Brewers in Boston

Brandon Woodruff pitching in bottom of 1st.

 Over the weekend, our oldest son and I went to Boston to see two of three games between the Milwaukee Brewers and Boston Red Sox.

 More on the trip will appear in forthcoming blogs but this one is about the Brewers and our game experience at the oldest stadium in the country, Fenway Park.

 Friday night we sat behind first base in section 14, row 2, seats 3 and 4.  Fenway opened for baseball in 1912, then owners remodeled some of the interior in 1934 which is when our seats were installed. 

Josh Hader (71) got the save Friday.

We flew into Boston Thursday evening and spent a good part of Friday sight-seeing before it was time to head to the game.  

We're both fans of the Brewers but Matt also likes Boston, becoming a fan during the early years of the 21st century when the Brewers weren't good and the Red Sox were doing well, eventually winning their first World Series crown after an 86 year drought.  

Boston won a lot early in the 20th century with titles in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918.  Since 2004 when they broke that streak, Boston won three more times (2007, 2013, and 2018).

This year, the Red Sox have struggled despite a record that would have them in contention for the American League Central and the National League Central (the Brewers division). 

Unfortunately for Boston, their record put them 18 games behind their hated rival New York going into last night's games.

Sunset during the third inning in Boston.

 We were surprised by the number of Brewer fans who had the same idea we did.  I'm not sure it made a difference in how the team played but after their win Friday night, several players said how nice it was to hear the vocal Brew Crew in the stands.

 It was a tight game, scoreless through five innings before Milwaukee scored in the top of the sixth and Boston tied it in the bottom half.  The Brewers added some insurance in the seventh and two more in the ninth for the final 4 to 1 margin.

Brandon Woodruff had a good start and relievers Brad Bosberger, Devin Williams, and Josh Hader took care of the rest.  It ended up being Hader's last save as a Brewer, he was traded Monday to San Diego in exchange for four Padre players.  

Hader has been a great Brewer, winning three National League Relief Pitcher of the Year awards and getting named to four All-Star games.  Since he joined Milwaukee June 9 2017 he saved 125 games.  He is a great player, the trade is like driven by the fact he is so good Milwaukee chose to trade him now rather than dedicate such a big portion of the payroll to a relief pitcher.  I wish him well and hope team President David Stearns and owner Mark Attanasio made the right call, we'll find out over the next few years.

Willy Adames (L) & Hunter Renfroe celebrate.

Saturday's game started at 4 local time, so after a museum tour in the morning and lunch we headed downtown around 2:30.

Saturday we sat along the third base side, section 14, row 4, seats 20 and 21.

It seemed there were even more folks in Brewer gear for game 2 than we saw the night before.  The game started fast with multiple hits for the Brew Crew but Boston held the good guys to one.

Hunter Renfroe (photo right) joined Milwaukee via a trade with Boston after last season, he got a nice reception Friday from the fans.  Saturday he hit a home run in the second to give the Brewers a 2 - 0 lead.

While Milwaukee batted, teammates watched.

 Milwaukee pulled out to a four-run lead in the top of the seventh and it looked like a series-clinching win was in the books.  Then Boston knocked out two Brewer pitchers in the bottom of the seventh before Brad Boxberger got the final out with the tying run on base.

 Milwaukee added a run in the top of the eighth, Devin Williams kept the Red Sox off the board in the bottom half and Milwaukee tacked on 3 more in the ninth so Hader wasn't needed to nail down the five-run win.

Best of all for Milwaukee fans was hearing the "Let's Go Brewers" cheer take over Fenway Park as the Red Sox made the final outs.   

Heading home.

As we walked out of the stadium, heading several blocks east to where we hoped to find our Uber driver, it was with smiles on our faces.

This was a special father - son trip.  Matt told me after last season we should see the Brewers play Boston (it was the first trip to Boston for Milwaukee since 2014) in 2022.  When the schedule came out, we saw the series was over his birthday weekend.  

I ordered tickets and reserved the hotel in February while he got the plane tickets.  Matt had divided loyalties during the games but was in a 'can't lose' situation no matter which team won.  He admitted afterward feeling conflicted as the games began.

While I'm not a fan of the Red Sox, I do follow baseball and for most of my life Boston has been in the conversation of baseball, win or lose.  I'll admit I was happy flying home Sunday with Milwaukee securing the series victory in game two.  (I was driving home from the airport when Boston salvaged a game by beating the Brewers 7 - 2.)

Starting next season the Red Sox and Brewers will play every season as Major League Baseball adjusts its schedule so every team plays every other team each season.  For teams outside the division, teams will alternate between home and away every other year.  I suspect that means I'll see Boston when they next come to American Family Field.

All photos by the author, taken either July 29 or July 30, 2022.