attendance that day. At the end of the game, a bunch of Iowa fans started to rush the field, and before long there must have been 5,000+ fans on the field at the dome. They blew a siren trying to get the fans off the field, but it obviously didn't work. Eventually, some of the drunk Iowa college kids jumped up on the goal post and took it down. To this day, I have never seen an opposing teams fanbase rush the field after the game, nevertheless take down the home teams goal post after a win.

 

While this was a college football game (where rushing the field still happens to this day), this also happened at a professional sports arena. There was security down on the field that day, but there was nothing they could do as hundreds of fans rushed the field afte rthe game ended.

 

I know this doesn't happen at baseball stadiums anymore (like the 70's and 80's), but I really wonder what security could do about it if all of a sudden hundreds (or even thousands) of Brewer fans rushed the Miller Park field?

[Patrick425]

Not sure why Milwaukee would be an exception to storming the field when it has not happened since the late 80's for any MLB team. Trying to recall other teams that won the LCS at home in recent years after long droughts such as KC in 2014 and Chicago in 2016. No storming the field by fans in either of those cases. It's just not a thing any more.

[abqbrewer]

Interesting that we beat a team for LA for that title.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I wouldn't be surprised if Milwaukee is the exception. Not saying it will happen, but wouldn't surprise me. Just sounds like a Milwaukee thing to do, coupled with how little success the team has had historically. Although I supposed the netting would make it difficult.

[MrTPlush]

It would be cool if they let the fans party on the field after a WS win once players have safely gone to the clubhouse. Of course it would never happen for safety reasons...but it would be pretty awesome.

[Madhawk23]

I asked this question as I am admittedly an Iowa Hawkeye grad and fan. In 2002, Iowa finished off an 11-1 season up in the Metrodome, and as you would expect we probably had 30K+ fans in attendance that day. At the end of the game, a bunch of Iowa fans started to rush the field, and before long there must have been 5,000+ fans on the field at the dome. They blew a siren trying to get the fans off the field, but it obviously didn't work. Eventually, some of the drunk Iowa college kids jumped up on the goal post and took it down. To this day, I have never seen an opposing teams fanbase rush the field after the game, nevertheless take down the home teams goal post after a win.

 

While this was a college football game (where rushing the field still happens to this day), this also happened at a professional sports arena. There was security down on the field that day, but there was nothing they could do as hundreds of fans rushed the field afte rthe game ended.

 

I know this doesn't happen at baseball stadiums anymore (like the 70's and 80's), but I really wonder what security could do about it if all of a sudden hundreds (or even thousands) of Brewer fans rushed the Miller Park field?

[FVBrewerFan]

I wouldn't be surprised if Milwaukee is the exception. Not saying it will happen, but wouldn't surprise me. Just sounds like a Milwaukee thing to do, coupled with how little success the team has had historically. Although I supposed the netting would make it difficult.

 

I agree. It really only takes the initial handful of fans, and that somehow makes it feel acceptable for everyone else to follow suit.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Aside from the seats between dugouts and foul poles down each line, are there really any other spots where fans could readily jump onto the field without having to deal with the foul ball netting, jumping over dugouts, or crawling over the higher outfield walls/bullpens? i think the somewhat limited access points would make it easier for beefed up security to prevent this. With everything going on in the world today, something tells me MLB and other pro sports leagues have some pretty serious measures in place to try and avoid the seemingly innocent onfield celebrations. Even if a bunch of fans were to pull it off, would the celebration really be worth it to eventually get arrested and likely lose ticket privileges?

 

Also, I think fans rushing the field in general after a game is a bad idea - you're just asking for some sort of injury/incident, most likely for the fans but potentially for the players. Celebrating in the stands/concourses would be just as cool and alot safer for all parties involved, IMO. Besides, the region has a pretty bad history of failed field rushing attempts (thinking back to that Badger/Wolverine game at Camp Randall a couple decades ago).

[502 to Right]

The days of rushing the field in the MLB are long gone. If there was a deciding game at Miller Park with the Brewers having a 9th inning lead, there will be line of police (not security -- gun toting police) down both foul lines and in the bullpen and wherever they can stash cops in the outfield out of play.

 

Also - I was in the student section for the Wisconsin-Michigan 1993 stampede. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Horrific and scary.

[rickh150]

Greatest call in the history of the team...

[BruisedCrew]

 

I read an article the other day and it said this was not Bob Uecker on the call as he was on the field to interview the players after the game. I was only 4 months old at the time so I always assumed it was Uecker. If this wasn't him, who had the call?

 

I think Uecker was part of the ABC broadcast team that covered the series.

[JohnBriggs12]

The 1981 and 82 seasons were the only years when WTMJ was not the flagship station for the Brewers. Bud Selig admitted to me on the phone in 1982 that switching from the much more powerful signal of TMJ to ISN was a flat out mistake after I explained to him how difficult it was to follow the Brewers, particularly after sundown, from a mere 70 miles away in Northern suburbs of Chicago.

 

Merle Harmon left the Brewer booth after the 79 season I believe, and was replaced by Chicagoan Lorn Brown, who had done White Sox games previously. Brown was notoriously bad for getting excited about what turned out to be long fly balls. Brown was there in 1980 and 81. In 1982, he was replaced by Dwayne Mosely, who was just plain awful. He was way too wordy in his descriptions. He lasted 2 seasons, and was replaced by Pat Hughes in 1984.

[homer]

I bought many a customized jersey from Merle Harmon back in the day.

[Bob Skube Snacks]

Bill James wrote about it in one his long-ago historic abstracts about how the stadium atmospheres changed in the mid-80s to a much more sedate vibe from the somewhat unruly 70s and early 80s atmospheres.

 

He couldn’t put a finger on how the vibe changed, but there was a difference.

 

When I was a kid in the late 70s, I thought it was normal to see a fight or two in the stands at County Stadium at every game I attended. Didn’t think anything of it. Cops came and broke it up, made arrests if necessary, and that was that. (One Brewers-White Sox game I went to back then had a ton of arrests, including a guy getting dragged out of a nearby section by his Mike Epstein-style afro!)

 

By the mid 80s, I rarely saw this and have rarely seen it since anywhere I’ve gone. I know there are arrests made at games, but it seems a far more isolated thing than it was 40 years ago.

 

It probably had to do with an increase in ticket prices, more awareness about alcohol abuse and, as far as running on the field is concerned, far more emphasis on security.

 

The last County Stadium-style postseason en masse field storming I remember was when the ‘84 Tigers won the World Series.

 

I think it’s a shame. I know it’s dangerous and stupid, but I love watching that mass outpouring of jubilation in ‘82. The speed at which the fans got out there amazes me still. And, of course, you have the hilarity of fans running out their with their beer coolers, etc.

 

I was at the game, but didn’t run on the field as I was only 11. I do recall watching from my first base-side grandstand seat one poor slob jumping out of the bleachers and being down on the field injured because he presumably broke his leg or something.

 

Stuff like that is probably why it’s a relic of the past.

[dlk9s]

I love rushing the field celebrations, but obviously they can be dangerous (Wisc-Mich is like the gold standard there).

 

I went to Virginia and was at the game when we beat FSU for FSU's first-ever ACC loss. We rushed the field and it was awesome when I was on the field, but until then it was scary. The student section was probably like 8 feet or so above the ground, which isn't so bad, but when you're being pushed down towards the front row by an unstoppable mob, it's not fun. I was nervous I would just get pushed over the wall. Everything was cool, though.

 

Rushed the court when we made a huge comeback to beat UNC in basketball in the 94-95 season, which was a blast.

[Underachiever]

was replaced by Chicagoan Lorn Brown, who had done White Sox games previously. Brown was notoriously bad for getting excited about what turned out to be long fly balls. Brown was there in 1980 and 81. In 1982, he was replaced by Dwayne Mosely, who was just plain awful. He was way too wordy in his descriptions. He lasted 2 seasons, and was replaced by Pat Hughes in 1984.

Must be a Chicago thing.

[Bob Skube Snacks]

was replaced by Chicagoan Lorn Brown, who had done White Sox games previously. Brown was notoriously bad for getting excited about what turned out to be long fly balls. Brown was there in 1980 and 81. In 1982, he was replaced by Dwayne Mosely, who was just plain awful. He was way too wordy in his descriptions. He lasted 2 seasons, and was replaced by Pat Hughes in 1984.

Must be a Chicago thing.

 

It’s an every fan thing. Let’s not pretend our fans don’t this too. Heck, I do it sometimes.

[adambr2]

was replaced by Chicagoan Lorn Brown, who had done White Sox games previously. Brown was notoriously bad for getting excited about what turned out to be long fly balls. Brown was there in 1980 and 81. In 1982, he was replaced by Dwayne Mosely, who was just plain awful. He was way too wordy in his descriptions. He lasted 2 seasons, and was replaced by Pat Hughes in 1984.

Must be a Chicago thing.

 

It’s an every fan thing. Let’s not pretend our fans don’t this too. Heck, I do it sometimes.

 

Cub fans are way worse. They really are. It's evident watching a game at Wrigley.