All photos of AL Wild Card Game 2 available on Flickr.
The Brewers had a disappointing early exit in the playoffs yet again, but I at least got to witness history in Minneapolis a few weeks ago. The Twins hosted the Blue Jays in the Wild Card round, and their Game 1 victory was their first playoff win since 2004. I attended Game 2 with my father-in-law, and they completed the 2-0 sweep for their first playoff series win since 2002. Over the 19-year span in between playoff victories, it was certainly not for reasons of futility, as they made the postseason in 6 of those years including 5 AL Central titles. This amounted to a total of 18 losses, 13 of which were at the hands of the Yankees, a long-time "white whale" of the Twinkies. To put this drought into an even more startling perspective, all 29 of the other teams in baseball not only made the playoffs in that span, but each won at least two postseason games. In 2004, smart phones didn't even exist yet. Their current manager Rocco Baldelli was a 22-year old rookie. Erik and I were just starting grad school and hadn't even begun planning The Tour yet. I could go on.
I'm crossing all of my fingers and toes that I get to attend one more playoff game yet this year. Erik and I are going to Phoenix next week for our Tour 2023 trip to the Arizona Fall League, and I actually decided to fly in a day earlier just to use up some extra vacation (and watch more ball). The day I fly in happens to be Game 5 of the World Series, so if by some miracle the D-Backs can win two games in hostile Citizens Bank Park, and also not get swept in the World Series, I have my $300 upper deck ticket ready to go! Regardless of the outcome of the D-Backs season, stay tuned to read all about our trip in a couple of weeks.
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.