Brewers’ First Bat Boy on the World Series Win | Pat McBride

Hello and welcome to the Dr. Kristen Lyrely Show.

It's me, Dr. Kristen Lyrely, the Brewer's fan.

We're doing something a little bit different this week.

It's kind of a chaotic week, the election, the Brewer's, the World Series, the whole thing.

I had an incredible conversation with one of my favorite people in the world, a mentor, the former Dean of Students at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

This is a guy who trained, I can't even tell you how many of the physicians.

in Wisconsin and across the country.

He is just absolutely dear.

But his little secret thing that none of us knew about when he was our dean is that he was the first bat boy for the Milwaukee Brewers when they came to town 57 years ago.

And not only that, but he was also the ball boy and the assistant athletic trainer for the Bucks.

And he worked for the Packers when they were in Milwaukee too.

I mean, he's done it all.

And he loves sports so much.

And he deeply loves the Milwaukee Brewers.

Hank Aaron, Bob Hucker, Robin Yount, all of those legendary names.

You don't even have to be a Brewer fan to know how deep this runs.

So Pat and I had a great conversation and now you get to listen to it.

Here you go.

Boom.

Hey, everybody.

It's me, Dr. Kristen Lierly and my dear friend, Dr. Pat McBride, the first ball boy for the Milwaukee Brewers.

That boy.

Sorry.

bat

boy.

I think I've been saying ball boy in all of the promos.

Well, I was

ball boy for the bucks and bat boy for the brewers.

You have, we are not here to promote your book, but we should definitely talk about your book, which is called the luckiest boy in the world.

And it talks about this incredible journey from writing an essay, which made you the first bat boy for the brewers.

And then becoming the ball boy and the trainer.

Is that right for the

assistant trainer?

Yeah.

And then also working for the Packers when they were in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee, that's right.

The big three.

The trifecta.

You have the Milwaukee sports, the Wisconsin sports trifecta.

That's right.

I want to say something about that essay, okay?

Because I want to talk about the.

the unsung heroes of this World Series win.

I mean, everybody knows about Murphy, Sal, Miz, okay?

But I'm so proud of Murphy for the best World Series speech I ever heard, okay?

And I'm so proud of him for bringing in the history of the team in it because, man, Murph, I have so much respect for him.

The two unsung heroes are Bud Selig and Mark Atnasio, and never let it be said that the good Democrats aren't recognizing the billionaires here, okay?

Yeah.

Because without Bud Selig and Mark Atnasio, we have no baseball, right?

No baseball in Milwaukee.

Yeah, and so I was born...

on the day of the fourth World Series game of the Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

And that was the World Series where they go, you know, the big home run, okay?

But I was only four years old when the Braves won their World Series.

And so I didn't get to see it, right?

So I've never seen a World Series game live.

I didn't get to go this year.

Too much money.

But Bud Selig, we owe Bud Selig.

Everything so when I wrote the essay, you know when I was a kid like this bonded kid when the braves broke our heart and they broke our heart because.

I hero worshiped Hank Aaron.

And Warren Spahn and Eddie Matthews.

And all the braves and you know, I was just 12, I was just getting to go to, you know, I ride my bicycle to the stadium.

And you could get in free after the fifth inning and I'd jump on my bike and ride down there.

We'd be in listening on the radio and They were only there 13 years and they were gone just for money, you know And it was all about TV and our hearts were broken and but but see like this Ford dealer He loved baseball so much and he was just a car dealer man.

I'm just telling you this small car dealership next to You know Herb Cole's delicatessen really

Yes.

I'm telling you, he was not like some rich guy.

I mean, he was a small Ford dealership.

I ended up working next to it.

But he got this group together and they fought for baseball.

So in 1969, I wrote this essay and I said, I know what I got to write.

And I wrote, I would like to be a bad boy because I would be doing a small part toward bringing baseball back to Milwaukee.

I would hope the spirit I would show would be contagious.

And I get this job to work these White Sox games that Bud Selig brought to Milwaukee.

And we were ravenous.

We got as many fans in Milwaukee in 1969, almost as the White Sox got in 11 games as the White Sox got their whole season.

And we almost got the White Sox to Milwaukee.

But two weeks to go, we get the Pilots.

Bud Selig buys the Pilots.

And I get a phone call.

Would you like to be?

the visiting bat boy for the milwaukee brewers hello and am i american kid so next thing you know i'm working for the brewers right and the reason was because my second part of my essay was i would hope the spirit i would show would be contagious and that's why i never stopped running for one second at that stadium because i wanted to

show that our spirit would be contagious and we would bring baseball back to Milwaukee and then here we are.

You were kind of known.

57

years later.

And you were known for having a contagious spirit, which is exactly what they needed to get this ball club off the ground.

And Rockin' Robin shows up.

Yeah.

Well, in 74, right?

And this guy was so naive.

I was working in the Brewer's Clubhouse and

My buddy was the assistant clubhouse manager, this friend of mine, I'd gotten a job.

And he was a dead ringer for Robin Yealt.

They could bend twins.

And Robin Yealt says to us, hey, where are the good bars in Milwaukee?

Because there was an 18 drinking age.

And so we said, oh, come with us.

We'll show you.

So we take him to Sazs and all these different places.

I mean, the kid was the kid.

I mean, he didn't know, right?

And so Euker takes him under his wing.

And then Henry Aaron comes to Milwaukee.

And Henry Aaron literally and Euker taught that kid, although he didn't need much training, but he literally taught that kid how to be a professional.

And then he was there 20 years, right?

And look at the overlap to Yellich.

So that's what Murphy said.

Yeah.

Seelig to Aaron, to Yount, to Yellich.

There's the history and they recognize it.

I'm so proud of them for doing that.

And Nassio nodded to Seelig.

And then they let Jan drive his motorcycle on there in front of Euker.

I was like, this is what Milwaukee does because that's what's special.

That's why 750,000 people show up in a town of 560,000 is because Milwaukee and Wisconsin are special.

Yeah.

Records-hunting.

Probably the biggest event ever in Wisconsin.

It's the biggest event.

by a long shot in the history of Wisconsin.

100,000 people showed up for the great, when, you know, the 50-year celebration of the box is championship.

And because this team, you know, there are people that swore they would never go to a game again on the Braves left, you know.

But they came back because this team, this franchise is really special.

It's Wisconsin's franchise.

They do things the small ball, the right way.

We can't afford the big superstars.

We got to trade them.

And then who do you get?

You know, you get the South Freelicks and the Andrew Vaughns and the Josh Bowers that you resurrect.

And how do they do it?

You know, it's just amazing to get a college coach that's leading by, you know, when he said that he leads by love and service, I cried.

And he's got his kids, his kids are at the press conferences with him afterwards.

Yeah, it just feels like, I mean, he's a player coach.

It feels like family.

I mean, I was a leader and that's how I tried to do it, you know, and I didn't do it as well.

See, I wasn't as tough as he was, you know, that didn't sit you down.

But I'm telling you, you know, this is the Wisconsin way, you know, the nation, I couldn't believe it during that 103 game run.

The media gave us no attention.

I kept picking up the paper and I'd say, well, the cubs might come back and the Dodgers this and that and the cubs and the pod race.

I'm like,

what?

Yeah.

Well, not only that.

I mean, even in the World Series, we've got A-Rod and Big Poppy and Jeter.

And they were constantly betting against the brewers right until the bitter end.

Like, guys.

Gave us

five.

They picked

the braze.

Not Jeter.

Not Jeter.

But the other two,

I

mean, come on, what does it take to win you guys over?

But we're the best team in baseball.

It's the small ball thing.

It's the persistence.

It's the confidence.

It's coming back from four runs down and just knowing that you have to keep your head in the game and get it done.

I was so disappointed by those guys.

Oh, and I'll tell you what, when...

You saw Cooper Pratt, you lead the league in opposite field hits.

When you saw Cooper Pratt hit to the opposite field and Cheerio do that, that's Robin Yell.

Yeah.

And they learned that it's, again, it's part of the standard.

It's part of the culture.

Yell at your tournament.

And where did he learn it?

You know, I'm telling you, it just keeps continuing because give Craig Council a little bit of chops here as much as we don't like them anymore.

I mean, that's he grew up in the culture.

He grew up in the standard, you know, and Murphy and he are pals.

But they play baseball the right way, you know, you drop the bun.

But, you know, council goes to Chicago and he can't treat those superstars like that.

He can't, he can't hold them accountable.

You got to have these players that are hungry.

You know, as soon as I heard in the middle of summer that these players were hungry,

The word hungry, that's when the bucks won.

When I was there, when they won that championship, they were hungry.

And when I heard the brewers were hungry, I knew it was game over.

I'll just add, when the bucks won that championship 50 years ago and you were part of that championship winning team with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and all of those like legendary bucks, like you're not a one-act pony here with just the brewers, you are.

And there's the championship ring right there.

I was the equipment manager.

Ben, you grew up in Wauwatosa and your brother is the mayor of Wauwatosa.

I can't even imagine.

I feel a ton of pride as somebody who has been a Lifetime Brewer's fan, somebody who deeply loves Wisconsin.

I can't even imagine, Pat, how you feel right now.

Well, you know, it was really funny.

You know, people want it.

wanted to hit the streets and scream and yell and cry.

It was weird.

I couldn't describe my feeling for a while.

And it was, and I was, I feel like Murphy, it's gratitude.

You know, it was deep gratitude to Bud Selig.

And then eventually I'm now CEO.

And I was like, thank you for bringing baseball back.

Yeah, you know, man.

And, you know, you brought Hank here on you.

And then these guys, you know, they did it the right way.

They did it through the right standard.

You know, they didn't describe it as a culture.

They described it as a standard, the right way to do things.

You know, they didn't go out after the big, you know, guy.

I worked in a locker room for seven years with every Major League team because I would be over in the Brewers locker room and then I'd see every Major League team.

And I saw the 1970 Baltimore Orioles with the 420 game winners.

That's on the cover of my book.

I worked with the A's when they had Bando and Jackson and Invited Blue and, you know, all those guys.

And I saw Tommy John and the Yankees and all that.

And then I saw the big heads and all that stuff.

And they were flashing the pan and all that stuff.

Nobody now they're all talking about the brewers because they understand what this standard is.

You know now they're talking about yellow and Pratt and Cheerio and Contreras men my hero Contreras Wow

What a

leader built all these pictures.

Yeah, what a leader Doing it the right way.

I'm just so that's I was just so filled with gratitude and respect For so many people in that organization, you know, it starts at the top

And you know, there's Arnold and Murphy and you know, all I'll tell you the other thing was Murphy called in all these people.

And he recognized the staff, you know, the trainers, the equipment guy, Tony Michalio.

He's been there since 1975, the equipment guy.

And I'm telling you, these guys change your uniforms every night, throw them

in the

stands.

We used to have the same for for the whole season, two home, two away.

It's easy.

I can't imagine what that guy's job is like.

He's, God, it's crazy.

Taking care of these big stars, they all got to have their own whirlpool.

We had one whirlpool.

You know, it's a whole new science trainers, nutrition.

I

don't know

how many big doctor egos they got a massage.

One doctor to another.

Right.

I

mean, it used to be, you know, one orthopod,

one.

you know, medicine physicians, so they could take her asthma and diabetes.

She got the Arfmetiolotype I diabetes.

But now I'm sure there's a staff that's so large.

It's a whole different operation.

And so to manage that operation and keep it functioning at the level that they did is so impressive.

There are so many impressive things about this ball team.

One of the things that I hadn't even considered as a fan from 1982, who was heartbroken when they made it to game seven, it was just like, I was a 12 year old girl, but I mean, I mourned that for 44 years.

And to see Robin Yaut talking with Jackson Churio and the mentorship in Churio getting teary about it.

And then to hear, I think it was Ted Simmons at the parade at the celebration afterwards who said,

I feel like a giant weight has been lifted off us because we carried that responsibility for so long.

And now that we're World Series champs, like we get to celebrate and enjoy and just kind of like, he didn't say guilt, but almost like it was there, they lost it and they were responsible for that.

And now they've got it and they can enjoy it along with all of the other players and

all the rest of us.

I'm so glad they included them.

That's what I mean about a great organization, you know, bringing in people from the past and saying that this is yours as much as it is ours, because they did set the standard, you know, and they did say this is the way the games played.

I mean, like I say, when I was a kid in 1956, the Braves, they only took one National League team and one American League team, and that was the World Series.

That was it.

No playoffs.

That was it.

So in 56, the Braves finished one game out of the pennant.

And then the 57 they beat the Yankees and won the World Series then at 58 They won the first three games of the World Series.

This is why I couldn't I'm still getting nervous in my gut right now Yeah, in the first three games and I was like it ain't over chill.

It's over in ain't over chills as in 1958 the Braves lost the next four of the Yankees and lost when I was a you know

listening in great school with the nuns on the radio.

The nuns are big baseball fans, you know.

So, I mean,

it's

like, ah, you know, don't lose the next four, you know.

I mean, I was freaking out because of 82, right?

I mean, we went to game seven.

I was the equipment manager for the Milwaukee Bucks.

In 1974, we lost game seven at home to the Celtics.

I had to deliver

the champagne to the Celtics.

I mean, you know, I wasn't...

I'm telling you, when that game ended, the Brewers game five, I just sat there like, oh my God, it didn't feel real.

It still doesn't feel real.

I don't know when I'm gonna feel like it's a real thing, you know?

I mean, I think I gotta touch a ring or something, you know?

Well, you've got one right there, but

it's not the Brewers.

I'll tell you, there was a moment when Robin Yeone said to Ozzie Smith, he said, you know, Ozzie,

I'll never feel satisfied.

You know, I didn't get

a World

Series.

And Ozzy said, Robin, you're in the Hall of Fame.

You have 3,000 hits.

You know, I said, yeah, but you've got a World Series.

But now I think he's satisfied.

Yeah, he deserves to be.

Yes, he does.

It also feels, yes, it feels like he kept such a low profile for such a long time.

But now that we don't have Bob Euker here with us,

feels, it seems like Robin recognizes that he's the person who needed to stand up and to take that spot.

Like it was out of respect for you.

Do you think that's the case?

Oh, 100%.

So first of all, Robin Young is a really shy and humble guy.

He's super humble and he's always been that way since the beginning.

He doesn't like the limelight at all.

But I'll tell you a really interesting inside story.

So I know a marketing guy for you singers and

Fritz Fritz you singer told me this story.

I met him at a birthday party So he said when Bob Uker passed and you singer was the voice of You singer sausages, which are the best by the way He said Robin young called him up and said I I know you're gonna need a spokesperson and he said I'd like to do it and he said well Robin, that's great

We'd love to have you be this spokesperson.

What do you want?

And he said, nothing.

And he said, well, Robin, you got to take something, you know.

And he said, well, I don't want anything.

And he said, well, he said, I just want to do it for Bob.

And he said, well, you got to take something.

And he said, well, you know, I don't need anything.

And he said, well, I'll tell you what, I'll give you a name of like a dozen or so of my friends.

You can send them sausage and cheese box at Christmas.

He said, deal.

That's serious.

That's what happened.

That's Robin Yell.

I mean, can you imagine?

And you know, Yook, I'm telling you, you know, like all it do is

say, get up, get out of here, come on.

Let's talk about you.

Let's talk about you because he, I mean, clearly last year we were hoping it was going to be the year because it was the year that he passed, but his presence is everywhere.

And you can tell there's a team picture from the parade where they stopped on the corner of like Mason and Jackson and they're right in front of that Euker mural and it is maybe my favorite image of the entire season because it's like paying homage and also having a blast with surrounded by 750,000 of your closest friends.

Can you imagine a human being and they said this

And people, I don't know if they heard it, but can you imagine a human being that can make every single person at the ballpark from the lady that cooks at food in the dining room to an usher to a fan out in the stands, Mabel from, you know, Fountain Lake, feel the same way as Christian Yelich or Sal Freelich.

I mean, 50.

five years later, he could do that.

And I'm serious, because I worked up in the press box one season, because I'd outgrown the Batboy role, and then I went back down to the clubhouse.

And he would say, hey, can you run down and bring this signed baseball down to that couple down there?

They had those net beer can hats.

He said, I want those two hats down there.

And you tell that lady, and I'll mention their name on the radio, I'd run down with two baseballs.

Hey, Bob Uker and he'd be waving, you know

label from phone Lake, Wisconsin and her husband Harry I'm not

kidding you and then you know, he'd come up in the we'd be trying to get her we'd get a break I'd be there 12 hours.

I got 10 bucks and I'm not kidding and he'd come up into the dining room and we would immediately put our

silverware down because you could not eat when he'd be out there because he would be doing his shtick and the woman that was cooking the food was named Miami Tucker and he'd go

hey Miami how's my favorite lady and then he'd say well what do we have oh my god it looks like my catcher's mitt what are you cooking this is a roast beef you know oh bobby you know bobby you know

And then he'd give her a big hug, and she'd, I got something special for you, Bobby, just wait.

You know, she'd be white burnt.

I mean, it was insane.

And he, the players up today loved him more than the players in 1971.

It's crazy.

So do I hear you saying that this wasn't an act?

This blue was just who Bob Euker always was.

100% true.

That's just, the guy was, he just truly loved everybody.

And so look at the standard.

That's why Yellich and Woodruff would meet with a player.

This is what I heard when a person showed up and said, this is the way we act in this clubhouse.

And man, would I love to work in that kind of clubhouse.

Man, oh man, because the stars were on the same playing field, it sounds like.

Wow, that's a heck of a clubhouse to be in.

You know, it's so interesting when I look at this team compared to like the 82 team or teams in the past.

There are four Venezuelans on this team.

Yeah, and they are the stars.

It's Conturus and it's Cheerio and it's Lara and to see these fellas in a town like Milwaukee that Everybody thinks is pretty homogeneous pretty white I think it's a real statement

about what's happening in not just baseball, but in the world right now.

And it's a reflection of how it's so important for us to embrace diversity and talent and beauty.

I mean, to watch Contreras, we actually watched Game 5 at Walker's Point.

in Milwaukee, which is the Hispanic-ish neighborhood.

And so we were surrounded by Spanish-speaking people and high-fiving each other, and there were families there, and it just had a very, very Spanish-Hispanic feeling.

And I just, I love that so much because it feels so rich.

Well, you know, we've had a long history of Hispanic baseball players, you know, in 1969, we had Louis Apparicio and...

on the White Sox and you always had, you know, Chico Ruiz and all these great Hispanic baseball players.

But the Brewers were really, really smart and set up, you know, a South American operation, you know, the number of African American kids playing baseball has really diminished because of basketball.

And so they really got smart about getting into South America.

And the best part about these...

I get the diversity of a course of the team, but having a William Contreras being a mentor for the Jackson Cheerios and the other young Venezuelan guys coming up.

It's been awesome.

He's brilliant.

I mean, to be a catcher.

And I'd heard today that he's in every team meeting.

He goes out to the bullpen.

He watches them throw, you know.

That's a special, really special kind of catcher.

And then coming up and learning, it wasn't good at defense.

It wasn't good at throwing guys out.

Now he's the best, the best, and the best.

And every pitcher gave, Logan Henderson gave him credit.

The Miz gave him credit.

Every young pitcher gave him all the credit.

Like Gaster said, I don't shake him off.

Zero.

He said I wasn't pitching well.

And then I just decided to throw everything that Contreras told me to pitch.

I mean, he's my stud, man.

He's the pit bull.

He's the dude because look what he controls the entire game.

And pictures, catchers don't hit like that.

You know, usually catchers will hit two bucks, you know?

And he's hitting 285, 300 and he's clutch hitter.

They better sign him.

I

don't

care what it costs.

Yeah, seriously.

He is ABS also.

Every single pitch he challenged.

He's gonna kill Murphy.

An ABS challenge in the first inning.

Can we talk a little bit about, I've been seeing a lot of feedback about how we shouldn't make baseball political.

But you and I have been involved in politics, especially when it comes to health

care.

I think that

We recognize that even the things that we love and think are very far outside of politics are often quite political.

And from the very beginning, the Milwaukee Brewers has been political.

We know that David Crowley was instrumental in negotiating the deal that has kept the Brewers in Milwaukee, but losing the Brewers, losing the Braves, and bringing the Pilots in and turning them into the Brewers, all of it from the very beginning was political, wasn't it?

My mother was a political reporter, as you know, and every time I'd get upset about politics, she'd say, Pat, you can't take the politics out of politics.

It's all political.

You know, when it comes to money and a team, the amount of benefit a team like the Brewer's brings to the state is immeasurable.

The amount of economic benefit a team like the Milwaukee Box brings to the state is pretty immeasurable.

You know there was a time when 400 million was taken from the university system and given to the box I was really upset but look at the dear district and look at what happened to the box Still not happy about 400 million being taken from the university system, but When a decision is made to share revenue in tax

Money, you know, a small increment in sales tax to help build a stadium.

Wow, look at how many people showed up for that parade.

Look at what it means for the pride of the state.

Look what it means for publicity.

Look what it means.

I mean, more people drank beer in a bar in St.

Petersburg in a day than they did at the month.

You were in the water district.

I mean, people were downtown.

I mean, there's probably as much money spent in Milwaukee in that parade day that floated that cost of that thing.

I mean, just these kind of things are just, I mean, look at what we're wearing for gosh, you know?

I mean, it's worth it.

And we, and sometimes, you know, ads be damned.

We, I gotta understand the benefits of these kinds of investments in our...

Look at the community builder.

We talk about division, political division and everything.

This is a big-time unifier, right?

It is.

And then to see the night after they won the World Series, they came to Lambeau.

Not just the players, but also the sausages and Bernie Brewer and Barrel Man.

The whole team was there doing Lambeau leaps.

and running like doing their sausage race in the end zone, it really felt like, and I was lucky enough to be at that game, it just felt like family.

Like, we know you're Milwaukee, you're our cousins in Milwaukee.

We're the Green Bay people.

We love you.

Roll out somewhere else.

I saw a

report on that today.

It's like, I think people couldn't wait.

Weren't they tired?

They didn't look tired.

Come back from...

I've been on one of those planes, you know, at the box when they were drinking like that.

These guys were drinking solidly for 24 hours.

They get on a bus, they had the Lambo and they keep...

You know, I mean, they were so dedicated to the people of Wisconsin that they were going to make sure that Lambeau saw that and they were going to be there.

And they were so excited on that bus.

I saw this interview with them on ESPN with them while they were on the bus to Lamb.

And all they wanted to do was to be there for the people of Wisconsin.

That's the only reason they went there.

I know they wanted to party.

But you'd think they wanted to party with their spouses and stuff.

They were just excited for everybody.

And they're going to be going, boy, the state tours they're going to be on are

going

to

be amazing.

Well, already.

I mean, we saw some of them on Saturday Night Live last night.

Some of them were at the Bucks game.

Some of them were trick-or-treating in Wauwatosa.

It's just like they're

everywhere.

Trick-or-treating with kids.

It's just fantastic.

Dressed up like a beer.

Dressed up like a beer.

Self-reliquent as a beer, which was

perfect.

Yeah, exactly.

I think I'm gonna have to dress up like Murphy.

Stick a pillow in my gut here.

I love it.

And I love the excitement, the enthusiasm when they were at American Family Amphitheater on the Summer Festgrounds, which how genius is that for them to have a parade that could go

right to the Summerfest grounds that was like welcome to a place that we have created just for situations like this.

They would not get off the stage.

They were singing and dancing.

It just felt like the most joyful party hearing Daniel Vogelbach doing karaoke.

I don't know if you caught that part.

It was terrible, but also amazing.

Wow, putting that poor guy up.

He's, I hope he hasn't listened to it yet.

He then later that night did another version of it that sounded much better

Somebody needed to do like a little tuning or something for the poor guy During this whole thing First of all, McGill has been the major party leader.

It's been pretty pretty good Sal has been right there with him.

Uh-huh.

The miss is soaking it all in But Murphy's been hilarious, you know, he's been

First of all, so humble, you know, he keeps deflecting it all under the players and everything.

But his timing has been so funny.

I mean, there's so many great clips coming in Murphy.

The man is genius, right?

We were having a conversation the other day about the pocket pancakes from last season.

One of my sons was like, so why did he put the pancakes in his pocket?

for a joke.

And I said, I honestly don't think so.

I think he was just saving them for later.

And he just pulled it out and had a snack in his pocket.

Yeah, he pulls one out and he takes... Mom said, do you really have a pancake in your pocket?

He pulls it out and he goes, you want a bite?

They're like, oh, man.

You know, and then the pizza in the pocket is really bad.

The

quesadilla.

He had a quesadilla.

Club of House guys got to clean up after that stuff.

We cleaned it up.

I mean, we find a lot of strange items.

Uniforms, bags, that's for another show.

How does it feel now that we're on the other side of this and this is all part of your legacy, you are part of their legacy, but this is all now the past and we're looking to the future.

How does that all feel for

you?

you know, honestly, as I wrote in my essay, I wanted to be doing a small part toward bringing baseball back to Milwaukee, you know.

Those days, you know, it was helpful to build a bridge between the people that said, I'm never coming to baseball game again, because, you know, the brain stole our heart and baseball ripped us off.

And I was so glad to any kid would have done that.

But, you know, it's pretty cool to be one.

one of the first two bad boys for the Brewers, there's a home bad boy and, you know, to, you know, be on road trips with Hank Aaron and Robin Yeo and then all the great original Brewers, there were a lot of greats, you know, Jim Slaton and Jim Colburn, I stayed in Jim Colburn's duplex over the winters and all that stuff.

And we saw a lot of funny stuff.

So just to be a small part of that history, but what is probably

I'm most grateful for is to see the standard that was built because Henry Aaron.

Greatest professional I ever saw.

Tell me more about that.

He built the standard because look what he did in his career despite and I was there right after he went through all the hate mail, all the racial abuse.

All the stuff and he said all I want to do is just play baseball.

That's all I'm trying to do is just play baseball and he had to go through all that, you know, and Bob Uker.

Was there for him because when I was in the locker room and on these road trips, Bob Uker was keeping him in good humor.

You know, like he'd have a couple of cocktails in the airplane and you could go

hammers hammered again.

Henry Aaron would just flash that big grin and be just love it.

He just loved Bob Euker teasing him and keeping him loose because it was there was so much pressure on him because right after he broke Babe Ruth's record, then all these reporters in every city would he'd have a hundred reporters around 100 reporters.

And Euker would come waiting in and start putting on a big show, you know, because Bob Euker was at the height of his comedy routine then, you know, and Johnny Carson on it.

So he had

adored Bob Uker and here we are, you know, so I'm just, I was just so privileged to see it, to see the standard set by Henry Aaron and carried out by Robin Yelp and then to see Robin Yelp come out in that motorcycle.

So now, I hope somebody like

Jackson Cheerio or Cooper Pratt is a flybearer.

That's what I hope the future is.

It's like, first of all, can they repeat?

It's really hard to do.

Yeah.

It's

really hard, but you got the Miz and you got Logan Henderson and you got Chris Fuck.

Boy, help people don't come right.

And after our pitching coaches, you know, they're going to come hunting.

They've built a really solid future.

They got people signed for a long time.

And so I think the future is really bright.

The future is really like now.

I mean, you got guys in their prime sign.

So this is a really solid organization.

I think baseball is really nervous about the Milwaukee Brewers.

Well, I think there was a conversation for a long time about salary caps and what was the future of the whole league going to look like because the Dodgers were winning, winning, winning.

And here is a little team like the Brewers who would do everything that they could, but not quite be able to get all the way.

But now that we've done it and it was us and Tampa Bay and Cleveland, what is

that?

Yes.

So that kind of crushes that David and Goliath scenario that a lot of the MLB folks were concerned about.

So what does that mean for the future of baseball?

It doesn't, you know.

Yeah, you know, you got to build chemistry.

You got to build.

You got to build a team.

It really is about team Because the Dodgers had it if you watched them last year they show you Tony and Fred Freddy Freeman I felt like really built a glue, you know, I mean show you Tony would get hit by a pitch and he'd go like this and you'd wave everybody off You know, don't worry about it, you know, and it was like there was a really cool Dodger standard again Dave Roberts had

Dodger standard, but then their egos got really big.

I thought now everybody was again out for themselves You know what?

That's what Murphy was talking about with the Yankee viral quote.

No, I'll go stick it That's what the Yankees do.

They all play for themselves.

It's about money in New York It's fame and money and stuff when the Yankees Start and decide to play really well together then they're really good But it's same with the Dodgers, but once it becomes three Pete then we got then you got ego time so

You watch I mean Murphy will hold them accountable as long as he's able to hold them accountable But once people start playing for big contracts then And then the chemistry starts to break up

Yeah, I think it's tricky, but it all does come down to leadership You know you're talking about contraris earlier when you've got strong leaders to help people remember who they are and where they fit That makes all the difference in the world.

Yeah, if it's if you

You know when the Bucks won their first championship when I was there that was Oscar Robertson holding everybody accountable Yeah, he wouldn't let them take a 30 second break man.

He was in their face and In 82 that was Ted Simmons.

Yes,

Robin.

Yeah, they'll tell you that was Ted Simmons He was the man and he was in the catcher position again.

Yeah,

because once he came over from a winning team he showed him how to be and And Robin y'all did it

in his own quiet way, you know, with his work ethic, he would just show up, he'd be there early, he'd show up.

And now it's, you know, Woodruff and Yellich, you know, and the young guys are watching Contreras from Venezuela, you know, everybody watches Contreras, they all get there early, they do their work.

So who was it going to be in the future?

And now I know, they know what they know how to get there, you know, once you know how to get there.

You know, it's like Giannis, you know, like Giannis knows the work ethic, you know, Pratt knows the work ethic, Trujillo knows the work ethic, Contreras knows the work ethic.

So I think we're really set for a long, for a while, until, unless ego's coming to play.

Yeah.

I think too, people have to feel connected to this Wisconsin vibe.

that we've got.

I mean, I see it up here in Green Bay with the Packers, but I really see it with like, we saw it with Yanis in such an incredible way.

And even though he's not.

here now.

His dad is buried in Milwaukee.

They still have a store and his brothers are here.

There is just so much connection that my gut tells me that Giannis is coming back to Milwaukee.

Like Miami is just a, you know, it's the thing that he's doing now, but he is always going to be a big star in Milwaukee.

And I think that's always going to be the case for a yellow.

And just watching Sal yesterday, two days ago, when he, the whole 100,000 beers thing, just.

Totally slayed me it just watching him dance and seeing him in the parade He so has that Wisconsin spirit and if you've got that I think that that is You can't it has to come to you naturally.

It has to be authentic

Fowers said I'm not going anywhere lightly, you know, and yeah, I heard Brian Anderson Interviewed today and he said, you know, I grew up in Texas.

I'm from Austin.

I worked for the Spurs.

I worked it

He said, I'm a lifelong.

I've been in Wisconsin too long.

I know what it is.

I know what cold winters are.

It's freezing here.

My family's from here.

I'm out.

If you ask me where I'm from, I say I'm from Milwaukee.

I'm never moving.

That's what he said.

And that's what happens, you know, gets in your DNA, right?

It's like one of those messenger RNA.

Yeah,

we're back to medicine.

It makes me think of, since we're talking about medicine, Jake Bowers and how glad I am that he came back, but sad that he came back for the health insurance because he found out that his wife was pregnant.

Like how crazy is that?

That that's the world we live in, but glad to have you.

Yeah.

Well, we can vote on Tuesday

for

a better opportunity for people to get health insurance.

Yes, we can and it's so much more than that.

I mean, it's again the people who are saying sport keep your politics out of my sports.

No

It's all up in your sports.

So come to the politics side and learn a little bit more about how things work.

And this has been such a huge opportunity for David Crowley to highlight the beauty of Milwaukee.

So much of Tom Tiffany, the Republican who's running for governor here in Wisconsin, so much of his campaign has been about fear and division and how terrible Milwaukee is and all of the crime.

And it's just the big city.

All I've seen is joy.

and happiness and pride and goodness, which is what we know Milwaukee to be.

One of

the things that got highlighted nationally as well as locally was we had a parade of 750,000 people, 200,000 more than the city holds.

There wasn't a single incident, a burning, looting, cars being turned over, just dancing, pulking, drinking beer.

having a great time and that's Milwaukee.

So I think the city and county are being run very well.

Thank you.

Just like our state could be run very well.

Yeah.

I really look forward to that.

Yeah, and because we, not to get super political, but we're going to do that right now anyway, because we've been under this oppressive Republican regime for so long.

I think we've gotten kind of used to it, used to the pain of not being able to fund our public schools and fund even police, like things that Republicans say that they honor and cherish.

They've been literally strangling them by failing to provide them with shared revenue.

This is a huge opportunity for us on Tuesday to reclaim a Wisconsin that works for the people.

I'm really excited about it.

Well, there's nothing more important than our kids, right?

Yeah.

I mean, the brewers believe in that in the biggest way.

You know, that's what those players are about.

And we got to give kids our opportunity.

So nothing's more important than our public schools.

And educating our kids, giving our kids opportunities.

Look at how excited kids are about this team.

Yeah.

About these teams, Pride that Wisconsin brings.

I mean, oh my gosh.

You know, that's what the opportunity that I had.

I mean, I sat and stared at that newspaper when I was 15 years old and had a dream.

And Eddie Matthews picked my essay out of a thousand kits, right?

Eddie Matthews, you know, the Hall of Fame third baseman.

And you can't imagine the joy and ecstasy that I had stepping onto that field the first time.

What that was like and then playing catch with Ernie Banks the first time that's the first major leager that I played catch with was Ernie Banks and then getting to meet Henry Aaron inside a locker room the first time and doing favors for him and having him thank me and you know, I've got his bat right here a signed bat from Henry Aaron and That's my treasure.

That's never going anywhere.

Yeah kids can do something with it when I die, but that's not

That's not leaving because I was personal, you know, and That's where the standard got set That's still going on 57 years later and here we are right finally You know somebody said gratitude comes from fortitude And Wisconsin fans had a lot of fortitude yeah Here we are gosh

Here

we are.

I'm just grateful.

I'm just grateful beyond grateful.

So grateful.

And I'm so grateful to you because you have set the standard in so many ways.

We're having fun tonight talking about sports, but we originally knew each other because you were the Dean of Students at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and I was one of the students.

So we share this desire for people in Wisconsin to be healthy.

And that's what we've worked our entire careers for.

So that's like, you set the standard for that.

So many of the doctors here in Wisconsin and across the nation are grateful to you for being part of our history.

Well, love and service.

I mean, you know, I got mentored by people that demonstrated that, you know, and it was in the Brewer organization.

Tell you that it was people in the bureau organization that showed me that love and service I mean people that gave me the down payment on my house until I could pay him back or paid for my wedding That's the kind of love and service that I got and so I vowed that I would always pay that back and That's why I did the job I did, you know, and I wanted to be a healer

And I wanted to help other people that wanted to become healers.

And, you know, that's the pay-it-forward spirit of Wisconsin.

You know, it's embodied in people literally, like, but see, like, you know, when Mark Ottmascio brought the Brewers, I thought, oh, my gosh, are we in trouble?

You know, this outside guy, he's not going to understand it.

It's an investment, not love.

Right.

Right.

And these hedge-fudge managers that bought the box, look at that.

Deer district and look at Pfizer and look how the box did and they I Gotta give I gotta give them some chops.

They've done the job.

They kept walkies teams walkies teams and they understand what They've asked the right questions.

They've hired the right people.

They kept it internal, you know, they Matt Arnold Murph These people they've done a great job, you know, they kept yellowish they signed

Leaders, you know, they named Yelich captain, which was such a

beautiful

thing Wow, that really made a difference because that's when There was a meeting and they asked Yelich, you know, what do you want to say and he said we're gonna wear in the World Series Who's with me, you know, they went around the room.

That was it There was a moment that was July They were they were their record wasn't that great then but he knew there was a special team

And he got people to stand up and live up to that standard.

So that's with love and service.

That's, man, to be part of that standard.

Wow, I got to watch it.

What a privilege.

You are a part of that.

And the

luckiest boy in the world.

You are.

And that is the name of your book, The Luckiest Boy in the World by Pat McBride.

Thank you.

for taking time tonight and sharing stories and your perspective and such a big part of who you are.

I'm so grateful to you.

It's a privilege to be part of this.

Are you kidding me on your show?

You're the leader.

Team effort, my friend.

Yeah.

All right.

Thank you all for joining us.

Go Brewers.

Go Brewers.

Love you.

Go Bucks.

Go Pack.

I'll see you in Green Bay.

Have a good night my friend.

You too.

Bless you.