So my wife and I wrapped up a brief wrap-around 4-day weekend* by seeing the 1982 Brewer documentary at Marcus yesterday. I was hoping for an alternate ending, but in lieu of that, this was a TREMENDOUS watch. I think we blogged about it when the doc was announced and I said at the time that I thought the makers of this documentary were aiming to become the ‘preeminent’ movie about that team. Mission accomplished. They got EVERY heavy hitter to sit down and talk. Molitor, Yount, Selig, Ueck, Vuc, Gorman, Gantner, Rollie, the list went on an on and on.
They chronicled the early season struggles that led to the firing of Buck Rodgers, Harvey Kuenn taking over and having the perfect temperament for a veteran team with title aspirations, the subsequent turnaround and playoff run.
Now I was not alive for this run, and even though I’ve read and watched a TON about it, a few things stuck out from this documentary:
- National broadcasters, specifically Keith Jackson, could NOT pronounce Paul Molitor’s name correctly. Jackson always said: ‘Moli-tore.’ That would have driven me INSANE if I were alive for those games.
- Pete Vuckovich didn’t have to do much acting to get into his role of Clu Haywood in Major League. That guy was GRIZZLED. And apparently was pitching without a rotator cuff for the last month of the season and the entirety of the playoffs. He pitched in some of the biggest games in franchise history on pure guts. I could have listened to his sit-down interview where he described how you have to pitch when you have an injury for hours.
- The #1 thing I hear from people that lived that World Series run is how the Brewers would have won the title if not for the injury to Rollie Fingers. That point was hammered home in this doc. I mean they had a 3-1 lead in the 6th inning of Game 7! No doubt Rollie would have been in that game if he were healthy and likely takes it home from there. In recent history it feels like this franchise has been snakebitten with key injuries just before the playoffs (Yeli in 2019, Devin in 2021, Woodruff in 2023), but that obviously extends all the way back to that 1982 run.
- Baseball defense has come a LONG way since 1982. Which stands to reason. As the decades go by, players get better and better and better. Especially when it comes to fundamentals. I was stunned at home many bad throws, errors, and errant plays in general led to major momentum swings.
- I would not be surprised if ‘The Dude’ from Big Lebowski was based on Ted Simmons. His vibes were beyond chill.
- Ueck leading a drunken parade of players from a bar back to their hotel on a road trip at 4am feels like something you’d see in a National Lampoon movie.
- Players ripping darts in the dugout during the game seemed to be an everyday occurrence. Different times!
- Cecil Cooper needs to be in the Hall of Fame and also needs his jersey retired in Milwaukee. How both of those things haven’t happened yet is baffling.
- I would have never gotten over that Pete Ladd pitch not being called a strike late in Game 2 of the World Series. You didn’t need PitchCast to see that was a strike. If they get that call they win Game 2 and have a 2-0 series lead heading back to Milwaukee. It probably never even goes seven games.
Overall it was a fantastic documentary. The team getting a HUGE parade upon their return to Milwaukee even though they lost shows you how great the fans of this team are. I could have done without Robin Yount getting choked up at the end and talking about how never winning a title was the biggest regret of his career, but I’m sure that’s true for a lot of those guys. Definitely worth seeing though if you lived it, or, in my case, you just want to learn more about it and the characters on that team. 10/10, would recommend.
*As I’ve gotten older I now realize that the 4-day weekend with Friday/Monday off is WAY better than a Thursday-Sunday. Going to bed on Sunday night and not having to turn your alarm on is peak working-stiff existence.
PS: I’m on record that we need this year’s team to win for Hank the dog (RIP), and for 90-year old Bob Uecker, but they need to win it for Bud too. I understand there were some LEAN years in the 90’s and early 2000’s before he sold the team to Mark Attanasio, and public sentiment sort of turned on him. But without Bud, there is no baseball in Milwaukee. Simple as that. No Miller Park/Am Fam Field, no playoff runs, no tailgating, no sausage races, no Long Island iced teas, none of it. He deserves to see this franchise reach the ultimate goal as much as anyone. A title parade with Ueck and Bud slamming beers is something we all need our lives.
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