“Wait a second!” Brewers pitcher Trevor Megill shouted to the driver of the golf cart he was riding in.
Tailgater Katie Manno came jogging up with a tray full of cookies in her hand.
Megill thanked him as he grabbed a double chocolate chip. “We’ll trade you,” he said, handing her a blue Brewers t-shirt.
About an hour and a half before the game began Saturday night, players and coaches hopped on about 30 golf carts and drove through the parking lots of American Family Field to surprise fans and hand out a few thousand jerseys.
Among those shirts? Giannis Antetokounmpo Brewers basketball jerseys and special blue campaign T-shirts that read: “Murph/Weeks ’24” with a small Brewers glove logo.
“We were all very surprised,” said Manno, of Pewaukee, sitting in a parking lot to the east of the house with her baseball-loving family. “It was a huge bonus to sit out here and watch the Brewers. It was just great. It was very nice.”
Megill’s passenger and fellow pitcher Devin Williams threw a few shirts backwards over the car. Outfielder Garrett Mitchell posed for a photo with a group of kids. And Megill tried to throw a rolled-up shirt into a hole in the bag board – it was just outside.
For pitcher Joe Ross, it was the first time he experienced Milwaukee’s legendary tailgating scene firsthand.
As he drove around and threw shirts into the room, he saw lots of surprised faces, hot grills, lots of beer, people playing with flip cups, and even someone using a generator to power a nice TV.
“I really didn’t know what to expect, but I had a good time,” Ross said. “And it looks like they’re having a great time out there, too.”
They were.
James Meek of Waukesha was tailgating with his son and friends when he noticed a woman chasing a golf cart through the parking lot.
“I didn’t know it was the Brewers at first,” he said. “Then I realized who it was, and it was kind of cool to see all the players in the crowd.”
His group eventually won a jersey and a T-shirt from the crew.
“It makes you kind of proud to wear that jersey that a player gave you,” said Meek, a huge Wisconsin sports fan.
What the Brewers have done, he said, shows “that they are willing to be part of the crowd” and get involved in the community.
Nine-year-old Amelia Hosig had already had a busy day before the Brewers stopped by her family’s tailgate, and she beamed as she talked about the triathlon she had completed earlier.
Hosig got a Giannis Brewers jersey, which was “cool” because he is her favorite Milwaukee Buck.
“It was a really fun day,” she said, holding a white and gray baseball glove. “I’m looking forward to seeing the Brewers play and hope they win.”
They did.
Rhys Hoskins hit a solo home run with two outs in the eighth inning to break a scoreless tie and ultimately secure a 1-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
